Reading Religion
An open book review site published by the American Academy of Religion (AARWeb). We provide up-to-date coverage of scholarly publishing in religious studies.
- How do objects, texts, and memory shape what we think we know about Charlemagne and sacred power? This new Reading Religion review essay rethinks Carolingian religious politics beyond myths of sacral empire. buff.ly/OkqHj0N
- Our latest Four Books post highlights scholarship that reframes how we think about South Asian religions—Sikh history, caste, Hindu–Muslim relations, and Islamic pasts and futures. Read here → buff.ly/ZA0YXpU What recent work has reshaped your understanding of the region?
- Davyda M. Hammond reviews 'Black Religion in the Madhouse: Race and Psychiatry in Slavery's Wake' by Judith Weisenfeld. buff.ly/Tt4zYaT
- Free books at AAR/SBL! 📚 Visit the AAR exhibit booth, sign up for the Reading Religion newsletter, and pick out a free book (while supplies last). #ReadingReligion #AARSBL25
- At the AAR/SBL annual meetings in Boston, we stand with colleagues raising concerns about ICE enforcement in and around sacred spaces. Please read the AAR Board statement and share know-your-rights “red cards” if you’re on site. aarweb.org/news/aar-sta... #AARSBL2025
- We are here in the exhibit hall at #aarsbl25 Stop by and say hello to Evan and Kimberly! #bookreviews #religiousstudies #books
- Ever thought about how a zombie show, a robot priest, or a futuristic wild west reflect religious questions? This review opens just that door. Dive in: buff.ly/hzP6ibt
- What does it mean to signify Black religion? Juan M. Floyd-Thomas explores four key works that trace how Black religious life reshapes symbols, meaning, and culture. Read: buff.ly/mr3jyCZ
- Shu-chen Hsu Hsiung reviews 'Negotiating the Christian Past in China: Memory and Missions in Contemporary Xiamen' by Jifeng Liu. buff.ly/q86Cw5P
- What happens when pop idols become shamans? Minjung Noh’s review of K-Pop Demon Hunters explores how the film turns Korean shamanism into pop spectacle—where fandom becomes faith and music becomes ritual. Read more: buff.ly/pe8a31l #Religion&Culture #KPop #FilmReview #PopularCulture #ReadingReligion
- Justin Hawkins reviews 'Wayfaring: A Christian Approach to Mental Health Care' by Warren Kinghorn. buff.ly/TU17lgG
- Ethan Doyle White reviews 'Vernacular Religion: Collected Essays of Leonard Norman Primiano' by Deborah Dash Moore (Editor) (@NYUpress) buff.ly/LCNih3S
- During Native American Heritage Month, we turn to Sugarcane—a searing documentary co-directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie—and our review exploring its portrayal of Indigenous caretaking, silence, and survival in the wake of church-run residential schools. Read more → buff.ly/WnFYBVz
- Nancy Menning reviews 'Entangled Being: Unoriginal Sin and Wicked Problems' by Rebecca L. Copeland. buff.ly/umNssXV
- Our October newsletter is here! Explore our Four Books essay on Buddhist modernism, a new reading list on magic, horror, and the supernatural, plus the latest reviews and titles available for review. Read now → buff.ly/WtNFtU8 #ReligiousStudies #BookReview #BuddhistModernism #MagicAndFaith
- Ryan Coogler’s Sinners—where theology meets Southern Gothic horror—is back in IMAX just in time for Halloween. Our review unpacks its mix of sin, blues, and blood in the Deep South. Read more: buff.ly/Oj2koEy #SinnersMovie #Theology #SouthernGothic #Horror #BlackCinema
- John Cottingham reviews 'Negative Natural Theology: God and the Limits of Reason' by Christopher J Insole. readingreligion.org/9780198932970
- Lora Walsh reviews 'Conversion and the Contest of Creeds in Early Medieval Christianity' by Marta Szada. readingreligion.org/978100942644...
- Evan Sandsmark reviews 'Caryll Houselander: A Biography' by Mary Frances Coady. readingreligion.org/978162698530...
- Jared Secord reviews 'Ancient Christians and the Power of Curses: Magic, Aesthetics, and Justice' by Laura Salah Nasrallah. readingreligion.org/978100940573...
- New from Reading Religion — "Four Books on Buddhist Modernism" by Jack Meng-Tat Chia explores how Buddhism has engaged with modernity across time and space, from ethics under colonialism to digital-era innovation. buff.ly/D3yLCD1
- In this essay, Karen Jackson-Weaver reflects on four seminal works that have shaped her scholarship and the field of womanist theology and ethics. readingreligion.org/blog/four-bo...
