Spirituality & Religion March 2015

SPIRITUALITY &RELIGION Features ● Profiles

MARCH 2015

● Evergreen Topics Keep on Giving— To Readers and Publishers ● Is Heaven for Real? Books About the Beyond ● Spring 2015 Announcements

Spirituality & Religion

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Devotionals and prayer books continue growth pattern

Daily Bread and Butter By Jana K. Riess

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n 1924, a new book appeared on the scene that did not excite high initial sales expectations. Written by the late Scottish pastor Oswald Chambers, the 365-day devotional My Utmost for His Highest seemed an unlikely import for an American reading audience that did not know the author’s name. Millions of copies later—6.5 million of which were sold by Barbour Publishing, which acquired rights to Chambers’s classic in 1990—My Utmost for His Highest is not only one of the bestselling religion books of the last century, but also jump-started the genre of the daily devotional. Today, devotionals and books on prayer are part of a healthy genre that keeps publishers happy. Many houses have at least one backlist title in this category that is a gift that keeps on giving. Harvest House reports that Quiet Times for Couples has sold more than 600,000 copies in all editions since its release in 1990, and HarperCollins Christian Publishing has had a massive hit on its hands ever since Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling was released in 2004. Over the past decade,

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Jesus Calling has sold more than 14 million copies in multiple editions, including a children’s version and a gift books line. “Every year we sell more than the year before,” reports Laura Minchew, senior v-p and publisher of gift books, children’s books, and new media at Thomas Nelson, who notes that in February, the book again reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for religion. BIG NAMES, SMALL BOOKS The general trend in devotionals and books on daily spirituality is that the bigger the name is, the better the sales are. “Of course everybody migrates to the Dalai Lama because he’s so loved and influential,” says Bonni Hamilton, direc-

tor of marketing and digital content for Red Wheel, which distributes for Hampton Roads. Hampton Roads has enjoyed strong sales for several “little books” by His Holiness: The Dalai Lama’s Little Book of Inner Peace (2009) has sold about 33,000 copies and The Dalai Lama’s Little Book of Wisdom (2010) has sold more than 28,000, Hamilton says. She hopes their next offering from the Tibetan spiritual leader will equal or surpass those sales. The Dalai Lama’s Little Book of Buddhism will be released in June, to be followed in October by a similar title showcasing another wildly popular world spiritual leader. “Pope Francis’ Little Book of Wisdom is aimed at Catholics—both lapsed and active—and a broad Protestant market,” Hamilton says. “In many ways, Pope Francis transcends multiple sectarian boundaries.” Francis, in fact, is the star of a number of 2015 devotionals, prayer books, and meditative gift books. In March, Skyhorse has The Wisdom of Pope Francis, edited by David Birch, which senior publicity manager Samuel Caggiula emphasizes is accessible for all readers. “You can open to any page and read a short selection or saying,” Caggiula says. In June, the Penguin Random House imprint Image will publish Encountering Truth: Meeting God in the Every Day, the pope’s morning homilies arranged as daily readings. Like the Skyhorse offering, Image’s is divided into small papal nuggets. “Each chapter is very short—many times just a single page—but it offers an intimate view of the pope that many of us never see,” says Gary Jansen, senior editor for Image. If one trend is that the authors of devotionals are often big names, another is

A Category Name Change

With more Americans than ever identifying themselves as “spiritual but not religious” and the category that we refer to as “religion” comprising a broader range of books, many publishers, booksellers, librarians, and authors find the religion label limiting or imprecise. In response to these cultural and industry changes, and to better express what the category is about, PW is renaming its religion coverage “Spirituality and Religion.” You’ll see this from now on in our editorial about this segment of the publishing industry.

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Mindfulness and Meditation Go Mainstream During the 2014 holiday season, celebrity chef Giada de Laurentis’s weekly digital magazine featured a photo of her in a meditative pose, with a copy of Lodro Rinzler’s Sit Like a Buddha: A Pocket Guide to Meditation (Shambhala, Dec.) carefully situated within arm’s reach. Steven Pomije, Shambhala’s marketing communications manager, says this unlikely product placement is “a testament to mindfulness’s being embraced fully by mainstream America.” Shambhala, which has been publishing books on mindfulness and meditation for 46 years, has been a major part of that mainstreaming, staking a name for itself in this category with its very first book, Tibetan Buddhist master Chögyam Trungpa’s Meditation in Action (1969). This spring that history comes full circle as Shambhala publishes a posthumous work by Trungpa, who died in 1987. Mindfulness in Action: Making Friends with Yourself Through Meditation and Everyday Awareness will be released in April. A pioneering publisher in mindfulness books is Wisdom Publications; its Mindfulness in Plain English, by Bhante Gunaratana, has sold more than a quarter of a million copies since its original release 24 years ago. New and forthcoming books this season include Buddhism for Dudes: A Jarhead’s Field Guide to Mindfulness (Wisdom, Aug.), by former Marine Gerry Stribling, who breaks down Buddhist concepts and practices like mindfulness for ordinary dudes (and others); Silence: The Power of Quiet in a World Full of Noise (HarperOne, Jan.), from seminal mindfulness teacher Thich Nhat Hanh; Make Me One with Everything: Buddhist Meditations to Awaken from the Illusion of Separation (Sounds True, May), by Lama Surya Das; and Looking at Mindfulness: Twenty-Five Ways to Live in the Moment Through Art (Blue Rider Press, Mar.), by Christophe André,

that the books themselves are getting smaller. “We’ve had incredibly good luck with small-format books,” Hamilton says. “They are gifty and they usually come with flaps.” Rachel Bomberger, director of marketing for Eerdmans, a spirituality and religion publisher that has several books coming this spring and summer, agrees there is “a consistent trend toward ever more ‘bite-sized’ devotional materials—neatly portioned collections designed to help readers more easily fit moments of transcendence into their hectic lifestyles.” Abingdon Press will even offer the words of a famous

who explores practicing mindfulness using all of our senses. At Llewellyn, their entire health and healing category is on the rise, with a 12% sales increase last year. Senior publicist Kat Sanborn says books on meditation and mindfulness have become more mainstream. “Five years ago, mindfulness was really looked upon more as a Buddhist term,” she says. “Now a lot of people see mindfulness as something they can use to slow down in their own lives without thinking of it as only for Buddhists.” The Mindfulness Habit: Six Weeks to Creating the Habit of Being Present, released in January, aims to help beginners integrate mindfulness into their existing lifestyles, without needing to embrace Buddhism all out. And Guy Finley, one of the company’s bestselling authors, draws from several traditions in self-realization books like The Secret of Letting Go, a 2007 title that has sold about a quarter of a million copies, according to Llewellyn. Finley’s newest book, The Secret of Your Immortal Self (Jan.), has already sold out its first printing of 15,000 copies, and Sanborn thinks it might eventually outsell The Secret of Letting Go. What’s next for mindfulness books? Pomije says a major trend in the category is the application of mindfulness techniques to everyday problems, with, for example, Parenting in the Age of Attention Snatchers: A Step-by-Step Guide to Balancing Your Child’s Use of Technology (Apr.). Shambhala is also actively exploring digital complements to its meditation books. “The online courses we launched in 2014 have proven wildly successful, and we continue to ramp up our roster with our most well-known and well-loved teachers, including a rare opportunity to learn online with Pema Chödrön in early summer,” he says. —J.K.R.

Protestant leader in small daily chunks via a desktop calendar. John Wesley’s Words & Wisdom Devotional Calendar 2016 quotes briefly from the sermons and writings of the cofounder of the Methodist Church. The trend toward small books and short quotations crosses many religious traditions. Marketing communications manager Steven Pomije cites recent “considerable popularity” for smaller-formatted books on meditation released by Shambhala Publications. Lodro Rinzler’s Sit Like a Buddha: A Pocket Guide to Meditation has sold about 8,000 copies since its release in December; Mindfulness on the

Go: Simple Meditation Practices You Can Do Anywhere, a December release by Jan Chozen Bays, has sold more than 9,000. “We’ll continue to experiment and research smaller formats appealing to beginners and people on the go,” Pomije says. PACKAGING IS KING The growing appeal of small-format books is often paired with consumers’ desire for those products to be beautiful. “The better a book looks, the more it appeals to both readers and gift-givers,” Pomije says. Annie Tipton, senior acquisitions editor at Barbour, says that it is W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y . C O M 33

Spirituality & Religion imperative that devotional books be packaged gorgeously. “A colorful design on the interior, quality paper, ribbon markers, even special paper treatment like a deckled edge or gilding can make the experience all the more appealing. Readers feel like they’re giving themselves an extra treat.” In 2010, Westminster John Knox Press published God Is in the Manger, an Advent devotional compiled from writings by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. “The cover was attractive, but it was a paperback,” says David Dobson, v-p and executive director of publishing. “It sold very well, but we heard from people that it would be nice to have a better edition. So in 2012 we came out with a jacketed hardcover edition that sold almost twice as many copies.” Paraclete Press has also made memorable design a stock-in-trade. “We only publish daily devotionals and prayer books as physical books when we can make them beautiful, and, of course, this is much more important now than ever before,” Paraclete publisher Jon Sweeney says. “In fact, we take it as our challenge to appeal to the long-standing tradition of a book of prayer and devotion that feels just right in the palm of the hand. That’s our market.” This fall, Paraclete has the leatherette-covered Holy Spirit, I Pray: Prayers for Morning and Nighttime, for Discernment, and Moments of Crisis (Sept.), by Jack Levinson, and Vinita Hampton Wright’s The St. Teresa of Avila Prayer Book (Oct.), which will appear in a French-flap paperback. The latter is part of a popular series that includes Sweeney’s own The St. Francis Prayer Book, which has sold 21,000 copies since 2004. SCREEN ADAPTATIONS All this focus on the extra bells and whistles of print packaging raises the question of whether devotionals and books on daily inspiration are as successful in e-book format as they are in print. In a word: no. Or at least not yet. “Religion books in general are somewhat insulated from the digital shift,” says Andrew Yankech, business development

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manager for Loyola Press. “But prayer books in particular tend to be printfocused because readers are more often than not seeking a respite from the pressures of the daily grind, and that includes modern technology.” At Loyola, Yankech says, the sales ratio of print prayer books to digital ones is 10-to-one—“or higher.” The figures at Harvest House tell a similar story. Of its top 10 nonfiction e-book categories, devotionals have the lowest percentage of sales in e-book format, with e-book versions accounting for just 6% of total sales for all devotionals. Bomberger of Eerdmans agrees: “Despite the ubiquity of screen-based devotional resources, there will always be at least a small market—and perhaps even a growing market—for slow resources as readers push back from the frantic glare of tablets and smartphones and consciously opt for more low-tech meditational material.” At Image, Jansen says that while various apps now offer devotional experiences for cheaper than the cover price of a book—and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has begun sending out daily emails that include assigned scripture readings—the print experience remains important for many readers. “There’s something about the tactile experience of a physical book that connects the reader to the words and to their faith in a unique way,” Jansen says. “They’re like rosaries. People like to feel the beads in their hands; it grounds them. A physical book does the same thing.” Whatever their format, the content of devotionals and prayer books has shown a definite trend toward niching—having a more personalized product based on a person’s gender, occupation, or stage of life. Barbour’s line is replete with nichespecific products for various markets: this spring, it has separate devotionals for “moms, dads, and grads,” says Mary Burns, v-p of marketing. Bryce Williamson, marketing director of Harvest House, expects that such niching is the wave of the future. “Consumers are expecting authentic and compelling experiences built especially to match their lifestyle. Focusing on products that


put this consumer mind-set first will be key in 2016 and beyond,” he says. Thomas Nelson’s Minchew says that books can combine “a favorite pastime or hobby and a spiritual message,” like Devotions from the Garden (Mar.), with 90 reflections for gardeners, and Seeing God in America (June), which appeals to those who like to travel. Viva Editions offers Earth Blessings: Prayers, Poems and Meditations (Apr.) for environmentally conscious readers who want a daily touchstone of writings about nature and ecological stewardship. Sometimes niches come not from favorite hobbies or interests, but from challenging seasons of life, like Barbour’s Prayers for Difficult Times, which has sold a combined 115,000 copies since it came out in 2013. To that pastoral end, Eerdmans offers two books of meditations this year by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre. A Faithful Farewell: Living Your Last Chapter with Love (May) and A Long Letting Go: Meditations for Those Who Mourn (July) help terminal patients and their caregivers find comfort in prayer. BLENDING OLD AND NEW Books on prayer remain a staple in the spirituality and religion market, but one emerging trend is to blend tradition with new ideas for spiritual practice. Paraclete Press, for example, sees a greater emphasis on whole-body prayer. Nearly a decade ago, its Active Prayer Series was launched with Sybil MacBeth’s nowclassic guide Praying in Color, which encouraged practitioners to doodle their prayers. “Over the last decade, we’ve seen the books in this series used in thousands of workshops in and out of church settings as praying people seek ways to take prayer out of their heads and into some sort of action, appeal to the senses, and physical activity,” Sweeney says. This spring, the series will feature Pray Like a Gourmet: Creative Ways to Feed Your Soul (May), by David Brazzeal, who is a pastor in Paris. The book compares prayer life to culinary life: it can be the same fast food every day, which is neither nourishing nor interesting, or it can become a creative adventure, like a fine French meal.

