Mary Wept over the Feet of Jesus: Prostitution and Religious Obedience in the Bible / Chester Brown, 270 pp.

Looks at the stories of five biblical women: Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba, Mary of Bethany, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, all of whom Brown asserts were prostitutes or had prostitute-like behavior.  The black and white drawings are simple yet evocative.

Brown has worked for years in the field of sex-worker rights.  His slant on these stories is interesting but definitely not for everyone.  In the long text afterword he attributes his ideas to the scholarship of Jane Schaberg and John Dominic Crossan.

After Abel: and Other Stories / Michal Lemberger 283 pp.

Biblical stories told from the point of view of women, both the famous and the less well-known: Eve, Lot's wife, Hagar, Moses' sister, and others.  It's not necessary to know the scriptural counterparts to these stories, but familiarity would no doubt add to their richness.  Nicely readable, and I especially like some of the portraits, such as that of Hagar, Ishmael's mother, and Michel, first wife of King David.  Effective if not especially nuanced; we are meant to come away (I think) feeling impacted at the manner in which all these women were subject to the whims of their kings, their husbands, and their God.  A valid point, certainly, but I prefer fiction that allows me to reach my own conclusions without having them handed to me so directly.