Ahmed, Leila. A QUIET REVOLUTION: THE VEIL’S RESURGENCE, FROM THE MIDDLE EAST TO AMERICA. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012. (360 PAGES, $22.00)

Leila Ahmed explores the shifting discourses surrounding Egyptian encounters with European conceptions of modernity with specific regard to expressions of gender and sexuality. In this thorough excavation of the religious, historical, and political dimensions of veiling practices from 1900 to the present, she provides an invaluable contribution to the ongoing task of unraveling androcentric narratives.

Bacon, Hannah WHAT’S RIGHT WITH THE TRINITY? CONVERSATIONS IN FEMINIST THEOLOGY. Surrey, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2009 (237 pages,  £65.00)

Many feminist scholars have rejected traditional notions of Atonement, Trinity and suffering as androcentric and adversely affecting real women’s lives. Engaging Irigaray, Barth, and Schliermacher, Hannah Bacon develops a robust feminist methodology, which she calls a “generous orthodoxy.” Hers is an articulate cross-section of several contemporary debates, Reframing Trinity in terms of ultimate feminist subjectivity and relationality.

Claassens, L. Juliana M. MOURNER, MOTHER, MIDWIFE: REIMAGINING GOD’S DELIVERING PRESENCE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2012. (116 pages, $20.30).

This useful study highlights biblical texts that portray the Divine outside the typical male roles of liberator-warrior. Rather, God is a mourner, mother, and midwife, a being who is willing to weep with and for us. Juliana Claassens offers powerful metaphors and exciting new opportunities for both biblical scholarship and pastoral care.

Coleman, Monica A, Nancy R. Howell, and Helene T. Russell. CREATING WOMEN’S THEOLOGY: A MOVEMENT ENGAGING PROCESS THOUGHT. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2011 (274 pages, $30).

Written in an accessible form, this work introduces and celebrates “process-relational feminist theology” and method, its many intersectionalities and voices. The work is a broad, creative resource for instructors and students alike with short chapters, insightful commentaries, and study questions.

Fiorenza, Elisabeth Schüssler. CHANGING HORIZONS: EXPLORATIONS IN FEMINIST INTERPRETATION. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2013. (264 pages, $39.54).

Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza charts the shifting landscape of emancipatory struggles within the vibrant field of biblical studies and beyond. Scholarly self-reflection, critical consciousness, and concrete praxis make this volume a must-read that is accessible to the seasoned scholar and newcomer alike.

Heyward, Carter and Janine Lehane, Editors, THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME: THE WRITINGS OF SUZANNE HIATT. New York: Seabury Books, 2014 (197 pages, $18).

Published as part of the celebration of the 40^th anniversary of Episcopal women priests, Suzanne Hiatt’s work is the intellectual/spiritual foundation of that movement. Her sermons, lectures, and notes are replete with wisdom; her advice to women priests to transform rather than conform to ecclesial ways remains sage. This collection, with Prologue by Carter Heyward, captures the heart and mind of a pivotal figure in church history.

Kautzer, Kathleen. The Underground Church: Nonviolent Resistance to the Vatican Empire. Leiden, The Netherlands and Boston, MA: Koninklijke Brill, 2012 (362 pages, $163). 

An extensive study of the methods and progress of post-Vatican II reform movements, this is a key historical resource about a critical period in church history. Attention: seekers struggling with the institutional Roman Catholic Church- get your library to order this.

Kittle, Phyllis M. STAYING IN THE FIRE: A SISTERHOOD RESPONDS TO VATICAN II. Boulder, CO: WovenWord Press, 2009. (388 pages, $5).

Vatican II transformed many women. This oral history of forty Sisters of the Precious Blood of Dayton, Ohio, as they moved from “living in common to a ‘Living Community’” is a great example of the process. It makes for a fascinating look at American women religious in their own words, useful for those who lived the changes and others who will learn from them.

Silverman, Emily Leah, Dirk Von Der Horst, and Whitney Bauman. VOICES OF FEMINIST LIBERATION: WRITINGS IN CELEBRATION OF ROSEMARY RADFORD RUETHER. Sheffield: Equinox Publishing Limited, 2012. (256 pages, $94.95).

This festschrift for Rosemary Radford Ruther written by fourteen of her doctoral students probes the intersections of feminism, religion, and progressive politics. Her students continue her efforts to name sexism, reclaim lost history, and create new spaces. They push the bounds of liberation through engaging theological dialogue, postcolonial resistance, and ecofeminism.