The Revealer’s Winter Reading Recommendations
Our annual list of recommended books by Revealer writers
Every December, we put together a list of books we love authored by people who have written for The Revealer. If you’re looking for a good book to curl up with this winter, or a gift idea for a reader in your life, we recommend these books.
1) Are you looking for a powerful and moving memoir? Check out Cait West’s acclaimed new book about growing up, and leaving, a conservative evangelical home in the “stay-at-home-daughter movement.” She is the author of The Revealer article “Bodily Autonomy, Reproductive Rights, and the Christian Patriarchy Movement.” Check out her acclaimed new book, Rift: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy.
2) If you enjoy poetry, check out Noah Berlatsky’s unique book of poetry “translations, appropriations, and alienations… and [a] unique examination of rootlessness and the need to belong.” Berlatsky is the author of several articles in The Revealer, including “Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas” and “Christian Science as Jewish Tradition.” Check out his intriguing new book, Not Akhmatova: Poems and Adaptations.
3) If you are looking for an accessible and at times humorous look at the ways religion, especially Christianity, permeates our culture, check out this new book by Megan Goodwin and Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst. Goodwin is the author of multiple articles in The Revealer, including “Abusing Religion: Polygyny, Mormonisms, and Under the Banner of Heaven” and “Michelle Remembers and the Satanic Panic.” Don’t miss their important and highly readable book Religion Is Not Done with You: Or, The Hidden Power of Religion on Race, Maps, Bodies, and Law.
4) If you are interested in a stirring memoir about immigration and defending democracy, check out the book co-authored by Aquilino Gonell and Susan Shapiro. Gonell came to the United States from the Dominican Republic, served in the military, and was a Capitol police officer during the January 6 insurrection. He wrote this memoir with acclaimed writer Susan Shapiro, who is the author of an award-winning article in The Revealer entitled “Forgiving the Unforgivable.” The paperback copy of their USA Today bestselling book came out this November: American Shield: The Immigrant Sergeant Who Defended Democracy.
5) If you are a fan of the acclaimed television show Transparent, or if you have an interest in Jewish culture or queer culture, we recommend this new book co-edited by Nora Rubel and The Revealer’s Editor Brett Krutzsch. Check out their anthology of essays Blessings Beyond the Binary: Transparent and the Queer Jewish Family.
6) For our final recommendation, we would like to suggest (with great enthusiasm) the excellent books we profiled in 2024 on the Revealer podcast:
*The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church by Sarah McCammon. Revealer podcast episode: “Ex-Evangelicals and U.S. Politics.”
*God Gave Rock and Roll to You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music by Leah Payne. Revealer podcast episode: “Contemporary Christian Music’s Political and Religious Messages.”
*Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right by Neil Young. Revealer podcast episode: “LGBTQ Republicans.”
*Pop Islam: Seeing American Muslims in Popular Media by Rosemary Pennington. Revealer podcast episode: “Muslims in Pop Culture.”
*Sanctuary People: Faith-Based Organizing in Latina/o Communities by Gina Pérez. Revealer podcast episode: “Latino Faith-Based Activism and the New Sanctuary Movement.”
*Millennial Jewish Stars: Navigating Racial Antisemitism, Masculinity, and White Supremacy by Jonathan Branfman. Revealer podcast episode: “Jewish Bodies and Jewish Celebrities.”
*Unsettled: American Jews and the Movement for Justice in Palestine by Oren Kroll-Zeldin. Revealer podcast episode: “Jewish Solidarity with the Pro-Palestine Protests.”
*The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement That is Threatening Our Democracy by Matthew D. Taylor. Revealer podcast episode: “Christian Nationalism, Charismatic Christians, and Political Violence.”
*The Contemporary Black Church: The New Dynamics of African American Religion by Jason E. Shelton. Revealer podcast episode: “The Changing Black Church.”
*Without a Prayer: Religion and Race in New York City Public Schools by Leslie Beth Ribovich. Revealer podcast episode: “Public School Secularization and Desegregation.”
*Not So Sorry: Abusers, False Apologies, and the Limits of Forgiveness by Kaya Oakes. Revealer podcast episode: “The Limits of Forgiveness.”
Happy reading!