nonfiction book review Archives

Does Abortion Harm Women? A Review of The Turnaway Study

November 6, 2022November 5, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

In 2007, Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy, writing the majority opinion upholding a ban on one abortion procedure performed later in pregnancy, seized an opportunity to weigh in on the emotional and mental state of women who have abortions. He wrote, “While we find no reliable data to measure the phenomenon, it seems unexceptionable to conclude some women come to regret their choice to abort the infant life they once created and sustained. Severe depression and loss of esteem can follow.” Clearly, in 2007, there was a serious need for reliable data on the consequences of abortion.
Diana Greene Foster, The Turnaway Study, p. 4

When Christian Nationalists Control the Court: A Review of American Crusade

October 23, 2022October 22, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

If I could summarize Andrew Seidel’s new book American Crusade: How the Supreme Court is Weaponizing Religious Freedom in one word, I would say it is difficult. At times it is difficult to comprehend due to legal jargon (even after the author purposely trimmed the fat, so to speak) but it is immensely difficult to stomach. This was a book I had to read slowly and take plenty of breaks from. It wasn’t a fun book, and it wasn’t intended to be.

It’s Almost Nonfiction November, the Best Time of Year

October 9, 2022April 8, 2023Rebekah Kohlhepp

I am so beyond excited to announce that in a few short weeks, Nonfiction November will be back, and with a brand new host: me!

I participated in Nonfiction November last year in my own quirky way by completing all of the though-provoking prompts in a single post, but in 2022 I’m doing it the way it’s meant to be done, one week at a time. And more than that, I’m hosting week 4!

Book Review: Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez

September 25, 2022September 25, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

Since its release in June 2020, Kristin Kobes du Mez’s Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation has been required reading for anyone seeking to gain a full perspective on the Christian Nationalist movement in the United States and how it got this way.

Book Review: Bodies on the Line by Lauren Rankin

August 7, 2022August 6, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

If there is one good thing that has come out of the fight for abortion rights this year, it is that there are so many great books coming out which tell the story from every angle. Published in April 2022, Lauren Rankin’s Bodies on the Line: At the Front Lines of the Fight to Protect Abortion in America is the go-to book to learn about the unsung heroes of the abortion access movement: clinic escorts.

Book Review: Wrath of Angels by James Risen and Judy Thomas

July 31, 2022July 30, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

In the last month, we have heard countless Republicans and anti-abortion advocates trying to use the recent uptick in vandalism against crisis pregnancy centers as proof that the pro-abortion side is the side of violence. James Risen and Judy Thomas’s 1998 book Wrath of Angels: The American Abortion War blows that entire argument out of the water.

Book Review: Reproductive Justice: An Introduction by Loretta J. Ross and Rickie Solinger

May 8, 2022July 2, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

Everyone knows that access to abortion is a critical human rights issue. The potential overturning of Roe v. Wade is more than unconstitutional, it’s inhumane. An unjust human rights violation. But the worst part? As many activists have said, it’s the floor, not the ceiling, of reproductive justice. That’s where Loretta J. Ross and Rickie Solinger’s Reproductive Justice: An Introduction becomes crucial to understanding what that ceiling might look like.

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: 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.

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).