Here are 56 books that Passing Orders fans have personally recommended if you like
Passing Orders.
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I’m a scholar of religion who was trained in the History of Christianity at Rice University, and I’m endlessly fascinated by the monsters that people create, demons being one of the most often invoked and feared. I’ve been particularly interested in how people make use of ideas of demons throughout history, and much of my teaching and research has revolved around this subject. While I began as a medievalist, the contemporary United States is–believe it or not–equally, if not richer, in its materials on demons. More and more, I find myself drawn to researching the demons that pop up in an unlikely area: politics.
Gagné’s work is specifically focused on the 2016 and 2020 elections and the influence of American Evangelicals on both elections.
One of my favorite things in the book is Gagné’s attention to the different news cycles and how Spiritual Warfare motifs emerge, sometimes in unexpected places. Moreover, he sets the record straight on how some of these same Spiritual Warfare motifs are misunderstood or misrepresented. More often than not, when we wade through the inflammatory, we find something even more terrifying.
This book introduces the American Evangelical movement and the role it played in the support of Donald Trump. Specifically, it focuses on the Neocharismatic-Pentecostal (NCP) leaders, their beliefs, and their political strategies. The author examines why 81% of white evangelicals voted for Trump in 2016, and why he still received between 76% and 81% of their vote in 2020 despite losing the presidency. Additionally, the book discusses how NCP leaders are part of the Christian Right, a religious coalition with a political agenda centered on controversial issues such as anti-abortion activism, opposition to LGBTQ+ rights, and the protection of religious…
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
I’m a scholar of religion who was trained in the History of Christianity at Rice University, and I’m endlessly fascinated by the monsters that people create, demons being one of the most often invoked and feared. I’ve been particularly interested in how people make use of ideas of demons throughout history, and much of my teaching and research has revolved around this subject. While I began as a medievalist, the contemporary United States is–believe it or not–equally, if not richer, in its materials on demons. More and more, I find myself drawn to researching the demons that pop up in an unlikely area: politics.
Weaver provides an overview of an incredibly influential movement, one at which demons are the core. The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) had an outsized influence on the 2016-2024 presidential elections, and I loved Weaver’s thorough and well-researched history of the movement.
Some of the groups that feed into the NAR or the demonology that emerges from them are so wild that you have to read it to believe it. If you want to understand the NAR’s foundations, this book is a must-read!
From Justin Bieber, to Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, to the controversial documentary Jesus Camp (2006), the New Apostolic Reformation's influence can be seen everywhere in mainstream America. Beginning with an examination of the Latter Rain, Church Growth and Shepherding movements, this book explores how the new Reformation has become one of the most powerful movements in modern evangelical Christianity and a major influence on American political and cultural life. The author describes the New Apostolic Reformation's organization, how the movement spread and its national and international objectives.
I’m a scholar of religion who was trained in the History of Christianity at Rice University, and I’m endlessly fascinated by the monsters that people create, demons being one of the most often invoked and feared. I’ve been particularly interested in how people make use of ideas of demons throughout history, and much of my teaching and research has revolved around this subject. While I began as a medievalist, the contemporary United States is–believe it or not–equally, if not richer, in its materials on demons. More and more, I find myself drawn to researching the demons that pop up in an unlikely area: politics.
McCloud digs into ideas of contemporary exorcisms and deliverance ministries but connects them up with truisms in American religion. The result is a solid argument that these are neither the province of “crazy people” on the fringe of the nation and that this movement is growing in popularity.
I particularly loved the material on “spiritual mapping,” a practice in the Third Wave which locates geographic areas of demonic influence.
Stories of contemporary exorcisms are largely met with ridicule, or even hostility. Sean McCloud argues, however, that there are important themes to consider within these narratives of seemingly well-adjusted people--who attend school, go shopping, and watch movies--who also happen to fight demons.
American Possessions examines Third Wave evangelical spiritual warfare, a late twentieth-, early twenty-first century movement of evangelicals focused on banishing demons from human bodies, material objects, land, regions, political parties, and nation states. While Third Wave beliefs may seem far removed from what many scholars view as mainstream religious practice in America, McCloud argues that the movement provides…
A poisonous maiden, a Daoist sex cult, and a violent insurgency.
The polyandrous Yan family in China's rural Shaanxi Province takes in two carpenter brothers. When one brother is convicted of murder after killing their neighbor in a dispute, a constable threatens to expose the family's rumored polyandry and extorts…
I’m a scholar of religion who was trained in the History of Christianity at Rice University, and I’m endlessly fascinated by the monsters that people create, demons being one of the most often invoked and feared. I’ve been particularly interested in how people make use of ideas of demons throughout history, and much of my teaching and research has revolved around this subject. While I began as a medievalist, the contemporary United States is–believe it or not–equally, if not richer, in its materials on demons. More and more, I find myself drawn to researching the demons that pop up in an unlikely area: politics.
