All of the books we recommend are available for the borrowing from the Carol Murdock Scinto Library in the WATER office. Check out librarything.com for our complete collection. We are grateful to the many publishers who send us review copies to promote to the WATER community.
Copeland, M. Shawn. UNCOMMON FAITHFULNESS: THE BLACK CATHOLIC EXPERIENCE. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2009 (228 pages, $26).
A must-read on contemporary Catholicism, this book includes essays by Jamie Phelps, Shawn Copeland, Diana Hayes, and others who bring their theological acumen and their political commitments to an important history.
Copeland, M. Shawn. THE SUBVERSIVE POWER OF LOVE: THE VISION OF HENRIETTE DELILLE. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1989, (85 pages, $9.95).
The life of Henriette Delille, founder of the Sisters of the Holy Family, is told with verve and insight. A religious community for free women of color, the Sisters were in the vanguard of racial inclusivity and women’s empowerment.
Corley, Kathleen E. MARANATHA: WOMEN’S FUNERARY RITUALS AND CHRISTIAN ORIGINS. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2010 (262 pages, $25.55).
Women have always been the ones to deal with death and dying in communities. So it was in the Jesus movement with resurrection at stake.
Isherwood, Lisa. PATRIARCHS, PROPHETS, AND OTHER VILLAINS. London: Equinox Publishing Ltd., 2007 (226 pages, $27.95).
Counter readings of texts with feminist and queer lenses is a productive exercise by a variety of writers including Lisa Isherwood, Marcella Althaus-Reid, Carol P. Christ, and Janet Wooton.
Jantzen,Grace M. VIOLENCE TO ETERNITY: DEATH AND THE DISPLACEMENT OF BEAUTY, VOLUME 2 (Edited by Jeremy Carette and Morny Joy), Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, London and New York, 2009 (250 pages, $37.95). A PLACE OF SPRINGS: DEATH AND THE DISPLACEMENT OF BEAUTY, VOLUME 3 (Edited by Jeremy Carette and Morny Joy), London and New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2010 (218 pages, $87.50).
Thanks to these editors, the final work of the late feminist philosopher Grace Jantzen is now available. How violence took over and beauty took a back seat lies at the heart of this project. Her emphasis on “natality” is exemplified by this “new life” that comes after the premature death of a brilliant and productive scholar.
Kamitsuka, Margaret D. (Editor), THE EMBRACE OF EROS: BODIES, DESIRES, AND SEXUALITY IN CHRISTIANITY. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2010 (356 pages, $22.24).
New readings of traditional sources open the Christian community to previously unimagined richness. These authors, including Laurel Schneider, Serene Jones, and Mark Jordan, leave little doubt that the difficult task of rereading is worth doing. Imagine the bodies that will benefit.
Karkazis, Katrina. FIXING SEX: INTERSEX, MEDICAL AUTHORITY, AND LIVED EXPERIENCE. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2008 (365 pages, $23.95).
Most people know so little about Intersex realities that this primer is a good place to start. The author sees surgery as the last resort, trying instead to make society more open and accepting of human diversity.
Krondorfer, Bjorn. MEN AND MASCULINITIES IN CHRISTIANITY AND JUDIAISM: A CRITICAL READER, London: SCM Press, 2009 (489 pages, $75).
A first, this anthology brings together well chosen essays in which maleness is seen as gendered, not as normative. It contains a conversation that is ongoing but little noticed as men deal with the realities of being human beings who share the world with women. This is a book worth buying and studying in a group.
Miles, Rebekah (Editor). GEORGIA HARKNESS—THE REMAKING OF A LIBERAL THEOLOGIAN: COLLECTED ESSAYS FROM 1929-1942, Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010 (186 pages, $22.80).
Rebekah Miles has done a great service to make these core writings of Georgia Harkness available. Dr. Harkness was among the earliest women theologians, a Methodist champion of women’s ordination, a prolific writer, preacher, and teacher who paved a hard way toward equality.
Murray, Anne Firth. FROM OUTRAGE TO COURAGE: WOMEN TAKING ACTION FOR HEALTH AND JUSTICE. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press, 2008 (311 pages, $24.95).
Global Fund for Women founder Anne Firth Murray knows the world of women. It is a dangerous, fraught place for all of us, especially for young and poor women. This book is a healthy antidote to the multiple problems of sexism, poverty, racism, and the rest.
Pinsky, Dina. JEWISH FEMINISTS: COMPLEX IDENTITIES AND ACTIVIST LIVES. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2010, (168 pages, $20).
This is a compact treatment of the women and men who give feminist Judaism a great name as they reshape a tradition.
Vigen, Aana Marie. WOMEN, ETHICS, AND EQUALITY IN U.S. HEALTHCARE: “TO COUNT AMONG THE LIVING.” New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010 (272 pages, $84.95).
Health care justice for all, especially for poor women, ought to be at the heart of every political conversation. This book puts it there.
Walker, Alice. HARD TIMES REQUIRE FURIOUS DANCING: NEW POEMS. Novato, CA: New World Library, 2010 (184 pages, $18).
Inspired and inspiring poems from a beloved American poet. Alice Walker knows what it takes to keep on going.