Inspiration from Sufi sage Rumi, lessons in faith from a self-proclaimed Jezebel and from a Sandy Hook mom, and Christian novels where, as always, couples find love and God are among the religion and spirituality books coming in April.
Nonfiction
April 1
Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation by Christian Smith and Amy Adamczyk (Oxford Univ., $29.95, ISBN 978-0-19-009332-7). The authors delve into research on religious parents’ beliefs and actions toward parenting children in faith.
Rumi’s Little Book of Wisdom, by Rumi, trans. by Maryam Mafi (Hampton Roads, $15.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-64297-025-80). The popular Persian sage and poet offers wisdom for a life of meaning, productivity, and kindness.
April 6
The Wild Land Within: Cultivating Wholeness Through Spiritual Practice by Lisa Colón Delay (Broadleaf, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5064-6508-1). Colón DeLay offers a map to our inner terrain, using ancient spiritual practices, to cultivate a life of devotion.
Staying Awake: The Gospel for Changemakers by Tyler Sit (Chalice, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-8272-3552-6). Sit outlines nine practices of Christian communities to transform the world and help people live meaningful lives.
Take Back What the Devil Stole: An African American Prophet’s Encounters in the Spirit World by Onaje X O Woodbine (Columbia Univ. $30, ISBN 978-0-231-19716-8). Woodbine portrays the religious experiences of a contemporary African American woman wrestling with structural inequity in the streets of Boston.
On Her Knees: Memoir of a Prayerful Jezebel by Brenda Marie Davies (Eerdmans, $22, ISBN 978-0-8028-7853-3). Davies chronicles her spiritual journey through marriage, divorce, unlikely friendship, and sexual adventure, seeking to love God but not fear sex.
Tongue-Tied: Learning the Lost Art of Talking about Faith by Sara Wenger Shenk (Herald, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5138-0778-2). Theologian Shenk investigates why people who claim the name of Christ are so reluctant to talk about him and suggests language that’s authentic, candid, and robust.
God Saw That It Was Good: A Safari Through Salvation History by Brant Law (Paraclete, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-64060-492-6). Law collects some of the more famous and not-so-famous stories about animals in the Bible, the lives of Catholic saints, and instances in the author’s own life.
Voices from Larung Gar: Shaping Tibetan Buddhism for the Twenty-First Century edited by Holly Gayley (Snow Lion, $19.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-61180-894-0). This is the first collection of speeches and writings by the monastic scholars of Larung Gar, the largest Buddhist institution on the Tibetan plateau.
Woman Evolve: Break Up with Your Fears and Revolutionize Your Life by Sarah Jakes Roberts (Thomas Nelson, $26.99, ISBN 978-0-7852-3554-5). Reimagining the story of Eve, Roberts draws lessons from Scripture and from her own life that show women how to use the mistakes of their past to overcome the challenges of today.
The Well-Watered Woman: Rooted in Truth, Growing in Grace, Flourishing in Faith by Gretchen Saffles (Tyndale Momentum, $18.99, ISBN 978-1-4964-4545-2). Using Scripture and her own personal story of surrender, Saffles offers spiritually hungry women tangible tools to know, enjoy, and follow Jesus.
Fault Lines by Voddie T. Baucham (Salem, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-68451-180-8). The author delves into the deep division between Christians who proclaim a “social justice” mission for the church and those who call “social justice” efforts “an enemy of the Gospel.”
Reopening Muslim Minds: A Return to Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance by Mustafa Akyol (St. Martin’s Essentials, $27.99, ISBN 978-1-250-25606-5). Akyol, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, examines Islam’s diverse history of ideas and argues for an Islamic Enlightenment today.
April 13
Billy Graham: The Man I Knew by Greg Laurie (Salem, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-68451-059-7). Pastor, evangelist, and author Laurie, offers a warm portrait of his friend Graham, “America’s Preacher” and one of the most important ministers of the twentieth century.
Entering the Way of the Bodhisattva by Shantideva, trans. by Khenpo David Karma Choephel (Shambhala, $18.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-61180-862-9). This modern, poetic translation of an essential Mahayana Buddhist text written by an eighth-century monk is a comprehensive guide to developing oneself in service of others.
April 20
Family of Origin, Family of Choice: Stories of Queer Christians by Katie Hays and Susan A. Chiasson (Eerdmans, $19.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-8028-7857-1). A social scientist and a pastor gathered testimonies from LGBTQ+ Christians about navigating relationships with their affirming, non-affirming, and affirming-ish families of origin
The Magna Carta of Humanity: Sinai’s Revolutionary Faith and the Future of Freedom by Os Guinness (IVP, $25, ISBN 978-0-8308-4715-0). Guinness explores the nature of revolutionary faith and presents the story of Exodus as the master story of human freedom and the greatest sustained critique of the abuse of power.
Gospelbound: Living with Resolute Hope in an Anxious Age by Collin Hansen, Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra (Multnomah, $16 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-593-19357-0). The two authors call for rediscovering Christianity’s historic principles and posture of love amid fearful times and shifts in culture.
April 23
Finding Sanctuary: How the Wild Work of Peace Restored the Heart of a Sandy Hook Mother by Jennifer Hubbard (Ave Maria, $15.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-64680-061-2). Hubbard channeled her grief over the murder of her daughter into starting an animal sanctuary in her honor and finding hope in Christ’s redemptive suffering.
April 27
Survivor: An Abortion Survivor’s Surprising Story of Choosing Forgiveness and Finding Redemption by Claire Culwell, Lois Mowday Rabey, Steve Rabey (WaterBrook, $17 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-593-19322-8). An abortion survivor and leading pro-life spokeswoman tells her inspiring and sometimes surprising story of redemption, healing, and forgiveness.
Fiction
April 6
Blackberry Beach: A Hope Harbor Novel by Irene Hannon (Revell, 6, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-8007-3615-6). The newest from Hannon, a bestselling author of more than 50 novels, features two people, both challenged by their pasts, finding love on the Oregon coast.
Present Danger by Elizabeth Goddard (Revell, $15.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-8007-3798-6). Bestselling author Goddard weaves a web of deceit made of hidden crimes, open threats, and long-buried family secrets in the first book of a new series.
Is It Any Wonder: A Nantucket Love Story by Courtney Walsh (Tyndale House, $14.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-4964-3443-2). Walsh delivers an inspirational romance about first love and second chances when a couple reconnects after tragedies in their past.
A Piece of the Moon by Chris Fabry (Tyndale House, $25.99, ISBN 978-1-4964-4344-1).In this southern fiction story from Fabry, bestselling author of War Room, treasure hunters descend on a small town seeking a millionaire’s buried gold with Biblical clues.
April 27
Samuel’s Return by Susan Lantz Simpson (Zebra, $8.99 mass-market, ISBN 978-1-4201-4984-5). Simpson’s heroine is a practical young Amish widow who might take a chance to try love anew with the man who once left her behind.