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Publishers note that another trend in prayer books is a swing toward communal reading and devotion, not just individual use. Westminster John Knox has had a hit book on the spiritual life for the last 20 years in Soul Feast by Marjorie Thompson, which introduces readers in a welcoming way to spiritual practices like Lectio Divina and contemplative prayer. In 2014, the press reissued Soul Feast in a large-format edition with hand-drawn illustrations and room for taking personal notes. “It has succeeded in large part because it has been used by groups,” Dobson says. “We see a lot of sales in 20-, 30-, or 40-at-a-time church study groups.” And at Eerdmans, communal prayer is one of the directions of With All Our Prayers: Walking with God Through the Christian Year (Feb.), which arose from worship experiences that the author, the retired pastor John B. Rogers Jr., had with his Presbyterian congregation during the liturgical year. These books value tradition, but reinterpret it for a new era. In Loyola’s Reimagining the Ignatian Examen (Feb.), Mark E. Thibodeaux, guides readers through the 400-year-old spiritual practice of examen using 30 fresh, creative ways to pray. Ave Maria unveils a new daily prayer book series throughout 2015 called Sacred Space, with a large annual book complemented by smaller booklets for Advent and Lent. According to Karey Circosta, v-p and director of sales and marketing, the series “engages and inspires readers with the daily Scripture readings and introduces Catholics and other Christians to Lectio Divina, or sacred reading, in a new way.” And, at InterVarsity Press, Quaker authors J. Brent Bill and Jennie Isbell challenge readers to go deeper than traditional words in Finding God in the Verbs: Crafting a Fresh Language of Prayer (Mar.). What’s next for devotionals, prayer books, and daily guides to faith? Publishers are generally optimistic about this bread-and-butter category, which has continued to grow despite new competition from online resources and prayer apps. But, in the years to come, the


Holiday Books Sell Well Despite Logistical Limits Passover. Ostara. Easter. Beltane. Those are just a few of the spring holidays that publishers will make the most of this year, with resources to help adult readers better understand and celebrate their faiths. In April, Urim Publications will reissue in paperback a book that sold out in its first week in hardcover last spring. The Night that Unites Passover Haggadah compiles stories and commentary about the Jewish observance from three famous 20th-century rabbis. Urim publisher Tzvi Mauer says the response last year was remarkable but also a bit problematic. Because Haggadahs—the texts recited on the first two nights of the Passover Seder—sell primarily in the three weeks leading up to the holiday, “it is not unusual for such new or popular titles to sell out during the season and not see the book back in print until the following year.” The short seasonal window for holiday books means that titles can’t go back to press quickly enough during the holiday rush to meet the demand, so some sales might be lost. Jeff Crosby, associate publisher and director of sales and marketing at InterVarsity Press, agrees that seasonal books “are a difficult proposition. Your window of promotional opportunity is narrow, and it’s easy to blow it on reprints. But we continue to pursue select books in the categories in a lower-cost, lower-risk manner.” In past years InterVarsity has published a number of readers, devotionals, and Bible studies for Lent and Easter. In September, for example, the press released Walking the Labyrinth, a 40-day Lenten devotional by Travis Scholl. Westminster John Knox Press has begun publishing Advent and Lent resources in greater numbers in the past few years, spurred by the success of such titles as Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s God Is in the Manger. “If we put out two or three resources for Lent and two or three for Advent, they invariably all sell well,” says David Dobson, v-p and executive director of publishing. In January, Westminster John Knox published Meeting God in Mark, by Rowan Williams, a seven-week plan to read through the Gospel during Lent. And, in fall, it will offer Advent in Narnia, by Heidi Haverkamp, which guides readers in the weeks before Christmas through the lens of C.S. Lewis’s beloved Narnia series. In pagan traditions, holidays can occur about once every six weeks, so practitioners are always looking for resources to make those festivals special. Senior publicist Kat Sanborn says that because of strong customer demand, Llewellyn decided to create an eight-book Sabbat Essentials series for 2015, with the first, Ostara: Rituals, Recipes & Lore for the Spring Equinox, released in January and the seventh coming out a month or two before particular celebrations. “These books will be accessible to more than just pagans, but also to historians, since many of our modern holidays have sprung from these pagan roots,” Sanborn says. To that end, they are designed to be as friendly as possible for beginners, with a small 5×7” trim size and a cohesive, branded feel. —J.K.R.

strong preference for print may erode as today’s older readers give way to a new generation of digital natives. “Many customers—especially younger customers—are not drawn to the excerpt-created daily devotionals from well-known, well-established, and often boomer writ-

ers of faith,” says Jeff Crosby, InterVarsity’s associate publisher and director of sales and marketing. “I believe that as the boomer population ages and the millennials become even more the focus of a publisher’s readership, that type of devotional product will not fare well.” ■ W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y . C O M 35


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New titles help readers cope with aging, illness, and death

Comfort & Counsel By Henry L. Carrigan Jr.

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his spring, spirituality and religion publishers once again have a host of new titles to help the reader navigate the choppy waters of aging, a devastating diagnosis, or the death of a loved one. “Out of the 15–20 new books we publish each year, five of them deal with aging and illness,” says Stuart Matlins, publisher of Jewish Lights and SkyLight Paths. “So this is an important area for us and one in which we pioneer.” In Jewish Wisdom for Growing Older: Finding Your Grit & Grace Beyond Midlife (Jewish Lights, Mar.), Rabbi Dayle A. Friedman (see profile, p. 41) offers reflections drawn from Jewish traditions to help seekers of all faiths find resilience as they age. For the practical matters that must be attended to with death, there is Ethical Wills & How to Prepare Them: A Guide to Sharing Your Values from Generation to Generation (Jewish Lights, Apr.), by Rabbi Jack Riemer and Nathaniel Stampfer. Other faiths weigh in, too—in You’ll Never Be Younger: A Good News Spirituality for Those Over 60 (Orbis, Mar.), William J. O’Malley provides a Catholic view of what it means to lead a good life in later years. From Protestant publisher Eerdmans comes Loving Later Life: An Ethics of Aging (Apr.), by Frits de Lange, who shows how an ethics of love can help with facing and overcoming the fear of aging, as well as change attitudes toward the elderly. Of course, illness can strike at any age. When he was 39, Christian theologian J. Todd Billings (see profile, p. 40) was diagnosed with a rare and incurable cancer. In Rejoicing in Lament: Wrestling with Incurable Cancer and Life in Christ (Brazos,

Feb.), Billings grapples with the hard questions—“Why me?” “Why now?” Brazos editorial director and associate publisher Jim Kinney says, “Rejoicing in Lament offers no easy answers, for there are none. But there is real help and hope as we come to see our stories of pain and grief incorporated into God’s larger story of redemption.” When speaker and writer Michele Cushatt got the bad cancer news at 39, she wondered who would care for her children, and how she could live with her fear of death. Cushatt writes of the surprising ways her fear has turned into joy in Undone: A Story of Making Peace with an Unexpected Life (Zondervan, Mar.). No one is prepared for the death of a child, whether by illness, accident, or, harder still, suicide. Three new books recount losses of sons who died too young and too suddenly. In Finding Peter: A True Story of the Hand of Providence and Evidence of Life After Death (Regnery, Mar.), The Exorcist author and screenwriter William Peter Blatty relates the supernatural events he believes he experienced in the midst of his grief following the death of his young son Peter from a rare heart condition. He became convinced that Peter was sending messages to him from the afterlife and living on in Blatty’s life. The book has a


100,000-copy first printing. In The Hope of Heaven: God’s Eight Messages of Assurance to a Grieving Father (Thomas Nelson, Mar.), Alan M. Hallene Jr. writes of experiencing eight visions of heaven just after he discovered his college student son Alex’s body when the young man hanged himself. In the visions he and his son were reunited in the afterlife. When Jan Harrison’s 27-year-old son, James, died unexpectedly of pneumonia, she struggled to weather grief that threatened to swamp her. In Life After the Storm: God Will Carry You Through (Harvest House, Apr.), Harrison tells readers that Jesus will “walk you through your storm and take you to the other side of the crisis.” Several spring books deal with losing a spouse. Following the death of her husband, Gayle Roper writes about what it means to be alone in A Widow’s Journey: Reflections on Walking Alone (Harvest House, Mar.). Funeral director Dee Oliver brings a unique perspective to the subject of widowhood and grief in The Undertaker’s Wife: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Laughter in the Unlikeliest of Places (Zondervan, Mar.). In A Faithful Farewell: Living Your Last Chapter with Love (Eerdmans, Apr.), Marilyn Chandler McEntyre, professor of medical humanities at UC Berkeley, asks, “When the time comes for us to die, how do we say goodbye to our friends, our families, and the lives we have lived? How do we remain faithful—to God, to ourselves, and to loved ones—as we face our final journey?” She offers 52 brief meditations on topics ranging from anger and doubt to loss of privacy and ■ family conflict.

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Spring books offer guidance to parents and spouses

All in the Family By Ann Byle

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arents always need a little extra help, families need support, and marriages need fine tuning. Publishers want to pitch in with books that address such issues, and readers of all religious stripes will find resources galore this season. Jewish Lights offers readers Jewish Spiritual Parenting: Wisdom, Activities, Rituals and Prayers for Raising Children with Spiritual Balance and Emotional Wholeness (May), by Rabbi Paul Kipnes and Michelle November. The two have been married 25 years and have parented three children. “Our goal is to help people understand the relevance of Judaism to their everyday lives,” says Stuart Matlins, publisher of Jewish Lights. “Our audience is often trying to understand how to be Jewish in a world unlike any Jewish people have ever lived in previously. Life cycle books such as this help them to achieve the goals of being modern American parents while doing it from a uniquely Jewish perspective.” The bestselling backlist book on parenting from Jewish Lights is Parenting Jewish Teens: A Guide for the Perplexed (2006), by Joanne Doades. Last summer, Jewish Lights sister imprint SkyLight Paths, which publishes books from a variety of spiritual traditions, released its first marriage book—Secrets of a Soulful Marriage: Creating and Sustaining a Loving, Sacred Relationship, by Jim and Ruth Sharon, noted couples therapists who draw on more than 40 years of professional and personal experience. “We expect this book will be

followed by others on this topic from the unique SkyLight Paths spiritual perspective,” Matlins says. Famed author and Oprah teacher Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now) has written the foreword to Susan Stiffelman’s Parenting with Presence: Practices for Raising Conscious, Confident, Caring Kids, to be published in April under the new Eckhart Tolle Editions imprint of New World Library. Stiffelman (see profile, p. 40) is a marriage and family therapist who shows parents how to recognize their own problems and nurture emotional connections with their children. Evangelical Christian publishers release many books on parenting, marriage, and family, and some make the topics a major emphasis of their publishing programs. David C. Cook publishes about 60 titles per year, with books about parenting, marriage, and family life making up roughly 5% of the total. In June, Cook will release How to Ruin Your Child in 7 Easy Steps: Tame Your Voice, Nurture Their Virtues, by Patrick Quinn and Ken Roach. “Parents are looking for help and looking for foundations,” says Cook publisher Dan Rich. “A healthy spiritual home is critical. None of us are experts, and we

make mistakes. When we [at Cook] look at these kinds of parenting books, we see them offering foundational, biblical truths.” In May, Cook will publish a parenting book by Mark and Jan Foreman, parents of Jon and Tim Foreman of the band Switchfoot. Raising Kids Who Matter: Helping Children Grow Beyond Themselves offers guidance for parents who want to foster creativity, build community, and help their children see the bigger world from a Christian viewpoint. “We look for a unique message that makes a manuscript stand out, is built on a firm foundation, and has a fresh voice,” Rich says,“and these books carry their weight, profitwise.” Books aimed at helping families are a significant part of Harvest House’s publishing program. Recent releases include 10 Ways to Say ‘I Love You’: Embracing a Love That Lasts (Feb.), by Josh McDowell; 52 Things to Pray for Your Kids (Feb.), by Jay Payleitner; One-Minute Romance for Couples (Feb.), by Grace Fox; and Happy Habits for Every Couple (Jan.), by Kathi and Roger Lipp. Harvest House’s list of forthcoming titles is just as comprehensive: 52 Things Sons Need from Their Moms (Apr.), by Angela Thomas; The Dad Book (Apr.), by Jay Payleitner; What Makes a Man Feel Loved (Mar.), by Bob Barnes; and Raising Body-Confident Daughters (Apr.), by Dannah Gresh. Barbour Publishing combined efforts with ministry organization Back to the Bible in 2014 to create the new GoTandem Books imprint, designed to offer practical resources to help readers live their faith. Barbour and GoTandem’s list is full of books for parents and families. “These books are all very relationship focused, with the goal of making families better and stronger through biblical guidance and wisdom,” says Kelly McIntosh, v-p of editorial for Barbour. W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y . C O M 37

Spirituality & Religion For instance, Everyday Finances for the Everyday Family (Feb.), by Mike Yorkey, offers families commonsense principles to help them wisely budget, spend, and save money. Also under the GoTandem imprint are 101 Ways to Strengthen the Parent-Child Connection: Devotions, Tips, and Activities (June), by Michael and Tiffany Ross, and 101 Family Mealtime Devotions and Prayers (Oct.), by Greg Johnson. Barbour is releasing 3-Minute Devotions for Families, by Janice Thompson, in May. “These books fit our mission in that they offer solid biblical encouragement and inspiration to families, plus they’re practical,” McIntosh says, adding that the titles are frontlist driven, as authors and readers look for fresh approaches to today’s issues. “Inspirational familyfocused books are always in season in the Christian market,” she notes. Barbour/GoTandem is one of two publishers addressing the needs of families in our high-tech world, with books like Managing Your Family’s High-Tech Habits: (From Video Games to the Dark Side of the Web), by Arnie Cole and Pam Ovwigho, which is due in June. The authors help parents sort through the good and bad sides of virtual living, including how to navigate social media choices and set healthy boundaries. Moody Publishers also deals with the digital world in its March title, Screens and Teens: Connecting with Our Kids in a Wireless World, by Kathy Koch. The author applauds the positive aspects of the digital age, but also warns parents that technology can contribute to self-centeredness, negative behaviors, and spiritually detrimental beliefs. Even Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group best known for its fiction, is publishing books on family life. More Than Just the Talk: Becoming Your Kids’ Go-To Person About Sex (Mar.), by Jonathan McKee, shows parents how to move past awkwardness and into ongoing conversations about sex. And publishers never forget the books specifically for mothers. From Thomas Nelson comes Be the Best Mom You Can Be: A Practical Guide to Raising Whole Children

