Books, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, make wonderful gifts. You can share adventure and joy, solace and challenge, offer something that means a lot to you or offer something you know your loved one or friend would appreciate. You can gently hint at deep things you hope they’ll consider anew or you can offer a full-on lifeline. You can share a meaningful memoir, artful poetry, a good novel, or a fun cookbook. There is literally something for everyone. And they wrap up really nicely, eh?

Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

We don’t have big quantities of many of these suggestions so order soon while supplies last. And do tell us if you do or don’t need your items by Christmas Eve. The order form is interactive and expansive so type in whatever info you want us to know.

Gift certificates / cards are always welcomed gifts and we can send them to you via snail mail (with an envelope) or via email for you to download yourself. Just let us know who they are for and how much you want it to be for.

In any case, here are some ideas, random titles, all recommended in one way or another. Feel free to browse through all the archived past BookNotes, too — what a lot of good books we’ve announced and reviewed this year.

FOR ANYONE, BUT ESPECIALLY A BOOK LOVER

World of Wonders: A Spirituality of Reading Jeff Crosby (Paraclete Press) $18.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

I have reviewed this, hosted the author at a hearts & Minds webinar, and talked about the book at our “Three Books from Hearts & Minds” podcast. I’ll just remind you of it here — it is a splendid book, perhaps the best of its kind. A book about why reading matters, a charming telling of great reading experiences, the why and wherefore of the reading life. You can give this to serious readers, sure, but you can also give it to those who may not naturally be inclined to pick up a book like this. It is inspiring. It is fun. You have my word on it — it’s a great gift. And your favorite bookstore owner has a nice blurb on the back, so there’s that. Hooray. Buy a couple and give ‘em out! Ho, ho, ho.

FOR A NATURE LOVER:

Birds in the Sky Fish in the Sea: Attending to Creation with Delight and Wonder Matthew Dickerson & Matthew L. Clark (Square Halo Books) $25.99  // OUR SALE PRICE = $20.70

This is almost a perfect little gift, pocket-sized, with a beautiful blue cover, with artful woodcuts scattered on almost every page spread. The writing is exquisite, lovely for the wondrous insight about nature (creation!), and how to be reflective and attentive, but also for informative natural history prose. Dickerson is always amazing, and this is glorious. And Matthew Clark brings a beautiful, artful (and at times almost eccentric) illustration to the work, giving it even more delight and wonder. Fantastic. You’ll feel good giving this, I’m sure.

The Language of Rivers and Stars: How Nature Speaks of the Glories of God Seth Lewis (The Good Book Company) $14.99  // OUR SALE PRICE = $11.99

Yes, I raved about the handsome little Birds in the Sky Fish in the Sea book but this one is equally charming, maybe a tad more meandering, covering lovely ground on so many fronts, good stuff in what Alister Begg calls “a work of poetic theology that is as beautiful as it is faithful.” Seth Lewis, we are told, “lives, hikes, works, and writes on the south coast of Ireland.” That explains some of it. He’s a majestic writer and gentle wise. He shows us “how to decipher the language of creation and discover God’s voice.”

The Light Between Apple Trees: Rediscovering the Wild Through a Beloved American Fruit Priyanka Kaur (Island Press) $32.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $25.60

Eloquent, luminous, full of wonder, what Sy Montgomery (of The Soul of An Octopus) calls “deeply meditative in the vein of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass.) Some good folks have taken up the vocation of caring well for very old apple trees and this intimate study of historic orchards is wonderfully researched and full of lovely hope. Fascinating and eloquent.

 

Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees Beth Norcross & Leah Ramey (Broadleaf) $22.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $18.39

There are a lot of books about the scientific mystery of the language of trees. We’ve got bunches. This one explores how, as Belden Lane puts it, “the deep wisdom of the Standing Ones is that everything belongs; nothing stands alone.” Folk singer Carrie Newcomer calls it “a beautiful meditation.” It is spiritually alive, for sure, but not conventionally Christian, not at all pushy. It would make a good gift for somebody who doesn’t want too much direct Bible…

 

Creation Care Discipleship: Why Earthkeeping Is an Essential Christian Practice Steven Bouma-Prediger (Baker Academic) $25.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $20.79

We’ve got dozens of excellent books on Biblical-based creation care, faithful ecological theology and such, and this is one of the very best. Good for the experienced activist against global warming or the newbie, we recommend all of Bouma-Pediger’s good books. We’ve written about them all. This one was named one of our Best Books of the Year in 2023 and it is only more urgent now; if you know anyone who cares about earthkeeping even a bit, they will love this. Highly recommended.

FOR AN ARTS LOVER

Art Is… A journey into the Light Makoto Fujimura (Yale University Press) $30.00  // OUR SALE PRICE = $24.00

We stock all of Mako’s major volumes and highlighted this before it came out. If you were not one who pre-ordered it, you may want to put it on somebody’s list to get for you. And you should get it under somebody’s else’s tree as so many will love this mature, handsome, serious volume. All of his books are a wonder.  Rowan Williams notes that this new book “offers insights into his creative process and is a work of real freshness and beauty.” Love it!

Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart: What Art Teaches Us about the Wonder and Struggle of Being Alive Russ Ramsey (Thomas Nelson) $29.99  // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

I have raved about this wonderful collection of stories about artists who struggled with pain or doubt, whose work helps us all be more aware of our human realities. Ramsey is a theologically-informed pastor and tells these stories in ways that can inspire anyone.  I’ve even got an endorsing blurb on it  — right next to the much more qualified art guy, Ned Bustard of Square Halo Books. If he likes it, you know it’s good.

 

Rainbows for the Fallen World Calvin Seerveld (Toronto Tuppence Press) $35.00  // OUR SALE PRICE = $28.00

Many esteem this as one of their all time favorite books, and this philosophically minded art critic and cultural analyst, befriended some of the finest artists of our time, from Mako Fujimura to Michael Card. This is about normative aesthetics, art history, Christian philosophy, and the call to renew culture. It is rare and we’ve got it. AND — get this: we will gladly offer a free Seerveld volume that in many ways is the little known sequel to Rainbows for the Fallen World called Bearing Fresh Olive Leaves with any purchase of Rainbows. It, too, is an eccentric and powerfully written collection of essays and talks about the arts. It is brilliant and, although hard to find, often goes for around $50.00. We have a bunch that we got from him before his death and we’ll share them here, now. FREE with a purchase of Rainbows. Wow. (While supplies last.) Please ask for this if you want one. We’ll gladly do it for those that request it, with a purchase of Rainbows…

OR FOR ANY CREATIVE

Honest Creativity: The Foundation of Boundless, Good, and Inspired Innovation Craig Detweiler (Morehouse) $29.95  // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.96

I’ve long admired this Fuller prof, a guy who has written about modern culture, film, tech, and the like. He’s obviously a thoughtful Christian presence in the midst of edgy cultural stuff, aware of the zeitgeist and inviting us all to be wiser salt and light. Because he has worked with so many cultural creatives (and because he himself is such a creative) it makes sense that he has written a very thoughtful study of “the transformative power of authentic creativity.” It is both an empowering guide (with practical tools) and, as Christian Swanson puts it, “maps out the artist’s journey of facing obstacles, self-doubt, and fear.” She, by the way, is the award-winning director of Chicago P.D. amongst other great shows. Mako Fujimura calls him “a faith-filled master teacher on the elusive subject of creativity, especially in the backdrop of an AI revolution.”

The Discipline of Inspiration: The Mysterious Encounter with God at the Heart of Creativity Carey Wallace (Eerdmans) $26.99  // OUR SALE PRICE = $21.59

If you’re not familiar with this very thoughtful book by a very good novelist and writer, do put the name into the search box at our BookNotes and read my previous review. I’ll just say this, here, now: it is for writers or artists or anyone wondering how to evoke some creative spirit. Perhaps you just feel inspired to playfully add something to an old, standard recipe? Where does that come from?

Carey here reflects on the source and power of inspiration — hint: it’s deeply spiritual — and she offers practical disciplines (standard fare for those of us walking intentionally with attention to our interior lives) such as silence, community, and rest. Wayne Adams, a multimedia artist (and former board member of the sadly now defunct Christian arts organization CIVA) says “I fell like I’ve been waiting for this book my whole life.”

FOR AN ASPIRING WRITER

Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies Marilyn McEntyre (Eerdmans) $20.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $16.79

Since this is a quick gift-giving guide, I won’t wax eloquent about this as I often do, but it is one of my all time favorite books and you could give it to any reader, book lover, words-lover, and certainly any writer (journalist, poet, novelist, or nonfiction author.) She offers strategies to steward our words well and offers brilliant, poetic, meditative, but really wise ideas as vital as “tell the truth” and “stay in conversation” to as unique and smile-inducing as “love the long sentence” and “play.” Get this book for almost anybody on your list who cares about the printed page.

Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life Maggie Smith (Washington Square Press) $28.99  // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.19

I know not all BookNotes readers will know Maggie Smith but she is a much-discussed poet, writer, professor, and creator of a respected Substack column about the craft of writing. She has received a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a coveted Pushcart Prize and numerous awards; she is published in places like The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The Atlantic and the like. She is known for the exquisite You Could Make This Place Beautiful, a memoir I loved. Elizabeth Gilbert, who has some pretty sweet writing chops, has written “Oh, how I wish I’d had access to this book thirty-five years ago, when I was just starting out as a writer…. I admire this book, and its author, with all my heart.”

Writing, Creativity, and Soul Sue Monk Kidd (Knopf) $29.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.20

We used to carry (and still do) Sue Monk Kidd’s early books of Christian spirituality but she has become even more widely known for The Secret Life of Bees and other good fiction (including one of Beth’s favorite novels, The Invention of Wings.) This guide to creativity is brand new and is said to be “part memoir, part philosophical investigation, part advice to aspiring writers.” I liked in the flyleaf copy that they called it “a touchstone for the spirit.” I am sure it will be a warm read, but full of her fierce intelligence and laden with the search for meaning and for beauty.

If you have any Sue Monk Kidd fans in your circles, this is a no-brainer, I’d say.

The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life Suleika Jaouad (Random House) $30.00  // OUR SALE PRICE = $24.00

I can hardly imagine any thoughtful book lover not loving this beautiful anthology, a collection of amazing pieces — some by famous writers, others you’ve never heard of — to inspire you to keep a journal. It is about this practice of response; in this sense it is for anyone, learning the habit of reflection.

Suleika Jaouad is the author who wrote that breathtaking memoir of an edgy young woman struck early in her college years with a radical kind of depilating leukemia. The first half of Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted is the utterly gripping account of her treatment and the second part is mostly her life-giving road trip around the country. It is one of my favorite books of recent years and the quiet little bit about her falling in love with Jon Batiste is pretty nice, too, but I digress.

The Book of Alchemy is going to make an awesome gift. Jaouad is the brilliant and passionate person who put this fabulous 300 page reader together, carefully curated, nicely done, but there are oodles of entries and excerpts by writers of all kinds. Amazing blurbs on the back are from Elizabeth Gilbert, Kate Bowler, Hanif Abdurraquib, and Adam Grant.

FOR SOMEONE WANTING TO GROW IN DEEPER CHRISTIAN FAITH

All Things Together: How Apprenticeship to Jesus Is the Way of Flourishing in a Fragmented World Heath Hardesty (Multnomah) $18.00  // OUR SALE PRICE = $14.40

Hardesty is a vibrant writer for sure, a pastor who used to be a plumber. He writes like a dream and has the vision and demeanor of an excited Eugene Peterson. He is deeply influenced by the likes of Dallas Willard and is all about apprenticeship to Jesus, discovering a relationship with him that can give us wholeness and hope. It’s a great read.

I could hardly put it down and if you know anybody who just wants to be enthralled with a fine Christian guidance and inspiration about being one with Christ and taking discipleship seriously, All Things Together will please and delight. And challenge. It’s a winner for almost anyone…

You Can Trust a God With Scars: Faith (and Doubt) for the Searching Soul Jared Ayers (NavPress) $18.99  // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

I wrote a good review of this stunningly delightful and honest book at BookNotes and explained how it is culturally savvy (with lots of quotes from TV and pop songs, from U2 and the like.) He’s a solid thinker, offering an apologetic for why God is trustworthy, in part because His story features a King who dies. What an upside down gospel! He gets the truth of things and tells it well. I loved this and it would assure any  believer to trust the gospel and would even be good for those unsure, seekers and skeptics. He’s a gracious and thoughtful writer, right on my wavelength. I’m sure you could give it to somebody.

