Reading Religion

For nearly a decade, Reading Religion has served as a scholarly and public resource for reviews of books, films, and review essays in religious studies.

Thank you to the editors, reviewers, authors, publishers, and readers whose care and labor sustained this work.

After careful consideration, the American Academy of Religion has decided that Reading Religion will cease operations on May 31, 2026.

Reviews will continue through May, after which the site will become a public archive.

With gratitude.

Official Statement: buff.ly/DYwZsam

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

Four Books to Change Your Thinking About South Asian Religions - Reading Religion By Anne Murphy There are times in a career when work in the field stops you in your tracks. With this “Four Books” installment, I’d like to present two

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

Animated image of the K-pop trio HUNTR/X—Rumi, Mira, and Zoey—standing in dynamic poses with glowing weapons, against a purple and blue stage backdrop filled with light trails from K-Pop Demon Hunters.

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

Negative Natural Theology - Reading Religion How can we live in harmony with the universe, and not just in it? What is it to feel at home in the world?Some thinkers who feel the force of these questions...

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...

Hispanic Heritage Month Reading List - AAR Some Suggested Titles from AAR's Reading Religion Reading Religion is an openly accessible book review website published by the American Academy of Religion. The site provides up-to-date coverage of…

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