A licensed clinical mental health counselor asks Why Am I Like This? in a guide to breaking damaging cycles and healing from trauma, the latest novel from Christian fiction star author Karen Kingsbury, and many more titles are going on sale in April.
Nonfiction
April 4
Christendom: The Triumph of a Religion, AD 300–1300 by Peter Heather (Knopf, $35, ISBN 978-0-451-49430-6). Historian Heather tracks the growth and spread of early Christianity, from its emergence in Palestine to its eventual widespread dominance in Europe.
Listen to Your Day: The Life-Changing Practice of Paying Attention by Paul Angone (Baker, $17.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5409-0071-5) outlines ways to move past “inattentional blindness” to better focus on personal priorities, daily life, and God.
Why Am I Like This? How to Break Cycles, Heal from Trauma, and Restore Your Faith by Kobe Campbell (W, $18.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-7852-9642-3) calls for believers to examine unaddressed emotional wounds and personal truths to accept God’s healing.
Open: Unorthodox Thoughts on God and Community by Brad R. Braxton (Fortress, $24 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5064-8881-3) advocates for pluralism in church communities and discusses reparations, LGBTQ equality, and environmental justice.
Please, Sorry, Thanks: The Three Words That Change Everything by Mark Batterson (Multnomah, $22, ISBN 978-0-593-19279-5) recommends using the “three magic words” in daily life to strengthen personal gratitude, humility, and relationships.
The Mysterion: Rumi and the Secret of Becoming Fully Human by Kabir Helminski (Shambhala, $21.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-64547-144-8) draws on the insights of 13th-century poet and mystic Rumi to underline the importance of cultivating divine potential in order to be more human.
April 11
Stuck Together: The Hope of Christian Witness in a Polarized World by J. Nelson Kraybill (Herald, $18.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5138-1064-5) explains how believers can use scriptural wisdom to seek common ground with those with whom they disagree.
Overlooked by Whitney Akin (Leafwood, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-68426-192-5) tackles the human need for attention in a social media-obsessed society, and suggests a closer relationship with God as a solution.
The Consuming Fire: The Complete Priestly Source, from Creation to the Promised Land by Liane Feldman (Univ. of California, $19.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-520-38365-4) provides the full text of one of the four foundational sources of the Old Testament, which describes the origins of the Jewish people and their relationship with God.
Waiting in Hope: 31 Reflections for Walking with God Through Infertility by Jennifer Hesse, Kelley Ramsey (W, $24.99, ISBN 978-0-7852-9038-4) draws on a mix of scriptural wisdom, testimonies, and personal narratives to help women navigate the emotional fallout of infertility.
April 15
Living Christ by Peter Feldmeier (Liturgical, $29.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-8146-6821-4) offers a guide to reading and interpreting the Gospels, and contends that doing so is essential to fully understand the texts and to know God.
April 18
Asian American Apostate: Losing Religion and Finding Myself at an Evangelical University by R. Scott Okamoto (Lake Drive, $18.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-957687-13-1). A musician recounts his experiences as an Asian American teaching at a conservative Christian college rife with homophobia, misogyny, purity culture, and racism.
Sober Spirituality: The Joy of a Mindful Relationship with Alcohol by Erin Jean Warde (Brazos, $18.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-58743-567-6). An Episcopal priest embarks on a quest to quit drinking, and dispenses advice to Christians wishing to do the same.
The Spirituality of Grief: Ten Practices for Those Who Remain by Fran Tilton Shelton (Broadleaf, $17.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5064-8310-8) draws from various religious traditions to suggest ways of coping with mourning.
Non-toxic Masculinity: Recovering Healthy Male Sexuality by Zachary Wagner (IVP, $18 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5140-0502-6) contends that purity culture is harmful, and puts forth a new version of Christian male sexuality rooted in empathy and selflessness.
On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living by Alan Noble (IVP, $20, ISBN 978-1-5140-0443-2) opens up about fighting depression, anxiety, and other emotional challenges through small but important daily choices.
April 20
Oral Roberts and the Rise of the Prosperity Gospel by Jonathan Root (Eerdmans, $26 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-8028-7727-7) chronicles the televangelist’s life, from his Depression-era childhood to the finance-based theology that brought him fame.
April 25
Sikhs: A Story of a People, Their Faith, and Culture (DK, $50, ISBN 978-0-7440-7752-0) looks at the Sikh religion, which has 30 million adherents, and its history, traditions, and egalitarian values.
Disobedient God: Trusting a God Who Goes Off-Script by Albert Tate (FaithWords, $26, ISBN 978-1-5460-0056-3) discusses how and why to maintain a steadfast belief in God during moments of difficulty and religious doubt.
Sacred Pregnancy: Birth, Motherhood, and the Quest for Spiritual Community by Ann W. Duncan (Fortress, $28 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5064-8556-0) examines the intersection of reproduction and Christian faith, casting pregnancy and birth as holy rites of passage.
Beautiful Union: How God’s Vision for Sex Points Us to the Good, Unlocks the True, and (Sort of) Explains Everything by Joshua Ryan Butler (Multnomah, $18 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-593-44503-7) details a philosophy of sex rooted in Christian theology.
Fiction
April 4
Bastille Day by Gregory Todd Garrett (Paraclete, $19.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-64060-751-4). In Paris, a journalist scarred by memories of the Iraq war runs into the Saudi woman he’d fallen for a decade before—and he’s dismayed to learn she is arranged to marry a sheikh.
April 18
The Tapestry of Grace by Kim Vogel Sawyer (WaterBrook, $17 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-593-19438-6) follows a Mennonite widower and his twin boys who become the unwilling recipients of assistance from a well-intentioned women’s benevolent society.
April 25
Just Once by Karen Kingsbury (Atria, $27.99, ISBN 978-1-982104-44-3). It’s 1941, and beautiful Irvel Ellis is dating Sam but is secretly in love with his brother Hank—a situation that grows complicated when Pearl Harbor is attacked, Sam enlists, and Irvel and Hank bond on the home front.