The Sabbath Way: Making Room in Your Life for Rest, Connection, and Delight Travis West (Tyndale) $18.99  // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

This is one of the most fun, honest, upbeat, and readable books on sabbath life I’ve read in a long while. It really is upbeat and fun and yet is exceedingly solid by a professor of Hebrew at Western Theological in Holland, Michigan. Winn Collier, of the Eugene Peterson Center for the Christian Imagination, wrote the foreword, and Winn is brilliant and a good writer so if he likes it, you should get it. And feel good giving it. Part of this story, by the way, was the hardship West and his wife have had with her chronic illness and some personal hardships. What an inspiring story! This will invigorate almost anyone to be faithful and, yes, to rest in Christ.

You Have a Calling: Finding Your Vocation in the True, Good, and Beautiful Karen Swallow Prior (Brazos Press) $21.99  // OUR SALE PRICE = $17.59

This is a compact sized, smallish hardback and every word is sweet, special, wise, and good. What a great little book this is, mature and interesting, bringing a fresh take on conversations about calling and vocation. I’m confident that this will clear up so much spiritual confusion as folks come to understand this foundational notion of God’s call and vocational passion. It is clear and practical and inspiring. Highly recommended for young and old.

I like that artist and writer Andrew Peterson says he “heartily commends this book.” So do I. It’s a small hardback with a great cover, making it a nice little gift, even for a teen. Hooray.

What Is Wrong With the World? The Surprising, Hopeful Answer to the QuestionWe Cannot Avoid Timothy Keller (Zondervan) $29.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

If In your circle of gifting you have people who would know who Keller is, this is a no-brainer. It’s brand new and would make a great gift for fans of the late pastor and public thinker. Too culturally savvy for the super-strict legalists, too Reformed for others, too concerned about race and justice for the right and too conservative for progressives, he was a unicorn, a rare breed of evangelicals with an intellectual approach to cultural and spiritual issues. We respected him immensely.

This is a book on sin. Okay, so that’s not going to work for every gift-wrapped treat under the tree. But for those eager to grapple with the deepest questions of human living, of the biggest problems and the greatest answers, this collection of thoughtful sermons is nothing short of brilliant. Not for everyone, but a great, grand book. Buy a few now, even if you don’t wrap them as Christmas gifts. You should own this and read it carefully. We all should.

Way of Love: Recovering the Heart of Christianity Norman Wirzba (Cascade) $27.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $21.60

Want a mature and thoughtful work by a Duke professor (who happens to be a friend of Wendell Berry and the preeminent writer about agrarian lifestyles)? He has written about the profound hope we have as those living well in God’s good world and has done books on everything from food to farming. Norman Wirzba is a scholarly writer who has done lovey prose and inspiring work for all of us. We are delighted to have discovered that this older, out of print book — one of his best! — has been reissued in paperback. Hooray for this little known work, now given a new chance. Maybe you should give it to someone. Perhaps the new foreword by Diana Butler Bass will further entice you.

Way of Love “invites readers to discover the Christian faith as a school that forms people in the practices of love.” All right; wow. This book is particularly special’s it shows not only that love is a practice — a muscle to be exercised is how some may put it — but a “key to understanding what Christian teaching is fundamentally about, and why it matters for our daily lives”

Rave reviews on the back are from colorful memoirist J. Dana Trent and astute theological Anglican David Ford and the always trustworthy and poetic writer, Marilyn McEntyre. She notes that his reflections on this are themselves “acts of hospitality that offer a kind of nourishment we need again and again.” I bet you know somebody who would appreciate this thoughtful, nuanced, deeper study.

The Life You Were Reborn to Live: Dismantling 12 Lies That Rob Your Intimacy with God Gary Thomas (Zondervan) $29.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

This book is a wonder and makes a great gift for that person you want to hep along their way towards deeper intimacy with God and more vibrant, faithful discipleship. It is informed by excellent thinking and scholarship but is readable, practical, full of stories and anecdotes, and convicting (in a good way.) What a joy to read a basic book about Christian living that is so darn good

Thomas is an upbeat writer. He has done excellent books on spiritual formation and he has done a good handful of books on marriage and parenting. He’s a practical guy, down to Earth, but full of pastoral experience, explaining to folks how to take steps towards greater maturity and joy in the Lord. Here, he helps expose the cultural assumptions we all tend to hold — about busyness and self-sufficiency and the nature of worship and our view of sin, not to mention difficulties — and dismantles those so we can get to a point of freedom in Christ. Somehow, we’ve got to get beyond our sense of restlessness and find a deeper trust in God. Know anybody you could give this to? I bet you do. Buy one for yourself while you’re at it, and offer to read it with them. There’s plenty to ponder, pray about, and discuss. Happy reading!

Ask of Old Paths: Medieval Virtues and Vices for a Whole and Holy Life Grace Haan (Zondervan Reflective) $29.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

This very well may be one of the best books of 2015 and, sadly, it is only known in a small circle of readers. Maybe you can help spread the word, giving a couple away. Granted it may not appeal to everyone — it is about medieval faith in the Middle Ages, especially how they viewed virtue, what we might call character formation. Can we find wholeness by taking up practices that lead to goodness? Can this glimpse into Christian history and “old paths” give us language and ideas for transformation, today.

Hamman wrote the excellent Jesus Through Medieval Eyes which we adored; this new one is even more urgent, I think, helping us  all by offering a book that (in the words of Sarah Clarkson) “grips the imagination and stirs the heart.” Yay.  (The title, by the way, comes from the book of Jeremiah.)

Why Everything That Doesn’t Matter, Matters So Much: The Way of Love in a World of Hurt Charlie Peacock & Andi Ashworth (Thomas Nelson) $19.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

If there was one handbook of remarkable essays (written as tender personal letters) about serving God in our modern age, this set of pieces by Charlie and Andi, might be the first that springs to mind. It is conversational, eloquent, wise, and relevant. Not too academic, but not simplistic or cheesy. If you have the sort of Christian friends who want to just read up a bit on a variety of aspects of faith and discipleship, this book is a gem. I am not embarrassed to say some of it is brilliant. I hope you find somebody to share it with.

There are pieces on the imagination and the arts, there is stuff about calling and career. There are letters about politics and polarization and wisdom for singles, parents, and the broken-hearted. There is advice on homemaking and cooking and words on study and reading. A few are specific (like about knowing when to move on, and even move) and a great piece on “talking about Jesus in the public square.” From hard-learned insight about marriage to ideas about faith in the daily/ordinary, this great collection is a book to read and re-read. Give it to anyone who needs a smart friend, good words, bread for the journey Why Everything That Doesn’t Matter, Matters… makes a great gift. Hooray.

Whitefield on the Christian Life: New Birth to Enjoy God Tom Schwanda & Ian Maddock  (Crossway) $22.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $18.39

This ongoing series by Crossway is always edifying, informative, and often beautiful. Their “on the Christian Life” books about Luther and Bonhoeffer and John Stott and Bavinck and Packer and (quite recently) J.C Ryle, are all very interesting and commendable. But Whitefield?

Tom Schwanda is a good author (who did a remarkable book on the mystical tendencies in the Puritan writers) and I trust him a lot. He introduces the human side of this controversial and exceptionally popular open-air preacher of the eighteenth century. (His friendship with Benjamin Franklin is legendary and fascinating.) He was larger than life and deeply theological, even as he preached up a storm everywhere he went. I trust you know some of the almost unbelievable stories of his influence.

Former Pittsburgh Theological Seminary missions professor, Scott Sundquist, notes that “the apt subtitle of this volume, New Birth to Enjoy God, reminds us that Whitefield’s theology, and the best of ecumenical evangelicalism, is driven by gratitude and joy.” Indeed.

There are critical assessments here, and the chapters on Whitefield’s changing views on abolition and slavery are the best I’ve read. Mark Noll, the preeminent evangelical historian says that the book not only has very thorough research but offers “empathy balanced by criticism.” I think there may be somebody on your list who needs a book like this.

The Core of the Christian Faith: Living the Gospel for the Sake of the World Michael Goheen (Brazos Press) $24.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

I think giving Christian folks books about doctrine and theology is a good thing, although too often such books can be received with a smile and maybe a good intention, even, but, really — who is going to read a major theology tome? The Core of the Christian Faith, however, is unlike any introduction to theology you’ve ever read. It is missional in scope, visionary in its passion, and offering a compelling perspective for God’s redemptive mission in the world, telling the story that can shape our story. Want to join up? Want to take up a process of becoming a new person for the sake of a new movement?  This book is engaging and relevant and frames the story of redemption (for all of life) in a way that matters. You can give this to anybody wanting to learn more about the basics of the faith in fresh, dynamic, Kingdom ways.

“In an age overflowing with discipleship and spiritual-formation resources, Goheen has written a book that stands out as essential for Christian today, As I read, my heart was stirred for Christ and my imagination ignited with fish was to faithfully participate in God’s mission today.” — John Crawford, pastor of formation, Redemption Tempe

FOR A JUSTICE ADVOCATE (or SOMEONE WHO OUGHT TO BE)

The Soulwork of Justice: Four Movements for Contemplative Action Wesley Granberg-Michaelson (Orbis) $26.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $20.80

I will not say that this is the only book of its kind as there are others that attempt to offer a spirituality of action, a contemplative sort of activism, building bridges between prayer and politics. But this is the best. It offers a great bit of narrative writing sharing four movements (as Wes calls them) toward an integrated, spiritually-rooted, sort of worldly Holness. If you want to be a long-term activism — whether your cause is immigration reform or peacemaking or serving the poor or working on ecological sustainability issues, whether your style is protest or policy — The Soulwork of Justice is for you.

Do you know any justice activists who need this sort of stature, experienced guide to sustainable faith? (Or, on the other hand, do you know anyone deeply interested in our interior lives, spiritual formation, and mystical encounters that need to be harnessed for the sake of the common good and public justice?) This book is for them. It is a winner; it is ecumenical and suitable for mainline Protestants and evangelicals, for charismatics to those in liturgical churches.

Wes Granberg-Michaelson has spent decades serving the global church and may be one of the most ecumenical Christians on the planet. His passion for justice is legendary and his wisdom is well-earned. I like and trust him a lot. You can give this book about the spirituality of justice work and other sorts of activism to nearly anyone. Wrap a few of these up — it’s a great way to celebrate the birthday of Jesus!

Racial Justice for the Long Haul: How White Christian Advocate Preserve (& Why) Christine Jeske (IVP Academic) $29.99  // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

I am working on a longer review of this for later in the year or maybe for when I announce it as one of the best books of 2025. Brand new, serious, thoughtful, passionate, and well-written, this is laden with stories and loaded with research, done by a woman who is beloved as a mentor and teacher at Wheaton and who has written previously good books about her journeys of service around the world. She is, to put it succinctly, well acquainted with the griefs of this fallen world.s

I know there are a few serious activists and thinkers who would relish this brand new book as a gift this holiday season. We’ve got tons of books on racism and racial justice and cross-cultural ministry and multiethnic reconciliation; some have suggested we have the widest inventory on these theme of any bookstore in the country. I don’t know about that, but we have read a lot, and this brand new book, I am convinced, ought to become known as a classic. We will learn about the truest basis for hope, the need for lament and the ways ethnographic research can help us all as we commit to a grace-filled, Kingdom vision for long-term anti-racism work.

This book presents Jeske’s findings in her large research on what makes anti-racism work, work,  and what keeps us going in productive and fruitful ways. If you don’t know who to give it to, get one for yourself and work on it. You’ll be better for it.

Bear Witness: The Pursuit of Justice in a Violent Land Ross Halperin (Liveright) $31.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $25.59

When I think back of the many books I’ve read this year on social justice themes and on global development and third world issues, this one clearly stands out. It was the most engaging, the most memorable, and the one that seems most appropriate as a gift for many sorts of readers of nonfiction. If you know people who like good narratives, creative, immersive journalism, powerful, important storytelling, this page-turning, edge-of-your-seat wonder is a boy to give.

