As Christian churches see declines in attendance, conversations about Christianity seem to become more contentious every year. Many of this spring’s most anticipated titles address how Christianity is responding to internal and external pressures.
Top 10
Flunk. Start.: Report from a Former Scientologist
Sands Hall. Counterpoint, Mar. 13
Part personal reflection on self-discovery, part exposé of Scientology, Hall’s candid memoir spans the eras of L. Ron Hubbard and David Miscavige in the Church of Scientology.
Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks
Diana Butler Bass. HarperOne, Apr. 3
By exploring the differences between private and public gratitude, Bass ruminates on gratitude’s value as a spiritual practice.
The Masterpiece
Francine Rivers. Tyndale, Feb. 6
In Rivers’s latest novel, suave and secretive visual artist Roman Velasco, toast of L.A.’s art scene, rethinks his hidden identity as a graffiti artist after hiring a tenacious and level-headed new personal assistant, Grace, who is struggling with her own past.
No One Ever Asked
Katie Ganshert. WaterBrook, Apr. 3
In this novel, three women struggle with faith and forgiveness during a difficult year integrating two public schools in a highly segregated district.
The Path Between Us: An Enneagram Journey to Healthy Relationships
Suzanne Stabile. InterVarsity, Apr. 10
Stabile follows up the bestselling The Road Back to You with this Christian-oriented guide for using the Enneagram (a typology of personalities) to help readers foster loving relationships.
The Pope Who Would Be King: The Exile of Pius IX and the Emergence of Modern Europe
David I. Kertzer. Random House, Apr. 24
Pulitzer Prize–winner Kertzer details the political upheaval that resulted from the overthrow of Pope Pius IX in 1848, effectively ending the tradition of Catholic monarchs ruling by “divine right” throughout Europe.
Resist and Persist: Faith and the Fight for Equality
Erin Wathen. Westminster John Knox, Apr. 10
Wathen, senior pastor at St. Andrew Christian Church in Olathe, Kans., takes a stand against systemic gender imbalances in this feminist call to action.
To the Moon and Back
Karen Kingsbury. Simon & Schuster, May 29
Kingsbury adds to her 40-plus Baxter family novels with this story of two people who meet after their parents are killed in the Oklahoma City bombing.
The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World
Bart Ehrman. Simon & Schuster, Feb. 13
Ehrman makes the case that the rapid spread of Christianity was due largely to a gradual migration of like-minded people rather than to grand acts such as Constantine’s conversion.
Unafraid: Living with Courage and Hope in Troubled Times
Adam Hamilton. Convergent, Mar. 13
Hamilton, pastor of Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, Mo., combines scriptural lessons with personal experience and current psychological research. The aim, he writes, is to help readers alleviate the “worry, anxiety, and fear that permeate our lives.”
Fiction Listings
Barbour
The Mayflower Bride (Daughters of the Mayflower: Book 1) by Kimberley Woodhouse (Feb. 1, paper, $12.99, ISBN 978-1-68322-419-8). In 1620, Mary Elizabeth Chapman arrives in the New World, where she meets William Lytton, a carpenter working as a spy for the Virginia Company.
Bethany House
The Accidental Guardian (High Sierra Sweethearts) by Mary Connealy (Apr. 3, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-0-7642-1929-0). In this 19th-century frontier novel from Connealy, Trace Riley finds the smoldering ruins of a small wagon train and recognizes the attack as the work of the same group who left him as sole survivor years ago.
In Places Hidden (Golden Gate Secrets) by Tracie Peterson (Mar. 6, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-0-7642-1899-6). Two women join forces to find a missing person in a San Francisco chocolate factory.
FaithWords
Kill Shot by Susan Sleeman (Feb. 6, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-4555-9649-2) Suspense, romance, and faith combine in Sleeman’s thriller about an FBI agent who must find a killer wielding a deadly new weapon with the help of the victim’s beautiful therapist.
Kregel
Winning Miss Winthrop
by Carolyn Miller (Mar. 27, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-0825445330). Set in the salons of Regency-era Bath, England, this novel sees Catherine Winthrop courted by the recently titled Jonathan Carlew, whose heart she broke years before.
Thomas Nelson
The Man He Never Was: A Modern Reimagining of Jekyll and Hyde by James L. Rubart (Feb. 20, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-0-7180-9939-8). In Rubart’s speculative novel, Toren Daniels vanishes for eight months and shows up on his doorstep a changed man—his temper gone, his anger under control.
Where Shadows Meet by Colleen Coble (Apr. 10, paper, $9.99, ISBN 978-0-7852-1665-0). Suffering from survivor’s guilt after the death of her parents, Hannah decides to marry her questionable boyfriend in Coble’s faith-based drama.
Revell
Pelican Point: A Hope Harbor Novel by Irene Hannon (Apr. 3, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-0-8007-2880-9). Hannon returns to Hope Harbor in this story about a crumbling lighthouse that brings army doctor Ben Garrison to the sleepy seaside town.
Phoebe’s Light by Suzanne Woods Fisher (Feb. 2, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-0-8007-2162-6). When Phoebe Starbuck marries Capt. Phineas Foulger and sails far away from Nantucket, she receives from her father her great-grandmother’s journals, which contain secrets about the past that will affect Phoebe’s future.