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in a Broken Generation (Apr.), by Marina and Gregory W. Slayton, who reveal secrets to finding true joy in motherhood. In June, Concordia House will release Raising Godly Girls: Encouragement for Moms of 21st Century Daughters, by Deb Burm, which helps mothers prepare their daughters to live in today’s culture. Harvest House offers Hope for the Weary Mom: Let God Meet You in the Mess (Feb.), by Stacey Thacker and Brooke McGlothlin, which helps overwhelmed moms remember that God knows them by name. In April, Ballantine will publish Strong Mothers, Strong Sons: Lessons Mothers Need to Raise Extraordinary Men, by Meg Meeker, which provides mothers with a spiritual approach to making great men out of rough-and-tumble boys. MARRIED WITH CHALLENGES Marriage also is a perennial topic for evangelical publishers, with many spring and summer books coming on the subject. In May, Bethany House will release The Smart Stepfamily Marriage: Keys to Success in the Blended Family, by Ron L. Deal and David H. Olson. The two marriage authorities offer couples hope for healthy marriages based on advice gleaned from the National Survey of Couples Creating Stepfamilies. Zondervan will publish 7 Secrets to an Awesome Marriage: Strengthen Your Most Intimate Relationship, by Kim Kimberling, in July. The author is a Christian counselor who offers tools for communication and intimacy. On Tyndale’s list is The Unveiled Wife: Embracing Intimacy with God and Your


Husband (Mar.), by Jennifer Smith. Smith helps struggling wives know they’re not alone. In August, WaterBrook Press will release Nine Thoughts That Can Change Your Marriage: Because a Great Relationship Doesn’t Happen By Accident, by Sheila Wray Gregoire. The author says women can create better marriages by altering how they think about themselves, their spouses, and their relationship goals. Also coming from WaterBrook is Visual: What Women Need to Know About the Visual Nature of Men (July), by Shaunti Feldhahn and Craig Gross. Feldhahn’s previous titles, including For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men (Multnomah, revised and update in 2013), have sold more than two million copies combined. Gross is pastor and founder of XXXchurch.com, a website to help those struggling with porn or sex addictions. In March, Harvest House will publish a reissue (with a new cover) of the popular What Makes a Man Feel Loved: Understanding What Your Husband Really Wants, by Bob Barnes. BOUNCING BACK, MOVING ON Finally, readers seem drawn to tales of families recovering from life-changing events. Two books offer encouragement and emotional support for those who have experienced loss, or who want to learn from those who have. In May, WaterBrook will release Let’s Pretend We’re Normal: Adventures in Rediscovering How to Be a Family, by Tricia Lott Williford. The author’s husband died in 2010, and, since then, she and her sons have created a new life. Kate Braestrup described her life after the loss of her husband in Here If You Need Me (Back Bay, 2008); now she faces the possibility of losing her son when he joins the Marines. Braestrup examines the twin emotions of faith and fear in Anchors and Flares: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hope, and Service, due out in ■ July from Little, Brown.

Feature

Is Heaven for Real?


By Ann Byle

A Growing Number of Books Say So

T

he mysteries of the afterlife continue to fascinate readers eager to know how they or their loved ones might fare after death, and publishers are just as eager to help them answer these age-old questions. “People are looking for proof that their loved ones are still around,” says Amy Glaser, acquisitions editor at Llewellyn, publisher since 1901 of books for mind, body, and spirit. “They are clinging to the belief that heaven exists and that their loved one is there. People want comfort and assurance.” In March, Llewellyn will release Evidence of Eternity: Communicating with Spirits for Proof of the Afterlife, by Mark Anthony, and, in April, Three Journeys to Heaven: The True Stories of My Near Death Experiences by Marilou Trask-Curtin, who finally succumbed in February. Kristy Robinett’s third book, It’s a Wonderful Afterlife: Inspiring True Stories from a Psychic Medium, will be released in August. Many other publishers also believe that readers want these books, a desire confirmed by the success of titles like Eben Alexander’s Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife (Simon & Schuster, 2012), which spent more than 90 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and more than 50 on the PW trade nonfiction list. Spring releases include After This: When Life Is Over, Where Do We Go? (Avery, Apr.), by Claire Bidwell Smith, and The Hand on the Mirror: A True Story of Life Beyond Death (Grand Central, Apr.), by Janis Heaphy Durham (see profile, p. 41). In early 2016 HarperOne will follow Jeffrey Long’s popular Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences (2011) with God and the Afterlife: The

Groundbreaking New Evidence of Near-Death Experience, by Long and coauthor Paul Perry. Evangelical Christian publishers have had megasellers with accounts of what skeptics are calling “heaven tourism.” Chief among them are 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life (Revell, 2004), by Don Piper, which has spent over five years on the Times list and sold more than seven million copies, and Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back (Thomas Nelson, 2010), by Todd Burpo, with 212 weeks on the Times list and more than 10 million sold. Both remain popular, even after now-16-year-old Alex Malarkey recanted the experiences he detailed with his father, Kevin, in 2010’s The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven: A Remarkable Account of Miracles, Angels, and Life Beyond This World, which was taken out of print by Tyndale in January. Nelson Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, has The Hope of Heaven: God’s Eight Messages of Assurance to a Grieving Father (Mar.), by Alan M. Hallene Jr. Hallene writes that God gave him eight visions of heaven during the 10 minutes he spent waiting for the authorities after finding the dead body of his young son, who hanged himself. “He believes that what most people long for is assurance about what awaits them and their loved ones after death,” says Brian Hampton, senior v-p and publisher. “Hallene’s book is so grounded in the reality of pain and sorrow in our lives that it makes the eight assurances he offers all the more powerful.” Tyndale continues to publish on the topic of the afterlife. David Jeremiah

offers his Bible-based Answers to Your Questions About Heaven (Feb.). In Visits to Heaven and Back: Are They Real? (Mar.), Mark Hitchcock takes on claims of experiencing heaven firsthand, including those in recent bestsellers. In November, Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, will publish Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God’s Promises, and the Exhilarating Future that Awaits You, by John Burke. Burke examines accounts of near-death experiences from people of different ethnicities, genders, countries, and core religious beliefs, finding remarkable similarities across cultures. Academic books abound as well. Harvard University Press will release Peter Brown’s The Ransom of the Soul: Afterlife and Wealth in Early Western Christianity in April; Baker division Brazos has published Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory: Rethinking the Things That Matter Most (Feb.), by Jerry L. Walls; and Jewish Lights has released a second edition of Rabbi Elie Kaplan Spitz’s Does the Soul Survive?: A Jewish Journey to Belief in Afterlife, Past Lives & Living with Purpose (Feb.). Oxford University Press has weighed in with Greg Garrett’s Entertaining Judgment: The Afterlife in Popular Imagination (Jan.). “Believers will always want to understand more about our hope of heaven,” says Hampton of Nelson Books. “We want to publish unique books that convey a biblically sound message about such topics.” Additional books on the topic include Love Never Dies: How to Reconnect and Make Peace with the Deceased (Hay House, 2014), by Jamie Turndorf; Miracles from Heaven: A Little Girl, Her Journey to Heaven, and Her Amazing Story of Healing (Hachette, Apr.), by Christy Wilson Beam; Touched by Heaven: Inspiring True Stories of One Woman’s Lifelong Encounters with Jesus (Chosen, Mar.), by Nancy Ravenhill; and The Hard Road: What if Almost Dying Was the Very Thing That Saved Your Life? (Red Arrow Media, ■ Apr.), by Michael S. Pruett. W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y . C O M 39


IN

Profiles

Profile

© photo credit

Susan Stiffelman

The Parents Are Alright Years ago counselor and family therapist Susan Stiffelman had an epiphany: “I can get further [with kids] by working with the parents,” she thought. This inspired her to write Parenting Without Power Struggles (Atria, 2010). In her new book, Parenting with Presence: Practices for Raising Conscious, Confident, Caring Kids (Apr.), from the new Eckhardt Tolle Edition imprint of New World Library, she writes from the premise that to parent well, parents first need to be gentle with themselves. Stiffelman, who taught herself Hindi and practices meditation, laid the groundwork for Parenting with Presence in her first book, by picturing the good parent as the calm, confident captain of the family ship. This parent neither abdicates responsibility nor uses bribes and threats in an attempt to control. Parenting with Presence emerged from a series of telesummits that Stiffelman held with people ranging from chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall to Pulitzer Prize–winning author Marianne Williamson. Inspired by their wisdom—and quoting in the book luminaries such as Arianna Huffington and the neuropsychiatrist Daniel Siegel—Stiffelman guides parents in how to stay grounded as they navigate the inevitable upheavals and meltdowns that come with the job. “It is very difficult to raise children,”

Stiffelman says. But these challenges can make parenting a spiritual experience, especially if we understand spirituality as a way to live in the midst of everyday chaos. We’re not always going to want to make lunches or do long division with our children, Stiffelman notes, but we need to stay present with them—even when they push all our buttons. “I talk a lot in the book about forgiveness and compassion and apologies,” she says. “We often project our own unresolved issues onto our children,” or use our children to meet our own needs, she says. Instead of expecting children to endlessly excel, Stiffelman writes in the book: “Couldn’t the ordinary be extraordinary?” Each chapter introduces a concept, such as compassion or self-care, and includes anecdotes and advice, as well as a section called “Now It’s Your Turn,” with an exercise to do, queries to answer, and suggestions for handling different situations. Practical questions that real parents might ask—“What if I really do want my child to excel at piano?”—are among those that Stiffelman answers. Stiffelman says that when she can understand a past event from her now24-year-old son’s point of view, “he’s getting to watch me grow.” When she can apologize to him for a past misunderstanding, he learns from her that he doesn’t have to do everything perfectly. Jason Gardner, senior editor at New World Library, says, “The type of parents who read parenting books sometimes beat themselves up about falling short of their parenting ideal. In Parenting with Presence, Susan guides those parents with compassion. She covers all sorts of modern parenting conundrums with very concrete advice and practices, and she presents it all with terrific storytelling and subtlety.”


Stiffelman echoes that: “I hope people get the sense it is a very welcoming book.” —Diane Reynolds

J. Todd Billings

Hope in the Midst of Fear “When our dreams crumble, our idols can crumble with them,” theologian J. Todd Billings says, when asked about being diagnosed with a rare and incurable form of cancer, which he writes about in his memoir, Rejoicing in Lament: Wrestling with Incurable Cancer and Life in Christ (Brazos, Feb.). “I didn’t want to be on the road of cancer, but many others have rockier roads than my own. And yet, in prayer, in returning to scripture and classical sources in the Christian tradition, my book points to a hope both in and beyond my cancer story, the story of God in Christ.” Billings, research professor of reformed theology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Mich., and an ordained minister of the Reformed Church in America, has made significant theological contributions over the years. Union with Christ: Reframing Theology and Ministry for the Church (Baker Academic, 2011)—his study of the basic tenet of Christian faith and its effects on social justice, mission, and observant life— won a 2012 Christianity Today Award of Merit in the Theology/Ethics category. But when he received the news of his terminal illness at age 39, Billings’s world was shaken, and he faced the most personally difficult theological questions of his life. “God’s story does not annihilate our personal stories, but God incorporates us into a larger drama in which darkness will not have the final word,” Billings

says. “This leaves us with raw, unanswered questions. But it also points us toward a durable hope.” In Rejoicing in Lament, Billings says he “wrestles with the problem of evil, prayer for healing, the meaning of death and loss,” but he also expresses “a durable hope” via prayers of both sorrow and thanksgiving. He writes of how life has led him toward hope in God’s promises, rather than down a road of endless questions and simplistic answers. “We need to avoid easy, ‘theoretical’ answers and always keep in mind the basics: listen to and grieve with the suffering. Don’t just pray for a ‘quick fix,’ but pray in lament and petition,” he says. The book is part autobiography, part cultural commentary, and includes others’ stories of joy and grief. Billings shows how human sorrow can bring people closer to their faith. “We want to look successful and competent,” he says. “I’ve come to see how the ravaging enemy of cancer spoils our pretensions of control. But my hope is that my true life is now hidden—in union with Christ—even if my life appears to be going off the rails.” —Kathleen Samuelson

© sigrid estrada

Janis Heaphy Durham

Reaching Across the Divide Janis Heaphy Durham didn’t have herself in mind when she decided to write The Hand on the Mirror: A True Story of Life Beyond Death (Grand Central, Apr.). She wrote it for her husband Max Besler, who died in May 2004. “The nature of what occurred after Max died was so extraordinary that I had to do my part,” says Durham, who has since remarried. “I believe Max found a


way to reach across. If his life went on in another realm, it was my duty to tell the story.” Durham was devastated when Besler died of cancer just four years into their marriage. She and her son by a previous marriage mourned their loss and tried to move on, but were brought up short on the one-year anniversary of Besler’s death. A powdery handprint appeared on the mirror of the bathroom he had used in the final months of his life. Another image appeared a year to the day later, and a third the year after. These events, along with a host of other mysteries that occurred over eight years—such as flickering lights and moving rugs—prompted Durham to begin talking to spiritual practitioners, experts and experimenters in consciousness and paranormal activities, ghost experts, and all manner of physicists and scientists. Hers was no visit to the neighborhood tarot card reader, but instead a measured, deliberate approach to learning whatever she could to understand Max and what he was trying to communicate. “As I began to learn and understand, I felt that Max really had achieved something by going from the other side into our physical reality,” Durham says. “I also discovered that many have been in contact with those they love, but were often afraid to talk about it for fear of being ridiculed.” So Durham, a former publisher of the Sacramento Bee, set out to build what she calls a “legitimate platform” to talk about such experiences. “If I can come forward with this book, maybe others will feel less intimidated in telling their stories,” she says. Durham has created a website to facilitate discussion (thehandonthemirror. org) and developed a newsletter to share information on the phenomenon. “If more people are talking about this topic, there will be more funding for more studies, and better and more media coverage,” she says. “This will be healthy for us in general as a society.” Durham is contemplating a second book about cancer, based on her experi-

ence as a caregiver for her current husband, Jim Durham, who was diagnosed with the disease in spring 2013 and continues to fight it. “Death has taught me a lot about life,” Durham says. “I don’t waste time anymore. I don’t judge people like I used to. And I pay closer attention to everyday moments.” —Ann Byle

