Winter Reading Recommendations
Our staff suggests books by recent Revealer writers
Looking to curl up with a book while you have some down time this December? Need a gift idea for a reader in your life? We recommend these excellent new books by writers who have been featured in the Revealer within the past year.
1) Have you ever wondered about the popularity of festivals like Burning Man or Wanderlust? Amanda Lucia, who wrote about the complicated relationships between gurus and their students for our March special issue on religion and sex abuse, has a new book that explores connections between race and religion at these popular festivals. Check out her book, White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals (University of California Press).
2) Does December and its holidays make you think of cherished family items, handmade creations, the power of gifting, and religion? If so, you’ll want to curl up with a copy of Jodi Eichler-Levine’s fascinating book about crafting and Judaism, Painted Pomegranates and Needlepoint Rabbis: How Jews Craft Resilience and Create Community (University of North Carolina Press).
3) If you are interested in a different perspective on American Jews, check out Ayala Fader’s fascinating book about ultra-Orthodox Jews who lead double lives. We ran an excerpt in our Summer issue and you’ll want a full copy of Hidden Heretics: Jewish Doubt in the Digital Age (Princeton University Press).
4) Are you one of the many Revealer readers who appreciated Megan Goodwin’s “Abusing Religion” series that explored mainstream media portrayals of Mormons, Muslims, and Satanists and their alleged greater prevalence of sexual abuse? If so, you’ll want a copy of her book, Abusing Religion: Literary Persecution, Sex Scandals, and American Minority Religions (Rutgers University Press).
5) And speaking of sex, religion, and politics, we ran a fascinating interview with Janet Jakobsen about the American political obsession with sex and her ideas about how to create greater sexual freedom. Check out her insightful new book, The Sex Obsession: Perversity and Possibility in American Politics (NYU Press).
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Want more reading recommendations? Check out our 2019 list of Winter Reading Recommendations!
Happy reading!