About

Reading Religion (RR) is an openly accessible book review website published by the American Academy of Religion (AAR). The site provides up-to-date coverage of scholarly publishing in religious studies, reviewed by scholars with special interest and/or expertise in the relevant subfields. Reviews are concise, comprehensive, and timely. Reading Religion was established in 2016 under the leadership of founding editor Cynthia Eller.

These are the members of our editorial board.

Reviewers do not need to be members of the AAR or be professional religious studies scholars. Indeed, we welcome reviewers from diverse fields and viewpoints who engage with the topic of religion. Graduate students may review books for RR, but we do expect that reviewers will have done advanced academic work on religion, either in a religious studies department or a related field. Individuals may review one book at a time, and up to six titles per year. See Reading Religion Book Review Guidelines for further information.

Reviewers can find the Reading Religion Style Guide (last updated March 16, 2023) here.

For reviews of books on biblical studies, please visit the Society of Biblical Literature’s Review of Biblical Literature website.

Book reviewers, authors, and editorial correspondence are subject to the American Academy of Religion’s Professional Conduct Policy and the Professional Conduct Procedures.


Searching for books on Reading Religion

On all pages except Reviewed, books are displayed newest first, sorted by publication date. On the Reviewed page, books are displayed newest first, sorted by review date.

Use the Search box in the top menu to search for authors, editors, reviewers, keywords, publishers, and more. Books can also be searched via the Browse Books utility in the top menu, where search may be filtered by review status (available for review, review coming soon, reviewed), subject, and authors.


Contact

We are always happy to hear suggestions for improvements to RR: books we should review or features we might add that would make the site more useful to you. Get in touch with us at readingreligion@aarweb.org. All editorial correspondence should be sent to the same address.

Publishers may send an email to readingreligion@aarweb.org or send books for review in Reading Religion to:

Reading Religion
825 Houston Mill Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30329

RR does not guarantee the posting or review of any books received.

If you are interested in reviewing books for RR but have no particular title in mind to review, please complete this form and tell us about your areas of expertise. Your profile will go into our database where we can find you (and others) when searching for reviewers with specific interests. If you want to move more quickly into reviewing for RR, simply find a book you are interested in reviewing, and click the link to volunteer to review it.

Senior Editor: Kimberly Davis, American Academy of Religion
Publications Coordinator: Evan Sandsmark, American Academy of Religion


The American Academy of Religion, founded in 1909, is the world’s largest association of academics who research or teach topics related to religion. With some 9,000 members in North America and abroad, its purpose is to (1) promote understanding of and critical reflection on religious traditions, issues, questions, values, texts, practices, and institutions; and (2) serve the professional interests of members, students, teachers, scholars, and the wider public. Join today!