Dayle A. Friedman © JO RESNICK ROSEN

Profiles |

Embracing Age “Contemporary culture greets aging with fear and loathing,” Dayle A. Friedman says. “We dread dying, and anything that hints of it.” Rabbi Friedman—founder of Hiddur: The Center for Aging and Judaism at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, Pa.—is the author of Jewish Wisdom for Growing Older: Finding Your Grit & Grace Beyond Midlife (Jewish Lights, Mar.). “We idealize independence, and cannot fathom how one could be dependent and yet whole,” Friedman says. “Jewish tradition, on the other hand, has a healthy respect for the wisdom that comes with life experience. The tradition expects those who are older to share of their perspective as guides and nurturers of the future.” Friedman trains, consults, and provides spiritual guidance at her Philadelphia-based practice, Growing Older. She teaches that Jewish tradition “doesn’t sugarcoat the inevitability” of hardships that come with aging, but rather “does recognize the possibility of becoming more sage as the body weakens.” She says, “We are not defined by our physical prowess, nor is our worth contingent on health and independence.” Friedman says that once people acknowledge their sadness and grieve as W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y . C O M 41

losses and trials become more prevalent in midlife and beyond, they have “the opportunity at these junctures to search for sparks of light and to begin again. This is an existential choice: we can dwell in darkness or seek light. We see this choice in people who pass through retirement and find new passion in paths of service or creativity, in those who lose their homes and independence and manage to find nourishing new relationships in assisted living communities, and in elders who face dying with determination to leave a legacy through sharing their stories or values with their dear ones.” Telling true stories of people she has encountered in her work, Friedman wrote Jewish Wisdom for Growing Older for “readers at every stage along the continuum from midlife through end of life.” That includes “my contemporaries, who are in our 50s, caring for aging parents, and thinking ahead to our own third chapters—new work or pursuits that will capture our passion in years ahead.” “I’m also thinking of people in their 60s and 70s who are perhaps glimpsing early signs of physical changes, perhaps making new beginnings in downsized homes, and seeking ways of contributing meaningfully to their communities,” Friedman says. “And I’m thinking of people who are further along in the aging process, in their 80s and 90s—folks who have seen their share of loss, and who are facing or anticipating physical or cognitive frailty while very much engaged in vibrant living.” Friedman’s hope for the book is “that all of them will find the tools to grow deeper and wiser as they grow older.” —Kathleen Samuelson

Harvey Cox

Who’s Afraid of Biblical Criticism Harvey Cox didn’t plan to write about the Bible. His classic book The Secular City caused a sensation when it was first published by Collier in 1965 and had surprising popular appeal for a book by a theologian, leading to a Time magazine profile that produced the famous (or infamous) “God Is Dead” cover. Cox—who was the

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© harvard divinity school


Hollis Research Professor of Divinity at Harvard until his retirement in 2009—later wrote many books, including Religion in the Secular City (S&S, 1985), on Pentecostalism and liberation theology; Many Mansions (Beacon, 1988), on world religion; and The Future of Faith (HarperOne, 2009). Though Cox is not a biblical studies scholar, in 2011, when Roger Freet, then his editor at HarperOne, asked him to write a popular guide to biblical criticism, he agreed, and it became his newest book, How to Read the Bible (HarperOne, Apr.). “I really enjoyed writing it,” Cox says. “One of the most enjoyable things was talking to people in the field.” Cox’s family didn’t read the Bible at home, but he grew up hearing the stories in Sunday school. He thought of the Bible as a collection of stories until he discovered, while in seminary, that it can be approached critically as a historical document. Although he’s certainly not a fundamentalist, Cox wondered how to reconcile his narrative reading of the Bible with a critical/historical one. In September 1963, during his involvement with the civil rights movement (he was an early supporter and friend of Martin Luther King Jr.), Cox spent a night with protestors in a smalltown Southern jail. Some of the protestors read from the Bible—mainly from Exodus and the Gospels—as if the stories were meant specifically for them and their situation. In that moment, Cox realized that the Bible could be read another way—not only as a beguiling collection of stories or a quasi-historical document to be analyzed, dated, and classified but also as a sacred book that has meaning for his own life and that speaks to today’s world.


By framing How to Read the Bible within his own life history, Cox says, “I could show people how I went through those three stages of reading the Bible” and concluded that the best way to grasp any biblical passage involves a combination of all three approaches: the narrative, the historical, and the spiritual. He writes, “First, never forget that story is utterly fundamental and ask, ‘What is happening here?’; second, become an amateur history detective and uncover the ‘who, when, where, and why’ about a particular text; and, finally, get into a dialogue and start to engage the text in a no-holds-barred wrestling match; if you open your mind and your heart to it, the meaning for any text will find its way across the centuries.” Most people read the Bible in a devotional fashion, through the lens of faith, Cox notes; biblical studies scholars, on the other hand, take a technical, critical approach. Those two kinds of Bible readers rarely interact. “My goal is to build a bridge,” Cox says—to allow devotional Bible readers “not to be apprehensive about biblical scholars.” He notes, “They are trying to clarify many of the same issues you’re studying.” Gently introducing various critical methods, Cox’s book illustrates how different interpretations can add meaning to Bible stories. For example, source criticism—the idea that the Hebrews used multiple earlier sources for their own purposes—allows readers to identify and become familiar with the numerous written and oral traditions that were patched together to compile Genesis. Cox himself learned something important from writing the book. “Here we are, in this age of great religious pluralism, and I came to realize that the Bible itself is very pluralistic,” he says. “It’s written in different voices, in different eras, and contains different theologies, but it has a coherent message. And it’s helpful to know it was like that from the beginning.” Cox hopes How to Read the Bible will help readers grasp “what it is I have in my hand—poetry, gospel, history.” —Henry L. Carrigan Jr.

SPRING 2015 SPIRITUALITY & RELIGION ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Bible and Beyond By Marcia Z. Nelson The Bible and the pope. What else is there to write about in religion? A few things...

RELIGION

Memoir, for one. Kate Braestrup, whose 2007 memoir, Here If You Need Me, established her voice, looks again at turning points in life in Anchor and Flares: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hope, and Service, which chronicles her emotional battle between faith and fear after her eldest son joined the Marines. Also, spiritual advice and consolation—especially when given by acclaimed writer and Benedictine nun Joan Chittister. Her Between the Dark and the Daylight: Embracing the Contradictions of Life is filled with “beautifully crafted short reflections,” according to PW’s starred review. Cosmology and theology embrace in A God That Could Be Real: Spirituality, Science, and the Future of Our Planet, by Nancy Ellen Abrams, who argues for an emergent God. On a more mundane plane, God’s Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican, by Gerald Posner, is a gimlet-eyed historical investigation into the centrality of money in the Catholic Church. A journalistic lens is turned on a world hot spot in Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution, by Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy. And women’s issues are the subject of The Mother and Child Project: Raising Our Voices for Health and Hope, a collection of essays by activists working to improve the lot of women and children in places where women die in childbirth and children die young. There are many hundreds of books out there on How to Read the Bible, but only one is by Harvey Cox, whose life and long career in public religion have made him a deeply learned guide. Cox’s interpretive work here is “a great gift,” according to PW’s starred review. Informed commentary on the Bible is found in Strong as Death Is Love: Song of Songs, Ruth, Esther, Jonah, and Daniel—a Translation with Commentary, by Robert Alter, who continues his work of masterful translation. And Bewilderments: Reflections on the Book of Numbers, by Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, goes back to the biblical Book of Numbers, as the author continues to plumb the spiritual and psychological depths of sacred text. Pope Francis gets in a word or three—on Easter, of course—in Walking with Jesus: A Way Forward for the Church. Believers can always use a good trail buddy.

W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY. C O M

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Spirituality & Religion Announcements

PW’S TOP 10: SPIRITUALITY & RELIGION ● Anchor and Flares: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hope, and Service Kate Braestrup. Little, Brown, July 14 ● Between the Dark and the Daylight: Embracing the Contradictions of Life Joan Chittister. Image, Mar. 31 ● Bewilderments: Reflections on the Book of Numbers Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg. Schocken, Feb. 24 ● God’s Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican Gerald Posner. Simon & Schuster, Feb. 3 ● A God That Could Be Real: Spirituality, Science, and the Future of Our Planet Nancy Abrams. Beacon, Mar. 10

Nelson Dooley, Nancy J. Farrier, Pamela Griffin, Diann Hunt, Loree Lough, Sandra Petit, and Gail Sattler (Mar. 1, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-61626-546-5). A collection of nine romances introduces modern couples who hope to make it to the altar— someday.

BARBOUR/SHILOH RUN

The Decision by Wanda E. Brunstetter (Mar. 1, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-1-61626088-0). Moving from Pennsylvania to find rewarding work and leave heartbreak behind is the best decision Jonah Miller ever made. But is he ready to consider love again when he meets Elaine Schrock?

BETHANY HOUSE

A Worthy Pursuit by Karen Witemeyer (June, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-0-76421280-2). Stone Hammond is the best tracker ● Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution in Texas at the turn of the last century, and Mona Eltahawy. FSG/Faber and Faber, Apr. 21 when a wealthy railroad investor hires him to find his abducted granddaughter, he ● How to Read the Bible eagerly accepts. Charlotte Atherton, former Harvey Cox. HarperOne, Apr. 14 headmistress of Sullivan’s Academy for Exceptional Youths, will do anything to ● The Mother and Child Project: Raising Our Voices for Health and Hope keep her charges safe, especially the little girl Preface by Melinda Gates, foreword by Kay Warren. Zondervan, Mar. 31. entrusted to her care. When the teacher Stone is after shows she’s the little girl’s legal ● Strong as Death is Love: guardian, Stone must re-evaluate everything Song of Songs, Ruth, Esther, Jonah, and Daniel: A Translation with Commentary he’s been led to believe. Robert Alter. Norton, Mar. Hearts Made Whole by Jody Hedlund (June, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-0-7642● Walking with Jesus: A Way Forward for the Church 1238-3) Caroline Taylor has grown confident running the Windmill Point Lighthouse, Pope Francis. Loyola, Apr. 5 but in 1865 Michigan, women aren’t supposed to have such roles. Ryan Chambers is a Civil War veteran given the post of lighthouse keeper, and the isolation where he can drown in drink and hide from his past is appealing. Both quickly ABINGDON realize he’s in no shape to run the lighthouse, but can they look past As Waters Gone By by Cynthia Ruchti (May 5, paper, $14.99, their losses to a future filled with hope... and possibly love? ISBN 978-1-4267-8727-0). Emmalyn and Max Ross may have to endure the fight of their lives to mend their marriage. His actions DESERET/ENSIGN PEAK put him in prison, giving their relationship a court-mandated fiveMaximus by Richard L. Black (Mar. 3, hardcover, $25.99, year time-out. On Madeline Island in Lake Superior, Emmalyn has ISBN 978-1-60907-985-7). Word has reached Rome of a man just a few months left to figure out if and how they can ever be a named Jesus who is causing a stir in faraway Judea. Roman gencouple again. eral Maximus and Androcles are sent to ascertain the truth of the Fatal Trauma by Richard L. Mabry (May 19, paper, $14.99, situation. Disguised as a Jew, Maximus ISBN 978-1-63088-116-0). When Dr. slowly begins to understand the true Mark Baker and Nurse Kelly Atkinson are teachings of Jesus. 40,000-copy announced held at the mercy of a gunman, the lives of first printing. emergency room patients are at stake. The standoff is ended, but the killing is not, FAITHWORDS because revenge is not far behind. Daughter of the Regiment by Stephanie Grace Whitson (Mar. 24, paper, $15, BARBOUR ISBN 978-1-4555-2903-2). Two women 8 Weddings and a Miracle Romance who are Missouri neighbors are drawn into Collection: 9 Contemporary Romances the heart of the Civil War from opposite Need a Little Divine Intervention by sides. Tracie Peterson, Janet Lee Barton, Lena

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Chasing Sunsets by Karen Kingsbury (Apr. 7, hardcover, $22.99, ISBN 978-1-4516-8750-7). The second novel in a series about divine intervention and the trials and triumphs of life tells of a woman desperate to find deeper meaning in her life. Tiffany Girl by DeeAnne Gist (May 5, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-1-4516-9244-0) is a historical novel about a progressive “New Woman”—the girl behind Tiffany’s chapel—and the love that threatens everything.

978-0-8024-1232-4). After breaking her engagement with a rising politician, Summer Snow is adrift in life and love. Again. She discovers that her dearest childhood companion, Martin Langtree, who made the ideal friend when they were growing up, could now make the ideal husband.

THOMAS NELSON

An Amish Man of Ice Mountain by Kelly Long (Apr. 28, mass market, $7.99, ISBN 978-1-4201-3546-6). Amish Joseph King has good reasons to work an oil rig far from his beloved Ice Mountain, but no honorable man would let Priscilla Allen and her fouryear-old daughter remain homeless. When his guilt and her secrets threaten the trust growing between them, they need miracles to put the past to rest.

Center of Gravity by Laura McNeill (July 14, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-0-7180-3090-2). Ava’s life in the coastal South appears nearly perfect after her recent marriage to the powerful and handsome Mitchell Carson. Outwardly, Mitchell appears to be a caring husband and doting father, but as Ava soon discovers, there is a dark side to her husband that she never imagined. The Curiosity Keeper by Sarah E. Ladd (July 7, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-0-7180-1178-9). Born into two different classes, James and Camille shouldn’t even know each other, in this historical. But when the pursuit of a missing ruby brings them together, much more than a mere acquaintance is ignited.

