EyebrarianPrize winnersGet the app

Books › I can't breathe › Books like it

If you loved

Books like I can't breathe

A riveting, urgent piece of literary journalism that unpacks the devastating roots and repercussions of systemic police violence. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with I can't breathe.

  • tense
  • somber
  • outraged
  • heavy
  1. 01

    The End of Policing

    Alex S. Vitale

    A rigorous, uncompromising dismantling of reformist illusions that challenges readers to imagine a world built on care rather than coercion.

    Shares:
    • urgent
  2. 02

    The New Jim Crow

    Michelle Alexander · 2010

    A paradigm-shifting, meticulously argued dismantling of the American justice system that leaves you forever changed.

    Shares:
    • heavy
    • urgent
  3. 03

    The divide

    Matt Taibbi

    An urgent, outrage-fueled exploration of a fractured justice system where wealth dictates the law.

    Shares:
    • tense
    • outraged
    • heavy
    • urgent
  4. 04

    We Were Eight Years in Power

    Ta-Nehisi Coates

    A fierce, lyrical reckoning with American history that bridges the personal and the political with devastating clarity.

    Shares:
    • heavy
    • urgent
  5. 05

    The Color of Law

    Richard Rothstein

    A meticulously documented dismantling of American historical myths that leaves you forever changed in how you view the neighborhoods around you.

    Shares:
    • heavy
    • urgent
  6. 06

    So you want to talk about race

    Ijeoma Oluo

    A sharp, compassionate, and deeply practical guide that cuts through the noise to make complex conversations about systemic inequality feel possible.

    Shares:
    • urgent
    • systemic racism
  7. 07

    All American Boys

    Jason Reynolds

    A gripping, dual-perspective reckoning with systemic injustice that demands you interrogate your own silence.

    Shares:
    • tense
    • heavy
    • urgent
    • unflinching
  8. 08

    Stamped from the Beginning

    Ibram X. Kendi

    A monumental, paradigm-shifting journey through the intellectual history of American racism that demands a fundamental rewiring of how you view the present.

    Shares:
    • heavy
    • urgent
    • unflinching
  9. 09

    Ghettoside

    Jill Leovy

    A sobering, investigative dive into the systemic fractures of race, policing, and mortality in Los Angeles.

    Shares:
    • tense
    • heavy
    • investigative
    • unflinching
  10. 10

    When they call you a terrorist

    asha bandele

    A deeply personal, fiercely loving testament to survival and the transformative power of collective action in the face of systemic violence.

    Shares:
    • heavy
    • urgent
  11. 11

    Citizen

    Claudia Rankine

    A genre-bending, visceral catalog of the everyday aggressions that chip away at the soul.

    Shares:
    • tense
    • heavy
    • urgent
    • unflinching
  12. 12

    The Fire This Time

    Jesmyn Ward

    A searing, polyphonic chorus of contemporary voices reckoning with America's racial past, present, and future.

    Shares:
    • heavy
    • urgent
    • systemic racism

Back to I can't breathe