Religion and spirituality books publishing during December include a guide to prayer in difficult times, a historical account of execution in the U.S., and an argument for humility as a means for spiritual transformation.
Nonfiction
Dec. 1
Our Hearts Are Restless: The Art of Spiritual Memoir by Richard Lischer (Oxford Univ., $34.95, ISBN 978-0-19-764904-6) surveys the craft and aesthetics of spiritual autobiographies from Augustine to Anne Lamott.
Dec. 6
The End of Public Execution: Race, Religion, and Punishment in the American South by Michael Ayers Trotti (Univ. of North Carolina, $32.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-4696-7041-6) studies the religious undercurrents of the legal executions of Black Americans.
Praying Through Pain: A Scripture-Based Journey by Lee Barbara (Loyola, $15.99, 978-0829455519) addresses the difficulties of communicating with God during times of hardship.
Learning Humility: A Year of Searching for a Vanishing Virtue by Richard J. Foster (IVP, $25, 978-1514002124) argues that humility is absent from contemporary culture, including churches and ministry leaders.
Dec. 13
Islam and Blackness by Jonathan A. C. Brown (OneWorld, $40, 978-08615-44844) closely examines claims that Islam, its scriptures, traditions, laws, and history, is anti-Black.
In Good Time by Jen Pollack Michel (Baker, $16.99, 978-1540900548) dismantles what the author calls “the false religion of productivity” and encourages readers to focus instead on being present, attentive, rested, and rooted.
Dec. 20
Realizing the Profound View by the Dalai Lama, with Thubten Chodron (Wisdom, $39.95, ISBN 978-1-61429-840-3) The eighth volume of the Library of Wisdom and Compassion series continues the previous entry’s examination of emptiness.
Awakening Dignity by Phakchok Rinpoche and Sophie Wu (Shambhala, $21.95, 978-1645470885) explores the trust of oneself as a crucial component to a meaningful and fulfilling life.
Dec. 28
Every Day New by Jenny Highsmith (Harvest House, $19.99, 978-0736986366) features colorful oil paintings by the author as well as 30 daily readings intended to help readers grow closer to God.
Fiction
Dec. 1
Christmas at Whispering Creek by Barbara Britton (White Rose, $15.99, 978-1522303954) follows a cancer survivor who must decide how to move forward either in Wisconsin with her parents or Whispering Creek, Tenn.
On My Honor by Patty Smith Hall (Barbour Fiction, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-636094328) is set in WWII and follows Ginny Mathis who works as a clerk for Oregon Inlet ferry but becomes involved in the Battle of the Atlantic when she meets a shipwreck survivor.
Dec. 3
The Bridge to Belle Island by Julie Klassen (Bethany, $15.99, 978-0-7642-1-8194). When lawyer Benjamin encounters Isabelle, a beautiful recluse who is the prime suspect in a murder, he must decide whether to trust her, even when she can’t trust herself.
Echoes Among the Stones by Jamie Jo Wright (Bethany, $15.99, 978-0-7642-3-3883) is a pursuit for the truth and justice for two different women across two different decades.
Seconds to Live: Homeland Heroes #1 by Susan Sleeman (Bethany, $14.99, ISBN 978-0764233951) is a race against time to find the hacker in an attack on the U.S. Marshal’s Witness Protection agency.
