Liz Cooledge Jenkins

Category: Stuff I’m Reading

  • Equal partnership: what’s in it for men?

    Hi friends, A few weeks ago, I facilitated a book discussion with the college alumni group I’m a part of, on a book called Equal Partners: Improving Gender Equality at Home. We talked about all sorts of things that the book covers, like the idea of cognitive labor, parenting and mothering as an equal partner,…

  • Shiny and Happy

    Hi friends, I’ve been continuing to watch all the recent evangelicalism exposé documentaries. It’s a lot. I’m talking The Secrets of Hillsong (some reflections here and here). I’m talking God Forbid (on the Falwells, yikes). And I’m talking Shiny Happy People (on the Duggars, Gothard, and IBLP). This week, I wanted to share a few…

  • The (Not-So-Secret?) Secrets of Hillsong

    Hi friends, Did anyone else watch The Secrets of Hillsong documentary series recently? I did, and I have a few thoughts. I’d love to hear yours too if you watched it—whether they’re similar to mine or quite different! I don’t know if “enjoyed” is quite the right word, but I certainly found the documentary morbidly…

  • No really, you don’t have to stay

    Hi friends, This week I’d like to direct your attention to a recent blog post by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes. I read this a few days ago, and it has stuck with me. Dr. Chanequa compares the logic of those who try to tell people they should keep going to church with the logic of those…

  • Mental health in a bonkers world

    Hi friends, This week, I’d like to offer you a reflection from musician, author, and activist Andre Henry: Why Therapy Isn’t Enough, I Need a Revolution. I’d encourage you to read it, and I’d love to hear what you think. I often find myself thinking some similar thoughts. I think about how many of my…

  • Totally biased fave reads of 2022 (nonfiction)

    Happy 2023, friends. Last week I spent a little time reflecting on some of my personal favorite fiction books from 2022. Now it’s nonfiction o’clock.  Same caveats as last week: I make no claims to know what the “best books of 2022” were. I’m just here to share what I read and liked in the…

  • Totally biased fave reads of 2022 (fiction)

    Hi friends, Well, it’s that time of year. The time when every magazine, newspaper, website, and blogger published their “best x books of 2022” list, like, two months ago.  (How do you even know until the year actually ends? What about the books that get published in November and December? Are they destined to be…

  • Super chill book review part 2: The Will to Change (bell hooks)

    This is part 2 (of 2) of some reflections on bell hooks’ The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. Here’s part 1 if you missed it or want a refresher.  The Will to Change was also very much on my mind as I was writing this essay, posted yesterday at Feminism & Religion: The…

  • Super chill book review part 1: The Will to Change (bell hooks)

    I started reflecting on bell hooks’ The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love (Washington Square Press, 2004), and it got kind of long. So, here’s part 1!  In all the “super chill book reviews” I’ve done so far (and I believe I’ve done twenty now in total—check ‘em out here if you like), I…

  • Super chill book review: Atlas of the Heart (Brene Brown)

    Given how long it took to get a copy—that is, one of 114 copies—of Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart (Random House 2021) from the local library system, I’m going to venture a guess that rather a lot of people are reading it or have read it recently.  (Also, it’s a TV series? I haven’t…