Prisons and Prisoners. That's what this section of Powell's Bookshop is called. Compared to other bookshops this one in Portland has a pretty big selection on the subject.
But then again Powell's claims to be the world's largest independent bookshop. It occupies an entire city block, has three floors, 3,500 separate sections and stocks 1.5 million books. About 7000 people go to the shop each day.
There's one book about prisons in America which despite being written 5 years ago, is still getting a lot of attention with the author doing media interviews and book events as recently as this summer. It's called The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness and is written by Michelle Alexander. It explores why there are so many African American men in prison, and how that impacts society.
And here's another book which has been also very useful during my time in the States. It's full of interesting facts and figures but it's format is very different to normal, making it very accessible. It's oblong in size, and the text is broken up by boxes giving extra context and information.