Shiloh Run
The Celebration (The Amish Cooking Class: Book 3) by Wanda E. Brunstetter (Feb. 1, paper, $15.99, paper, ISBN 978-1-62416-746-1). In the third book in Brunstetter’s lively inspirational romance series, Heidi Troyer decides to hold a cooking class for children, which may prove transformative for the adults who accompany them.
Simon & Schuster/Howard
Heart Land by Kimberly Stuart (July 17, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-1-5011-8056-9). A story of reconnection, lost love, and the power of faith, this book follows a struggling fashion designer back to her small Iowa hometown as she tries to find success and true love.
To the Moon and Back by Karen Kingsbury (May 29, hardcover, $23.99, ISBN 978-1-4516-8765-1) Bestselling author Kingsbury adds to the Baxter Family saga with this story of two people who both lost their parents in the Oklahoma City bombing.
Tyndale
Masterpiece by Francine Rivers (Feb. 6, paper, $25.99, ISBN 978-1-4964-0790-0). Rivers returns to her romance roots with this tale of a successful L.A. artist living a double life as a graffiti artist and the new personal assistant who changes his perspective.
Saturday Night Supper Club by Carla Laureano (Feb. 6, paper, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-4964-2827-1). When Denver chef Rachel Bishop is forced out of her restaurant after an online smear campaign destroys her reputation, she joins forces with the man who inadvertently set the disaster in motion in order to reclaim her good name.
WaterBrook
Beneath a Prairie Moon by Kim Vogel Sawyer (Mar. 20, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-0-7352-9005-1). Sawyer tells the story of a high-society cast-off and the Western town that welcomes her in this prairie-set heart-warmer.
No One Ever Asked by Katie Ganshert (Apr. 3, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-60142-904-9). This emotionally resonant drama from Ganshert explores three different women navigating challenges in a changing school district.
Zondervan
An Amish Heirloom: A Legacy of Love, the Cedar Chest, the Treasured Book, A Midwife’s Dream by Amy Clipston et al. (Apr. 10, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-0-310-33254-1). This collection brings together four novellas from popular Amish-romance writers.
If I Live by Terri Blackstock (Mar. 6, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-0-310-33254-1). Casey Cox is still on the run after being indicted for murder. The hunt that began with her bloody footprints escalates, and she’s running out of places to hide in the conclusion to Blackstock’s inspirational thriller.
Nonfiction Listings
Abingdon
Winning the Worry Battle: Life Lessons from the Book of Joshua by Barbara L. Roose (Apr. 17, paper, $16.99, ISBN 978-1-5018-5784-3). Roose, speaker and host of the Better Together podcast, asks readers to embrace God’s promises, develop courage under pressure, and practice radical obedience through lessons plucked from the Book of Joshua.
ATCA
The Cost of Compassion: Five Women Who Paid the Ultimate Price by Barbara Pawlikowski (Apr. 1, paper, $14.95, ISBN 978-0-87946-657-2). The untold story of five American women from the Illinois-based Adorers of the Blood of Christ who were murdered by rebel soldiers during a 1992 a mission trip to war-torn Liberia.
Atria
The Abundance Project: 40 Days to More Wealth, Health, Love, and Happiness by Derek Rydall (Feb. 20, hardcover, $24, ISBN 978-1-58270-652-8). This step-by-step guide from Rydall, life coach and therapist, aims to break readers out of the unsustainable consuming loop created by the belief that fulfillment comes from outside the self.
Ave Maria
Boundless Compassion: Creating a Way of Life by Joyce Rupp (Mar. 2, paper, $18.95 ISBN 978-1-932057-14-0). Rupp, co-director of the Servite Center of Compassionate Presence, guides Christians toward greater compassion in this six-week personal transformation program.
B&H
The 4 Wills of God: The Way He Directs Our Steps and Frees Us To Guide Our Own by Emerson Eggerichs (Apr. 2, hardcover, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-4627-4373-5). Eggerichs, former senior pastor of Trinity Church in Lansing, Mich., believes God has revealed four specific universal commands: believe, give thanks in everything, do right, and abstain from sexual sin.
Baker
Practicing the Jesus Economy: Honoring Jesus in How You Work, Earn, Spend, Save, and Give by Michael Rhodes, Robby Holt, and Brian Fikkert (Apr. 17, paper, $19.99 ISBN 978-0-8010-7574-2) urges readers to handle money in ways that embody God’s love.
Baker Academic
A Beginner’s Guide to Dante’s Divine Comedy by Jason M. Baxter (Mar. 20, hardcover, $22.99 ISBN 978-0-8010-9873-4). Baxter, professor of humanities at Wyoming Catholic College in Lander, Wyo., offers an accessible introduction to Dante’s spiritual masterpiece.
Baylor Univ.
From Tolerance to Equality: How Elites Brought America to Same-Sex Marriage by Darel E. Paul (Mar. 1, hardcover, $39.95, ISBN 978-1-4813-0694-2). Paul, professor of political science at Williams College, argues that American elites use opinions on sexual orientation as a mark of social distinction and a tool for accumulating cultural authority and political power.
Beacon
The Way of Jesus: Living a Spiritual and Ethical Life by Jay Parini (Mar. 27, hardcover, $26.95, ISBN 978-0-8070-4724-8). Biographer and novelist Parini addresses progressive Christians and spiritual seekers in this
spiritual autobiography and guide that incorporates teachings from other religions.