MENNOMEDIA

TYNDALE

KENSINGTON/ZEBRA

Joseph’s Dilemma by Ervin R. Stutzman (June, paper, $15, ISBN 978-0-8361-9909-3). The second book of the Return to Northkill series chronicles the experiences of Amish teenager Joseph Hochstetler, who was taken captive by Native Americans during the French and Indian War.

NAV PRESS/TH1NK

Beneath the Forsaken City by C.E. Laureano (Feb. 1, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-61291-631-6). In book two of the Song of Seare fantasy series, Conor and Aine have barely escaped Seare with their lives. Surrounded by despair and thrown into as much danger as they left behind, Conor and Aine must cling to Comdiu’s plans for them. But at what cost?

REVELL

The Crimson Cord by Jill Eileen Smith (Feb., paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-0-8007-2034-6). When Israelite spies enter Jericho and come to lodge at her house, Rahab, forced into prostitution to cover her husband’s debt, sees a glimmer of hope and the opportunity of a lifetime. Buried Secrets by Irene Hannon (Apr., paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-0-8007-2126-8). Smalltown police chief Lisa Grant needs the assistance of detective Mac McGregor, an ex-Navy SEAL, when a human skeleton is unearthed in her town. As they work to solve the mystery behind the unmarked grave, danger begins to shadow them.

RIVER NORTH

Spy of Richmond by Jocelyn Green (Mar. 1, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-0-8024-0579-1). In Richmond, Va., 1863, Union loyalist Sophie Kent risks everything to help end the war. Former slave Bella Jamison sacrifices her freedom to come to Richmond, where her Union soldier husband is imprisoned, and her twin sister still lives in bondage in Sophie’s home. Harrison Caldwell, a Northern freelance journalist who escorts Bella to Richmond, infiltrates the Confederate War Department as a clerk, but is conscripted to defend the city’s fortifications. The Civil War is reimagined from these perspectives. Summer’s List by Anita Higman (June 1, paper, $14.99, ISBN


By Your Side by Candace Calvert (Mar. 1, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-4143-9032-1). ER nurse Macy Wynn learned essential, gritty lessons in the California foster care system: land on your feet and trust no one. Deputy Fletcher Holt believes in a higher plan, a fair outcome, and his ability to handle that by himself if necessary. When everything goes wrong, where do they put their trust? Chance of Loving You by Terri Blackstock, Susan May Warren, and Candace Calvert (May 1, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-49640537-1) is an anthology by three bestselling romance authors. Three different main characters are given a chance to change their lives, but will love be the real prize?

WATERBROOK

When Grace Sings by Kim Vogel Sawyer (Mar. 17, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-0-307-73133-3). In a contemporary Old Order Mennonite story of family secrets and the rocky road to romance, two women are on the cusp of finding out what is real— and uncovering an elaborate scheme to hide the truth. The Wood’s Edge by Lori Benton (Apr. 21, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-60142-732-8). Two families, one haunted by a twin’s absence, the other now an ocean away, are caught in a web of lies in the 18th century.

ZONDERVAN

Love Arrives in Pieces by Betsy St. Amant (June 9, paper, $12.99, ISBN 978-0-310-33847-5). Former pageant queen Stella Varland doesn’t trust beauty since her divorce. Contractor Chase Taylor is determined to live a life of no regrets after losing his fiancée in a car crash. When he returns home to Bayou Bend to renovate the town’s old theater, he is shocked to learn former flame Stella is the designer for the project. Forced to work together, Chase and Stella battle their chemistry and their pasts. Murder Freshly Baked by Vannetta Chapman (June 8, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-0-310-32217-7). The Amish Artisan Village is the setting for a Race for a Cure. When runner Ryan Duvall crosses the finish line of the race and falls down dead, police hunt the murderer. Amber Bowman, who manages the artisan village, looks to her young Amish friend Hannah Troyer to help her find the killer

Spring Titles from Kregel, Monarch, and Lion Fiction

Letters from My Father’s Murderer Laurie A. Coombs

Against the Flow John C. Lennox

Get Your Joy Back Laurie Wallin

978-0-8254-4229-2 | $14.99

978-0-85721-621-2 | $19.99

978-0-8254-4339-8 | $13.99

Kregel Publications • June 27, 2015

Monarch Books

Kregel Publications

Lion Fiction—historical, detective, and literary fiction The Boy Who Loved Rain The Babylon Contingency Blood Divide Gerard Kelly Clifford Longley John Sadler 978-1-78264-129-2 | $14.99

978-1-78264-120-9 | $14.99

Order from your Noble sales rep or call 800-733-2607 www.kregel.com | In Canada contact David C. Cook

978-1-78264-089-9 | $14.99

The Abbot’s Agreement Mel Starr

Direct Hit Mike Hollow

The Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon

The Blitz Detective

978-1-78264-127-8 | $14.99

978-1-78264-109-4 | $14.99

June 27, 2015

Monarch Books and Lion Fiction are imprints of Lion Hudson, plc. Oxford, England, and are distributed in North America through Kregel Publications.


BAKER ACADEMIC

and to determine if it’s the “Poison Poet,” a mysterious individual leaving cryptic poems and warning of poisoned pies.

Leisure and Spirituality: Biblical, Historical, and Contemporary Perspectives by Paul Heintzman (Mar. 17, paper, $24.99, ISBN 978-0-8010-4872-2) explores the link between leisure and spirituality, offering a Christian perspective on leisure concepts and issues in contemporary society.

NONFICTION ABINGDON

The Call: The Life and Message of the Apostle Paul by Adam Hamilton (May 5, hardcover, $18.99, ISBN 978-1-63088-262-4) weaves together history, scripture, and archeology to explore the life and message of Paul—and a deeper understanding of an individual’s own call. GreenFaith: Mobilizing God’s People to Save the Earth by Fletcher Harper (Mar. 17, paper, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-4267-8175-9). The executive director of GreenFaith—an interfaith environmental coalition—gives concrete examples and tips to help people of faith and worshiping communities engage in care for the planet in bold, life-giving ways.

BARBOUR

More Precious Than Diamonds: Biblical Meditations on a Woman’s Worth in God’s Eyes by Darlene Sala (Feb. 1, paper, $10.99, ISBN 978-1-62836-654-9) includes long-form devotions for women that affirm their value in God’s sight.

BARBOUR/SHILOH RUN

21 Great Leaders: Learn Their Lessons, Improve Your Influence by Pat Williams and Jim Denney (Feb. 1, hardcover, $18.99, ISBN 978-1-63058-690-4) examines the lives of 21 great leaders, from George Washington to Steve Jobs, using Williams’s “Seven Sides of Leadership” principles.

ANDREWS MCMEEL

The Unorthodox Haggadah: A Dogma-free Passover for Jews and Other Chosen People by Nathan Phillips (Feb. 3, paper, $9.99, ISBN 978-1-4494-6031-0) offers Passover ritual with a hilarious, irreverent twist and skips the boring parts.

ASHGATE

A Sociology of Prayer, edited by Giuseppe Giordan and Linda Woodhead (June, paper, $39.95, ISBN 978-1-4094-5585-1), draws from religion, sociology of religion, anthropology, and historical perspectives to examine prayer as a social as well as a personal matter in complex late modern societies.

ARCADE

Becoming a Mountain: Himalayan Journeys in Search of the Sacred and the Sublime by Stephen Alter (Mar. 3, hardcover, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-62872-510-0). After Alter and his wife were attacked in their home in the foothills of the Himalayas, he set out on a series of treks to prove that he had healed mentally as well as physically and to re-knit his connection to his homeland.

ATRIA/BEYOND WORDS

Faith: Essays from Believers, Agnostics, and Atheists, edited by Victoria Zackheim (Feb. 24, paper, $16, ISBN 978-1-58270502-6). Twenty-four essays provide varied perspectives on what faith means (or doesn’t mean), inviting readers to ask themselves, “What do I believe?”

BAKER

The Day I Met Jesus: The Revealing Diaries of Five Women from the Gospels by Frank Viola and Mary DeMuth (Feb., paper, $13.99, ISBN 978-0-8010-1685-1) combines narrative retelling of scripture with guidance for daily life. We Need to Talk: How to Successfully Navigate Conflict by Linda Mintle (Mar., paper, $13.99, ISBN 978-0-8010-1676-9) helps readers identify their conflict style and shares proven strategies to build and maintain healthy relationships.


BASIC

Bad Faith: When Religious Belief Undermines Modern Medicine by Paul Offit (Mar. 10, hardcover, $27.99, ISBN 978-0-465-08296-4) chronicles stories of families in which religion trumps medicine. Pediatrician Offit makes a strenuous case that denying medicine to children in the name of religion is a rejection of the very best aspects of what belief itself has to offer. 30,000copy announced first printing.

BEACON

A God That Could Be Real: Spirituality, Science, and the Future of Our Planet by Nancy Abrams (Mar. 10, hardcover, $25.95, ISBN 978-0-8070-7339-1) explores the radical new possibility of a God that is real, but does not break any of the known rules of physics and does not require a suspension of disbelief or of reason.

BETHANY HOUSE

Facing the Blitz: Three Strategies for Turning Your Trials into Triumphs by Jeff Kemp (Apr. 1, paper, $17.99, ISBN 9780-7642-1402-8). The former NFL quarterback argues that trials in life are like blitzes in football—both are opportunities you can turn to your advantage. How to Love Your Neighbor Without Being Weird by Amy Lively (May 1, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-0-7642-1700-5) offers encouragement and hands-on ideas for how to reach out to neighbors, use one’s gifts, and share faith.

B&H

Will: Nine Traits of the Outwardly Focused Christian by Thom S. Rainer (July, hardcover, $12.99, ISBN 978-1-4336-87297) offers qualities that all church members can develop to focus on the needs of those around them.

BLOOMSBURY

Coming Out Christian in the Roman World: How the Followers of Jesus Made a Place in Caesar’s Empire by Douglas

June 2015 • 214 pages 978-1-4422-4564-8 • $18.00 • Paper 978-0-7657-0989-9 • $30.00 • Cloth 978-0-7657-0990-5 • $29.99 • eBook

June 2015 • 192 pages 978-1-4422-3824-4 • $32.00 • Cloth 978-1-4422-3825-1 • $31.99 • eBook

2015 • 218 pages 978-1-4422-3467-3 • $37.00 • Cloth 978-1-4422-3468-0 • $36.99 • eBook

2015 • 156 pages 978-1-4422-4327-9 • $32.00 • Cloth 978-1-4422-4328-6 • $31.99 • eBook

May 2015 • 180 pages 978-0-7425-5891-5 • $34.00 • Cloth 978-1-4422-3350-8 • $33.99 • eBook

2015 • 206 pages 978-1-56699-779-9 • $45.00 • Cloth 978-1-56699-780-5 • $20.00 • Paper 978-1-56699-781-2 • $19.99 • eBook

www.rowman.com | 800-462-6420


Ryan Boin (Mar. 3, hardcover, $28, ISBN 978-1-62040-317-4) argues that life in Rome never came to a dramatic stop, but instead a small minority movement rose to transform society politically, religiously, and culturally.

BRAZOS

Divine Sex: A Compelling Vision for Christian Relationships in a Hypersexualized Age by Jonathan Grant (July 21, paper, $17.99, ISBN 978-1-58743-369-6) helps Christian leaders understand the cultural forces that make the church’s teaching on sex and relationships ineffective in the lives of today’s young adults, and offers pastoral strategies for addressing those forces.

CHALICE

Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome: A Memoir of Humor and Healing in 30 Religions by Reba Riley (Apr. 1, paper, $17.99, ISBN 978-0-8272-3120-7). An untreatable chronic illness prompted the author to visit 30 religions before her 30th birthday in a quest to heal what she felt life had broken.

978-1-4335-4286-2) explores four reasons to approach God in joyful prayer.

DAVID C. COOK

Finding Truth: 5 Principles for Unmasking Atheism, Secularism, and Other God Substitutes by Nancy Pearcey (Mar. 1, hardcover, $22.99, ISBN 978-0-7814-1308-4) simplifies the defense of Christianity by following the apostle Paul’s strategy used in the book of Romans for engaging a pluralistic society.

DESERET/ENSIGN PEAK

Celebrating a Christ-Centered Easter: Seven Traditions to Lead Us Closer to Jesus Christ by Emily Belle Freeman (Feb. 3, paper, $10.99, ISBN 978-1-60907-977-2). One of the few titles for adults for the Easter holiday, this gift book tells the story of Jesus from Crucifixion to Resurrection in short chapters, illustrated with line art, told in the first-person narrative of seven disciples. 30,000copy announced first printing.

DESTINY IMAGE

CHOSEN

Christ in You: Why God Trusts You More Than You Trust Yourself by Eric Johnson (Apr. 7, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-08007-9570-2) shows how to move beyond self-imposed limitations and live with passion, power, and purpose.

COLUMBIA UNIV.

Realizing Awakened Consciousness: Interviews with Buddhist Teachers and a New Perspective on the Mind by Richard P. Boyle (June 9, paper, $30, ISBN 978-0231-17075-8). A student of cognitive social science and a Zen practitioner for more than 40 years brings his perspective to developing a theoretical model for both ordinary and awakened consciousness.

CONVERGENT

Flipped: The Provocative Truth That Changes Everything We Know About God by Doug Pagitt (Feb. 17, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-60142-637-6) uses the words and thinking of St. Paul, Jesus, and other major biblical figures to help readers live more intentionally and faithfully.

CORNELL UNIV.

Our Lady of the Rock: Vision and Pilgrimage in the Mojave Desert by Lisa Bitel, photos by Matt Gainer (Feb. 3, paper, $24.95, ISBN 978-0-8014-5662-6), explores in text and pictures the monthly religious visions of Maria Paula Acuña at Our Lady of the Rock in California.

