Books
A very particular humanity
Suzanne Robertson didn’t meet “life” on death row. She met a man named Cecil who loved cheesecake.
American Protestantism and what it has done
David Hollinger explores how Protestantism has shaped—and warped—a nation’s intellectual life.
Is being adopted or fostered always traumatic?
Jenn Ranter Hook and Joshua Hook say yes—and offer families concrete tools to support children.
The radicalism of Azusa Street
Keri Day places the 1906 revival at the intersection of White evangelicalism, American capitalism, and racism.
Domestic poverty and who it serves
Matthew Desmond unties the knot of being poor in the US—and shows the rest of us that we hold the strings.
The book editor who inadvertently helped empty America’s pews
Stephen Prothero’s biography of Eugene Exman reveals how the bestsellers he acquired taught people to be spiritual but not religious.
Reading scripture through the lens of nature
Daniel Cooperrider understands the Bible as an outdoor book, open to the sky.
Down to earth
For philosopher Costica Bradatan, failure delivers self-knowledge in a way that success cannot.
The sin of ableism
Erin Raffety’s ethnographic study calls churches to repentance.
The women of midcentury moral philosophy
Two new books explore the intertwined scholarship and friendship of Philippa Foot, Elizabeth Anscombe, Iris Murdoch, and Mary Midgley.
A tech-savvy Christian sexual ethic
Kate Ott challenges us to practice erotically attuned love everywhere, even online.
The myth and reality of Jim Thorpe
David Maraniss’s biography of the legendary athlete highlights the contradiction in White America’s attitude toward Native people.
The rapture and beyond
Daniel Hummel shows how deeply dispensationalism has shaped American religion.
Standing on holy ground
Angela Alaimo O’Donnell’s poems carry the vision that all land, all people, and all moments are sacred.
Ekow Eshun’s journey into Black artistic consciousness
The writer and curator expounds on his celebrated exhibition’s thesis: that reimagining Black space and time with the fantastical invites a new way of being in the world.
Take & Read: Old Testament
New books about the Old Testament
Is The Hero of this Book a novel or a memoir?
In either case, Elizabeth McCracken’s account of losing a mother is wrenching and tender.
Meet Gil, the protector
The protagonist of Lydia Millet’s new novel is like a mother hen, both to his neighbors and to the birds.
A queer boy in North Dakota
Taylor Brorby’s coming-of-age memoir is a work of defiance. But it is not a tragedy.
Take & Read: Theology
New books addressing theological challenges