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Spirituality and Religion July 2020
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Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife by Bart D. Ehrman What it is: an accessible and thought-provoking look at historical conceptions of heaven and hell across continents, cultures, and faiths.
Topics include: the Epic of Gilgamesh, Homeric Hades, Plato's views on the idea of an immortal soul, and what the Bible actually says about the afterlife.
About the author: Noted biblical scholar Bart D. Ehrman is the author of numerous books about early Christianity, including Misquoting Jesus and Jesus Before the Gospels. | |
Untag me: The Subtle Art of Appearing Better Than You Really Are
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John Crist
What to expect: A rising star in the comedy world explores the baffling contrast between social-media identities and their human realities, describing the haphazard and cringe-worthy truths about his McDonald’s consumption, hairline touch-ups and reality show binging.
What it's about: There's always been a gap between who we really are and who we pretend to be. But the social media and selfie generation, the online and IRL era has only intensified this reality. We take filtered pictures of our kale salads, but hide our late-night fast food runs. We post about our upmarket podcasts, but carefully obscure our reality TV show habits.
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Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots
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Deborah Feldman
What it is: The instant New York Times bestselling memoir of a young Jewish woman’s escape from a religious sect, featuring a new epilogue by the author.
What Happens: Trapped as a teenager in a sexually and emotionally dysfunctional marriage to a man she barely knew, the tension between Deborah’s desires and her responsibilities as a good Satmar girl grew more explosive until she gave birth at nineteen and realized that, for the sake of herself and her son, she had to escape.
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Joan of Arc: A History by Helen Castor What it's about: the life and legend of Joan of Arc, the devout peasant girl who galvanized a divided France to defeat their English occupiers and later became a Catholic saint.
What sets it apart: rather than a biography, this history of the Hundred Years' War examines the "Maid of Orléans" as a social force, from the circumstances that allowed for her ascent to the later attempts to control her legacy. | | Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution by Mona Eltahawy What it is: a well-researched, impassioned critique of difficulties faced by women in parts of the Arab world, with an exploration of their social and religious origins and the continued efforts of women to advocate for themselves.
Is it for you? Egyptian-American author Mona Eltahawy isn't afraid to discuss distressing topics in depth, from her own experiences with sexual harassment and assault to the difficult-to-eradicate practice of genital mutulation. | | The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem by Stacy Schiff What it's about: the road to and fallout of the notorious witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.
Read it for: the analysis of the social, political and religious forces that created the perfect circumstances for paranoia and superstition to spiral out of control.
Author alert: Guggenheim fellow and Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff has also written biographies of historical and cultural notables such as Cleopatra, Vera Nabokov, Benjamin Franklin, and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. | |
Contact your librarian for more great books!
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