Bloomsbury Continuum
Faith Finding a Voice by Vincent Nichols (June 5, hardcover, $28 ISBN 978-1-4729-5042-0). Cardinal Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, offers his reflections on divine revelation, the importance of theological literacy in education, and care for people in a global society.
Brazos
Selfies by Craig Detweiler (Mar. 20, paper, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-58743-398-6). Detweiler, author, filmmaker, and TV commentator, challenges readers to push past unhealthy obsessions with beauty, wealth, and fame in this biblically grounded look at social media.
Center Street
My Father’s Business: The Small-Town Values That Built Dollar General into a Billion-Dollar Company by Cal Turner Jr., with Rob Simbeck (May 15, hardcover, $28, ISBN 978-1-4789-9298-1). Turner Jr., former CEO of Dollar General, shares the story of how his family grew a small-town business into a national powerhouse and lessons he learned about leadership, teamwork, life, and faith.
Chalice
Anxious to Talk About It: Helping White Christians Talk Faithfully About Racism by Carolyn B. Helsel (Feb. 13, paper, $19.99, ISBN 978-0-8272-0072-2). Helsel, pastor and professor at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, offers tools for white Christians to embrace and explore anxious feelings regarding race.
Church
Phyllis Tickle: A Life by Jon M. Sweeney (Feb. 15, hardcover, $26.95, ISBN 978-0-8192-3299-1). Sweeney, executive editor of Ave Maria Press, tells the life story of Tickle, former religion editor at PW and popular Christian author who made a career out of tracking the progressive changes within the Protestant church.
Columbia Univ.
Neurotheology: How Science Can Enlighten Us About Spirituality by Andrew Newberg (Mar. 20, hardcover, $35, ISBN 978-0-231-17904-1). Newberg, director of research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health in Philadelphia, explores the latest findings in neurotheology, the multidisciplinary field linking neuroscience with religious and spiritual phenomena.
Convergent
Unafraid: Living with Courage and Hope in Uncertain Times by Adam Hamilton (Mar. 13, hardcover, $24, ISBN 978-1-5247-6033-5). Bestselling author and pastor of Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, Mo., Hamilton combines scriptural lessons with personal experience and current neurological research to help readers alleviate the “worry, anxiety, and fear that permeates our lives.”
David C. Cook
Understanding and Loving a Person with Alcohol or Drug Addiction: Biblical and Practical Wisdom to Build Empathy, Preserve Boundaries, and Show Compassion by Stephen Arterburn and David Stoop (Apr. 1, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-0-7814-1491-3). Arterburn, host of Christian counseling talk show New Life Live!, and psychologist Stoop educate readers on how to revive the mind and heart in the face of a loved one’s addiction.
Counterpoint
Flunk. Start.: Report from a Former Scientologist by Sands Hall (Mar. 13, hardcover, $26, ISBN 978-1-61902-178-5). Hall chronicles her slow yet willing absorption into the Church of Scientology in the late 1970s. Her time in the church coincided with the secretive illness and death of its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, and the ascension of David Miscavige.
Crossway
Christian Ethics: An Introduction to Biblical Moral Reasoning by Wayne Grudem (June 30, hardcover, $59.99, ISBN 978-1-4335-4965-6). Grudem, professor of theology at Phoenix Seminary in Phoenix, Ariz., details what the Bible says about living ethically in this broad volume.
Eerdmans
God, Improv, and the Art of Living by MaryAnn McKibben Dana (May 8, paper, $21.99, ISBN 978-0-8028-7464-1). Pastor, speaker, and improv teacher Dana blends Scripture, psychology, theology, and pop culture in this down-to-earth guide to the art of living.
The Holy No: Worship as a Subversive Act by Adam Hearlson (July 10, paper, $24, ISBN 978-0-8028-7385-9). Hearlson, minister in the United Church of Christ, argues that Christians can say no to oppression and injustice through the church’s worship practices.
FaithWords
Forgiving God: A Story of Faith by Hilary Yancey (Apr. 3, hardcover, $22, ISBN 978-1-5460-3299-1). Yancey tells the story of how her life was changed and her faith in God broken when her son was diagnosed with complex physical disabilities.
Living a Life You Love by Joyce Meyer (Apr. 3, hardcover, $22, ISBN 978-1-4555-6016-5). In this book of inspirational biblical lessons, bestselling author Meyer gives advice on loving every part of life in spite of obstacles and challenges.
Flatiron
Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet by Joan Halifax (May 1, hardcover, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-250-10134-1). Halifax, humanitarian, anthropologist, and Buddhist teacher, recounts the experiences of caregivers, activists, humanitarians, politicians, parents, and teachers in this book of wisdom from Zen traditions.
Focus on the Family
Going Solo: Hope and Healing for the Single Mom or Dad by Robert Beeson (Apr. 3, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-1-58997-939-0). Beeson, founder of faith-based music company iShine Records, addresses the fears and exhaustion of single parenting and discusses how to gain strength and courage for each day.
Fortress
A House United: How the Church Can Save the World by Allen Hilton (Apr. 1, paper, $16.99, ISBN 978-1-5064-0191-1). Hilton, executive director of theological nonprofit House United, argues that Christianity can bring people together and serve as a corrective for political polarization in the U.S.