- In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, check out our reading list! aarweb.org/news/hispani...
- Weston Wright reviews 'Making Pagans: Theatrical Practice and Comparative Religion in Early Modern England' by John Kuhn. readingreligion.org/978151282509...
- Peyton White reviews 'Cannabis, Sacred and Profane' by Christopher Partridge. buff.ly/EUHaGKq
- Kyle Schiefelbein-Guerrero reviews 'Bonhoeffer for the Church: An Introduction' by Matthew D. Kirkpatrick. readingreligion.org/9781506497822
- Jennifer Schlegel reviews 'The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy: and the Path to a Shared American Future' by Robert P. Jones readingreligion.org/978166800952...
- New at Reading Religion! Four Books on Womanist Epistemology Hispanic Heritage Month Reading List Latest reviews & books Read more: buff.ly/5AL26lM
- Marion Eames White reviews 'When a Human Gives Birth to a Raven: Rabbis and the Reproduction of Species' by Rafael Rachel Neis (@ucpress) readingreligion.org/9780520391192
- KD Thompson reviews 'Zanzibari Muslim Moderns: Islamic Paths to Progress in the Interwar Period' by Anne K. Bang (@OUPAcademic) readingreligion.org/9780197797754
- Gaye Morris reviews 'The Popes on Air: The History of Vatican Radio from Its Origins to World War II' by Raffaella Perin. readingreligion.org/978153150715...
- Jonah Peter Bissell reviews 'The Bible and Farm Animal Welfare' by David Grumett. readingreligion.org/979838521859...
- Manasicha Akepiyapornchai reviews 'Empire Inside Out: Religion, Conquest, and Community in Kṛṣṇadevarāya's Āmuktamālyada' by Ilanit Loewy Shacham. readingreligion.org/9780197776223
- Fernando Garcia reviews 'Growing in Virtue: Aquinas on Habit' by William C. Mattison III. readingreligion.org/9781647123284
- Tiffany Hunsinger reviews 'Another Gospel: Christian Nationalism and the Crisis of Evangelical Identity' by Joel Looper. readingreligion.org/9780802884275
- Tazeen M. Ali reviews 'Neo-Traditionalism in Islam in the West: Orthodoxy, Spirituality and Politics' by Walaa Quisay. readingreligion.org/978139950277...
- James C. Ungureanu reviews 'Rousseau's God: Theology, Religion, and the Natural Goodness of Man' by John T. Scott. readingreligion.org/978022682550...
- Philip Hollander reviews 'Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical' by Shaul Magid. buff.ly/YgmNtTD
- Sharonda Stith reviews 'The Prophet's Whistle: Late Antique Orality, Literacy, and the Quran' by George Archer. readingreligion.org/9781609389451
- Allen Doyle reviews 'C. S. Lewis on Higher Education: The Pedagogy of Pleasure' by Stewart Goetz. readingreligion.org/9781350355118
- New reviews & essays are live at Reading Religion! * Sugarcane doc review * Essay on voices of resistance *End of Summer reading list *Call for editorial board members 👉 Read more in our newsletter: buff.ly/MYU5IUf
- Joyanna Eisenberg reviews 'Autism and Worship: A Liturgical Theology' by Armand Léon van Ommen. readingreligion.org/9781481319898
- Stephen Young reviews 'Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age' by Felicia Wu Song readingreligion.org/9781666775631
- This searing review of "Sugarcane" by historian Zara Surratt honors the documentary’s radical tenderness, exposing the silence, sorrow, and strength at the heart of Indigenous caretaking. shorturl.at/5196d
- Taylor Denyer reviews 'Reckoning Methodism: Mission and Division in the Public Church' by Darryl W. Stephens readingreligion.org/9781666775631
- "'Sugarcane' doesn’t reopen old wounds—it reveals the ones that never healed.” This searing review by historian Zara Surratt honors the documentary’s radical tenderness, exposing the silence, sorrow, and strength at the heart of Indigenous caretaking. Read the review: shorturl.at/5196d
- Sarah Davis-Secord reviews 'Jewish Muslims: How Christians Imagined Islam as the Enemy' by David M. Freidenreich readingreligion.org/9780520344716
- David Greder reviews 'The Study of Religions in Ireland: Past, Present and Future' by Brendan McNamara (Editor), Hazel O'Brien (Editor) readingreligion.org/9781350291782/
- Ian A. Clark reviews 'Geneva's Use of Lies, Deceit, and Subterfuge, 1536-1563: Telling the Old, Old Story in Reformation France' by Jon Balserak readingreligion.org/9780197672303
