Ahmed, Sara. LIVING A FEMINIST LIFE. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2017(312 pages, $26.95).

For anyone looking to understand contemporary feminist theory, this book is for you. Drawing mainly on the scholarship of feminists of color, Ahmed brings critical theory to life through practical examples and personal experience. This is an essential toolkit for building a feminist consciousness, practicing feminism, and surviving life as a “feminist killjoy.” bell hooks couldn’t put it down.

Ali, Kecia. HUMAN IN DEATH: MORALITY AND MORTALITY IN J.D. ROBB’S NOVELS. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2017 (196 pages, $29.95).

World-class religion scholar Dr. Kecia Ali trains her critical skills on the futuristic novels of the In Death series by J.D. Robb, AKA Nora Roberts. She lays out ethical struggles that endure fifty years hence, providing a useful map through the material and life. As a scholar, Ali models how “Reading thoughtfully can serve as a precursor to and adjunct to living thoughtfully.” (p. 121)

Collins, Patricia Hill. ON INTELLECTUAL ACTIVISM. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2013 (254 pages, $26.95).

These essays and interviews by a distinguished sociologist and feminist theorist are just what the doctor ordered for current challenges. Read separately or as a whole, Dr. Collins’ work reflects the careful scrutiny and insightful analysis of a thoroughly engaged scholar, a deeply informed activist. As such, it is a signal text for conversation and study.

De Souza, Barbara Mosley. WHEN SLEEPING WOMEN AWAKE, MOUNTAINS WILL MOVE. St. Louis, MO: Lucas Park Books, 2017 (271 pages, $19.99).

Barbara tells her own story and that of so many women in Brasil whose lives touched hers and vice versa as she encouraged physical and spiritual health. She is a minister’s minister, one of the generation of women who found their way to church work because it provided a structure for supporting people in inhospitable times. This collective memoir is a chapter in church history.

Lee, HyoJu. REDEEMING SINGLENESS: POSTMODERN PASTORAL CARE AND COUNSELING FOR NEVER-MARRIED SINGLE WOMEN. Eugene, OR; Wipf & Stock, 2017 (157 pages, $21).

Some Korean women are pushed to the margins of Korean churches. Lee advocates for empowerment and full inclusion of single women through postmodern pastoral care, creating impact beyond the women’s lives into the greater faith community and the world. Her work has useful implications for the inclusion of other marginalized groups through similar research, practical theology, and pastoral care.

Markey, Eileen: A RADICAL FAITH: THE ASSASSINATION OF SISTER MAURA. New York, NY: Nation Books, 2016 (336 pages, $26.99).

Eileen Markey’s gripping narrative of the 1980 assassination of Maryknoll Sister Maura Clarke in El Salvador is a must read. It is not only a vivid portrayal of Maura Clarke’s compassion and dedication to her faith, but also a brilliant outline of the historical and political contexts that led to her untimely death. Maura’s story of courage, selflessness, and spiritual will in the face of violence is history, politics, and religion personified.

Orbeck-Nilssen, Constance, story. Akin Duzakin, illustrator. WHY AM I HERE? Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2016 (32 pages, $16).

Good luck with questions that these Norwegian author and illustrator raise so gently. Why some are immigrants, others survivors of war, some live in the forest, while others float on icebergs are complex matters. We simply don’t know finally, but children can learn to live as fully themselves with questions.

Rich, Adrienne. COLLECTED POEMS 1950-2012. Introduction by Claudia Rankine. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2016 (1164 pages, $50).

Sixty years of poetry in a single volume is a gift worth savoring, dipping into, sharing, citing, savoring some more. Adrienne Rich is a chronicler, muse, spirit, experimenter, guide for contemporary feminism. She writes it all with verve. Also re-released separately is her first volume of poetry, A CHANGE OF WORLD (1951), which she wrote while in college. It is all still stunning.

Thistlethwaite, Susan Brooks. #OCCUPY THE BIBLE: WHAT JESUS REALLY SAID (AND DID) ABOUT MONEY AND POWER. Eugene, OR; Wipf & Stock, 2012 (132 pages, $16).

Worth reading to refresh on the basics and refute the ridiculous charges of the Ayn Rand types who miss the point. As times get tougher for the poor, resources like this provide ballast and balance.