Go back to our big BookNotes review if you need more info, but this is an investigative sort of report on the incredible ministry of Kuret Ver Week (of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan) who moved into one of the poorest and most unjust barrios in all of Latin America. Jill Leovy, the acclaimed author of the gut-wrenching Ghettoside, says “Kurt Van Been and Carlos Hernández are possibly the bravest people in the world.”

This reads like a thriller — a big, fat, thriller — and while excellently reported, it is “rife with vivid human and physical detail.” It’s almost like a novel, gripping and inspiring, about a team of faith-based activists trying to stop the police corruption that allows wanton murder on the stress of this Honduran town. Their long-terms efforts at multi-faceted, systemic reform is unlike anything I’ve ever read about, anywhere. Whether or not you know about the complexities of Latin American politics and poverty and repression, Bear Witness is a heck of a read that will be hard to forget. Give it to somebody who cares, or maybe somebody who doesn’t.  As their Board member Nicholas Wolterstorff puts it, “Take this and be moved and inspired.”

The Justice of Jesus: Reimagining Your Church’s Life Together to Pursue Liberation and Wholeness Joash P. Thomas (Brazos Press) $19.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

I’ve read a lot of books about the Biblical basis for outwork for social righteousness and public witness and few frame the journey towards justice in the context of the local church. The Justice of Jesus does exactly that. Soooo —  give this book to somebody who cares about our broken world, yes, but also it would be a great gift for anybody who longs for Spirited church renewal, who wants to rethink what the local church could and should be.  Want to know what a seriously Christ-centered church could be about? Wonder how to prioritize justice in “our church pulpits, budgets, and theology”? Rev. Joash Thomas (with a degree from Dallas Theological Seminary) is a popular international speaker — he was born and raised in India. His multi-ethnic congregation is in Hamilton, Ontario, and I know he is widely and deeply respected.

Blurbs on the back are rave, from the usual suspects — Shane Claiborne, Kristin Du Mez, Danielle Strickland. Sarah Bessey exclaims, “Joash’s deep love for the church shines through on every page as he invites us all into the group project of liberation.” I bet you know somebody who would be blessed by this.  Please consider sharing this book with somebody you know.

FOR AN ASPIRING BIBLICAL SCHOLAR (or anyone interested in the Scriptures)

Introducing the Old Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey Rolf Jacobson & Michael Chan (Baker Academic) $54.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $43.99

There are plenty of other introductions to the Hebrew Scriptures (write to us if your interested) but this makes a great gift — a hefty, bright, hardback, moderate in tone, wise, endorsed by Walter Brueggemann, Brent Strawn, and David DeJong of Hope College song others It is a lively, engaging, serious study, lavishly illustrated. A major gift, for sure.

 

Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey Mark Allen Powell (Baker Academic) $59.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $47.99

Again, like the Old Testament one, above, this is a lavish, hefty hardback, full of good, thoughtful, scholarship and even elegant insight. I first heard of this scholar — for those that might want to know — from my friend Marva Dawn. Powell is Lutheran, so that makes sense as Marva, when she wasn’t Anabaptist, or writing with Presbyterians like Eugene Peterson, was deeply Lutheran. Craig Evans, of Houston Baptist, says it is a “no brainer” to use this text. Yay.

On Earth as in Heaven: Daily Wisdom for Twenty-First Century Christians N.T. Wright (HarperOne) $18.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

Few understand the big picture the unfolding drama of the Biblical story as does N.T. Wright. In my view his many books are essential reading for faith in our day.  He is invigorating and wise, very, very helpful. This daily devotional walks you through the church year (although he starts with Easter / resurrection not Advent) with excerpts from his popular level books, a bit each day. I’ve used this to swipe quotes and find succinct one page readings of his many themes. This book will be a cherished gift.

Whispers of Revolution: Jesus and the Coming of God as King Michael Bird (Baker Academic)  $39.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $31.99

Michael Bird is a prolific writer, having worked with and co-authored books with N.T. Wright. (Most recently, their excellent paperback Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies.) Here, in this major new hardback, he asks the questions about how Christ was seen as King.

As the back jacket puts it, “This careful and concise work covers a wide range of topics related to the historical Jesus in His context. Bird studies Jesus in light of archaeology, Judean history, and apocalypticism. He scrcutiznes the sayings of Jesus and stories about Jesus, challenging many scholarly paradigms to offer a portrait of Jesus that avoids both sensationalism and pious simplification.”

Jesus, clearly, “became the catalyst for a movement that would defy and then consume the Roman Empire.” How did this happen? This explores the realities of who Jesus was and claimed to be. Lord of the world!

Understanding Biblical Law: Skills for Thinking With and Through Torah Dru Johnson (Baker Academic) $24.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

I may have this listed here in a category for aspiring Biblical scholars but I’d say this is ideal for any one who loves God’s Word, is interested in the Hebrew Scriptures, who wants to know what in the world we’re to do with Biblical law. It is rigorous but readable, fun, if serious. If anybody can bridge the often arcane world of Hebrew scholarship and hip, modern readers, Dru can. I love this guy and I love this book. It is pitched by the publisher as a “creative, timely and entertaining remedy for widespread misguided readings of Biblical law.”

Okay, then: give this to anybody who loves the Bible, anybody with questions about the Old Testament Torah, or anybody who just wants a super-engaging, detailed Biblical study. Dru has a PhD from the University of Saint Andrews, is a Templeton Senior Research Fellow and director of — get this — the Abrahamic Theistic Origins Project at Wycliffe Hall at the University of Oxford. He orders books from us for his Center for Hebraic Thought. Not bad for a former punk rocker, eh? Give this book to one and all who has even a hint of deeper interest in the nuances of this often perplexing question.

The Vision of Ephesians: The Task of the Church and the Glory of God N. T. Wright (Zondervan Academic) $29.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

Just in time for holiday gift-giving, this is the very new book by Tom Wright, another in his series of meaty but succinct studies of various books of the Bible.I loved his Into the Heart of Romans and then The Challenge of Acts. This third, new one studies in his special way — with an emphasis of Older Testament echos that point towards a new creation coming as Christ’s Kingdom restores all things — the majestic book of Ephesians. There are nine chapters, developed over just 150 pages. Perfect for newer or more experienced readers.

“Wright sets Ephesians within the biblical narrative of redemption, drawing on Old Testament passages and the historian milieux of the Jewish and Roman cultures of Pauls’ day.” — Lynn H. Cohick, Houston Christian University

A VERY SPECIAL THREE-BOOK SUGGESTION OF GREAT BIBLE TEACHING

Over the last several years Dr. Carmen Joy Imes, a wonderful Bible scholar, preacher, teacher, and on-line friend to many, has been busy writing academic commentaries (a technical one on Exodus is forthcoming) and sharing good ideas for further Biblical study. But through her teaching career and writing projects she has done three exceptional books for ordinary readers, sort of a trilogy, all tracing a certain theme throughout the unfolding drama of the Bible. Carmen is a friend and hero of ours, and these three books are, of course, sold individually, but we wanted to gently suggest that you might want to give all three. They are very cool, all together and would make a great package. The first is excellent and wise, the second is magnificent and urgent, and this new one was personally one of my favorite Biblical studies books of the year. You’ll hear more about it again, soon.

Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai Still Matters Carmen Joy Imes (IVP Academic) $23.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.19

This study of the Old Testament law is, as one seminary prof put it, “warm, witty, and winsome; theologically rigorous, rhetorically convincing, and pastorally helpful.” Wow. The foreword is by one of the contemporary greats, the missional Biblical scholar Christopher J.H Wright.

 

Being God’s Image: Why Creation Still Matters Carmen Joy Imes (IVP Academic) $23.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.19

Bible Project guy TIm Mackie calls it “accesible and profound” — the theme, besides the ongoing important doctrine of creation (including creation care) from throughout the Biblical drama — is what it means that humans are made in the imagoes God and are called to love and respect follow image bearers. The most important writer on this topic wrote the amazing foreword, J.Richard Middleton.

Becoming God’s Family: Why the Church Still Matters Carmen Joy Imes (IVP Academic) $22.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $18.39

My, my, what a book, what a needed call to a Bible-based critique of individualism and a healthy view of extended family, community, church. She has such sensible (and realistic) passion for God’s people and knows a lot about the various sort of congregations out there, all of which are scooped up in the big, bold, narrative of the people of God’s covenant brought along throughout the whole history of reception. God’s grace enfolds us into a family! What a book! The foreword is by Biblical scholar and Anglican priest, Esau McCaulley.

FOR MEMOIR AND BIOGRAPHY LOVERS

I hope you saw last week’s reviews of Barn Gothic and Paper Girl. They were wonderfully told stories, one set in rural Western New York on a diary farm, the other a season in a small rust-belt Ohio town which has seen better days. Both were informative and captivating and intimate. We recommend them.  Here are some other random ones.

Cloistered: My Years as a Nun Catherine Coldstream (St. Martin’s Press) $30.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $24.00

You will learn about how a woman comes to sense a calling, about Coldstream’s grief when she lost her father, what she thinks about her vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and the practice of silence. One reviewer called it “engrossing and moving” and another called it mesmerizing. Some have found it a bit disturbing as it isn’t a simple story (and she is no Thomas Merton.) This inside look at a Carmelite monastery and her journey away is engrossing.One obviously doesn’t have to be Roman Catholic to enjoy this.

Dr. Koop: The Many Lives of the Surgeon General Nigel M. De S. Cameron (University of Massachusetts Press) $34.95 // OUR SALE PRICE = $27.96

I’ve met Dr. Koop and I once drove Dr. Nigel Cameron (a scholar of bioethics) to an event, so I naturally feel connected to this remarkable release. Koop was an elder at the famous 10th Presbyterian in Philadelphia and a legendary pediatric surgeon who rose to fame and controversy when appointed Surgeon General by Ronald Reagan. I say the book is remarkable for a few reasons, but certainly it is almost surprising to see this major biography, written by an evangelical scholar, released by a major secular academic press. Yes, Koop was an outspoken anti-abortion leader (and made a famous film and book with Francis Schaeffer just before Schaeffer was so utterly co-opted by far-right religionists who never understood his worldview.) In any case, this tells that story and more, so much more.

Here’s the heart of it, making it a historic biography that needs to be known: Reagan appointed C. Everett Koop to the position of Surgeon General in 1981 and Koop took the job more seriously than anyone expected. From campaigns against smoking to other public health issues he didn’t bow to the market-forces of the far right and when it finally mattered most, he saved lives by serving those dying of AIDS in an era when hardly anyone got involved in their plight (and Koop’s sponsors spit hatred and vengeance upon the afflicted, saying it was God’s judgement on their gay lifestyle.) Koop was traditional in his evangelical sexual ethics but he took his job seriously and brought vigor and compassion in a time when such voices were rare. Oh to have a public health expert with such integrity and compassion.

Dr. Cameron mined thousands of documents and conducted hundreds of interviews with family and friends making this an exceptional, even majestic study of the “precocious boy from Brooklyn who was already the world’s most celebrated pediatric surgeon when he became one of the most recognizable public figures of late 20th century America.” I can think of a number of people who would value this. I hope you can, too.

Full of Myself: Black Womanhood and the Journey to Self-Possession Austin Channing Brown (Convergence) $27.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $21.60

This is the much- anticipated follow up to Brown’s New York Times bestseller from a few years ago, I’m Still Here. We promoted that energetically, and sold quite a few. Years later, she is a bit more honest about her wounding experiences in her largely white spaces, including white churches (including white churches that hired her to do cross-cultural conversations yet criticized her when she did her job in a fairly non-controversial way.) This book is gripping, with some pages full of funny stories, some that, as a white guy, I maybe didn’t even get (although my wife howled through a scene where Brown imagined conversations with black women rolling their eyes at the wrong products available in the black hair care section at a standard drug store.) One doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry though some of this and it is a compelling story, a memoir of her interior life and onward into her future career.

Memoirist Kiese Laymon (Heavy) says Austin Channing Brown “is in absolute control of her literary superpower. Here we have  a spectrum of fullness and peculiar longing that is born of rugged honesty and tender care. Exquisite work.”

