Human Rights Watch Book List
By Green Apple Books
By Green Apple Books
Favorites from the staff at Human Rights Watch.
Homegoing
Yaa Gyasi
$16.95 $15.76It does so much in so few pages. It helps us to better understand race, colonialism, our history, and humanity with exquisite storytelling. -- Jen Haile, HRW City Director, San Francisco
We Need New Names
Noviolet Bulawayo
$17.99 $16.73A coming-of-age story that does a great job of capturing the interior landscape of a 10 year old girl, Darling, growing up in Zimbabwe. The voice of the main character, Darling, along with the vivid descriptions of her life in "Paradise" make the book immersive while also keeping it fun even when some heavy themes are dealt with. -- Vuyisile Ncube, HRW Fellow, Environment & Human Rights
Migra!: A History of the U.S. Border Patrol Volume 29
Kelly Lytle Hernandez
$35.94the untold history of the United States Border Patrol from its beginnings in 1924 as a small peripheral outfit to its emergence as a large professional police force, essential for understanding where border enforcement is now. -- Clara Long, HRW Associate Director, US Program
The Redshirt
Corey Sobel
$29.95A delicate, lyrical exploration of toxic masculinity and how it corrodes society and lives. It's also a book about love -- between two men who are friends, two men who are lovers, and a man and a game he's falling out of love with after letting it define most of his young life. And how better to tell it than an American college football team. I hate football, but I couldn't stop reading this book. -- Kyle Knight, HRW Senior Researcher, LGBT Rights Program
The Leopard
Giuseppe Di Lampedusa
$18.00 $16.74Beautiful written story about a country and a family in transition. -- Benjamin Ward, HRW Deputy Director Europe and Central Asia Divsion
What You Have Heard Is True: A Memoir of Witness and Resistance
Carolyn Forché
$18.00 $16.74Stunning first-hand account of the lead-up to El Salvador's civil war by a preeminent poet. -- Maria McFarland, HRW Senior Legal Advisor
Freshwater
Akwaeke Emezi
$16.00 $14.88Fresh, sharp-edged, and haunting. The protagonist hosts an array of gods within her, who battle it out. The gender-bending elements of this book are delightful. -- Neela Ghoshal, HRW Associate Director, LGBT Rights Program
The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild
Graham Spence and Lawrence Anthony
$18.99 $17.66It's fascinating how we may be able to understand nature just by opening our senses and embracing patience. A life lesson. -- Sanna Johansen, HRW Acting Stockholm Manager
East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
Philippe Sands
$19.00 $17.67Sands weaves together an entertaining story to explain the development of pivotal concepts in international law. -- Andrew Stroehlein, HRW European Media Director
The God of Small Things
Arundhati Roy
$18.00 $16.74Roy takes on loss, violence, joy, betrayal, and class struggle using characters - a set of twins - who suffer, struggle and love in equal measure, all the while imparting beautiful and heartfelt lessons, indeed inspiration, for our own lives. -- Corinne Dufka, HRW Director, West Africa
Tent of Miracles
Jorge Amado
$29.95A wonderful tale that covers multiple generations of family sagas and history in Brazil. -- Elise Keppler, HRW Associate Director, International Justice Program
Oblivion: A Memoir
Héctor Abad
$18.00It combines two big loves: the love for family and the love for human rights. -- Martina Rapido Ragozzino, HRW Research Assistant, Americas Division
Girl, Woman, Other: A Novel (Booker Prize Winner)
Bernardine Evaristo
$17.00 $15.81An epic tale of 12 very different women, mainly based in London. The book follows their lives and we soon begin to see their stories overlap and intersect. Evaristo is a magnificent writer and wrote masterfully with a distinctive voice for each of the 12 women. -- Brian Donnelly, HRW Multimedia Associate
Straight from the Horse's Mouth
Meryem Alaoui
$16.99Powerful, spirited, hilarious fiction story. (Also, full disclosure: my wife wrote it.) -- Ahmed Benchemsi, HRW MENA Communications Director
The Mountains Sing
Mai Phan Que Nguyen
$26.95 $25.06As an American who grew up during the Vietnam War era, it was important for me to see the impact of the war and the experiences of the country from the perspective of a Vietnamese woman and her family. -- Bill Frelick, HRW Director, Refugee and Migrant Rights Division
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Ishmael Beah
$15.00 $13.95It reminds me why our work is so important and necessary in this world. -- Mami Cho, HRW Senior Director, Creative, Development and Outreach
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
Patrick Radden Keefe
$18.00 $16.74Say Nothing is a gripping, thoroughly investigated work of true crime on the period known as The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Radden Keefe also does a commendable job of adding nuance and maintaining as much objectivity as possible. -- Aoife Croucher, HRW Associate, Africa Division
The Windup Girl
Paolo Bacigalupi
$16.99 $15.80Based in Bangkok, this is a near future science fiction/biopunk book that won both of science fiction's most prestigious awards (Hugo award, Nebula award) in the same year, which is a rare thing to do. Refugees, bio-diversity, climate change, rights issues, gene-splitting and artificial intelligence, and everything else combines in a sweeping, dark vision based in Bangkok that shows what could happen if we don't get it right on a global scale. If you enjoy science fiction (like me), this will be a read that you can't put down. -- Phil Robertson, HRW Deputy Director, Asia Division
Middlemarch (Revised)
George Eliot
$12.00 $11.16It's about a young woman trying to figure out what it means be a good person, which is a question I have yet to fully answer. -- Grace Meng, HRW Associate Director, US Program
Neopatriarchy: A Theory of Distorted Change in Arab Society
Hisham Sharabi
$108.00Extremely smart, pioneering theory. -- Amr Magdi, HRW Researcher, Middle East and North Africa
The Overstory
Richard Powers
$18.95 $17.62Every single word is a revelation. You need a quiet place to read these stories of humans inhabiting the world, which is a world of trees. -- Jessica Jones, HRW UK Manager, Development & Outreach
Second Person Singular
Sayed Kashua
$18.00 $16.74A psychological mystery filled with absurdity and dry wit. Each of the main characters offers a window into the prejudices and longings of Arabs and Jews living in Jerusalem. -- Mary Lagomarsino, HRW Senior Associate, Development
The Memory of Love
Aminatta Forna
$20.00 $18.60Beautifully written, deeply engaging story of characters wrestling with complex situations amid conflict in Sierra Leone. -- Elise Keppler, HRW Associate Director, International Justice Program
The Mothers
Brit Bennett
$26.00It's a beautifully written book that stuck with me for a long time after reading it. -- Floriane Borel, HRW United Nations Advocacy Coordinator
The Spinoza Problem
Irvin D. Yalom
$18.99I love historical fiction and this book manages to combine two distinct very different periods and two very distinct personalities with each other in an impressive way. Additionally I have always admired the writings of Spinoza and this book provides an interesting exploration of what could have been his drivers and personal musings. The same goes for the other main character, making this book an intelligently crafted journey into different psyches and times. -- Lennart Freud, HRW Development and Outreach Officer