Franciscan
Called: What Happens After Saying Yes to God by Casey Cole (Mar. 28, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-63253-241-1). This debut from Franciscan friar Cole recounts his “path of discernment,” drawing parallels with the lay Christian’s journey.
Georgetown Univ.
A Concise History of Sunnis and Shi’is by John McHugo (Apr. 2, paper, $29.95 ISBN 978-1-62616-587-8). McHugo, senior fellow at the Centre for Syrian Studies at St. Andrews University, charts the history of the schism in Islam from the death of the Prophet Muhammad to the present day.
Good Books
Dear Friends: The Letters of St. Paul to Christians in America by Christopher Webber (Feb. 6, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-68099-316-5). Following the pattern of Paul’s letters, Episcopal priest Webber calls for American Christians to think more carefully about the relationship between faith and society in these letters addressed to American cities and states.
Hampton Roads
Kahlil Gibran’s Little Book of Life by Kahlil Gibran, compiled by Neil Douglas-Klotz (Mar. 1, paper, $15.95, ISBN 978-1-57174-830-0). This small gift book compiles poet and philosopher Gibran’s wisdom about what it means to be alive.
Harper
Costly Grace by Robert Schenck (June 5, hardcover, $26.99, ISBN 978-0-06-268793-7). Schenck, an evangelical minister who converted from Judaism to Christianity in his teens and now ministers to elected and appointed officials in Washington, D.C., tells of his life in politics and faith.
HarperElixir
Bad Advice: Get Past the “Inspirational” Wisdom That Holds You Back and Unlock Your Inner Awesome by Venus Nicolino (Apr. 24, hardcover, $26.99, ISBN 978-0-06-257035-2). Nicolino, a TV personality and psychologist, dismantles the damaging “neo-folk” wisdom of pop psychology and provides alternate strategies for empowerment.
HarperOne
Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks by Diana Butler Bass (Apr. 3, hardcover, $26.99, ISBN 978-0-06-265947-7). Bass points out simple steps for rekindling a grateful nature in a society filled with egocentric thinking.
Unbelievable: Why Neither Ancient Creeds Nor the Reformation Can Produce a Living Faith Today by John Shelby Spong (Feb. 13, hardcover, $27.99, ISBN 978-0-06-264129-8). Bestselling author and bishop of the Episcopal Church Spong delivers 12 forward-thinking theses to reinvigorate Christianity.
Harvard univ./Belknap
Christian: The Politics of a Word in America by Matthew Bowman (Apr. 1, hardcover, $29.95, ISBN 978-0-674-73763-1). Bowman, associate professor of history at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Ark., jumps into the ongoing debate over what it means to be a Christian as he situates the word Christian within the American political landscape.
Harvest House
Overcoming Shame: Let Go of Others’ Expectations and Embrace God’s Acceptance by Mark W. Baker (Mar. 6, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-0-7369-7130-0). Combining psychological research, biblical teachings, and clinical expertise, Baker, psychologist and family therapist, provides tools for addressing feelings of shame.
Hay House
Bridging Two Realms: Learn to Communicate with Your Loved Ones on the Other Side by John Holland (Feb. 27, paper, $16.99, ISBN 978-1-4019-5063-7). Holland gives inspiration and comfort for the bereaved with this guide to making contact with passed loved ones.
Herald
Mystics and Misfits: Meeting God Through St. Francis and Other Unlikely Saints by Christiana Peterson (Apr. 17, paper, $16.99, ISBN 978-1-5138-0164-3). This debut from Peterson relates her experiences moving to an intentional Christian farming community in the Midwest, and the strength she derived from mystics such as Francis of Assisi, Simone Weil, and Dorothy Day.
Image
Fourth Cup: Unveiling the Mystery of the Last Supper and the Cross by Scott Hahn (Feb. 13, hardcover, $23, ISBN 978-1-5247-5879-0). Catholic theologian Hahn links the Catholic Eucharist to the Jewish Passover meal, arguing that Christ’s Paschal sacrifice is the fulfillment of the traditional fourth cup used in the celebration of Passover.
Indiana Univ.
On Islam: Muslims and the Media, edited by Rosemary Pennington and Hilary E. Kahn (Feb. 1, paper, $18, ISBN 978-0-253-03255-3). In this collection of essays, journalists, activists, bloggers, and scholars explore how Muslims are represented in the media, discuss the modern Muslim experience, and offer tips for those covering Islam.
Inner Traditions
Return of Odin: The Modern Renaissance of Pagan Imagination by Richard Rudgley (Mar. 13, paper, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-62055-727-3). Documentary filmmaker and author Rudgley examines the influence of the Norse god Odin in contemporary culture.
InterVarsity
The Path Between Us: An Enneagram Journey to Healthy Relationships by Suzanne Stabile (Apr. 10, hardcover, $24, ISBN 978-0-8308-4642-9). In this follow up to the bestselling The Road Back to You, Stabile argues that the Enneagram can guide readers into deeper insights about themselves, their types, and others’ personalities to form more mature, compassionate relationships. 25,000-copy announced first printing.
Reconstructing the Gospel: Finding Freedom from Slaveholder Religion by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove (Mar. 13, hardcover, $20, ISBN 978-0-8308-4534-7). Speaker and activist Wilson-Hartgrove traces his journey from subscribing to a Christianity that perpetuated racial injustice to reconstructing the gospel and finding a faith that can be redemptive for all people.