COUNTERPOINT

The Faith to Doubt: Glimpses of Buddhist Uncertainty by Stephen Batchelor (Apr. 14, paper, $15.95, ISBN 978-1-61902-5356). In this spiritual memoir, a contemporary Buddhist teacher describes his own training, first as a Tibetan Buddhist and then as a Zen practitioner, and his own direct struggles along his spiritual path.

CROSSWAY

Why We Pray by William Philip (Feb. 28, paper, $11.99, ISBN


Prevail by Cindy Trimm (July, hardcover, $21.99, ISBN 9780768406733) offers strategies for overcoming struggles, setbacks, and disappointments by using the strength of personal character, worth, and value.

DUTTON

Preaching: Communicating Faith in a Skeptical Age by Timothy Keller (June 9, hardcover, $19.95, ISBN 978-0-52595303-6) helps readers learn to present the Christian message of grace in a more engaging, passionate, and compassionate way.

EERDMANS

A Faithful Farewell: Living Your Last Chapter with Love by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre (Apr. 21, paper, $15, ISBN 978-08028-7260-9) offers 52 short, poignant meditations on the issues faced by people who are dying. Knowledge and Christian Belief by Alvin Plantinga (Mar. 4, paper, $16, ISBN 978-0-8028-7204-3) presents the ideas in Plantinga’s widely praised book Warranted Christian Belief (2000) in a shorter, more accessible form.

FAITHWORDS

Get Your Hopes Up! Expect Something Good to Happen to You Every Day by Joyce Meyer (Apr. 7, hardcover, $22, ISBN 978-1-4555-1731-2) teaches readers how to transform their lives by tapping into the power of hope. 200,000-copy announced first printing. Wisdom from Women in the Bible: Giants of the Faith Speak into Our Lives by John C. Maxwell (Apr. 7, hardcover, $16, ISBN 978-1-4555-5708-0) sets out lessons on self improvement and leadership drawn from the examples set by women of the Bible. 100,000-copy announced first printing.

FOR BEGINNERS

Buddha for Beginners by Stephen T. Asma (May 19, paper, $15.95, ISBN 978-1-939994-33-2) introduces the reader to Gautama, a real person who challenged the religious leaders of his day, and to the ideas that made him change his life and the philosophical debates that engaged him and formed the core of Buddhism.

Innovative Faith Walk Titles from Ensign Peak FORTRESS

Journey to the Empty Tomb by Paula Gooder (Mar. 1, paper, $19, ISBN 978-1-4514-9804-2) focuses on the events leading up to the first Easter, examining the world of the New Testament, its language, and culture, to offer fresh insights into familiar stories.

Maximus A sweeping Christian historical fiction novel which is part detective story and filled with intrigue, as a war-weary general goes undercover as a Jew to investigate Jesus’s claims and his potential threat to Rome.

FRANCISCAN MEDIA

The Spirit of Saint Francis: Inspiring Words from Pope Francis by Pope Francis (Feb. 6, hardcover, $19.99, ISBN 978-161636-859-3). Published in cooperation with the Vatican, this original collection looks at the life and legacy of St. Francis of Assisi through the pope’s uplifting and challenging words. Spiritual Resilience: 30 Days to Refresh Your Soul by Robert J. Wicks (Feb. 17, paper, $12.99, ISBN 978-1-61636-886-9). Drawn from a variety of spiritual traditions, these 30 reflections are intended to help the reader rediscover spiritual resilience and psychological strength.

9781609079857/HC/$25.99 (Mar 2015)

The Kingdom and The Crown

FSG/FABER AND FABER

Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution by Mona Eltahawy (Apr. 21, hardcover, $23, ISBN 978-0-86547-803-9) is a passionate manifesto decrying misogyny in the Arab world, by an Egyptian American journalist, commentator, and activist.

GEORGETOWN UNIV.

Religion and the Struggle for European Union: Confessional Culture and the Limits of Integration by Brent F. Nelsen and James L. Guth (June 18, paper, $34.95, ISBN 978-1-62616070-5) delves into the powerful role of religion in shaping European attitudes on politics, political integration, and the national and continental identities of its leaders and citizens, comparing and contrasting Catholic and Protestant views.

“Zips right along…it belongs in public Booklist starred libraries everywhere.” —Booklist review An epic historical fiction series about the life and times of Jesus Christ. PB/$12.99

Fishers of Men 9781609079499

GRAYWOLF

All Who Go Do Not Return: A Memoir by Shulem Deen (Mar. 24, paper, $16, ISBN 978-1-55597-705-4) is a debut memoir about faith and exile, depicting life inside one of the strictest and most insular ultra-Orthodox U.S. sects and Deen’s eventual estrangement from it and his wife and five children.

Come Unto Me 9781609079505

Behold the Man 9781609079512

The Peter Potential

GROUP PUBLISHING

Church Refugees by Josh Packard and Ashleigh Hope (Apr., paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-4707-2592-1). In a major new study, two sociologists offer insights gleaned from hundreds of in-depth interviews with people who are done with church.

HARPERONE

How to Read the Bible by Harvey Cox (Apr. 14, hardcover, $26.99, ISBN 978-0-06-234315-4) explains the three primary ways people read the Bible, why each is important, and how to integrate these approaches for a richer understanding and appreciation of key biblical texts. How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian: Struggling with Divine Violence from Genesis Through Revelation by

Discover the Life You Were Meant to Live This gift book invites us to explore Peter’s life— from ordinary fisherman to the rock upon which the Christian church would be built— as a template for our own life’s potential, challenging us not to be held back by struggles and inspiring us to see invitations for greater faith. 9781609078836/HC/$15.99

Ensign Peak is an imprint of Shadow Mountain PubliShing To order contact your usual wholesaler or phone: 800/453-3876 www .S hadow M ountain . coM or see our online Edelweiss catalog


John Dominic Crossan (Mar. 3, hardcover, $26.99, ISBN 978-006-220359-5) grapples with Scripture’s two conflicting visions of Jesus and God—a loving God and a vengeful God—and explains how Christians can better understand these passages. Wearing God: Clothing, Laughter, Fire, and Other Overlooked Ways of Meeting God by Lauren Winner (Mar. 31, hardcover, $24.99, ISBN 978-0-06-176812-5). Duke Divinity School professor and writer Winner explores some of the Bible’s more obscure metaphors for God. Reflection and scholarship are combined to demonstrate that figurative language can help deepen an understanding of God.

HARVARD UNIV.

The Ransom of the Soul: Afterlife and Wealth in Early Western Christianity by Peter Brown (Apr. 14, hardcover, $24.95, ISBN 978-0-674-96758-8) explores a shift in thinking about the fate of the soul between 250 and 650 C.E., showing how personal wealth in the pursuit of redemption led church doctrine concerning the afterlife. This new relationship to money set the stage for the church’s domination of medieval society.

HARVEST HOUSE

The Praying Woman’s Devotional by Stormie Omartian (Feb., paper, $12.99, ISBN 978-0-7369-6341-1) shows how God designed prayer so people can better communicate and walk with Jesus daily.

HAY HOUSE

Heart of Miracles: My Journey Back to Life After a NearDeath Experience by Karen Henson Jones (Feb. 26, hardcover, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-4019-4217-5). After a near-death experience at age 30, the author takes a ride through India, Italy, Bhutan, and Israel, exploring the mysterious power of Kundalini yoga, the transforming doctrines of reincarnation, and the teachings of Jesus.

HENDRICKSON

The Accidental Executive by Albert M. Erisman (May, stamped case with jacket, $24.95, ISBN 9781619706217) connects Joseph’s life in Genesis with lessons the author learned in business, government, and education.

HODDER & STOUGHTON

Judas: The Most Hated Name in History by Peter Stanford (June 1, hardcover, $29.95, ISBN 978-1-44475472-8) explores 2,000 years of cultural and theological history to investigate how the very name Judas came to be synonymous with betrayal and human evil.

HOWARD

If You Find This Letter by Hannah Brencher (Mar. 10, hardcover, $23, ISBN 978-1-4767-7360-5) is a memoir of love and faith from Brencher, founder of the World Needs More Love Letters. Life Is Short by Jennifer Arnold (May 26, hardcover, $25, ISBN 978-1-4767-9470-9). The stars of TLC’s The Little Couple offer a behind-the-scenes account of how they met, fell in love, and overcame obstacles to become successful professionals and parents.

IGNATIUS

Finding True Happiness—Satisfying Our Restless Hearts


by Robert Spitzer (Mar., paper, $18.95, ISBN 978-1-58617-956-4) uses philosophy and psychology to identify the meaning of happiness, and shows how to attain it.

IMAGE

Between the Dark and the Daylight: Embracing the Contradictions of Life by Joan Chittister (Mar. 31, hardcover, $20, ISBN 978-0-8041-4094-2). The popular Benedictine nun pens a new inspirational guide for those trekking the uneven terrain between joy and the dark nights of the soul. Encountering Truth: Meeting God in the Every Day, edited by Antonio Spadaro (June 16, hardcover, $25, ISBN 978-1-10190301-8), is a collection of highlights from Pope Francis’ morning homilies from March 2013 to May 2014.

INTERVARSITY

Fool’s Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion by Os Guinness (July 1, hardcover, $23, ISBN 978-0-8308-3699-4). The prolific Christian apologist offers a comprehensive presentation of the art and power of creative persuasion. Redeeming Sex: Naked Conversations About Sexuality and Spirituality by Debra Hirsch (May 1, paper, $16, ISBN 978-08308-3639-0) sketches a holistic, biblical vision of sex and gender that honors God and offers good news to the world.

JERICHO

Damaged Goods: New Perspectives on Christian Purity by Dianna E. Anderson (Feb. 10, hardcover, $24, ISBN 978-1-45557739-2). A young theologian offers a new look at Christian sexual purity, engaging with bestselling contemporaries Joshua Harris, Don Raunikar, and others.

JEWISH LIGHTS

Increasing Wholeness: Jewish Wisdom and Guided Meditations to Strengthen & Calm Body, Heart, Mind & Spirit by Rabbi Elie Kaplan Spitz (Apr., paper, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-58023-823-6) combines Jewishil...tradition, rmo cution, orld of tu writings contemporary sciences, and world persefor Into a wspiritual injustice, g, in er ff su h it w Jews and non-Jews, for experienced meditators and nov- on, burdened ligi death... A world f their re ices. e name o and th in l il k conflict e le p al eo sc p se as Jewish SpiritualA wParenting: Wisdom, mActivities, orld wher ssures of .. re g. p in e d th e buil Spir- reigns ; where Rituals and Prayers fortyRaising Children earth arwith ness their dei pact on like dark human imWholeness n feel by ca itual Balance and Emotional Rabbi it , es m ti at e, er d wh lost... Paul Kipnes (May, paper, In a worl$18.99, ISBN and all is978-1-58023821-2) enables parents and grandparents to raise spiritu.. dares s to hope. d dares u and ally attuned people connected to their tradition an H A mes JON what if... world co heritage. urselves, Into this s to ask o u

JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY

The Heart of the Matter: Studies in Jewish Mysticism and Theology by Rabbi Arthur Green (Apr. 1, hardcover, $45, ISBN 978-0-8276-1213-6) is a collection of Green’s scholarly writings, incorporating the history of early Hasidism and his highly personal approach to a rebirth of Jewish spirituality today.

KOREN/MAGGID

Covenant and Conversation Leviticus: The Book of Holiness by Jonathan Sacks (Mar. 1, hardcover, $24.95, ISBN 978-159264-022-5) features essays on the Torah portions that fuse Jewish tradition, Western philosophy and literature.


KOREN/TOBY

Open Up the Iron Door: Memoirs of a Soviet Jewry Activist by Rabbi Avi Weiss (Mar. 15, hardcover, $24.95, ISBN 978-159264-385-1). Spurred by a philosophy of spiritual activism, the author chronicles the grassroots struggle to liberate the Prisoners of Zion—refuseniks from the Soviet Union.

KREGEL

Letters from My Father’s Murderer: A Journey of Forgiveness by Laurie Coombs (June 1, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-0-82544229-2) is the true story of how newfound faith called the author to forgive her father’s murderer. Take My Hand Again: A Faith-Based Guide for Helping Aging Parents by Nancy Brummett (Apr. 1, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-0-8254-4371-8) provides information and scripture for adult children caring for or finding care options for parents.

LIBRARY OF AMERICA

Reinhold Niebuhr: Major Works on Religion and Politics by Reinhold Niebuhr, edited by Elisabeth Sifton (Apr. 9, hardcover, $40, ISBN 978-1-59853-375-0), is a definitive collection of writings by the theologian and public intellectual who was the conscience of the American Century.

LIGOURI

The Catholic Drinkie’s Guide to Home-Brewed Evangelism by Sarah Vabulas (June, paper, $19.99, ISBN 978-0-7648-

Johnah Jona

h a n Jo

2579-8) is a faith-filled discourse on the eclectic history of alcohol and the church that includes recipes from the bloggerauthor. Vices and Virtues: Knowing, Accepting, and Understanding Yourself by Alejandro Ortega Trillo (Mar., paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-0-7648-2608-5) is a self-help guide to conquering vices and controlling virtues from an authority in moral behavior.

LION

Sacred in the City: Seeing the Spiritual in the Everyday by Margaret Silf (Apr. 1, paper, $16.95, ISBN 978-0-7459-5698-5) takes the reader through seven cityscapes, showing how to encounter the spiritual anywhere.

LITTLE, BROWN

Anchor and Flares: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hope, and Service by Kate Braestrup (July 14, hardcover, $26, ISBN 978-0316-37378-4). Memoirist Braestrup examines the twinned emotions of faith and fear, inspired by the families she meets as a chaplain and by her son’s journey toward purpose and familyhood. 35,000-copy announced first printing.

