Do Justice Book Recommendations: Summer Reads 2026
It’s summer - that beautiful season of growth and warmth that Creator God has gifted to us! Time to enjoy first fruits like strawberries and asparagus in the garden, to luxuriate in the long days of sunshine as we gather for porch visits and backyard bbqs, and of course–to find some good books to read at the cottage, beach, or during an afternoon under a shady tree.
Ok, you got me. I certainly know the whole summer won’t be entirely that ideal. (There will also be skinned knees on bike rides, stress as families figure out how to balance work with school breaks, and dare I even say it, there may even be mosquitos buzzing around under that shady tree!) But as we dream of summer, we can carve out a bit of space to rest and read something that will stir our hearts and minds towards justice in this season.
Here are the recommendations from what our team has been reading at Do Justice!
Plundered: The Tangled Roots of Racial and Environmental Injustice by David W. Swanson
This book explores racial and ecological injustice's root of greed and "how we have failed our God-given duty as caretakers of creation and how that failure has resulted in the exploitation of people and the extraction of natural resources." It calls Christians away from oppression and exploitation to honoring people and places in a restored relationship with God, people and creation that is holistic and justice focused.
Jodi Koeman, World Renew
Bear Witness: The Pursuit of Justice in a Violent Land by Ross Halperin
This is the story of Kurt Ver Beek and Carlos Hernandez of Association for a Justice Society (AJS) and their commitment to serving the poor and fighting violence and injustice in Nueva Suyapa, a mountainside barrio in Honduras. “This gripping account of the transformative work of a small, unassuming nonprofit tells the story of what happened in one of the most violent communities in the world when it asked a question that had escaped everybody from the Honduran government to the US Department of State to the United Nations: What if we make the institutions of justice actually work for the people?” (David M. Kennedy)
Jodi Koeman, World Renew
Living Justly: An ASJ Devotional Guide
The Holy Spirit continues to move today, calling and equipping God’s people to pursue justice, love mercy, and walk humbly in local communities and around the world.
Living Justly is a free 12-chapter devotional to help individuals and small groups reflect on God’s call to Spirit-filled justice seeking. This guide uses scripture, reflection, and prayer to uncover how the Holy Spirit propels us into the work of restoration, compassion, and peace.
Do Justice Editorial Team
Why Am I Like This? How to Break Cycles, Heal from Trauma, and Restore Your Faith by Kobe Campbell
I’ll be honest. I’m recommending this book because my therapist recommended it to me! Kobe Campbell explores trauma from a faith perspective, sharing relatable stories, evidence-backed coping skills, and biblically-based reflections on how to process challenging life experiences and emotions. “Kobe marries theological insight with therapeutic principles to provide the tools and insights needed to begin a journey of restoration.” If you’ve ever found yourself reacting in a way that felt like “Wow, that’s not like me…I wonder where that came from?” or “Huh, it’s strange that this seemingly insignificant event is having such an impact,” then perhaps Why Am I Like This? may be for you. In the book, Kobe Campbell guides the reader through real moments of vulnerability, inviting us to take our pain to God and to truly see ourselves as beloved children of the Creator who are worthy of love and wholeness.
Cindy Stover, Canadian Justice Ministries
Undoing Manifest Destiny: Settler America, Christian Colonists, and the Pursuit of Justice by my friend L. Daniel Hawk, faculty at Ashland Seminary, OH
In Undoing Manifest Destiny, L. Daniel Hawk addresses Indigenous history in the United States and exposes the belief systems and practices that settlers developed to justify the displacement, destruction, and cultural erasure of Indigenous peoples, beginning in the early American colonial period and extending to the present day. Writing as the descendant of White settlers and as a biblical scholar, he challenges settler Christians to uncover what the settler narrative denies and to work toward addressing historic injustices.
Adrian Jacobs, Senior Leader for Indigenous Justice and Reconciliation, Indigenous Ministry, Canadian Justice Ministries
Beyond Ethnic Loneliness: The Pain of Marginalization and the Path to Belonging by Prasanta Verma
Reading as a white Christian seeking to better understand experiences of marginalization, cultural isolation, and questions of belonging, I appreciated Verma’s honest and compassionate invitation into stories and realities that differ from my own lived experience. This book helped me recognize dynamics that are often invisible to those who are part of the dominant culture. What struck me most was the way Verma names experiences that many People of Colour have carried for years, offering language for feelings of exclusion, loneliness, and displacement while also pointing toward hope and genuine belonging. She does not settle for individual solutions but invites readers to consider how systems, cultures, and communities can either reinforce marginalization or foster mutual flourishing.
Whether you read this book from a place of personal resonance or from a desire to learn and listen more deeply, I believe it offers an important contribution to conversations about faith, identity, justice, and belonging. It’s an invitation for readers from many backgrounds to engage, reflect, and grow.
Amy Baarda, NewGround Coordinator - Diaconal Ministries Canada
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
A lovely story about a man named Theo and his connections with the people of his community.
Joanne Vandergrift - CWP regional coordinator for Alberta North.
Climate of Lament: Reflections on Ecological Grief Edited by Philip Mingay and Michael Ferber
Based on the relationships cultivated by two professors at The King's University, twenty-two contributors from diverse fields and countries respond to the climate crisis with voices of honesty and care. Each chapter pairs a personal poetic lament with a reflective essay that reveals the author’s connection to place, and to the wider world community.
Jeremiah Damir Bašurić, Senior Co-leader Intercultural Ministry
Coming soon…
Live, Laugh, Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made by Kristen Kobes Du Mez (September 2026)
A history book that demonstrates the religious, social, and political influences on Christian women in North America. "Du Mez introduces us to religious innovators who taught that positivity was the secret to spiritual and material success and reveals how they worked through consumer culture: mommy blogs and romance novels, Hobby Lobby aisles and pastel-scripted wall art. Marketed as empowerment, these products and slogans elevate vulnerability and domesticity, and in the process draw women into systems prone to manipulation and abuse. In this brilliant recasting of modern American Christianity, Du Mez unearths the hidden origins of our reactionary moment."
Jodi Koeman, World Renew