This is the culmination of all of the demon-mongering done by groups like the New Apostolic Reformation. So often, we tend to think of demons and politics as not mixing, likely because of our mistaken belief about our ability to divorce religion from politics.
Taylor attentively shows how the NAR’s focus on demons and spiritual warfare led to leaders in the group being present at the January 6th insurrection. This was not the result of a well-played conspiracy of actors but rather one that grew organically out of the kind of glorification of violent ideology that placed Spiritual Warfare at the center of the movement.
"Required reading for anyone seeking to understand Christian nationalism." ―Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author of Jesus and John Wayne
A propulsive account of the network of charismatic Christians that consolidated support for Donald Trump and is reshaping religion and politics in the US.
Over the last decade, the Religious Right has evolved. Some of the more extreme beliefs of American evangelicalism have begun to take hold in the mainstream. Scholar Matthew D. Taylor pulls back the curtain on a little-known movement of evangelical Christians who see themselves waging spiritual battles on a massive scale. Known as the New Apostolic Reformation,…
I have been fascinated by the relationship between Christianity and the United States for decades. Much of my work in the area of Christian nationalism is the result of my personal religious history and experiences, as well as my work as a social scientist. I’ve always been fascinated by how religion influences and is influenced by its social context. Christian nationalism in the US is a clear example of how influential religious ideologies can be in our social world.
While history is important for showing us how we got to where we are, social science is indispensable in helping us understand what exactly is going on around us today.
This book is a must-read for those who want to know how Christian nationalism threatens democracy. The authors conclusively demonstrate the various anti-democratic beliefs and values held by Americans who strongly embrace Christian nationalism.
January 6th wasn’t an aberration, and this book helps us understand the threat we still face.
A bracing examination of a force that imperils American democracy
Most Americans were shocked by the violence they witnessed at the nation's Capital on January 6th, 2021. And many were bewildered by the images displayed by the insurrectionists: a wooden cross and wooden gallows; "Jesus saves" and "Don't Tread on Me;" Christian flags and Confederate Flags; even a prayer in Jesus' name after storming the Senate chamber. Where some saw a confusing jumble, Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry saw a familiar ideology: white Christian nationalism.
In this short primer, Gorski and Perry explain what white Christian nationalism is…
I grew up in New York City in the 1980s as an Arab Latina American Muslim, which shaped my interest in who is considered American. Back then, there was no language to talk about my experience of marginalization as Arab or Muslim. That changed after 9/11 and the War on Terror. A decade after that, the term “Islamophobia” entered the US lexicon, leading to social recognition of this form of discrimination, and many important debates about what constitutes Islamophobia. I made my career exploring how Arabs and Muslims figure into US racial politics, and am currently a professor of US Ethnic Studies at the University of Southern California.
Did you know that anti-Muslim racism and white supremacy are interrelated?
Razack’s book helps us understand why Islamophobia should be understood as a form of racism rather than religious discrimination. She powerfully shows that anti-Muslim racism is not unique to the political right and does not always take overt forms like “the Muslim ban.” Rather, it can manifest in liberal commitments to Western values of democracy, secularism, and women’s rights.
Razack argues that “anti-Muslim feelings” uphold infrastructures of white supremacy and laws that authorize racial violence.
How Western nations have consolidated their whiteness through the figure of the Muslim in the post-9/11 world
While much has been written about post-9/11 anti-Muslim racism (often termed Islamophobia), insufficient attention has been given to how anti-Muslim racism operates through law and is a vital part of law's protection of whiteness. This book fills this gap while also providing a unique new global perspective on white supremacy. Sherene H. Razack, a leading critical race and feminist scholar, takes an innovative approach by situating law within media discourses and historical and contemporary realities. We may think of law as logical,…
Big Ideas... For Small Businesses
by
John Lamerton,
Big Ideas… for Small Businesses is a straight-talking, no-nonsense guide to growing a small business without sacrificing your lifestyle. Written by a former civil servant turned entrepreneur, the book challenges hustle culture and instead champions the idea of an "ambitious lifestyle business" - one that provides freedom and financial stability,…
I’ve spent the past ten years reporting and writing true crime narratives about teenagers and hate, first in The 57 Bus and now in Accountable. My research has led me into some fascinating places and has left me convinced that we cannot prevent what we don’t understand. In both books I found that the young people who harmed others weren’t the stereotypical grimacing loners I’d always associated with hate and extremism. Instead, they were imitating behaviors that we see all around us. Being young, with brains that aren’t fully developed in important ways, and lacking the life experience that teaches us a more nuanced understanding of the world, they are ripe for radicalization.
Saslow tells the true story of a white nationalist’s journey out of extremism with the help of some very unlikely allies, one of whom is Jewish.
It’s both a compelling page-turner and an ethical conundrum. What is the best way to respond to the scion of one of the nation’s most influential white nationalist and neo-Nazi families? I found it riveting, revealing, and disturbing, but also moving and uplifting.