Jewish Lights
The Closing of the Gates: Níilah by Lawrence A. Hoffman (May 29, hardcover, $27.99 ISBN 978-1-58023-887-8). This is the last book in Rabbi Hoffman’s eight-volume Prayers of Awe series exploring the Jewish High Holy Days.
Jewish Publication Society
Path of the Prophets: The Ethics-Driven Life by Barry L. Schwartz (Mar. 1, paper, $19.95, ISBN 978-0-8276-1309-6). In this meditation on the ethical legacy of the biblical prophets, Schwartz identifies the prophetic moment in the lives of 18 biblical characters, provides an intimate view of their inner thoughts, and challenges readers to follow in their footsteps.
Koren/Toby
Signs & Wonders: 100 Haggada Masterpieces by Adam S. Cohen (Feb. 1, hardcover, $39.95, ISBN 978-1-59264-484-1). Cohen, an associate professor in the history of art at the University of Toronto, surveys the history of the illustrated Haggadah from the Middle Ages to the present.
Kregel
A Woman After God’s Own Heart Bible (NKJV), edited by Elizabeth George (Apr. 10, hardcover, $34.99, ISBN 978-0-8254-4490-6). George adds comprehensive study questions to this NKJV Bible.
Llewellyn
Labyrinth: Your Path to Self Discovery by Tony Christie (June 8, hardcover, $21.99, ISBN 978-0-7387-5661-5). Spiritual teacher Christie shares techniques for exploring the healing energy and wisdom of the labyrinth to help readers quiet their minds and cultivate a sense of balance.
Moody
One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race by John M. Perkins, with Karen Waddles (Apr. 3, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-0-8024-1801-2). Evangelical civil rights activist Perkins addresses a Christian readership about what he’s discovered during a career concerned with reconciliation, discipleship, and justice. 15,000-copy announced first printing.
Multnomah
Burden Is Light: Liberating Your Life from the Tyranny of Performance and Success by Jon Tyson (Mar. 13, by paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-0-7352-9067-9). Tyson, lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in New York City, explores the “reverse economy” of Jesus’s kingdom to free readers from merit-based thinking.
NavPress
42 Seconds: The Jesus Model for Everyday Interactions by Carl Medearis (Apr. 17, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-1-63146-489-8). The average length of Jesus’s conversations as recorded in the Gospels was 42 seconds long. Medearis argues that, by following Jesus’s conversational model, readers can change their lives.
Thomas Nelson
Friend of Sinners: Why Jesus Cares More about Relationship Than Perfection by Rich Wilkerson Jr. (Mar. 13, paper, $16.99, ISBN 978-0-7180-3270-8). Pastor Wilkerson Jr. illuminates Christ followers’ calling to reach the world, seek the lost, and save sinners with Jesus’s message of the gospel of grace.
Thomas Nelson/Nelson
Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People by Bob Goff (Apr. 17, paper, $16.99, ISBN 978-0-7180-7813-3). In his follow-up to the bestselling Love Does, Goff discusses how to live without fear, care, constraint, or worry through the love of Christ.
New Leaf
Deceivers: Exposing Evil Seducers & Their Last Days Deception by Terry James (Mar. 12, hardcover, $19.99, 978-0-89221-759-5). Bible prophecy experts present analysis of today’s issues and events.
New Page
Buddha and Einstein Walk into a Bar by Guy Joseph Ale (Apr. 23, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-1-63265-140-2). Ale, human lifespan researcher and founding president of Lifespan Seminar, provides practical tools to help readers master mind, body, and energy to live a healthy life.
New World Library
Luminous Life: How the Science of Light Unlocks the Art of Living by Jacob Israel Liberman (Feb. 8, paper, $15.95, ISBN 978-1-60868-517-2). Optometrist Liberman, who experienced a sudden, lasting improvement in his vision during a meditative experience, expounds on the role of light in physical and spiritual thriving.
New York Univ.
America’s Dark Theologian: The Religious Imagination of Stephen King by Douglas E. Cowan (June 12, hardcover, $30, ISBN 978-1-4798-9473-4). Cowan undertakes the first in-depth investigation of Stephen King’s use of religious imagery, themes, and characters in his horror fiction.
Orbis
Creation and the Cross: The Mercy of God for a Planet in Peril by Elizabeth A. Johnson (Feb. 20, hardcover, $28, ISBN 978-1-62698-266-6). Johnson, a theology professor at Fordham University, critiques St. Anselm’s 11th-century theology of atonement for human sin.
Oxford Univ.
Philosophy of Religion: A Very Short Introduction by Tim Bayne (Apr. 22, paper, $11.95, ISBN 978-0-19-875496-1). Bayne, a professor of philosophy at Monash University in Melbourne, introduces philosophy of religion and engages with burning questions of religious philosophy.
Why We Need Religion by Stephen T. Asma (June 1, hardcover, $29.95, ISBN 978-0-19-046967-2). Asma argues that, like art, religion touches the emotional inner life in ways that science does not, in this Darwinian defense of religious emotions and the cultural systems that manage them.
Paraclete
Grace: The Journey to God by Michael Casey (Mar. 6, paper, $17.99, ISBN 978-1-64060-064-5). Benedictine monk Casey focuses on God’s benevolence in this guide for the faithful.
