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Posts tagged with ‘Religion and Spirituality’

WHERE THE JEWS AREN’T by Masha Gessen

December 16, 2016

“THE WORST GOOD IDEA ever”—brilliant, cynical history of the USSR’s ill-fated Jewish Autonomous Region.

Grade: A MINUS

WHERE THE JEWS AREN'T: THE SAD AND ABSURD STORY OF BIROBIDZHAN, RUSSIA'S JEWISH AUTONOMOUS REGION
Knopf Doubleday
2016

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VILLAGE ATHEISTS: HOW AMERICA’S UNBELIEVERS MADE THEIR WAY IN A GODLY NATION by Leigh Eric Schmidt

November 23, 2016

HOW “VILLAGE ATHEISTS” built a free-thought movement in the 19th century US. Absolutely engaging history!

Grade: A MINUS

VILLAGE ATHEISTS: HOW AMERICA'S UNBELIEVERS MADE THEIR WAY IN A GODLY NATION
Princeton University Press
2016

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GREETINGS FROM UTOPIA PARK: SURVIVING A TRANSCENDENT CHILDHOOD by Claire Hoffman

August 3, 2016

FASCINATING, THOUGHTFUL MEMOIR of a childhood spent in the Transcendental Meditation community in Iowa. B PLUS

GREETINGS FROM UTOPIA PARK: SURVIVING A TRANSCENDENT CHILDHOOD
HarperCollins
2016

Grade: B PLUS

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CUT ME LOOSE by Leah Vincent

April 16, 2014

THE HEARTBREAKS, EXHILARATIONS of one woman’s journey from an ultra-Orthodox childhood to a more secular life. B PLUS

CUT ME LOOSE : SIN AND SALVATION AFTER MY ULTRA-ORTHODOX GIRLHOOD
Nan A. Talese
2014

Grade: B PLUS

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SEARCHING FOR ZION, by Emily Raboteau

May 24, 2013

SEEKING A “PROMISED LAND” in Israel, Africa, and the US South, a writer looks compellingly at race and faith.

Grade: B PLUS

SEARCHING FOR ZION: THE QUEST FOR HOME IN THE AFRICAN DIASPORA
Grove/Atlantic
2013

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MAY I BE HAPPY, by Cyndi Lee

May 20, 2013

A YOGA TEACHER, BUDDHIST practitioner shares thoughts for women on making peace with body and mind. Candid!

Grade: B MINUS

MAY I BE HAPPY: A MEMOIR OF LOVE, YOGA, AND CHANGING MY MIND
Dutton
2013

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HEAVEN ON EARTH, by Sadakat Kadri

December 17, 2012

ENGAGING AND ENLIGHTENING HISTORY of Islam’s shari’a law, from its earliest days to the present moment.

Grade: A MINUS

HEAVEN ON EARTH: A JOURNEY THROUGH SHARI'A LAW FROM THE DESERTS OF ANCIENT ARABIA TO THE STREETS OF THE MODERN MUSLIM WORLD
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
2012

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DOES THIS CHURCH MAKE ME LOOK FAT? by Rhoda Janzen

November 15, 2012

CHARMING, OPEN-HEARTED MEMOIR of a writer’s new marriage, religious reawakening, and breast cancer experience.

Grade: SOLID B

DOES THIS CHURCH MAKE ME LOOK FAT? A MENNONITE FINDS FAITH, MEETS MR. RIGHT, AND SOLVES HER LADY PROBLEMS
Grand Central
2012

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A SENSE OF DIRECTION, by Gideon Lewis-Kraus

November 2, 2012

A YOUNG US WRITER’S memoir of three pilgrimages (including the famed Camino de Santiago) has wit, lacks oomph.

Grade: B MINUS

A SENSE OF DIRECTION: PILGRIMAGE FOR THE RESTLESS AND THE HOPEFUL
Penguin
2012

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OUR LADY OF ALICE BHATTI, by Mohammed Hanif

November 1, 2012

THE HARDSCRABBLE WORLD of Pakistan’s “untouchable” Christians is the setting for this vividly imagined novel.

Grade: SOLID B

OUR LADY OF ALICE BHATTI
Knopf Doubleday
2012

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