The Father You Get And the Ones You Make, Believe In, and Become Patton Dodd (Broadleaf) $26.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $21.59

I loved this very moving, often upbeat, sometimes tragic story of a boy who becomes a man without an active father in his life. As Ian Morgan Cron — whose own reflection on the topic called Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me: A Memoir of Sorts remains utterly unforgettable to me — puts it, “With the eloquence of a poet and the unflinching honesty of a man who has wrestled with his own story, Dodd delivers a poignant memoir about fatherhood, grace, and the long shadow of a painful past.” It is brave and moving and captivating, for those whose own fathers have failed them and for those of us whose dad’s did not. It’s for anyone, a story of empathy and grace.

The Exact Place Margie Haack (Square Halo Books) $24.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

I keep returning to this splendid, simple biography, where Margie Haack tells of her family growing up poor in upstate Minnesota, with a rough father, and her rough and tumble girlhood and yet her longing, her desire for more, her “deep-rooted sense of purpose and place which was awakening in her” The Exact Place is the first in a trilogy and all three are spectacular (No Place and This Place.)

This is great, entertaining storytelling with hard-won insight; Margie came to believe that she was in “the exact place” she needed to be to find faith, to meet Christ, to find grace. I recommend this book often — she knows something about life being a divine gift and this book bears witness to the mysteries of it all. By the way, the fabulous sequel, No Place, shares amazing stories from her college years, her young marriage to Denis, their struggles with American fundamentalism in the late 1960s, and their season in a hippy commune out West doing ministry in a wild setting. What a story! The final one, This Place, finds her at home, offering essays on the Divine in the ordinary as they minister to folks through Ransom Fellowship out of their hospitable home back in Minnesota. A great trilogy.

Good Soil The Education of an Accidental Farmhand Jeff Chu (Convergent) $26.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $21.80

If you follow our work here at the bookstore or read our BookNotes often you may recall we hosted Jeff for an in-person event here last summer. It was a blast, really, a great time where he allowed me to interview him about this fabulous, fascinating, wonderful, loving book.

The short version is that Jeff found himself wanting to go to seminary in mid-career as a successful journalist in grand New York City. He ends up at Princeton and, further, ends up at the learn-by-doing course of farming, famously called the Farminary. He’s a foodie, obviously deeply Asian-American, and gay. And while he now preaches like a dream, and leads others who have been disillusioned with much of Christianity these days (he had worked with his good friend Rachel Held Evans and, after her death, finished a book she started.) Maggie Smith calls it “a big-hearted meditation on belonging, compassion, and the transformational power of friendship..” His friend Barbara Brown Taylor raves saying “it’s smart, kind, honest, and revelatory in all the right ways — but the truest thing I can say is how befriended I felt from the very first page.”

There’s stuff about food, Asian cooking, race relations, being gay when his beloved parents wouldn’t attend his wedding, his slow and complicated faith journey and, yes, the task of small farming, the land and crops and sweat and joy of learning to love by attending to the land.

The Faithful Spy: A True Story! Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler John Hendrix (Abrams) $18.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

We’ve got a number of stellar biographies of the famous German pastor / theologian / resistor and have more than a dozen books about his work, this graphic novel approach is certainly the most arresting, the most novel, the most captivating (especially for those not wanting to wade through hundreds of pages of dense prose.) I don’t mean any insult or condescension to say this is a cartoon book; modern illustration has become a major art form and hefty force in the reading world, and Christian artist John Hendrix was ahead of the curve. (I’ll mention his latest, a graphic story of Lewis and Tolkien further down this column.)

This is fabulously-drawn, richly illustrated, edgy, even, and it tells the story well of Bonhoeffer’s conviction that the teachings of the Bible should lead believers to say no to Hitler’s fascism.  About 175 colorful pages, for youth or adults.

FOR FANS OF LEWIS & TOLKIEN

The Tower and the Ruin: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Creation Michael D.C. Drout (Norton) $35.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $28.00

Norton is a prestigious literary publisher and Drout has offered what Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey has called “a splendid and original combination of sharp analysis and deeply felt emotional memoir.” It is a bit of a memoir, it seems, as Drout invites us to read over his shoulder, understanding his reader’s journey through the works of Tolkien. He observes that the fiction isn’t just good but is qualitatively different so that reading about Middle Earth feels like actually entering the magical place.

He is not alone in saying that Lord of the Rings is not just a book, but a, an experience, a life-changing one, no less. Verlyn Flieger (author of Splintered Life) notes, too, that Michael D.C.Trout “is the son of a reading father and the reading father of a son.”  He’s been studying Tolkien for fifty years and this major work is the result. Brand new.

The War for Middle Earth: J. R. R Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933-1945 Joseph Loconte (Thomas Nelson) $29.99

I have highlighted this new book previously and the word is starting to spread — it is a careful reading of history and an inspired dose of good storytelling and brings some new layers to these creative writers and their passions. Indeed, they were confronting what they saw as the darkest forces of their age. As you might realize, it is good for fans of these authors, but would also be good for anyone interested in mid-20th-century history. Any “Greatest Generation” guys on your list?

Mr. Loconte wrote a previous book (A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and A Great War) exploring how the “mechanized slaughter of the First World World” had created a certain disillusionment in Western civilization, so, naturally, prophets were needed to push back on the ideologies of modernism and communism and Nazism. Could the beloved works of Lord the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia help reframe and embolden a devoted Europe and West? The War for Middle Earth is quite new — I’m sure it would make a great gift for many fans.

The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis & J. R. R Tolkien John Hendrix (Abrams) $24.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

This book will make a great gift, a delight and surprise, as it is a graphic volume, cartoon-ish illustrations with artistic sidebars and nicely designed and complex illuminations. What an art form this is!  This graphic novel type hardback is lush and lavish and while it is pitched at. youth, it is a serious study of not only the friendship of the two great Inklings but it is about the point of their collaboration.

In a similar approach to Loconte, Hendrix shows not only that they were pushing back against the modernist that gave us two devastating wars, but that the secularism that was ascending was eroding any sense of glory, of dignity, of creativity, of wonder. They wanted to re-enchant the secularism of modernity and did so with their myth-making. The Mythmakers will delight anyone who cares about big picture stuff and also anyone who just wants to see cartoons of these two guys drinking and writing and dreaming up new worlds. Highly recommended.

FOR THOSE WORRIED ABOUT MODERN TECHNOLOGY

Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart Nicholas Carr (Norton) $29.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

Was it really fifteen years ago when Carr wrote one of the most important indictments about how “Google is making us dumb” in his must-read book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains? If that was a nearly seminal volume, this long (long) awaited volume is a must read as well.

Modern novelist Jonathan Safran Foer says that Carr is “among the most lucid, thoughtful, and necessary thinkers alive.” I hear he’s a great guy, too. He is elegant and eloquent and he knows his stuff.

Theologian and literary critic formerly of Wheaton, now at Baylor, Alan Jacobs, says “Carr has proven to be among the shrewdest and most thoughtful critics of our current technological regime; his primary goal is to exhort unto develop strategies of resistance”

Who do you know that needs this thoughtful, measured, vital work?

Scrolling Ourselves to Death: Reclaiming Life in a Digital Age edited by Brett McCracken & Ivan Mesa (Crossway) $18.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

As I noted before, this paperback is jam packed with bunches of essays that are doing at least three things. First, as you may notice from the title, this is a tribute to the great Neil Postman and his still-relevant book Amusing Ourselves to Death. And, then, it is updating that, wondering what the pundit and author of Technology might say to our modern era of AI and algorithms and ubiquitous screens. Thirdly, this isn’t just standard fare hand-writing 9although there is an adequate amount of that, as there surely must be) but it is a book that is inviting followers of Jesus to embody a uniquely Christian view of life, to lean into practices that are godly and edifying.

Beautiful and wise writers like Jen Pollock Michel join sharp scholars of apologetics and media ecology to help us rethink our relationship to screens and to deepen our daily discipleship.

Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity Paul Kingsnorth (Thesis) $32.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $25.60

I have written about this before and if you’re in a certain sort of network online you most likely have read numerous reviews, comments, and seen podcasts and interviews with this serious British scholar. His conversion away from the occult and to the Orthodox faith is one thing; his friendship with Wendell Berry is yet another, and his tendency to be as hard on the political left as he is on the political right makes him appealing to many. Mostly, though, this is a deep, philosophical rumination on how we’re undoing our very humanity as we yield to ever-encroaching technology

Kingsnorth is a clever writer, so much so that he has been called “eloquent and erudite.” Nicholas Carr (of Superbloom and The Shallows) says it is “a searching, moving meditation.” Orthodox writer Frederica Mathewes-Green says Kingsnorth “makes it finally clear what we’re up against” One of the smartest guys on the planet, Iain McGilchrist, says it is “the most powerful and important book I have read in years.”

FOR A LOVER OF POETRY

Girl Warrior: On Coming of Age Joy Harjo (Norton) $21.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $17.59

Back before the Kennedy Center honored artists like Kiss and Sylvester Stallone and our President fired the head of the Library of Congress we had a well-known Poet Laureate of the United States.  For quite a while it was Joy Harjo, a Native American poet (she is a member of the Mvskoke Nation) of considerable merit. She wrote an earlier, soulful memoir, Poet Warrior, and this is the long-awaited newest, telling in short poetic reflections about her coming of age years.  Jacqueline Woodson, a National Book Award winner, exclaims: ”What a beautiful and brilliant call to arms.”

She has been through some stuff and yet this seems to be less about coping and more about thriving. This short, lovely book shows her growing into a generous social ethic, a sense of responsibility, becoming a maker.

By the way, we have a stunning little hardback by Joy Harjo offering an art-filled enhancement of her poem / lyrical prose Washing My Mother’s Body: A Ceremony for Grief (with art by Native watercolor artist Dana Tiger) (10 Speed Press; $17.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $14.39.) If you know a woman who has recently lost her mother, this might be a cherished little gift.

 

Word Made Fresh: An Invitation to Poetry for the Church Abram Van Engen (Eerdmans) $26.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $21.59

This is one of the finest reflections on the role of poetry in the life of faith that I’ve seen. It does have a bit about the use of poetry in congregational life, but it really isn’t for church leaders or preachers or liturgists — it is for all of us as God’s people, breaking open new insights through the wit and power of words.

Poet, memoirist, and theological writer Christian Wiman puts it out there, saying, “what a brilliant, humane, intelligent, and necessary book.” He calls it “an ideal guide through the art of poetry.”

James K.A. Smith says “I’ve been waiting for someone to write this book. Sensitive to newcomers and even skeptics, Abram Van Engen is a warm, wise, generous, guide into the manifold gifts poetry offers.”

Maybe you should give it to somebody who cares, or maybe even to somebody who doesn’t.

The Word Within the Words Malcolm Guite (Fortress Press) $14.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $11.20

A perfect little stocking stuffer, this small book (part of a large “My Theology” series) is a great essay, passionate and smart and compelling. It tells of his own faith and how poetry and literature has mattered to him. If you appreciate his poetry (and even if you don’t) this shows how Christian faith informs and shapes his poetry. He invites us to what he calls “the poetic imagination” which is almost sacramental. These short chapters are full of poetic lines and allusion, Scripture and storytelling.

Poetry Unbound: 44 Poems on Being With Each Other Pádraig Ó Tuama (Norton) $27.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $22.39

What a lovely and great anthology, with each the 44 poems then reflected upon by the Irish poet, peace activist, and spiritual guide, Pádraig Ó Tuama. Many know his podcast and public radio show “Poetry Unbound” where

Like the previous collection, Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World, 44 Poems has  been applauded and enjoyed. It has been called “magnificent” and “mesmerizing.” Have a special friend? This would be a sweet and thoughtful gift.

FOR GOOD FUN

Convent Wisdom: How Sixteenth Century Nuns Could Save Your Twenty-first Century Life Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbina (Avid Reader Press) $28.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.19

Okay, to be clear, this isn’t a joke book and it isn’t that funny. One reviewer said it was “incendiary stuff”  But, man, it’s a deep dive into ancient thinking — who knew they worried about the speed of life in the 1500s! It is playful, to be sure; it has been called cheeky.  I think somebody on your list just might think it is entertaining, which is a good start And maybe they will draw some solace or take a hint.

These authors are witty and they are scholars and they’ve got sections like “How the Mystical Visions of a Franciscan Nun Explain Your Obsession with Recipe Videos.” Ha.