Parallax
The Nest in the Stream by Michael Kearney (Feb. 27, paper, $15.95, ISBN 978-1-946764-00-3). Kearney, a physician specializing in hospice and palliative medicine, aims to help anyone coping with physical pain in this concise book inspired by Native American wisdom.
Penguin/TarcherPerIgee
Perfect Is Boring: 10 Things My Crazy, Fierce Mama Taught Me about Beauty, Booty, and Being a Boss by Tyra Banks, with Carolyn London (Apr. 17, hardcover, $27, ISBN 978-0-14-313230-1). In this volume releasing in time for Mother’s Day, Banks, model and TV host, and her mother, Carolyn, share the lessons that inspired Tyra’s success.
Plough
The Scandal of Redemption: When God Liberates the Poor, Saves Sinners, and Heals Nations by Oscar Romero (Mar. 24, paper, $8, ISBN 978-0-87486-141-9). This selection of writings from Romero, the former archbishop of San Salvador, who was assassinated in 1980, lifts up the poor, provokes the powerful, and invites readers to align their lives with the way of Jesus.
Princeton Univ.
The Invention of Religion: Faith and Covenant in the Book of Exodus by Jan Assmann, trans. from the German by Robert Savage (Mar. 20, hardcover, $29.95, ISBN 978-0-691-15708-5). Assmann, a leading historian of ancient religion, explains how ideas of faith, revelation, and covenant, first introduced in Exodus, shaped Judaism and were later adopted by Christianity and Islam to form the bedrock of the world’s Abrahamic religions.
The Talmud: A Biography by Barry Scott Wimpfheimer (Apr. 3, hardcover, $26.95, ISBN 978-0-691-16184-6). Wimpfheimer, associate professor of religious studies at Northwestern University, takes readers from the Talmud’s prehistory in biblical and Second Temple Judaism to its present-day use as a source of religious ideology, a model of different modes of rationality, and a totem of cultural identity.
Prometheus
Finding Purpose in a Godless World: Why We Care Even If the Universe Doesn’t by Ralph Lewis (July 17, hardcover, $26, ISBN 978-1-63388-385-7). Psychiatrist Lewis argues that human purpose and caring emerged in a spontaneous and unguided universe.
Rainbow Ridge
A Guide to Energetic Healing: From Clearing Trauma/Abuse to Raising Consciousness by John Nelson (May 12, trade paper, $16.95, ASIN B0753K5HW1). Based on the Toltec self-healing art of recapitulation, Nelson’s book presents step-by-step instructions for overcoming childhood traumas, abuse, and the insults of daily living.
Random House
The Pope Who Would Be King: The Exile of Pius IX and the Emergence of Modern Europe by David I. Kertzer (Apr. 24, hardcover, $35, ISBN 978-0-8129-8991-5). Pulitzer-winner Kertzer delves into the bloody revolution in 1848 that spelled the end of the papacy as a political power and signaled the birth of modern Europe.
Regnery
Love & Sex: A Christian Guide to Healthy Intimacy by Nancy Houston (Feb. 5, hardcover, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-62157-675-4). Sex therapist Nancy Houston offers readers a scripturally based guide to finding balance and compassion regarding sexual intimacy.
Rowman & Littlefield
Climate Church, Climate World: How People of Faith Must Work for Change by Jim Antal (Feb. 16, paper, $25, ISBN 978-1-5381-1069-0). Minister and activist Antal provides practical suggestions on working for collective justice by combating climate change.
Never Enough Time: A Practical and Spiritual Guide by Donna Schaper (Apr. 1, hardcover, $32, ISBN 978-1-4422-6638-4). Reverend Schaper advises readers struggling with what she terms the “time famine” to make the most of the time they do have.
Shambhala
Integral Buddhism: And the Future of Spirituality by Ken Wilber (Mar. 6, trade paper, $14.95, ISBN 978-1-61180-560-4). Wilber, a philosopher concerned with transpersonal psychology, takes a look at history and foundational teachings of Buddhism, how it fits into modern society, and how it (and other world religions) will evolve in the future.
Training in Tenderness: Buddhist Teachings on Tsewa, the Openness of Heart That Can Change the World by Dzigar Kongtrul (May 22, paper, $14.95, ISBN 978-1-61180-558-1). Buddhist teacher Kongtrul presents a short guide to cultivating tsewa: the loving warmth of heart from which the awakened mind arises.
Shiloh Run
I Will Love You Forever: A True Story about Finding Life, Hope & Healing While Caring for Hospice Babies by Cori Salchert and Marianne Hering (Mar. 1, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-68322-434-1). This book recounts one woman’s decades-long journey to caring for hospice babies inspired by the accidental death of her sister as a child.
Simon & Schuster
The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World by Bart D. Ehrman (Feb. 13, hardcover, $28, ISBN 978-1-5011-3670-2). New Testament scholar Ehrman tells the story of how Christianity grew from a religion of 20 or so peasants in rural Galilee to the dominant religion in the West in less than 400 years.
S&S/Howard
Believe Bigger: Discover the Path to Your Life Purpose by Marshawn Evans Daniels (Mar. 13, hardcover, $24, ISBN 978-1-5011-6567-2). Reinvention strategist Daniels offers a guide for women ready to find resilience, success, and meaning after experiencing regret and disappointment.