From a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, the powerful story of how a prominent white supremacist changed his heart and mind. This is a book to help us understand the American moment and to help us better understand one another.
“Rising Out of Hatred proclaims if the successor to the white nationalist movement can forsake his ideological upbringing, can rebirth himself in antiracism, then we can too no matter the personal cost. This book is an inspiration.” —Ibram X. Kendi, bestselling author of How to Be An Antiracist
Derek Black grew up at the epicenter of white nationalism. His father founded Stormfront,…
When I was a kid in the 80s the superhero comics I was obsessed with were beginning to deal with the real world in a new way. And their creators were beginning to push and pull at the boundaries of the medium with a new spirit of play and provocation. I still love comics that seriously deal with real life – its complexities and its profound weirdness – and that push the medium in new directions and reckon with its history. I also want to be absorbed and moved and to identify intently with characters. It’s what I try to do in my own work, and what I look for in that of others.
This book is, to me, one of the true weird masterpieces of human imagination.
It is one of the things that made me want to make comics in the first place, that expanded my idea of what comics and storytelling could do. It’s deeply weird, extremely unsettling, dark, funny, and, at times, a little offensive. And it is unlike anything you will ever read anywhere else for the rest of your life.
One of its delights is how clear it is at the beginning that the author didn’t know what he was getting into when he started. He just followed his imagination, trusting completely, and ended up with something grand and unique. And none of his work after this is anything like it. Which is probably for the best.
A LONG-OUT-OF-PRINT CLASIC BY A MASTER OF UNDERGROUND COMICS
In the late 1980s, the idiosyncratic Chester Brown (author of the muchlauded Paying for It and Louis Riel) began writing the cult classic comic book series Yummy Fur. Within its pages, he serialized the groundbreaking Ed the Happy Clown, revealing a macabre universe of parallel dimensions. Thanks to its wholly original yet disturbing story lines, Ed set the stage for Brown to become a world-renowned cartoonist.
Ed the Happy Clown is a hallucinatory tale that functions simultaneously as a dark roller-coaster ride of criminal activity and a scathing condemnation of religious…
I'm an author, thought leader, activist, dreamer, and entrepreneur with a passion for change. I believe that creativity and imagination can lift anyone from where they are and usher them into destiny. Stories are a core part of human evolution, which means that stories have the power to change us inside and out. Growing up, I didn't see myself represented in the books and stories around me. I'm passionate about writing fantasy, sci-fi, whimsical tales, and historical action fiction because I believe that by telling our stories, we can help those who have limited opportunities see the world of possibilities and inspire them to dream and create their own magic in this world.
The world-building in Rena Barron's brilliant tale of African magic, bloodlines, and religion is exceptional. Far from a light and fluffy read, this novel addresses some very serious topics wrapped in hope and the pursuit of good. It is action-filled with twists and turns around every corner. This book will grab you and pull you in with its thrilling mystery and challenge you with its themes of darkness, secrets, and betrayal. Her despair, as well as her sincere quest for truth and redemption, won my heart.
Explosive fantasy set in a West African world of magic and legend, where one girl must sacrifice her life, year by year, to gain the power necessary to live up to the expectations of the mother she has never been good enough for.
Perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas, Tomi Adeyemi and Black Panther
There's magic in her blood.
Arrah is a young woman from a long line of the most powerful witch doctors in the land. But she fails at magic, fails to call upon the ancestors and can't even cast the simplest curse.
The problem is not with the actions young women take but with the toxic, sexist conditions they are responding to.
Tanenbaum found, based on six years of interviews with young people ages 14-30, that young women are navigating a culture littered with gendered dress codes, revenge porn, and sexually explicit…
I’ve always loved reading young adult fantasy books with forbidden romance and lush worldbuilding and classic fairytale elements like princesses, dancing, pretty clothes, and delicious food spreads. All these books offer fresh takes and twists, and tug at your heartstrings with the angst, the betrayals, the secrets, and the love. These are all immersive stories that transport you far away, to a different time, to a different land, which is exactly what you need sometimes to get away from this world and its craziness.
Nyx will do anything to save her people, including marrying the terrible Ignifex, the evil ruler of her kingdom. But there is more to Ignifex than she initially imagined, and as Nyx falls in love with him, she fights to find a way to save both her people and her love. This book portrays such fun banter between Nyx and Ignifex and poses a truly difficult riddle that is bound to break your heart.
If you're excited about the upcoming Disney film Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson, don't miss Cruel Beauty. The romance of Beauty and the Beast meets the adventure of Graceling in this dazzling fantasy novel about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny. Perfect for fans of bestselling An Ember in the Ashes and A Court of Thorns and Roses, this gorgeously written debut infuses the classic fairy tale with glittering magic, a feisty heroine, and a romance sure to take your breath away. Betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom, Nyx has always known…
