Just Mercy
The book that had the largest impact on me was Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.
The narrative centers on Stevenson’s early work as a young attorney and the case of Walter McMillian, a Black man in Alabama wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Stevenson shows how a case can be “won” on paper while truth is treated like an inconvenience. The book jumps from multiple of his clients, all of whom he fights to fairly represent. This includes children sentenced to extreme punishments, people with mental illness, families torn apart by poverty, and others. He fights for each equally, despite external perceptions.
The information itself is quite disturbing and highlights the injustice within our system. But what makes Just Mercy powerful isn’t only what it exposes, but the clarity of Stevenson’s purpose. He doesn’t just document harm, he demonstrates accountability, patience, and the kind of moral endurance it takes to keep fighting when the outcome isn’t guaranteed. By the end, the book reads less like a list of tragedies and more like evidence that justice is possible when someone insists on truth, even when the system doesn’t.
The Thursday Murder Club
Mystery is one of my favorite genres, so I really enjoyed reading The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman this year.
The story follows several characters in a retirement community: Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibrahim. They meet every week to review old cold cases, until a murder happens nearby. They get involved in the active investigation, eventually finding the murderer.
Even though the story centers around a murder, the series is sweet and comforting. All the characters are lovable in their own ways, and their skill sets are all unique and valuable. I look forward to reading more from Richard Osman.
Braiding Sweetgrass
I’ve never been much into nature writing before, as I previously believed it’d be a bundle of scientific terms that are unrelatable to me. BUT this book, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer introduced me to one of my new favorite genres.
The narrative blends Kimmerer’s work as a botanist with her identity as a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and it moves through essays that connect plants, ecology, and Indigenous ways of knowing. The book shifts between science and story in a way that could keep any reader of any interest reading and captivated. She writes about everything from sweetgrass and maple trees to lessons from her students and her daughters, and each chapter builds toward a bigger argument without ever feeling like a scientific lecture.
When I started reading, I had nearly abandoned my recent garden projects, and by the time I finished the book, I had revived all my plants and was spending hours in the dirt reconnecting.
