Bookshelf: too many books cross our desk to review them all. What follows is a list of new books that bear noting.

Abortion Politics, Women's Movements, and the Democratic State: A Comparative Study of State Feminism. (Oxford University Press, 2001, 328 pp.) edited by Dorothy McBride Stetson.

This book presents the findings of a cross-national longitudinal study designed to explore the impact of women's movements on abortion policy. By following policy debates in eleven advanced industrial democracies from 1960 through the 1990s, the researchers analyzed the movements' ability to increase both democratic representation and achieve their policy goals.

American Catholics Through the Twentieth Century: Spirituality, Lay Experience and Public Life. (Crossroad, 2001, 212 pp.) by Claire E. Wolfteich.

Seeking to explain the challenges facing the layperson struggling to act on Christian principles in the modern world, Wolfteich studies the lives of prominent 20th century Catholics in order to discern how these individuals lived their faith in their daily activities.

Beggars and Choosers: How the Politics of Choice Shapes Adoption, Abortion and Welfare in the United States. (Hill & Wang, 2001, 290 pp.) by Rickie Solinger.

Solinger argues that feminists need to shift their strategy away from the concept of choice, which creates a marketplace notion of freedom, to rights, which are inalienable human entitlements. The emphasis on choice, she insists, was used by the federal government to absolve itself of responsibility for providing reproductive technology, access to abortion, or other important resources, especially to minorities and poor women.

Catholic Women's Colleges in America. (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002, 439 pp.) edited by Tracy Schier and Cynthia Russett.

This work offers the first comprehensive account of the more than 150 U.S. colleges founded by nuns. The authors provide a detailed history of the opening of these institutions, including the original goals and methods of the founders, and trace the organizational changes that occurred in the wake of the social and religious upheavals of the 1960s.

Sacred Places, Civic Purposes: Should Government Help Faith-Based Charity? (Brookings Institution Press, 2001, 354 pp.) edited by E.J. Dionne Jr. and Ming Hsu Chen.

This collection of essays examines the link between government and religious institutions. It explores the behavior of faith-based groups and the government's involvement in their activities, assessing the costs and benefits of government participation.

Video: Clergy Sex Abuse in the Roman Catholic Church: Prevention, Healing and Transformation (a special program from GodTalk--an interfaith television show, www.godtalktv.org) produced by Dr. Bridget Mary Meehan.

A panel of leading sexual abuse experts discuss the steps the church can take to prevent, heal and transform the clergy sex abuse tragedy. To purchase a copy, send a check or money order for $23.45 payable to GodTalk Foundation to: GodTalk Foundation, P.O. Box 8962, Falls Church, VA 22041, USA.

Stacey Leaman is research associate at Catholics for a Free Choice.