Looking to curl up with a good book while you have some downtime this December? Need a gift idea for a reader in your life? We recommend these excellent books by writers who have been featured in the Revealer this year.

1) Are you one of the many Revealer readers who appreciated Susan Shapiro’s award-winning article “Forgiving the Unforgivable”? That article is now a chapter in Shapiro’s new book where she travels the country to speak with religious leaders and other captivating figures about coping with betrayal, pain, and catastrophic loss. Check out her powerful book, The Forgiveness Tour: How to Find the Perfect Apology.

2) Have you ever wondered what role religion plays in the Black Lives Matter movement? Olga Segura – author of one of the Revealer’s most-read articles about Father Bryan Massingale, a gay Black priest – published a book this year on race and Catholicism. Check out her book, Birth of a Movement: Black Lives Matter and the Catholic Church.

3) If you are looking for even more on race and religion, don’t miss Tracy Fessenden’s book on Billie Holiday. She wrote an insightful review for the Revealer about the movie Strange Fruit. You can learn more about Holiday in Fessenden’s fascinating book, Religion Around Billie Holiday.

4) As we approach the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection, you may want to learn more about the groups that stormed the Capitol. Sara Kamali wrote about some of those white nationalist factions in the Revealer’s February issue. Learn even more about such groups in her new book, Homegrown Hate: Why White Nationalists and Militant Islamists are Waging War Against the United States.

5) If stories about religion, sexuality, and social issues interest you, you should check out Michael J. O’Loughlin’s powerful new book on how Catholics responded to the AIDS epidemic. O’Loughlin wrote in the Revealer about some of those responses and how his research on this topic affected him as a gay Catholic. Don’t miss his important new book, Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear.

6) And, if you’re looking for inspirational and incisive stories about gender and religion, Kaya Oakes has the book for you. Oakes authored a powerful personal essay about the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis, a piece the Religion News Association recognized this year when it awarded Oakes with the top prize for “Excellence in Religion Commentary.” Don’t miss her beautifully written new book, The Defiant Middle: How Women Claim Life’s In-Betweens to Remake the World.

Happy reading!