100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist’s Guide to a Happy Life Dick Van Dyke (Grand Central) $29.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.20

Do I agree with his advice? Who cares — he’s 100! And still at it. As he says, “it’s been an intensely eye-opening process these past many months, as I’ve reflected on my 99 years of life, work, and relationships.” He continues, “I’ve unearthed lost treasures of memory, reconsidered my well-worn stories, connected with fragments from my distant past to immediate present, and hit upon patterns and themes that pan the entry of my life’

Okay, but so what? He tells you. He is an optimist who doesn’t let the physical and emotional pains (and failures and defeats) define him. He has experienced bitterness and loneliness — who knew? He does not want to “throw the towel in on life itself.” He’s earned the right to be heard. Gladly, he does speak his peace with vigor and joy. It’s Dick Van Dyke, y’all!

Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World Bob Goff (Thomas Nelson) $19.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

I know this is an oldie but it is the safest Christian book to give to a skeptic because it is laden — and mean laden! — with joy and whimsy and goodness. Goff is full of energy and has tons of hilarious stories, all poignant and some nearly incredible — freeing imprisoned child soldiers in Africa, starting a school for girls in a war-torn country that doesn’t permit such things. But much of it is about flipping over his jeep or having business meetings at Disneyland, or giving house keys out to strangers. There is a method to his madness — well, maybe there isn’t. He is intoxicated with God’s love and wants to have a blast leaking it out on others. What fun this book is. Hooray.

We’ve got and highly recommend all his others, including, most recently, an only slightly more serious daily (Bible based) devotional called Chasing Whimsy: 365 Days of Possibility. What fun-loving person wouldn’t like a book with a title like that? Come on!

Roughneck Grace: Farmer Yoga, Creeping Codgerism, Apple Golf, and Other Brief Essays from On and Off the Back Forty Michael Perry (Wisconsin Historical Society Press) $18.95 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.16

Whenever I do these big, sprawling omnibus sorts of collections of mini-reviews I sneak in some Michael Perry. Every one of this books are enjoyable, poignant and hilarious. [Except for his novella, Forty Acres, about a tragedy in the life of a farmer.] Almost always he is funny and has something to say, even if he isn’t very polemical. Except when he is, like about Apple Golf or cleaning the chicken coop or mower maintenance. He is a great, rural writer and I would suggest any of his books to almost anyone. But be prepared to chuckle, maybe even belly laugh.

Maybe you’ll get a kick out of his reflections of being in an elevator in New York with real, live supermodels. “I had this troubling image of my fashion aura flaking off to drive through the citrus infusions like low-class floaty dandruff, the models breaking into uncontrolled spasms of career-derailing puffy-eyed sneezing fits triggered by airborne allergens redolent of Farm & Fleet (pants, T-shirt, flannel shirt), Fruit of the Loom (gray tube socks), and the late Ralph’s Boot & Shoe (clodhoppers, possibly infused with trace elements of chicken poop.)” Yep, he can read the room…

In Defense of Dabbling: The Brilliance of Being a Total Amateur Karen Walrond (Broadleaf) $27.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $22.39

Okay, I’m not going to lie: this is not a book that I’d describe as more fun than a barrel of monkeys. It is joyful, but not sensational. It is upbeat but not hilarious. Still, I name it here because the thesis itself is a hoot and half. It argues for (yes, it is nearly polemical) for a relaxed view of expertise, inviting us to be amateurs. Dabblers. One reviewer says Karen Warlord is “wise and delightful.” Another says In Defense of Dabbling is for fuzzy stargazers; whatever that means, it sounds about right.

“A welcome permission slip to feed our curiosity, to pay with and explore whatever we’re drawn to — not for our side hustle, not to become a professional, but for our humanity.”

How to Be Married (to Melissa): A Hilarious Guide to a Happier, One-Of-A-Kind Marriage Dustin Nickerson (Thomas Nelson) $19.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

Okay, this isn’t a bait-and-switch; well, it almost is. It is a marriage book. By a guy who says he doesn’t like to read marriage books. But he’s the only bone fide stand- up comedian I know and here he tells his story of his oddball personality and gonzo career and what it takes for his fabulous wife — a pretty spunky gal, herself, you’ll discover —  to stay married to him.

Or maybe it’s the other way around.

Nickerson is a really funny guy — catch his show somewhere if you can, or google him. Maybe you know that one of the very top comics working today is Taylor Tomlinson who wrote a truly lovely and heart-felt foreword (and she’s not even married.) This really is a funny book and ideal for some couple who won’t read anything straight and studious. Trust me on this.

FOR PROFESSIONAL PASTORS OR CHURCH WORKERS

I know you know some, church workers and ministers and leaders. What to get them? Not socks, ya know? We have hundreds if not thousands of books in that category here. Here are three that might surprise (and bless) them.

Love Big, Be Well: Letters to a Small-Town Church Winn Collier (Eerdmans) $24.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

This is a small novel, a bit of creative fiction presented as a series of letters Without going into the plot or lovey details, it is basically about a retired pastor, a bit on the cranky side, who comes out of retirement to pastor a small town, ordinary little church. He makes a deal that they are just going to take it slow and learn to love Jesus and care for one anther. Winn Collier was a pastor (and now directs the Eugene Peterson Center for Christian Imagination at Western Seminary in Holland Michigan.) He shows what pastoral ministry really is all about.

The great Robert Benson says “If you are a lover of words and wisdom on the printed page, you should read Collier.” It is a fun story about church and love and goodness and grace. Your pastor will appreciate it, believe me.

A tour de force — an angle on understanding the life of both congregation and pastor that exceed anything I have ever read.” — Eugene Peterson

Some of the Words Are Theirs: The Art of Writing and Living a Sermon Austin Carty (Eerdmans) $22.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $18.39

This is a small book so it isn’t like your overdoing it, but wrap this up and it will be a life-line, and a few weeks from later you’ll get a note or a hug from your pastor — she or he will feel seen, understood, appreciated. And they’ll appreciate not only the keen insight but the poignant stories of the life of a pastor who has to crank out a hopefully inspired sermon every single week.

Nobody will think you are suggested they need help — they will just know you are honoring one of the most challenging part of their jobs, a major part of their weekly grind.

This is wise and lyrical and rich and fun. I was captivated. Every pastor should read it, I’d think. That title, by the way, is the last line of the marvelous novel about a presbyterian fisherman, A River Runs Through It. Carty is that kind of a writer.

(By the way, Austin Carty’s The Pastor’s Bookshelf: Why Reading Matters for Ministry (Eerdmans; $22.99 // $18.39) is one of the finest books ever on how pastors and preachers need to be reading widely. Carty is energetic and fun and an exhilarating advocate for the reading life. We’d be delighted to send it at our sale price. )

A Movable Feast: Worship for the Other Six Days Terry Timm (Imagination Plus) $10.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $8.79

This little book, written by a friend of Hearts & Minds, an energetic and thoughtful pastor in Pittsburgh, is a treasure and a gem. It is plain-spoken (although very nicely done. He’s a good preacher and teacher, after all, not to mention a musical, so at time the book just sings!) It is not arcane or heady, but a pastor’s guidebook, a leader’s manifesto about something that few would disagree with but too few spell it all out. It is about how we are to worship God 24/7 and our service in God’s Kingdom happens mostly outside of the church. If that is the case — and it obviously is — how should the gathered worship of the people of God look like. How do we worship well with a view towards the other six days?

There are books about liturgy and worship and church music and Sunday prayers.  And we need ‘em. And there are lots of books about Kingdom service in all of life, taking faith into the marketplace and home and school and public square. Thanks be to God that many are increasingly realizing the vocation of serving in Christ-like ways in the real world. We love proclaiming the nearness of God in the messiness of life and the privilege of practicing the presence of God wherever we are.

But, really, how many books are there that explore Sunday worship for the sake of the work world, liturgy for life, prayer to animate our politics? Terry Timm’s ministry relates Sunday to Monday and this little book reflects on that with lovely stories and creative proposals. It’s not weird or demanding, just a nice guide offering some growth and intention as church leaders offer a moveable feast. Hooray.

The Vanishing Church: How the Hollowing Out of Moderate Congregations Is Hurting Democracy, Faith, and Us Ryan Burge (Brazos Press) $26.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $21.59

This just arrived a bit early and I opened the box minutes ago. Many informed readers have been waiting for the next Ryan Burge book as he has become one of the most trusted sociological observers of the trends facing American church life. And here it is!

Burge has been doing research for years — his book The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They are Going was widely discussed; his 2023 release, The Great DeChurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It take to Bring Them Back, was very significant. And now there is this, one of the most urgently-needed works of this increasingly known data scientist.

In The Vanishing Church the subtitle tells it all: he is asking how the religious landscape has changed in recent decades as polarization has eroded the church, hurting ourexpirencef of community(both in the congregation and in the mediating structures of civil society.” Dramatic shifts are afoot and these trends must be understood. If you known church leaders who’ve some room under their trees, get this from us today.

In the Name of Jesus: Reflection on Christian Leadership Henri J.M. Nouwen (Crossroad) $14.95 // OUR SALE PRICE = $11.96

This small book is a powerful reflection by the late mystic priest and lovable joker, Henri Nouwen. Only Nouwen can write so intensely about person, intimate matters and matters of public justice with wit and charm. This study of the temptations of Jesus in the desert as applied to leaders, it has been considered one of Nouwen’s all time best. The Roman Catholic journal Our Sunday Visitor reviewed it decades ago saying “There is more packed between the covers of this little book that adults will find helpful to living a Christian life than y you’ll find in many a volume three times its size.”

Often on the list of must-read spiritual resources for pastors (but, in my experience, oddly not known very well), one reviews=er notes that Nouwen “pushes Christian leaders to by mystics with a strong sense of theology, who have abandoned the deception of upward mobility for the Cross of Jesus.”  Yep. Wow.  Give this one away to anybody in leadership.

FOR COOKS AND THOSE WHO LIKE TO EAT

The Just Kitchen: Invitations to Sustainability,Cooking, Connection, and Celebration Derrick Weston & Anna Woofenden (Broadleaf) $29.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

You might find some cookbooks with more lavish photos, with hipster chefs or sexy cooks and wildly lavish concoctions spread out just so, but, I’m telling you, this is a real-world, truly great, quite handsome, righteous volume to cherish and to share. Derek is a black Presbyterian and Anna is an Episopal priest with roots in Anabaptism (who wrote a beautiful book about church planting, of sorts, through urban gardening.) Both love land and food and extended families and The Just Kitchen shares what Adrian Miller (a James Beard Award-winning author of Soul Food) says is “a heart-warming, soul-satisfying, and salivating meditation.”

Can our kitchens be places of holiness, spaces of healing and wholeness? Can we live our principles of justice and beauty in the way we cook and eat? They tell beautiful stories, offer great tips, and bring together social activism and receipts full of grace and celebration.

Maybe you’ve heard of Nathan Stucky, founder of Princeton Seminary’s Farminary (made better known through Jeff Chu’s great memoir about becoming a farm hand there) and he has a great blurb on the back of this, noting how there is more going on in the kitchen than we usually realize. This book wonderfully offers a fresh way to underscore that. Merry Christmas!

By Bread Alone: A Baker’s Reflection on Hunger, Longing, and the Goodness of God Kendall Vanderslice (Tyndale) $17.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $14.39

We know that bread is central to God’s story and, in one way or another, it is most likely part of yours as well. This is a beautifully-written, exciting and poignant study told mostly as memoir as Kendall describes a Christian view of food and a faithful way of thinking about cooking and eating and highlights much of what she does in her ministry called the Edible Theology Project. Can the communion table connect with the kitchen table? Does our hunger for food hint at other hungers, for connection and belonging? Do our very bodies have something todo with the Body of Christ?

These are heavy, deep questions but she brings a nice touch, lots of “taste and see” pedagogy and opportunities to learn by watching her experiment with dough, in her mixing and kneading.

Extending the Table: Recipes and Stories from Afghanistan to Zambia in the Spirit of More-with-Less Jetta Handrich Schlabach (Herald Press) $24.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

Herald Press’s titles have been important to us over our 43 years of bookselling and few books symbolize their Mennonite orientation to life and service and faith and joy that the classic More-With-Less Cookbook. It’s been updated a time or two and remain a staple in many kitchens and in our cookbook section here at Hearts & Minds. Extending the Table is a sequel, what they call a “World Community Cookbook.”

