Category Archives: Religion

In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins

Posted on July 25, 2021 by Teresa

It’s been a while since I read a big serious theology book. Back when I was taking seminary classes, I read this kind of thing all the time, but now I tend to read books that are written for a … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Nonfiction, Religion | Leave a comment

Love is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Teresa

My church has been doing a series of book studies over Zoom. Past selections focused on issues of racial justice, but this book by Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, took a wider view, looking at how to … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonfiction, Religion | 2 Comments

Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again

Posted on May 14, 2019 by Teresa

Like many people, I was shocked and saddened at the recent death of Rachel Held Evans, the author and blogger who helped so many people see that Christianity is a faith of love and acceptance, even when so many of … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonfiction, Religion | 2 Comments

The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America

Posted on March 31, 2018 by Teresa

When I first saw this book by journalist Frances Fitzgerald, I was both curious and uneasy. Curious because I’d like to see a clear-headed examination of the Evangelical Christian movement that I spent most of my young adulthood in, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonfiction, Religion | 6 Comments

Lying Awake

Posted on November 12, 2017 by Jenny

Lying Awake is a short novel — under 200 pages — and it has a lot to say. Still, it manages to feel quiet rather than crowded, and measured rather than rushed. Quite an accomplishment for such a small book. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Religion | 6 Comments

Norse Mythology

Posted on October 2, 2017 by Jenny

If you count The Sagas of Icelanders, which you might or might not, this is the fourth work of Norse mythology I’ve reviewed on this blog! It practically deserves its own tag! I’m obviously drawn to this kind of literature … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Fiction, Religion | 9 Comments

What Is the Bible?

Posted on June 22, 2017 by Teresa

People have lots of ideas about the Bible. A lot of those ideas are incomplete, misguided, or just plain wrong. And often those mistaken ideas lead people to miss the richness of the biblical stories. That’s what Rob Bell is … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonfiction, Religion | 5 Comments

Peacekeeper

Posted on January 19, 2017 by Jenny

It’s often easiest to review books when they stay inside generic boundaries, and the smaller the box, the better. This is a cozy mystery, this is a thriller, this is a western. If you like what goes in this box, … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime, Religion, Speculative Fiction | 2 Comments

A Prayer Journal

Posted on January 19, 2017 by Jenny

When Flannery O’Connor was a very young woman, just twenty-one, she went to the University of Iowa for a year to participate in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She was a devout Catholic, and during that year or so, she kept … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonfiction, Religion | Leave a comment

The Cross and the Lynching Tree

Posted on December 23, 2016 by Teresa

James H. Cone is a theologian best known for his work in Black liberation theology. I’ve read a bit about his work, but I’d never read anything he’d written until reading this short examination of how the cross of Christianity … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonfiction, Religion | 2 Comments