Books Archives

Was Tammy Faye a Good Person?

April 17, 2022November 12, 2023Rebekah Kohlhepp

On September 21st, 2021 at 10:42 pm, I received a text from a friend.

“Do you want to see the new Tammy Faye movie sometime?”

I had no idea who or what that was, so I Googled it and immediately texted back, “Yes!”

Book Review: The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr

March 20, 2022September 4, 2023Rebekah Kohlhepp

For the past few years, I have been inching closer to Progressive Christianity. Before you ask, I’m not going to become a Christian. However, since exiting my Angry Atheist phase, I’ve felt confident and curious enough to explore who Progressive Christians are and what they believe.

Book Review: Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts

March 13, 2022March 12, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

When you think of reproductive rights, what comes to mind? I’d bet you thought of the right to a safe and legal abortion. At least I hope you did, because that’s a central part of reproductive liberty. Before I read Dorothy Roberts’ Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty, I perceived reproductive freedom as the ability to get safe and effective birth control, age-appropriate sex education, and reproductive healthcare, which includes abortion. However, for over a hundred years, poor Black women have viewed reproductive justice as much more than just abortion rights.

Book Comparison: Two Brief Introductions to Human Evolution

February 20, 2022September 5, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

Imagine that you’re standing in a bookstore or library. You want to learn about human evolution, but you don’t know where to start. You don’t want anything complicated; you just want to know the basics and to find out if it’s an interesting topic. You’re down to two books: either Bernard Wood’s Human Evolution: A Very Short Introduction (or A Brief Insight) or Silvana Condemi and François Savatier’s A Pocket History of Human Evolution: How We Became Sapiens. Which do you choose?

Book Review: The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler

February 13, 2022April 30, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

No matter what I say about this book, it won’t be enough. It would be a lot quicker for me to just tell you to read it for yourself, but in this review I will try my best to explain why.

My 2022 Nonfiction Bookshelf Update

January 30, 2022September 4, 2023Rebekah Kohlhepp

While my book collection has been constantly changing, it has been a while since I’ve posted an update on it. This is the perfect time to share my bookshelf with you since I actually just got a brand new one! Plus, there’s an exciting surprise at the end of this post.

Book Review: God’s Philosophers by James Hannam

December 26, 2021August 13, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

As I continue to examine the myths the circulate in the atheist community, it was inevitable that I would come across, and have my eyes opened by, God’s Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science by James Hannam (which in the US goes by the title The Genesis of Science: How the Christian Middle Ages Launched the Scientific Revolution).

Jólabókaflóð: The Icelandic Christmas Tradition for Book Lovers

December 19, 2021December 18, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

Thanks to a tweet from IndieBound a couple of months ago, I discovered Jólabókaflóð (yola-boka-flot), which translates to “Yule Book Flood.” It’s the Icelandic tradition of exchanging books on Christmas Eve and reading them late into the night while enjoying hot chocolate, and I knew I wanted to be a part of it.

Book Review: The Last Stargazers by Emily Levesque

November 28, 2021November 27, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

Last weekend, I was supposed to be at the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s 2021 National Convention in Boston. It would have been my first freethought conference ever. I had every second of our two days in Boston planned, down to dinner reservations, outfits, and bookstores. The five books I wanted signed were packed in my backpack, and my nails were even painted galaxy to be on-theme (even if no one noticed but me).

36 Crucial Quotes from Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist

November 21, 2021November 16, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

If you have read Ibram X. Kendi’s bestseller How to Be an Antiracist, then you know that it is an absolute must-read. Kendi clearly explains why and how racism is sustained—and how it affects every group of people in dozens of intersecting ways—and he uses these facts to demonstrate how to dismantle it. While I definitely recommend that you read the entire book, here are some of my favorite quotes.