This is a lay-open paperback, sturdy and useful, but also lovely, with full color photographs of this international cookbook. And here’s the thing: as much as we love the international food anthropology on the “Splendid Table” and other such podcasts, Extending the Table offers fairly simple global foods, using ingredients that are pretty readily available. This is not an exotic treat, but something to be used, integrated into ordinary cooking, bringing God’s cross-cultural vision to bear in daily meals. Sure, some of it may be new for many of us but it’s enticing and not too complicated. A great introduction to global cuisine (with stories, proverbs, and recipes, of course, from almost 100 countries.) We think it would make a great holiday gift.

Cup Overflowing: Wine’s Place in Faith, Feasting, and Fellowship Gisela H. Kreglinger (Zondervan Reflective) $22.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $18.39

We’ve written before about this biblical and theological scholar who grew up working in her family vineyard in Germany and her other remarkable work on a Christian perspective on wine. This might make a great gift for that special connoisseur.

We have several recent books that are moving away from alcohol in caring and thoughtful ways, from 2024’s It’s Not About the Wine: The Loaded Truth Behind Mommy Wine Culture by Celeste Yvonne (Broadleaf; $26.99) to the brand new Freely Sober: Rethinking Alcohol Through the Lens of Faith by Ericka Andersen (IVP; $18.99.) But for those that aren’t quite there, this sharp and sober study is a delight. Gisela Kreglinger is knowledgable and wise.  One reviewer says her new book is not a guide but a path. Her take on the Biblical view of wine can bring delight and a healthy dose of praise for the goodness of God’s creation.

Other great endorsements on the back are from Malcolm Guite, Kendall Vanderslice and Winn Collier.

FOR HISTORY BUFFS

We the People: A History of the U. S. Constitution Jill Lepore (Liveright) $39.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $31.99

This almost 700 page tome is a true treasure. I need not state the obvious about the current regime’s resistance to standard Constitutional law, so I’ll just note that this topic is more urgent now than ever. As the publisher writes on the back cover, “From the best-selling author of These Truths comes We the People, a stunning new history of the U.S. Constitution, for a troubling new era” Indeed.

Jill Lepore is a brilliant historian and popular thinker— dare I say she is a public intellectual? Yet, she is not arcane or overly academic, but a good writer for ordinary, thoughtful folks .

I love what Congressman Jamie Raskin says, with a fascinating take:

“Not only a historian with prodigious powers of original research, not only a spellbinding writers with a golden pen, Jill Lepore is a preacher at an open-air American revival meeting: she will tell you a gripping and unfamiliar story of our own past that destroys your complacency and makes you reimagine what is possible for the secular miracle that is America.”

It has been called “remarkably engaging”, “pulsating”, “astonishing” “lyrical” and “eye-opening.” What a major work this is. It’s a sizable gift, too, that will last them weeks and weeks of enjoyable learning.

Twelve Churches: An Unlikely History of the Buildings That Made Christianity Fergus Butler-Gallie (Avid Reader Press) $30.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $24.00

Maybe you’ll remember that I raved about this fascinating book earlier this year when it came out this fall. It looks at a dozen churches from a dozen different eras. Each is used to explore a certain theme or issue that shaped the church and, frankly, helped change the world. What a great idea, and it is executed so well — gorgeous, captivating writing and informing us of so very much.

From the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the West Bank of Palestine to Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, to Canterbury Cathedral in England this book looks at beauty and power and violence. The story of “expansion” seen in Teplo de las Americas in the Dominican Republic is thought-provoking, as is the study of Christ Church in Zanzibar, Tanzania. From the story of the First Meeting House in Salem Massachusetts to the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, you can see that this is a cross-cultural and centuries-spanning collection of deep dives into church history. What a creative approach!

The Wars of the Lord: The Puritan Conquest of America’s First People Matthew J. Tuininga (Oxford University Press) $35.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $28.79

In the volatile world of popular discussion regarding religion and America’a colonial era, or religious people’s treatment or indigenous people, many distrust good historians or are so loyal to lovely but less than honest tellings that they get angry if we suggest it is wise and good, even righteous, to admit to past failings. How can we get past the nonsense and study what really happened from a caring and just perspective? I recommend this solid, peer-reviewed study by Calvin Theological Seminary historian Matthew Tuininga; that Tuininga teaches at a seminary with conservative, Reformed (nearly Puritan) roots makes him an invaluable scholar since he has a natural understanding of the worldview and faith of many of our colonial settlers.

However, his affinity for Reformed theology aside, he is relentless in pursuing the truth and here has given a truly gripping story of what happened in seventeenth-century New England and those who, while seeking freedom of religion and from persecution back in Europe, still displaced and too often slaughtered indigenous people. How could that possibly have happened if they were God-fearing people?

Tuininga makes a harsh and dreadful claim, here, as I think a good historian must: he maintains that the Puritans thought that their war against heathens was for the common good, in honor of  God as they understood God’s will to be. Crazy, even sick, as that sounds, this book gets at the unique worldview of the New England colonists, exploring how religion was woven into even the horrors they perpetrated. The Wars of the Lord is well-written and for those who care about this stuff, a bone-fid tour de force and obvious page-turner.

FOR POP CULTURE MAVENS

Roots & Rhythm: A Life in Music Charlie Peacock (Eerdmans) $32.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $26.39

This is without a doubt one of the best books I read this year, and it will be a great gift to anybody that has followed contemporary Christian music — at least the smartest, but artful versions of that from the 80s onward. This is at once a conversion story, a spiritual journey, a reflection on a working man’s vocation, and a not-too-subtle subtext of the need for artistic excellence, in a pop culture (and a copy-cat evangelical sub-culture) that promotes commercial stuff that is less than aesthetically rich. But, too, an artist has to work, and in Roots and Rhythms, Charlie goes from working with someone the most legendary names in rock and roll — you know them — to producing cheesy gospel singers. Some who are actually not so bad; some who are. It’s a funny world.

This has been called “a beautifully crafted memoir unveiling the ancestral, musical, and spiritual roots of Grammy Award-winning music producer Charlie Peacock.” Jazz bass player John Patitucci — himself a Grammy winner — says Charlie is “an amazing, soulful storyteller at all times — as an author with Roots and Rhythm, as a musician, improviser, producer, songwriter — and band a man of faith, family, and integrity.”

Give this book to anyone who wants to learn about the hard, long road of working in the contemporary music industry, including some great stuff about his personal faith and vision, but, also, gear, tech stuff, production details and tons of wonderful name-dropping.

Rags of Light: Leonard Cohen and the Landscape of Biblical Imagination Brian J. Walsh (Cascade) $23.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $18.40

Okay, maybe this isn’t for your typical pop maven. But if he or she is familiar with rock music history, they know the enigmatic and mystical Jewish singer-songwriter, Leonard Cohen. This is not a fan biography or a gossipy look at his fascinating life. Nope. This is a close reading of his evocative lyrics, but into rigorous conversations with the poets and prophets of the Bible.

This intense study is akin to what Brian Walsh did with his still much-discussed book about the lyrics of Bruce Cockburn, Kicking at the Darkness: Bruce Cockburn and the Christian Imagination (not to mention his two spectacular sermons on the lyrics of U2 in Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog.) He has an uncanny ability to see stuff in the songwriter’s lyrics and sound that evoke Biblical notions — again, stuff has an uncanny ability to see. Walsh knows the Bible well, loves pop culture, and dives deep into the body of Cohen’s work. Even if your gift recipient is not a huge Leonard Cohen fan, this book will inspire, especially if they read the Bible. If they are a fan, it will blow them away. It’s that good.

Kudos for the “Short Theological Engagements with Popular Music” series. There are several good ones (on Radiohead, the Indigo Girls, Tupac, Black Sabbath, but this is the best of them all.)

Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run Peter Ames Carlin (Doubleday) $30.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $24.00

Peter Ames Carlin has given us, we are told, the classic study of the tumultuous time of making Springsteens famous third album. Fans know it almost wasn’t accepted by the record label, and the making itself was wild. Perhaps you’ve heard the story of Springsteen almost throwing all the master tapes away, he was so unsure. As a near perfectionist he just wasn’t sure if this was the album he wanted to make, that it was good enough. The money guys in the suits didn’t think so, either.

Carlin wrote Bruce which some think is the definitive biography on The Boss. (He also wrote an acclaimed work on R.E.M.) He’s a cultural anthropologist, a music lover, a biographer, a documentarian, an artist of sorts himself. He gets it, offering a rare bit of empathy and insight and attention to detail. Not unlike The Boss.

Born To Run —“from the opening piano notes of “Thunder Road” to the final howls of “Jungleland” — is clearly a seminal American album, a classic from this American rock star. This beyond-the-scenes account of the making of the album is sure to please real fans. And interest almost anyone interested in that era of rock and roll.

The Uncool: A Memoir Cameron Crowe (Avid Reader Press) $35.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $28.00

This could easily be shelved in our memoir section and would appeal to anyone who just loves a great coming of age story, a story of an eccentric mom and dad, a sister who died young, a bright kid who was bullied and found solace in the rock radio his mom forbid. (Until, in fourth grade, she took him to a terrible Elvis concert and a life-changing Dylan concert.) As you’ll find, his mother was quite the character.

But it really is about Crowe’s early career as a rock journalist, how as a 14-year-old he started asking for interviews with rock stars from Jackson Browne to the Eagles, from Humble Pie to Yes to Led Zeppelin. His complicated friendship with Gregg Allman and the Brothers after the death of Duane is one of many highpoints. He was only 16, getting kicked out of bars where he was interviewing stars like Kris Kristofferson and Jim Croce and Jethro Tull. From his early work in Rolling Stone — as a kid! — to the film about him (Almost Famous) this compulsively readable book tells the whole story. I stayed up till 3:00 am reading it the other night. May the person you give it to enjoy it that much as well. If you know anybody in their 60s or 70s who came of age listening to Joni and CSNY and Bowie and Fleetwood Mac they will love this. Poignant, rock and roll fun.

Everyday Apocalypse: Art, Empire, and the End of the World David Dark (Vanderbilt University Press) $24.95 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.96

David Dark of Nashville, Tennessee, is one of my favorite humans walking around God’s good Earth and this utterly transformed, re-make of a classic from last century, presses afresh into his visions of art, artfulness, pop culture, rock music, and how that can undermine the awfulness of these times. Or something like that. He’s a social critic, a gospel prophet, alert to signs of life, even coming on our screens and headphones and out of the way art galleries.

Dr. Dark knows his Radiohead and his Simpsons; he’s written about U2 and, as he puts it, “The Righteous Cinema of Joel and Ethan Coen.” The Ohioan basketball guy and rock critic Hanif Abdurraqib wrote a brilliant forward. From Beck to Flannery O’Connor to The Truman Show to the resistance to evil found in Saint John’s Apocalypse to Black Lives Matters, this is a book that will cause jaws to drop and heads to spin. Which is to say it isn’t the safest Christmas gift.

FOR THOSE WHO CARE ABOUT THE ROLES AND DIGNITY OF WOMEN

For the Love of Women: Uprooting and Healing Misogyny in America Dorothy Little Greco (Zondervan Reflective) $19.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

I read an advanced copy of this and wrote a good review here at BookNotes (and Beth and I believe in this book so much we are hoping to arrange a free, online webinar conversation with her in the new year.) This book is not only insightful and loaded with more data than you may wish, it is passionate, Biblical, inspiring. It will evoke deep empathy and some degree of outrage. This is really good, just want is needed. Lots of great readers are raving — from Karen Swallow Prior to Soong-Chan Rah to Hannah Anderson, all excellent writers and solid thinkers.  I think Dorena Williamson is on to something when she raves, saying “this book is a defining work for our time.”

I urge you to read For the Love of Women, which wisely and lovingly exposes a great song that is deeply woven into our whole world (including the church) — and then wisely and lovingly points a way forward.”  —Karen Swallow Prior

Dorothy Greco previously wrote two excellent books on marriage and this brand new one deserves our support. She explores an anti-women bis in entertainment and church, in the boardrooms and our bedrooms, from the work-world to the political world, she explores it all. Somebody you know needs this book. Somebody you care about needs others to be fired up. This book could spark a movement. Buy a bunch!