LOYOLA

Walking with Jesus: A Way Forward for the Church by Pope Francis (Apr., hardcover, $22.95, ISBN 978-0-8294-4248-9; paper, $16.95, ISBN 978-0-8294-4254-0) urges people to make

Into Into aa world world of of turmoil... turmoil... A A world world where where people people kill kill in in the the name name of of their their deity, deity, their religion; their religion; where where the the pressures pressures of of mass mass scale scale conflict conflict and and human human impact impact on on earth earth are are building... building... In In aa world world where, where, at at times, times, it can feel like darkness it can feel like darkness reigns... reigns... Into this world world comes comes “Jonah” “Jonah” and and dares dares us us to to hope... hope... Into this dares us to ask ourselves, what if... dares us to ask ourselves, what if...

agan anan Flag Fl.an M.M

n a g a n a l F M.

“Sometimes you pick up a book at “Sometimes you pick up a book at the perfect time and get all there is the perfect time and get all there is to get out of it.” to get out of it.” “I haven’t read a more compelling “I haven’t read a more compelling book in a long time” book in a long time”

Available Feb 2015: Available Feb 2015:

Trade paperback, 5.25” x 8”, (108 pages), ISBN: 978-1-5057-0376-4 Trade paperback, 5.25” x 8”, (108 pages), ISBN: 978-1-5057-0376-4


Wisdom Publications

Wisdom Publications

Jesus central in their individual lives and in the life of the church, ultimately walking with him at all times and in all places. 50,000 first printing.

MENNOMEDIA

Called to Be Amish by Marlene Miller (Feb., paper, $13, ISBN 978-0-8361-9911-6). Fewer than 100 people have joined the Old Order Amish—and stayed—since 1950, and this memoir tells one woman’s story of joining the Amish some 46 years ago.

MOODY

He Will Be the Preacher: The Story of God’s Providence in My Life by Erwin W. Lutzer (May 1, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-0-8024-1306-2). From farm boy in Canada to senior pastor of one of the most influential pulpits in America, Moody Church pastor Lutzer relates his faith journey in this memoir.

MOREHOUSE $16.95

A NEW BUDDHIST PATH Enlightenment, Evolution, and Ethics in the Modern World David R. Loy 9781614290025 | $16.95 176 pages | Available Now

Engage with a new vision of A Buddhism NEW BUDDHIST PATH and the modern world

Enlightenment, Evolution, with the bestselling author and of Money, Sex, War, Karma. Ethics in the Modern World David R. Loy 9781614290025 | 176 pages | Available Now

Engage with a new vision of Buddhism and the modern world with the bestselling author of Money, Sex, War, Karma.

Letters from the Farm: A Simple Path for a Deeper Spiritual Life by Becca Stevens (June, paper, $18, ISBN 978-0-81923175-8). The founder of Thistle Farms passes along a tradition of a priesthood that is grounded in the idea that love heals and healing is the central sacrament of the church. My Church Is Not Dying: Episcopalians in the 21st Century by Greg Garrett (Apr., paper, $14, ISBN 978-0-8192-2934-2) reminds Episcopalians of the many gifts that the tradition can offer a doubting and hurting world.

MULTNOMAH

It’s Good to Be Queen: Becoming as Bold, Gracious, and Wise as the Queen of Sheba by Liz Curtis Higgs (July 21, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-4000-7003-9) offers biblical wisdom for modern women who aspire to please the king of kings through examining the life of the queen of Sheba. Possible: A Blueprint for Changing How We Change the World by Stephan Bauman (Feb. 17, hardcover, $22.99, ISBN 978-1-60142-582-9) teaches how individuals and churches can take a wiser and more creative approach to bringing about lasting change on issues of poverty, injustice, and oppression.

NAVPRESS

Speak, Lord: Hearing Psalms in the First Person by Vic Black (July 1, paper, $12.99, ISBN 978-1-63146-370-9) provides psalms rewritten in the first person, words of reflection, writing prompts, and devotional thoughts to encourage engagement in the biblical Psalms.

NAVPRESS/TH1NK

Unashamed: Overcoming the Sins No Girl Wants to Talk About by Jessie Minassian (June 1, paper, $13.99, ISBN 978-1-61291-628-6). With daring and a touch of humor, the author breaks the silence about secret practices girls often hide, including cutting, drinking, and anorexia.

$19.95

TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY BUDDHISTS IN CONVERSATION Edited by Melvin McLeod 9781614290865 | 328 pages | March 10

Today's leading Buddhist voices discuss the issues and ideas important to the world today.

$19.95

NORTON

Strong as Death Is Love: Song of Songs, Ruth, Esther, Jonah, and Daniel: A Translation with Commentary by Robert Alter (Mar., hardcover, $29.95, ISBN 978-0-39324304-8) continues Alter’s ambitious translation project. The Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling by Carole Satyamurti (Mar., hardcover, $39.95, ISBN 978-0-393-08175-6). A modern retelling of the famous Sanskrit poem evokes world myth, passion, and warfare, while exploring eternal questions of duty, love, and spiritual freedom.

ONEWORLD

Men in Charge? Rethinking Authority in Muslim Legal Tradition, edited by Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Mulki Al-Sharmani, and Jana Rumminger (Mar. 17, paper, $25, ISBN 9781-78074-716-3), challenges two central tenets of Islamic religious law that place women under male authority, using feminist research into gender discrimination.


ORBIS

Morning Homilies by Pope Francis (Apr., paper, $18, ISBN 978-1-62698-111-9). The pope reflects on the Gospel passages from his daily morning Masses at the Vatican. Abounding in Kindness: Writings for the People of God by Elizabeth A. Johnson (Mar., paper, $24, ISBN 978-1-62698-113-3). From the eminent Catholic theologian comes an address to the wider People of God, providing an overview of her work in bringing fresh perspectives on the Christian faith. Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and Justice of God by Kelly Brown Douglas (May, paper, $24, ISBN 978-1-62698-109-6) examines the myths and narratives underlying a “stand-your-ground” culture, reckoning with the social and theological questions raised.

OXFORD UNIV.

After the Wrath of God: AIDS, Sexuality, and American Religion by Anthony M. Petro (July 1, hardcover, $29.95, ISBN 978-0-19-939128-8) narrates the religious history of AIDS in America, encompassing the range of mainline Protestant, evangelical, and Catholic groups that shaped public discussions of AIDS prevention and care in the U.S. Virgin Nation: Sexual Purity and American Adolescence by Sara Moslener (July 1, hardcover, $29.95, ISBN 978-0-19-998776-4) offers a history of the sexual purity movement that goes beyond the religious right, demonstrating a link between such rhetoric and fears of national decline that has shaped American ideas about morality since the 19th century.

PAULIST PRESS

Pope Francis’ Revolution of Tenderness and Love: Theological Roots and Pastoral Perspectives by Cardinal Walter Kasper (Mar., hardcover, $16.95, ISBN 978-0-80910623-3) outlines the influences that have led Kasper to call Francis a pope leading a radical revolution of tenderness and love. Family and Life: Pastoral Teachings 1999–2013 by Pope Francis (May, paper, $16.95, ISBN 978-0-8091-4946-9) includes 13 documents dealing with matrimony, family, and life that Pope Francis, as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, used for teaching when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires.

SKY

BEST I N REL I GI ON SPRING 2015

A fascinating new look at the Song of Songs as the union of Lady Wisdom and the seeker of Wisdom.

NOW AVAILABLE 5½ x 8½, 176 pp 978-1-59473-575-2 Trade PB $16.99

N! NEW EDITIO

PENGUIN CLASSICS

6 x 9, 416 pp 978-1-59473-593-6 Trade PB $19.99

PENGUIN PRESS

POLEBRIDGE

The Real Paul: Recovering His Radical Challenge by Bernard Brandon Scott (Mar. 19, paper, $27, ISBN 978-1-59815154-1) attacks the Augustinian-Lutheran reading of Paul and his letters on three key points: Paul was called, his concern was with the nations, and he addresses particular situations, not human universals.

PRINCETON UNIV.

Human Nature & Jewish Thought: Judaism’s Case for Why Persons Matter by Alan L. Mittleman (Apr. 26, hardcover, $27.95, ISBN 978-0-691-14947-9) shows how the Jewish tradition provides rich ways of understanding human nature and personhood in a world of neuroscience, evolutionary biology, biotechnology, and pervasive scientism.

PROMETHEUS BOOKS

Voltaire’s Revolution: Writings from His Campaign to Free Laws from Religion,

The indispensable guidebook to help the well-meaning guest when visiting other people’s religious ceremonies— updated and revised.

NOW AVAILABLE

The Life of the Buddha by Tenzin Chögyel, trans. and intro. by Kurtis R. Schaeffer (Feb. 24, paper, $15, ISBN 978-0-14-310720-0), offers a blueprint for a life of mindfulness, dedicated to the easing of suffering both for oneself and for others. The Religion of Democracy: Seven Liberals and the American Moral Tradition by Amy Kittelstrom (Apr. 21, hardcover, $32.95, ISBN 978-1-59420-485-2) narrates a history of religion’s role in the American liberal tradition through the eyes of seven transformative thinkers.

PATHS

A tool kit for community building as well as a resource for personal growth and small group enrichment.

NOW AVAILABLE 5 x 7¼, 176 pp 978-1-59473-584-4 Trade PB $14.99

Available from Ingram and Baker & Taylor or directly from SkyLight Paths (800) 962-4544

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edited by G.K. Noyer (July 14, paper, $21, ISBN 978-1-63388-038-2). Key writings of Voltaire in defense of free thought, mostly from his pamphleteering campaigns, are compiled in this new edition, many translated into English for the first time.

REVELL

The Healing I Took Birth For: Practicing the Art of Compassion by Ondrea Levine and Stephen Levine (May 1, paper, $19.95, ISBN 978-1-57863-563-4) details Ondrea Levine’s work with death and the dying in the face of her own medical prognosis.

You’re Loved No Matter What: Freeing Your Heart from the Need to Be Perfect by Holley Gerth (Mar., paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-0-8007-2290-6) helps women lay down unrealistic expectations so they can embrace God and God’s purpose for their lives. It’s Not Who You Know, It’s Who You Are: Life Lessons from Winners by Pat Williams (Feb., hardcover, $16.99, ISBN 978-0-8007-2277-7) draws from Williams’s 50 years of brushing shoulders with the greats to offer readers motivation to do their best.

REGNERY

RIVERHEAD

RED WHEEL/WEISER

Finding Peter: A True Story of the Hand of Providence and Evidence of Life after Death by William Peter Blatty (Mar. 30, hardcover, $27.99, ISBN 978-162157-332-6). The author and Oscar award–winning screenwriter of The Exorcist relates the true story of how he came to believe in life after death. 100,000-copy announced first printing.

New from the author of the best-seller The Real Deal

Encounters with Jesus: Unexpected Answers to Life’s Biggest Questions by Timothy Keller (Mar. 3, paper, $15, ISBN 978-1-59463-353-9) shows how the central events and meetings in Jesus’ life can change people’s lives today.

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Mythologizing Jesus: From Jewish Teacher to Epic Hero by Dennis R. MacDonald (May, hardcover, $34, ISBN 9780-7425-5891-5) shows how the stories told in the Gospels parallel many in Greek and Roman epics to compel their readers into life-changing decisions to follow Jesus.

SCHOCKEN

Bewilderments: Reflections on the Book of Numbers by Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg (Feb. 24, hardcover, $28.95, ISBN 978-0-8052-4304-8) is the third in Zornberg’s award-winning series of commentaries on the Hebrew Bible.

Illuminating the connection between the lives of young women today and biblical women of yesterday.

Sisters of Scripture: Mentors in Womanhood By Billie Montgomery/Cook 978-0-8170-1757-6 $14.99

www.judsonpress.com 800-458-3766

SERVANT

Created to Relate: God’s Design for Peace and Joy by Kelly M. Wahlquist (Mar. 13, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-161636-876-0) provides practical tips for staying focused in the midst of the distractions and building life-giving connections.

SHAMBHALA

The Heart of Unconditional Love: A Powerful New Approach to LovingKindness Meditation by Tulku Thondup (Mar. 31, paper, $16.95, ISBN 978-161180-235-1). The Tibetan Buddhist teacher gives detailed guidance for lovingkindness meditation, prayers, and visualization in four simple stages that can be practiced in as little as 30 minutes, a new approach distilled from the author’s life-


long study and practice. Make Peace Before the Sun Goes Down: The Long Encounter of Thomas Merton and His Abbot, James Fox by Roger Lipsey (May 19, paper, $18.95, ISBN 978-1-61180-225-2). An esteemed Merton scholar offers a fascinating account of Thomas Merton’s conflicted relationship with his abbot, Dom James Fox.

SIMON & SCHUSTER

God’s Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican by Gerald Posner (Feb. 3, hardcover, $32, ISBN 978-14165-7657-0) investigates the political intrigue and inner workings of the Catholic Church, examining the church’s accumulation of wealth and its byzantine entanglements with financial markets across the world.

SKYHORSE

The Wisdom of Pope Francis, edited by David Birch (Mar. 3, hardcover, $12.99, ISBN 978-1-63220-351-9), is a collection of wisdom from the Catholic pontiff, gathered from his speeches, homilies, sermons, and more.

SKYLIGHT PATHS

Teaching—The Sacred Art: The Joy of Opening Minds & Hearts by Rev. Jane E. Vennard (Apr., paper, $16.99, ISBN 978-1-59473-585-1) explores many ways to uncover the wonder and joy of teaching and learning in all areas of life. There’s a Woman in the Pulpit: Christian Clergywomen Share Their Hard Days, Holy Moments & the Healing Power of Humor by Martha Spong (Apr., paper, $18.99, ISBN 978-1-59473588-2) collects stories and prayers on the work of the church from the unique perspective of Christian clergywomen from the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.

SNOW LION

Always Present: The Luminous Wisdom of Jigme Phuntsok, edited by Khenpo Sodargye (Apr. 28, paper, $16.95, ISBN 978-1-55939-450-5), offers personal teachings on the Buddhist path by an influential Tibetan lama of the 20th century.