Box of Butterflies: Discovering the Unexpected Blessings All Around Us by Roma Downey (Mar. 6, hardcover, $22, ISBN 978-1-5011-5093-7). Downey, best known as the angel on the TV show Touched by an Angel, fills this devotional memoir with encouragement and hope, focusing on God’s comforting presence.
SkyLight Paths
Soul Tending by Anita Amstutz (May 8, paper, $16.99, ISBN 978-1-59473-641-4). Amstutz offers field notes and a road map for 21st-century observance from her Sabbath-keeping practice.
Soft Skull
Muhammad: Forty Introductions by Michael Muhammad Knight (July 10, paper, $16.95, ISBN 978-1-59376-147-9). Knight, a former punk rocker turned academic and convert to Islam, presents his take on the “40 hadiths” tradition, in which scholars curate stories of Muhammad to distill their views of his legacy.
Sounds True
Ending the Search: From Spiritual Ambition to the Heart of Awareness by Dorothy Hunt (Mar. 1, paper, $17.95, ISBN 978-1-68364-063-9). A penetrating guide to the classic paradox of the spiritual search, this book from spiritual teacher Hunt helps readers relax efforts to pursue concrete goals and return to what is already present in them.
Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out by Ruth King (June 1, paper, $17.95, ISBN 978-1-68364-081-3). King, an Insight Meditation teacher, offers mindfulness practices to heal racial suffering and division on the individual and societal levels.
Square One
Willing Hands: In the Service of the Lord by Daniel Richard (Mar. 1, paper, $15.95, ISBN 978-0-7570-0461-2). Lay minister Richard reminds Christians of the responsibility to serve others.
St. Martin’s
To Heal the World?: How Jewish Social Justice Corrupts Judaism and Endangers Israel by Jonathan Neumann (May 1, hardcover, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-250-16087-4). Neumann, writer for the Times of Israel, explains how the Jewish renewal movement of the 1960s aligned itself with the new left and redirected the perspective of the Jewish community towards liberalism and social justice.
Tyndale Momentum
The Lifegiving Parent: Giving Your Child a Life Worth Living for Christ by Sally and Clay Clarkson (May 1, hardcover, $22.99, ISBN 978-1-4964-3163-9). Parents Clay and Sally Clarkson explore principles for raising children faithfully and what the Bible says about God’s divine design for the Christian family.
Univ. of North Carolina
Strangers and Friends at the Welcome Table: Contemporary Christianities in the American South by James Hudnut-Beumler (Apr. 23, hardcover, $34.95, ISBN 978-1-4696-4037-2). Historian and minister Hudnut-Beumler draws on extensive interviews and his own personal journeys throughout the region to present a comprehensive portrait of the South’s dominant religion.
Univ. of Pennsylvania
Sefer Yesirah and Its Contexts: Other Jewish Voices by Tzahi Weiss (Mar. 19, hardcover, $59.95 ISBN 978-0-8122-4990-3). Weiss, an associate professor of Jewish thought and Hebrew literature at the Open University of Israel, traces the origins of the mystical “Book of Formation,” one of the most influential Jewish compositions of late antiquity.
Viking/Dorman
I’ve Been Thinking... Reflections, Prayers, and Meditations for a Meaningful Life by Maria Shriver (Feb. 27, paper, $20, ISBN 978-0-525-52260-7). Shriver, the Emmy-winning journalist, offers wisdom, guidance, encouragement, and inspiration in this book of personal reflections. 100,000-copy announced first printing.
WaterBrook
There Is More: When the World Says You Can’t, God Says You Can by Brian Houston (Mar. 20, hardcover, $23.99, ISBN 978-0-7352-9061-7). Houston, founder and senior pastor of Hillsong Church in New York City, uses Ephesians 3 to preach that, with God’s power, readers can achieve a life that exceeds every earthly expectation.
Watkins
Dancing with Cancer: Using Transformational Art, Meditation and a Joyous Mindset to Face the Challenge by Judy Erel (Feb. 6, paper, $19.95, ISBN 978-1-78678-119-2). A cancer survivor shares her experience and guidance for others coping with every stage of cancer, from diagnosis through treatment, by using creative self-expression, healing energy work, and meditation alongside conventional treatments.
Weiser
From Kuan Yin to Chairman Mao: The Essential Guide to Chinese Deities by Xueting Christine Ni (June 1, paper, $18.95, ISBN 978-1-57863-625-9). Speaker Ni recounts the stories of 60 Chinese gods and goddesses, selected from across the spectrum of China’s mythical beings, deified heroes, gods, goddesses, and immortals.
Westminster John Knox
Resist and Persist: Faith and the Fight for Equality by Erin Wathen (Apr. 10, paper, $16, ISBN 978-0-664-26390-4). Wathen frames the challenges to women’s equality in light of the current cultural and political climate, providing a new language of resistance against the pernicious power of patriarchy.
Wisdom
Open Mind: View and Meditation in the Lineage of Lerab Lingpa by B. Alan Wallace (Feb. 6, paper, $19.95, ISBN 978-1-61429-388-0). Wallace, founder of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies, takes a deep look at the essence of dzogchen (Tibetan “great perfection” teachings) through the teachings of Lerab Lingpa, guru to the 13th Dalai Lama.