Redeeming Eden: How Women in the Bible Advance the Story of Salvation Ingrid Faro (Zondervan Reflective) $24.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

Oh my, this great, new book offers great insight for reading your Bible and is good on a couple of fronts, for a few reasons. First, it tells the unfolding drama of the big redemptive story of God that threads from Genesis to Revelation. This project of showing the overall plot line of God’s work in Scripture is more common than it once was, but we still need all the help we can get.

More specifically, it does this by highlighting the role of women (over missed) in the stories of Scripture. Framing women’s role within the context of salvation history is nothing short of brilliant. No author has done this before — Carmen Joy Imes notes that “I couldn’t put it down.” Christine Caine says it was filled with “nonstop aha moments.” Redeeming Eden will be a blessing to many; highlighting “how women in the Bible advance the story of salvation” is nothing short of a gift. You could give this to anyone who cares about the Bible but certainly for those who need reminded that women matter as much as men.

Be Good to Your Body: Getting Back to God’s Design in a World of Wellness Trends, QuickFixes, and Conflicting Health Advice Jordan Lee Dooley (Waterbrook) $28.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $22.40

I’ll admit it: many folks, men and women, don’t necessarily warm up to pictures of women with long, hippy hair in a long cotton dress by the mountains or standing in a field. At least in this cover design she doesn’t have her hands lifted in praise in the ubiquitous cliche of women standing in fields worshipping. Ha. But, I’m telling you, this book is not cheesy or simplistic; a functional medical practitioner wrote the forward and it sets up Dooley’s good, Biblical teaching about the body and natural healing quite nicely. Be Good To Your Body is both a theological study of our creatureliness (and, particularly, of women’s unique creatureliness) and a spiritually-aware guide to living in our skins, our bodies. It covers everything from nutrition to some honest skepticism about the cosmetic industry, sexuality, exercise, and more. It understands the dangers of body shaming and it invites discernment about online health claims and quick fix formulas. I guess it is mostly geared to younger women.

You could give this to almost any woman who wants to be more intentionally shaped by a Biblical vision of our bodies and lives or is frustrated by the standard medical (or pop) advice. It shows the pitfalls of diet culture and the biblical notions stewardship as a way to approach holistic health. We are not a project to fix but a God-given gift. Alongside these big picture notions, Dooley offers daily habits and strategies towards a more natural sort of aligned wellness. There are prayers and exercises. Yay.

WHOLESOME FICTION

I know, it’s an odd category to mention, but I know not everybody wants to spoil the holiday mood with heavy books like The Road or Demon Copperhead, brilliant literary works that they are. Some of us have taken a walk on the wild side and have the scars to prove it: like the Bible itself, we don’t shy from sex and violence in radical art.  But yet…  Many want to give a lovely novel that will bring delight and a little inspiration. I get it. Here are three delights.

The Life-Saving Adventure of Gracelyn Gordon and Her Dog Ethan D. Bryan (Blue Cat Publishing) $14.95 // OUR SALE PRICE = $11.96

I’ve raved about this at BookNotes before, a self-published novel that has won the hearts of readers who have given it a try. It’s about a visual artist while grieving the death of her beloved creative, playful father discovers a set of messages her father left insisting she go here or there — it’s a nation-wise caper, a real-life scavenger hunt that unfolds as she goes place to place, learning something about her dad and long deceased mom, and, more about her own sense of self and calling.

Gracelyne Gordon is her name and yes, she has a dog. And a best friend who encourages her to do this crazy thing, to take this journey. I loved this book. It’s a grand story, captivating and touching. It is endearing and interesting and makes a perfect gift for a reader wanting a thoughtful, sweet story.

Theo of Golden: A Novel Allen Levi (Atria) $20.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $16.00

Here is what I wrote about this in an announcement about it at BookNotes in the end of October with a new line or two.

Okay, this is a very special announcement — no time for a review, but a drum-rolled sort of shout-out. We have stocked this underground, self-published novel for a year and it has been really loved by those who try it. We used to carry Allen Levi CDs back in his singer-songwriter days, cool and allusive, fine storytelling stuff. When we heard he had done a big self-released novel we were impressed and jumped on that small bandwagon, sending them out here and there. We heard that everybody who read it loved it, and we got a number of repeat orders. People felt compelled to share it.

This rarely happens, folks, very rarely, actually, but a big mainstream publisher (Simon & Schuster) took notice and picked it up, re-issuing it this week in a just slightly trimmer size and a few dollars cheaper. The only difference is that it now says “National Bestseller” on the cover, which I guess is sort of true. Or it will be now that it will be sold into stores all over. Allen Levi is a good guy, a strong Christian, honest about doubts and struggle.  You should meet Theo. Of Golden, Georgia. Congrats, Mr. Levi, also of Georgia.

The well-told plot is more complex than this, but the very short version is that a comes upon a bunch of old portraits and travels around trying to find the people in the pictures and sharing the old photos with them. And you learn a whole lot about a whole lot of very human stuff. You could give this to any book lover and then will be glad.

The Ballad of the Lost Dogs of East Nashville: A Novel John J. Thompson (Gyroscope Productions) $23.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.19

I wrote about this last fall in a BookNotes column about a handful of recent novels and this, too, would make a great gift for the right reader. John J. Thompson has been involved in the alternative Christian and Americana music scene for years— he helped with the famous Cornerstone rock Festival for years and knows the coolest folks in the CCM world, like the band the Lost Dogs, who really don’t fit into this Nashville story.

But it is about the power of music, some unlikely neighbors making new music together, bringing redemptive hope to new relationships in their quest for deeper meaning. The main character is a guy named Jerry, a recovering alcoholic, who was traumatized by his experiences in Viet Nam but warms up to some musicians he drives bus for. He starts listening to great 70s era music like John Prine and Ry Cooder, and, well, it goes from there. He meets an African American neighbor who introduces him to other music and musicians from h is church and they all learn to be there for each other, right there in a gentrified neighborhood in East Nashville. It’s a deep story, told nicely and very cool. Know anybody that watches The Voice or likes local music? This is a winner for them.

FOR DEEPER CONTEMPLATIVES

The Holy Ordinary: A Way to God Mark Longhurst (Monkfish) $18.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

Mark is an old friend, a man I admire, who was involved in the evangelical world, ended up a UCC pastor, and now is working with Richard Rohr. He has served in social justice work and does very good writing in a few Substack columns. Rohr’s emphasis on contemplative action is a major theme for him, but in this, his first book, he introduces mystical sort of spirituality not as an escape from the troubles an glories of this world, but as a way to engage the Divine in the mundane. The title is exactly right and in it he cites ancient mystics and modern prophets, social justice warriors and Biblical scholars. He shows that a contemplative deep experience of God is possible, even for — especially for — ordinary folks. Every hear of Brother Lawrence? Read Kathleen Norris’s The Quotidian Mysteries?  Get taken with Parker Palmer? This is that sort of book, locating mysticism within the ordinariness of our active life in God’s world, calling us to (as John Calvin himself put it) know God and know ourselves.

You could gift this to anyone longing for a more experiential sort of faith, for people who read Rohr or Mirabai Starr (who calls it “clear, kind, and plain-spoken.”)

Brian McLaren, of course, likes it a lot. He says, remarkably:

“For years I’ve been wishing for a book that could introduce ordinary people to the spiritual life in a a healthy, honest, accessible way. Mark Longhurst has written what I’ve been waiting for.”

Sacred Attachment: Escaping Spiritual Exhaustion and Trusting Divine Love Michael John Cusick (IVP/ formatio) $26.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $21.59

Oh my, some fortunate souls are going to get this as a Christmas gift and it will change their lives. I mean that. This is one of the most sensible and transformative books on the spiritual life I have read in years.

The excellent evangelical pastor who is attuned to the deeper life is Ken Shigematsu (see his latest, Now I Become Myself or his excellent God In My Everything: How An Ancient Rhythm Helps Busy People Enjoy God.) Ken writes,

“I absolutely love this book! Cusick not only brilliantly unpacks insights fro Scripture and psychology but with breathtaking courage and generosity he also reveals his life to us so we can experience the joy of wholeness.”

Sacred Attachment is about attachment theory so it makes sense that a neuroscience therapist like Curt Thompson (I assume you have some of his must-read books!) says, “Read this book and rest.” Yes! It helps you know what it means to be loved. This is the heart of authentic spirituality, right? Shedding some baggage about our shame and lack of spiritual growth is essential. This book will help.

As Ian Morgan Cron puts it, “If you are sick and tired of trying to acquire or attain God’s affection or trying to muster up faith, this book is a must-read.” It will be an appreciated gift, maybe even a lifeline to somebody you know, I’m sure.

The Body Teaches the Soul: Ten Essential Habits to Form a Healthy and Holy Life Justin Whitmel Earley (Zondervan) $19.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

Justin Whitmel Earley is a delightful guy, nearly a force of nature, down to earth yet charismatic, and his writing is honest, earnest, practical, and very deeply informed by the best Christian worldview thinking and profound spirituality. I love this guy, and have read his other excellent practical books. He’s one of this breed of theologically-informed Christian writers who is shaped by good books and a good community helping form him into a wise and yet approachable leader. I’d read anything he does.

This brand new one, in the words of Curt Thompson, “reminds us of what the ancient biblical writers informed us of so long ago: that our bodies together with our breath make us human, and we ignore or idolize our body to our peril.’

Yep, some of us ignore our humanness (even our bodies) while others idolize our material selves, as if what we get is all there is. So, profoundly, Justin’s The Body Teaches… is a subtle push back against dumb cultural assumptions.

But, happily, it is about spiritual formation — including habits that shape our bodily life. As we return to balance and health we can resolve tensions with anxiety and insomnia. Drawing on the latest research, Earley shows that some simple habits can improve our health and deepen our relationship with God.

Is this spirituality? Indeed, of a very practical and embodied sort. This is a great gift for a new year of new resolutions about self-care, exercise, and rhythms of fasting, Sabbath, and feasting. It is instant that this embodied stuff — sleep, nutrition and the like — can be deeply spiritual. What a great gift. Get a few!

Poems & Prayers Matthew McConaughey (Crown) $29.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.20

Some years we tell about the three richly written, exceptionally handsome three volumes of Every Moment Holy which are some of the best prayer resources we’ve seen in our 40+ years of bookselling. They come in leather-bound hardbacks, or softer leather compact editions.  Last year we raved about the wise, wonderful, creative, and solid Prayers for the Pilgrimage: A Book of Collects for All of Life by David Taylor, a beautiful gift for anyone. But this year I wanted to suggest a rather odd book of prayers and poems by one of the great actors of our time. Isn’t it fun to know that such an actor and writer goes to church? That he prays!

Alas, as a fairly orthodox Biblical-informed believer, I’m not sure Matthew McConaughey’s prayers are fully faithful, Biblically or theologically. I dunno; I’m not here to judge, but it isn’t informed by Luther or Calvin or Bonhoeffer or the vocabulary of the Psalms or Jesus’s prayers, if you get my drift. But yet. There are people on your list that wouldn’t know what to do with the prayers of Every Moment Holy or the prayer practices of Richard Foster. They may not know J. I. Packer from Kate Bowler, but they long for someone to affirm their spiritual longing. Maybe this can build a bridge, offer a guide to spiritual practices and reflection that isn’t so churchy but might touch a nerve.

I think this might be an option of a somewhat “religious” book to give to a seeker or skeptic.  These provocative prayer-poems are pretty remarkable, actually. He’ll add some personal stuff, there’s some art and graphics, and notes like, say, after one free verse poem, he says, “This was inspired by Judges 17:6 in the Bible, with some Texas Ranger giddy-up justice mixed in.” Ha. I bet somebody you know will love this.

Prayers from the Cloud: 100 Prayers Through the Ages Pete James (Eerdmans) $22.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $18.39

I think this would make a fabulous gift for a Christian believer of any sort as it is so informative, heart-felt, and ecumenical. He offers descriptions of a person who wrote a prayer — and it covers the wide breadth of the church universal — and then has that prayer on the facing page. You’ve heard of the “great cloud of witnesses” spoken of in Hebrews? These are prayers from that exact cloud, sometimes ragged, sometime eloquent, some long, some shorter, from various centuries and continents. Whoever you give it to will learn something about various pray-ers, but more, will have these prayers handy.