SOUNDS TRUE

Make Me One with Everything: Buddhist Meditations to Awaken from the Illusion of Separation by Lama Surya Das (May 1, paper, $17.95, ISBN 978-162203-412-3) is based on Tibetan Bud-


dhism’s core insights, offering teachings of shared spirituality that will show both new and experienced meditators a better way to live, not just on the meditation cushion or the yoga mat, but in every moment of life.

ST. MARTIN’S

The Jesus Code: Six Relics That Tell the Remarkable True Story of the Gospels by David Gibson and Michael McKinley (Feb. 24, hardcover, $26.99, ISBN 9781-250-06910-8) is a companion book to CNN’s six-night, six-hour prime-time television series that takes viewers on a forensic and archeological journey through the Bible.

THOMAS NELSON

Be the Best Mom You Can Be: A Practical Guide to Raising Whole Children in a Broken Generation by Marina and Gregory W. Slayton (Apr. 14, hardcover, $22.99, ISBN 978-0-7180-2214-3) uses humor, empathy, common sense, and straight talk to promote mothering. Life Is _____: God’s Illogical Love Will Change Your Existence by Judah Smith (Mar. 3, paper, $16.99, ISBN 9781-4002-0477-9) invites readers to ask the age-old question “What is life?” and points to scripture to find human purpose. Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church by Rachel Held Evans (Apr. 14, paper, $16.99, ISBN 978-0-7180-2212-9) takes readers through a liturgical year with stories about baptism, communion, confirmation, confession, marriage, vocation, and death that are funny, heartbreaking, and sharply honest.

TIME

The Francis Miracle: Inside the Transformation of the Pope and the Church by John L. Allen (Mar. 3, hardcover, $27, ISBN 978-1-61893-131-3). One of the most respected journalists covering the Catholic Church today describes the inner workings of the Vatican to bare the vast machinery and the man at the helm. 80,000-copy announced first printing.

TYNDALE

Counter Culture: A Compassionate Call to Counter Culture in a World of Poverty, Same-Sex Marriage, Racism, Sex Slavery, Immigration, Abortion, Persecution, Orphans and Pornography by David Platt (Feb. 3, hardcover, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-4143-7329-4) challenges Christians to compassionately engage with social issues.

Nobody’s Cuter than You: A Memoir About the Beauty of Friendship by Melanie Shankle (Apr. 8, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-1-4143-9748-1) looks at the special bond that exists between friends and examines the influence friends have on who we were, are, and will become. Stay: Lessons My Dogs Taught Me About Life, Loss, and Grace by Dave Burchett (Feb. 24, hardcover, $17.99, ISBN 978-1-4143-9793-1) is a heartwarming tale of a dog who knew how to live... and showed her owner how.

UNIV. OF NORTH CAROLINA

What Is a Madrasa? by Ebrahim Moosa (Apr. 10, hardcover, $28, ISBN 978-14696-2013-8) goes inside the world of the madrasa—the most common type of school for religious instruction in the Islamic world—to illuminate orthodox Islam and deeply felt needs of traditional Muslims. Who Is Allah? by Bruce B. Lawrence (Apr. 10, hardcover, $25, ISBN 978-14696-2003-9) offers a unique approach to understanding Allah, drawing on history, culture, theology, politics, and the media.

UNIV. OF OKLAHOMA

Moroni and the Swastika: Mormons in Nazi Germany by David Conley Nelson (Feb. 1, hardcover, $29.95, ISBN 978-0-8061-4668-3) is the first full account of how Mormons avoided Nazi persecution through skilled collaboration with Hitler’s regime and then eschewed postwar shame by constructing an alternative history of wartime suffering and resistance.

UNIV. OF PENNSYLVANIA

A Traveling Homeland: The Babylonian Talmud as Diaspora by Daniel Boyarin (June 12, hardcover, $24.95, ISBN 9780-8122-4724-4) makes the case that the Babylonian Talmud is a diasporist manifesto that produces and defines the practices that constitute Jewish diasporic identity.

URIM

Gender Equality and Prayer in Jewish Law by Rabbi Ethan Tucker and Rabbi Micha’el Rosenberg (May 1, hardcover, $24.95, ISBN 978-965-524-198-3) explores the wealth of Jewish legal material surrounding gender and prayer.

Award-winning and bestselling author shares

inspiring true stories of forgiveness through the lives of the Plain People

S

uzanne Woods Fisher illustrates how the Amish are able to release their pain and desire for revenge, and live at peace with others. Her indepth, personal research uncovers the astounding yet fundamental way the Amish can forgive anyone.

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VIKING

The Future of the Catholic Church with Pope Francis by Garry Wills (Mar. 10, hardcover, $27.95, ISBN 978-0-525-426967) considers a pressing question in modern religion: will Pope Francis embrace change? Historian Wills considers the lessons Pope Francis seems to have learned.

VIVA

Earth Blessings: Prayers, Poems and Meditations, edited by June Cotner (Apr. 14, paper, $16.95, ISBN 978-1-63228-023-7), is a collection of poems and prayers for the planet written by modern writers and those from ancient cultures.

WATERBROOK

I Tried Until I Almost Died: From Anxiety and Frustration to Rest and Relaxation by Sandra McCollom (Mar. 3, paper, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-60142-577-5). The author presents her transformational journey into grace and shows readers how to experience the freedom that comes in exchanging self-efforts for the power of God.

WESTMINSTER JOHN KNOX

Change of Heart: Justice, Mercy, and Making Peace with My Sister’s Killer by Jeanne Bishop (Mar., hardcover, $16, ISBN 978-0-664-25997-6). After the murder of her sister, Bishop unexpectedly found herself compelled by her faith to seek reconciliation with the killer. Permission Granted: Take the Bible into Your Own Hands by Jennifer Grace Bird (Apr., paper, $16, ISBN 978-0-664-260408) encourages people of faith to explore sacred texts on their own, freed from long-held myths and misconceptions, in order to appreciate this holy book for what it is.

WHITAKER HOUSE

Passionate Pursuit by James W. Goll (Feb., paper, $15.99 ISBN 978-1-62911-277-0) shows how to move beyond clichés into knowing God’s heart through intentional, ongoing spiritual disciplines.

WISDOM

A New Buddhist Path: Enlightenment, Evolution, and Ethics in the Modern World by David R. Loy (Feb., paper, $16.95, ISBN 978-1-61429-002-5) addresses the most pressing issues of Buddhist philosophy today and investigates the intersection of Buddhism and secular society. The Way of Tenderness: Awakening Through Race, Sexuality and Gender by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel (Feb., paper, $15.95, ISBN 978-1-61429-125-1) brings Buddhist philosophies of emptiness and appearance to bear on race, sexuality, and gender, to reframe understandings of identity and privilege.

WORLD WISDOM

To Have a Center: A New Translation with Selected Letters by Frithjof Schuon (July, paper, $19.95, ISBN 978-1-936597-444) offers guidance on modern dilemmas such as genius, intelligence, character, and prayer in 14 retranslated essays.

YALE UNIV.

Kabbalah: A Neurocognitive Approach to Mystical Experiences by Shahar Arzy and Moshe Idel (June 30, hardcover, $50, ISBN 978-0-300-15236-4). Idel, an eminent scholar of Jewish


mysticism and thought, and cognitive neuroscientist and neurologist Shahar Arzy combine expertise to explore the mysteries of the Kabbalah from an entirely new perspective: that of the human brain. Spiritual Defiance: Building a Beloved Community of Resistance by Robin Meyers (Apr. 28, hardcover, $26, ISBN 978-0-300-20352-3) casts the nature of faith as a force that stands against everything that engenders death and indignity, and invites to recover the Jesus Movement as a Beloved Community of Resistance.

ZONDERVAN

The Case for Grace: A Journalist Explores the Evidence of Transformed Lives by Lee Strobel (Feb. 24, hardcover, $22.99, ISBN 978-0-310-25917-6) presents true stories of lives that have been revolutionized and renewed by God’s grace, including neverbefore-told details of Strobel’s own journey of transformation. The Mother and Child Project: Raising Our Voices for Health and Hope, edited by Melinda Gates with Christine Caine (Mar. 31, paper, $15.99, ISBN 978-0-310-34161-1), provides a personal yet fact-based narrative exploring the plight of women and children living in extreme poverty, in an effort to educate and inspire the church to speak up in support of maternal and child health issues in the developing world.

CHILDREN’S BARBOUR

Know Your Bible for Kids: All About Jesus by Donna K. Maltese (Apr. 1, paper, $4.99, ISBN 978-1-63058-852-6). Ageappropriate text explains Jesus’s story. Each chapter includes key verses and a “What Does That Mean?” section for personal application. Know Your Bible for Kids: Noah’s Ark: My First Bible Reference for 5–8 Year Olds by Ed Strauss (June 1, paper, $4.99, ISBN 978-1-63058-913-4) describes life in Noah’s time, how the ark was built, how the animals rode out the storm, and what happened after the flood.

CANDLE

My Very First Bible by Juliet David, illus. by Helen Prole (Apr. 27, paper, $4.99, ISBN 978-1-78128-169-7), features text edited for younger ages, illustrations, and scripture references.

EERDMANS

Just for Today by St. John XXIII, illus. by Bimba Landmann (Apr. 27, hardcover, $16, ISBN 978-0-8028-5461-2). The newly canonized saint’s daily decalogue for living provides a reminder of how to make the most of each day.

HACHAI

Bracha—Do You Know? A Lift-the- Flap Book by Ariella Stern (Feb., hardcover, $9.95, ISBN 978-1-929628-76-6). Rhyming riddles pose questions about Jewish blessings on food, with answers under the flaps. If I Went to the Moon by Sara Blau (Mar., hardcover, $12.95, ISBN 978-1-929628-80-3). A boy prepares for an imaginary space journey by packing all the traditional Jewish objects he needs to do mitzvot on the moon.


HOLIDAY HOUSE

The Story of Passover by David A. Adler, illus. by Jill Weber (Feb., paper, $6.99, ISBN 978-0-8234-3304-9). The miraculous story of how Moses was saved as an infant and grew up to lead his people out of slavery unfolds in text with acrylic paintings.

Celebrate Passover with

New Books

from Kar-Ben!

KAR-BEN

And Then Another Sheep Turned Up by Laura Gehl, illus. by Amy Adele (Feb. 1, hardcover, $17.95, ISBN 978-1-4677-1188-3). As the sheep family’s Passover seder begins, more and more guests show up. Jodie’s Shabbat Surprise by Anna Levine, illus. by Ksenia Topaz (May 1, hardcover, $17.95, ISBN 978-1-4677-3465-3). A Shabbat walk leads to a perfect birthday gift for her father in Jodie’s latest adventure. Joey and the Giant Box by Deborah Lakritz, illus. by Mike Byrne (May 1, hardcover, $17.95, ISBN 978-1-4677-1953-7). One child’s love of collecting becomes an opportunity to do a mitzvah for his whole school.

KREGEL

Andrea Carter’s Tales from the Circle C Ranch by Susan K. Marlow (Mar. 1, paper, $7.99, ISBN 978-0-8254-4379-4) is a collection of short stories set in northern California during the 1880s.

LION

Missing Jack by Rebecca Elliott (Apr. 1, hardcover, $16.99, ISBN 978-0-7459-6502-4) addresses the difficult subject of a child’s first experience of a pet’s death. Saint Francis: The Good Man of Assisi by Mary Joslin and Alison Wisenfeld (Apr. 1, hardcover, $9.99, ISBN 978-0-7459-6492-8) retells the story of St. Francis.

And Then Another Sheep Turned Up Laura Gehl, illus. Amy Adele Ages 3–8 $17.95

TOMMY NELSON

Duck Commander Devotions for Kids by Korie Robertson and Chrys Howard (Feb., hardcover, $16.99, ISBN 978-0-7180-2249-5) collects inspirational messages, scripture passages, prayers, and stories about the Robertson family of Duck Dynasty.

TYNDALE

Snuggle Time Devotions That End with a Hug! by Stephen Elkins (Feb. 1, hardcover, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-4143-9948-5) is an interactive illustrated book of 52 devotions to help children to spend time with God and bond with loved ones.

WORTHY/IDEALS

God Made You Special! by Greg Fritz, illus. by Lisa Reed (Feb. 1, board book, $7.99, ISBN 978-0-8249-1947-4). Veggie Tales figures Bob and Larry and their friends spread the message that God made each of us special.

WORTHYKIDS

Noah’s Ark: A Lesson in Trusting God by Veggietales (Mar. 1, paper, $6.99, ISBN 978-1-61795-550-1). Based on the 2015 VeggieTales video Noah’s Ark, this retelling of the Bible story shares the message of trust in God’s plans and promises; includes a three-song music CD.

Engineer Ari and the Passover Rush Deborah Bodin Cohen, illus. Shahar Kober Ages 5–9 $17.95

Visit www.karben.com for free Passover Activities!

ZONDERKIDZ

Bunny’s First Spring by Sally Lloyd-Jones, illus. by David McPhail (Feb. 3, hardcover, $15.99, ISBN 978-0-310-73386-7) celebrates the Easter season and rebirth through the story of one young rabbit’s discovery of life, death, and nature’s miraculous transformation. Only God Can Make a Kitten by Rhonda Gowler Greene, illus. by Laura J. Bryant (Feb. 3, hardcover, $12.99, ISBN 978-0-310-73170-2), follows a rhyming conversation between a mother and child as the child asks, “Mama, who made...?” Prayers That Changed History: From Christopher Columbus to Helen Keller, How God Used 25 People to Change the World by Tricia Goyer (July 21, paper, $12.99, ISBN 978-0310-74801-4). This collection highlights 30 historical figures whose lives were changed by the power of prayer. ■

wing Jewish li A gro brary for children! Passover 2015 begins at sunset Friday, April 3, and ends at nightfall Saturday, April 11.

Spirituality & Religion March 2015

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