Worthy
The Way Back: How Christians Blew Our Credibility and How to Get It Back by Phil Cooke and Jonathan Bock (Feb. 6, paper, $16.99, ISBN 978-1-61795-861-8). Cooke and Bock, Christian filmmakers, explore how an inconsequential Jewish cult in a remote Roman province utterly transformed the world—and how Christians can do it again today.
Worthy Inspired
My Mother in the Mirror: Honoring the Woman Who Made Me Who I Am, edited by Ami McConnell Abston (Apr. 3, paper, $16.99, ISBN 978-1-68397-246-4). Forty writers celebrate the love, time, and influence they received from their mothers and acknowledge the role their mothers have played in their lives, legacies, and faith.
Yale Univ.
Against Dharma: Dissent in the Ancient Indian Sciences of Sex and Politics by Wendy Doniger (Mar. 20, hardcover, $26, ISBN 978-0-300-21619-6). Historian of religions Doniger offers a lively and close reading of ancient Indian writings that indicate a long but unrecognized history of opposition against dharma.
Zondervan
The Case for Miracles by Lee Strobel (May 21, hardcover, $22.99, ISBN 978-0-310-25918-3). Bestselling author Strobel trains his investigative sights on the hot-button issue of whether it is credible to believe God intervenes supernaturally in people’s lives.
Zondervan Academic
Even in Our Darkness: A Story of Beauty in a Broken Life by Jack Deere (Mar. 6, hardcover, $22.99, ISBN 978-0-310-53814-1). Deere shares how he found the friendship and love of God when experiencing life’s tragedies, including his son’s drug addiction and his wife’s battle with alcoholism and two strokes.
Children’s/YA Listings
Chronicle
Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets: A Muslim Book of Shapes by Hena Khan, illus. by Mehrdokht Amini (Apr. 10, hardcover, $17.99, ISBN 978-1-4521-5541-8). From a crescent moon to a square garden to an octagonal fountain, this picture book celebrates the shapes—and traditions—of the Muslim world.
Eerdmans
Prayers for Young Children by Martina Steinkuhler, illus. by Barbara Nascimbeni (Mar. 26, hardcover, $16.50, ISBN 978-0-8028-5493-3). This collection of prayers, each rooted in a Bible story, are for experiences that readers will connect with, including anger, fear, loneliness, and joy.
Harvest House
Living Your Faith: A Journey Through James by Elizabeth George (Apr. 3, paper, $9.99, ISBN 978-0-7369-6441-8). This is an interactive study of the book of James aimed at helping teens grow their self-esteem.
Kar-Ben
Can You Hear a Coo, Coo? by Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh, illus. by Marc Lumer (Mar. 1, board book, $5.99, ISBN 978-1-5124-4443-8). The Noah’s ark story is retold with a variety of animal sounds.
National Geographic
Kids Who’s Who in the Bible by Jill Rubalcaba (Feb. 13, hardcover, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-4263-3002-5). A reference book featuring more than 100 notable people from the Old and New Testaments.
Paraclete
The Pope’s Cat by Jon M. Sweeney, illus. by Roy DeLeon (Mar. 13. paper, $9.99, ISBN 978-1-61261-935-4). This is the story of a curious stray cat adopted by the Pope who lives in the Vatican.
Penguin/Grosset & Dunlap
Miriam and Pharaoh’s Daughter by W.C. Bauers, illus. by Marta Costa (Mar. 22, board book, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-5247-8594-9). This book tells the Bible story of Miriam, who watches over her baby brother Moses as he floats down the Nile in a reed basket.
Shadow Mountain
Celebrating a Christ-Centered Easter: Children’s Edition by Emily Freeman and David Butler, illus. by Ryan Jeppesen (Feb. 13, hardcover, $17.99, ISBN 978-1-62972-418-8). Each spread uses a character in the Easter story to teach a lesson about the spirit of the holiday, providing an easy framework for discussions and establishing family traditions.
Sparkhouse Family
Everyone Gets Upset: Frolic First Faith by Kristen McCurry and Jennifer Hilton, illus. by Natasha Rimmington (Feb. 6, board book, $6.99, ISBN 978-1-5064-2501-6). This entry in the Frolic series is about difficult feelings (anger, sadness, frustration) and how to name them and cope with them.
Tyndale Kids
100 Bible Stories for Children by Copenhagen Publishing Co. (June 5, hardcover, $17.99, ISBN 978-1-4964-3160-8). This volume compiles 100 stories from the Bible, written in clear language and paired with illustrations.
Wisdom Tales
Gifts of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Patroness of Latin America by Demi (June 7, hardcover, $17.95, ISBN 978-1-937786-73-1) tells the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe, also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe, when she appeared to Juan Diego in Mexico City in 1519.
WorthyKids/Ideals
The Great Escape (Book Three) by M.J. Thomas, illus. by Graham Howells (Apr. 3, paper, $6.99 ISBN 978-0-8249-5689-9). In the third installment of this chapter book series about a brother, a sister, and mysterious scrolls that send them through time to moments in Biblical history, Peter and Mary join the Israelites’ escape from Egypt.
Zonderkidz
Beginner’s Bible Jonah’s Big Fish Adventure by Zondervan (May 1, board book, $8.99, ISBN 978-0-310-75994-2). This retelling of the Bible story of Jonah and the big fish employs vibrant 3-D art.