Pete is a good, good guy, a retired Presbyterian pastor (and an adjunct at Gordon Conwell.) He has seen some tragedy in his life, too, so he knows a thing or two about needing solid help. Prayers from the Cloud would make a great Christmas present or a gift to kick off the new year.

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN PERSONAL GROWTH AND PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP

Strong Ground: The Lessons of Daring Leadership, The Tenacity of Paradox, and the Wisdom of the Human Spirit Brené Brown (Random House) $32.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $25.60

As we said when we first announced this earlier in the fall, it is a hefty volume, with tons of content, lots of insight, based on very recent research. Brown is a master of good storytelling, applicable gems of take-away application, and inspired (almost spiritual) courage. She resists shame and invites us to “dare to lead.” It’s a phrase she uses, and it is good for anyone.

The book is vintage Brown, inspired and upbeat with a bit of social science and neurological truth. It is mostly about the mystery of paradox, how true and authentic leaders work, what it means to be nurturing and generous. It is *the* psychology boo of the year. Somebody on your list will love it. Maybe you too? We’ve got it here— order today.

Discovering your Internal Universe: The Unexpected Good News About Anxiety, Panic, and Fear Cody Reese (Eerdmans) $24.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

I find it hard to explain this amazing book, a book that is unprecedented, unique, visionary, important. It’s a beautiful read, a honest book, powerfully written — Felecia Murrel (author of And: The Restorative Power of Love in an Either/Or World) says it is “heart-pounding” and I get why she says that. It is considered “a liberating and life-giving approach to making peace with anxiety.” Matthew Paul Turner says it is “a profound gift.”

Listen to what Brian McLaren writes of it:

Science classes teach us about the vastness of the external universe. But who helps us explore our internal universe — our inner world of dreams and dread, of imagination and terror, of panic and peace? I can’t think of a better guide than this book and its author, especially if you are dealing with anxiety, which all of us do at least some of the time. Seldom has such wisdom been shared with such clarity and mind-awakening storytelling.

In the Low: Honest Prayer for Dark Seasons Justin McRoberts & Scott Erickson (Baker) $22.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $18.39

I could go on and on about how eccentric and weird and wonderful this is — the curious graphics and poetic prose, the normalizing of depression, the humanity of it all — but I assume you know something of this pair. We’ve highlighted their art/prose devotionals Prayer: Forty Days of Practice and May It Be So: Forty Days with the Lord’s Prayer before (as well as the wonderful storytelling writing that Justin does in books like Sacred Strides and that Scott does in books like Say Yes and Honest Advent.) This new one is a gift for those who are hurting, depressed even, suggesting that it’s not unusual — it’s what it means to be alive.

The prose is evocative and sparse the graphics nearly postmodern. It is too odd and curiously allusive for some who might not get it. It’s not your grandma’s self help book (unless your grandma grew up listening to Jefferson Airplane and grooved at Woodstock, which, I guess, is a possibility, eh?)  It is funny, at time, but it insists that we are often “in the low” not because we’re broken but because we are human.

In the Low is a colorful collection of contemplative words and images for seasons of depression. It “meets you were you are and sit with you there the way God does: intentionally and without judgment.” I think it would be a life-giving and very cool (and colorful) gift for somebody you know.

Telling Stories in the Dark: Finding Healing and Hope in Sharing Our Sadness, Grief, True, and Pain Jeffry Monroe (Reformed Journal Books) $21.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $17.59

I have written about this before and won’t again explore all the amazing stories and glories in this excellent book, but will commend it strongly as a real option for a gift for somebody who has has some hard times this year. It sounds (with that sad-sounding subtitle) depressing, or maybe off-putting, but I assure you it is not. There’s greatly and redemption in being honest about our difficulties and the tragedies explored here are offered for the sake of finding hope and healing. Monroe— who wrote an earlier excellent book on the work of Frederick Buechner, which tells you a lot — does a fine job telling the story, in each chapter, of some often awful tragedy. Then he brings in some other conversation partners to explore what was said or wasn’t in the episode. Friendly and supportive counselors or pastors weigh in and by the end of each chapter there is great clarity and glimpse of hope. Storytelling can become a practice of healing.

Yes —telling our secrets, our stories of the dark, can be a gesture of pushing back against the darkness. This book will be a lifeline for somebody who needs permission to talk, to feel, to care. If you know of somebody that needs it, don’t hesitate.

FOR A SCIENCE LOVER

God Speaks Science: What Neurons, Giant Squid, and Supernovae Reveal About Our Creator John Van Sloten (Moody Press) $15.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $12.79

I have exclaimed often about this splendid, joy-filled, informative book offering an experience of “God’s majestic, everywhere presence.” Van Sloten is a pastor and writer and advocate for a view of faith that includes Christ’s care for every zone of life, for the vocation of ordinary folks, doing real-world jobs. In this book he highlights a bunch of scientists, researchers, naturalists, and other nerdy experts, each who view their scientific endeavors as a holy calling.

There are other books that attempt to integrate a theological worldview with the scientific tasks of research. This, rather, invites us to wonder, to praise, to see God’s hand in the ordinary sorts of work that various sorts of scientists do. You’ll meet chemists and ecologists and scholars of physics and astronomy. Some do medical research, some work with animals. If you know anybody who is passionate about STEM stuff, this fabulous and quite readable book would make a lovely, upbeat gift. Yes!

A Christian Theology of Science: Reimagining a Theological Vision of Natural Knowledge Paul Tyson (IVP Academic) $24.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

If the above book was so inspiring and interesting that even a sharp teen would love it, this is a serious-minded, almost philosophical study, a bold book, which Hans Boersma says is “destined bo become a classic.” This is breaking fresh ground in this long and often contentions discussion about what a Christian philosophy of science should be. As C.D. Schindler (of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute) puts, it, this work by Professor Tyson “represents a significant moment in the growing concern to rethink and indeed to reorder the relationship between science and religion.” It is provocative, timely, lucid, and original. Whew.

Beyond Evolution: How New Discoveries in the Science of Life Point to God Sy Garte (Tyndale) $24.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

This is a fabulously interesting and handsome hardback, not quite as accesible and fun as the first (by Van Sloten) nor as dense and philosophical as Paul Tyson’s tome.  Beyond Evolution just came out and explores new evidences about purpose and what some might call “intelligent design’ seems to be wired into the deepest activities at the cellular level. Science geeks will nerd out on this, as it covers some astonishing details, but it is always explanatory and upbeat Garte challenges both secular scientists and people of faith who may distrust scientists, to “follow the evidence wherever it leads — and argues powerfully for why that evidence warrants a belief in God.”

Dr. Garte was at our Jubilee conference in Pittsburgh last year and is an active United Methodist churchman and a fine biologist, a former atheists, converted to the gospel by the evidences of science. He, of all people, cares about a bringing faith and science into greater harmony. Very impressive, written with a nice touch.

FOR SKEPTICS AND UNBELIEVERS

I don’t know if holiday gift giving is always the best time to share a gospel-centered apologetic for God’s Kingdom — please don’t pick fights over the turkey dinner or under the warm glow of the Christmas lights — but, on the other hand, it is a time when families go to church, read the Bible story, see Christmas cards about the baby Jesus. In a way, it is difficult to not talk about the deepest things during this wonderful time of the year. Okay? Be safe out there, be nice.

Bulwarks of Unbelief: Atheism and Divine Absence in a Secular Age Jospeh Minich (Lexham Academic) $32.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $26.39

Holy moly, this is one hefty books, deep and passionate and important. For those who have found Charles Tay for’s analysis somewhat persuasive, this book enters that conversation about the headwinds (or is it the tailwinds?) of modernity. Carl R. Trueman wrote an intellectually serious foreword, saying it is “a signifcant contribution to recent conversations about modernity, faith and what it means to be human in a technological world.”

Alastair Roberts, a senior fellow of the fascinating Theopolis Institute calls it a “scintillating treatment of the spiritual condition of modern.” He insists it is both “culturally perceptive and physiologically astute.” How did atheism become so thinkable in the West over the last century? Who doesn’t long for some sort of re-enchantment?  This is one heady book for somebody on your list who reads philosophy and cares about the troubled times within our anxious culture. Again, this is not for everyone but for serious thinkers only.

Beautiful, Disappointing, Hopeful: How Gratitude, Grief, and Grace Reflect the Christian Story Drew Hyun (Zondervan Reflective) $19.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

This is one of my favorite books of 2025 and you could give it to almost anyone. A Christian who is experiencing suffering or anyone trying to piece together some sense of meaning in this seemingly random world. Wouldn’t it be good news to help somebody see a bigger picture, some semblance of sense in our mixed up lives? Believer or not, this is a lovely, honest, moving book that invites unto be honest about outlives and admit to at least three big things

Good things have happened; there is beauty and other signals of transcendence. And things are messed up; there is injustice and pain and ugliness. Yep. And yet there is hope; most of us long for it, some of us sense it Can these aspects of our lived experience provide clues to what the Biblical narrative describes in terms of a good creation gone bad but that is yet being redeemed?

Indeed, the Bible story helps us explain our lives: they are beautiful, disappointing, and hopeful. These three words, as Rich Villodas puts it, “capture the essence of life and are core to the Christian story. Drew Hyun has offered a compelling resource for those of us who are longing for a faith big enough to embrace these realities.” Give a couple of these away this year. It’s the perfect time of year to be honest — and hopeful.

When Life Feels Empty: 7 Practices to Cultivate Meaning Isaac Serrano (IVP) $19.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

This book is just amazing, a very fine bit of classy, warm writing, loaded with philosophical depth and serious consideration. If you know somebody who feels like something is missing, like the story they are living is somehow lacking purpose or direction, this could be a great gift.

Some think that life is purely physical, without higher meaning or aim. As it says on the back cover, “This narrative leaves countless people feeling hollow, disconnected, and lost.” But what if there is a better story, one that could lead to fulfillment and purpose and even hope?

This is the sort of apologetics that won’t lead to fights about the relevance of the Bible or the facts of this or that controversial church position. Rather, it invites all to read about purpose and meaning, about our context and the wisdom from the lived traditions of the Christian faith.

Yes, Serrano offers specific practices. After a set of chapters which he calls “Signs and Symptoms” which explores our tragic context (one chapter is called “Zombies” and another is “Religious Materialist”) he moves to the heart of the book, “The Remedy”, which explores both belief and embodiment. He invites readers to the classic stuff of church live — knowing God, receiving communion, singing, belonging. If somebody is truly baffled and wonders why you go to church, give them this.  It is compelling, inviting us to rename our lives by the story that comes to us from church and leads to a good life, with God. Wow.

Bridging the Abyss Richard L. Cleary (Xulon Press) $16.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $13.59

I could go on and on about this, not only because it is a edge-of-your seat novel but because the author is one of my best friends (and most loyal customers here in Dallastown.)  Dick had a conversion to Christ as a young man in the 1970s and has ever since desired to make a good case for why people should give themselves to the truths of the gospel. He has studied his own field (he is a retired science teacher) and become an adjunct philosophy professor. He knows Aristotle and Plato, sure, and can cite Dostoyevsky and Lewis and Kierkegaard and the apologetics of Timothy Keller. He knows his stuff.

A few years ago he wrote a novel (In the Absence of God) about a couple of college profs who argue about the meaning of life, the nature for truth claims, the evidence from science, the historicity of the Bible, It was actually a blast for those who like those kind of conversations, but was, admittedly a bit short on plot. Bridging the Abyss changes that, in spades. It is a thrilling story of crime and suspense and Christian ministry and college controversies. Throughout all a few key characters have to grapple with why evil things happen, if there is a God, do we derive our morals out of thin air or are they rooted in something based on God and truth.

As the story of a missing girl unfolds the debates deepen between the main characters, “illuminating the tension between competing views the world as they are illustrated in shelves of the characters that inhabit these pages.”  Give this to anyone who wants a good, thoughtful, mystery story with a real point, someone who wants to bone up on arguments for and against the existence of God, and for anyone who might benefit from listening in on the passionate discussion in the fictional story.

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