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Spirituality and Religion January 2026 |
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| Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi's Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging by Angela BuchdahlFrom the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi, a stirring account of one woman’s journey from feeling like an outsider to becoming one of the most admired religious leaders in the world. Angela Buchdahl was born in Seoul, the daughter of a Korean Buddhist mother and Jewish American father. Profoundly spiritual from a young age, by sixteen she felt the first stirrings to become a rabbi. Despite the naysayers and periods of self-doubt—Would a mixed-race woman ever be seen as authentically Jewish or chosen to lead a congregation?—she stayed the course, which took her first to Yale, then to rabbinical school, and finally to the pulpit of one of the largest, most influential congregations in the world. Today, Angela Buchdahl inspires Jews and non-Jews alike with her invigorating, joyful approach to worship and her belief in the power of faith, gratitude, and responsibility for one another, regardless of religion. She does not shy away from difficult topics, from racism within the Jewish community and the sexism she confronted when she aspired to the top job to rising antisemitism today. Buchdahl teaches how these challenges, which can make one feel like a stranger, can ultimately be the source of our greatest empathy and strength. Angela Buchdahl has gone from outsider to officiant, from feeling estranged to feeling embraced—and she's emerged with a deep conviction that we are all bound to a larger whole and mission. She has written a book that is both memoir and spiritual guide for everyday living, which is exactly what so many of us crave right now. |
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Make Magic: The Book of Inspiration You Didn't Know You Needed by Brad MeltzerWith charming, thoughtful insights from his remarkable life and career, Meltzer uses magic as allegory, sharing the secret that there are only four types of magic tricks: 1) you make something appear, 2) you make something disappear, 3) you make two things switch places, and 4) you turn one thing into something else—the hardest trick of all, transformation. Embracing each of these easy-to-follow tricks—and unleashing your kindness and empathy—will inspire you to craft a life filled with wonder and awe.
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| Guided: The Secret Path to an Illuminated Life by Laura Lynne Jackson"Who am I, really? Why am I here? How can I more fully understand my connections to others and the world around me? And how does that understanding reveal the magic the universe has to offer? According to Laura Lynne Jackson, to answer these questions is to live an "illuminated life." Jackson knows that her psychic gifts are not unique to her. She believes that everyone is capable of perceiving energy, identifying, and interpreting messages sent to us by the Other Side. In Guided, Jackson shows that our loved ones who have passed form our Teams of Light, and that they never stop sharing their wisdom with us. By embracing the connections they reveal, we are put on a path to our best life--a life that Jackson calls illuminated. An illuminated life is one characterized by connectedness and creativity. It is one of alignment with purpose. It is a life of peace and confidence. And it is a life every one of us can discover for ourselves, if only we are open to the guidance that is sent our way. In Guided, Jackson shares the unforgettable and moving experiences of regular people who have learned how to respond to the messages sent to them by their Teams of Light in order to discover their higher paths. Offering solace and comfort though times of grief, and chockfull of inspiring, motivating stories, Guided points the way toward an illuminated life for us all. |
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| Holy Disruptor: Shattering the Shiny Facade by Getting Louder with the Truth by Amy Duggar KingYou've heard some of the story: the manipulation and abuse hidden behind the traditional Christian values that the Duggar family held up on TLC's hit reality show 19 Kids and Counting. As some of the scandal came to light, several of the Duggar children, including Jill and Jinger, have opened up about what it was like growing up in that environment. But for the first time, Amy Duggar King—a close relative who spent almost every day with her 19 cousins and her aunt and uncle—brings the story into sharp relief, vulnerably sharing not only what life was like with the Duggars but how she, at the end of the day, had her own broken home to return to, a home that was hiding many other secrets. Amy knows what it's like to be coerced and have her voice silenced. Her story reveals a world of unrealistic expectations and gaslighting in which a normal young woman had to untangle a web of carefully crafted lies while fighting to protect her own mental health. In that world, she was branded "Crazy Cousin Amy"—an identity she didn't choose but was forced to live into. In Holy Disruptor, Amy gives her unfiltered testimony to finally break free from the toxic cycles that swirled around her and to confront the trauma she endured off-camera. In the years since the Duggar family collapse, Amy has intentionally dissociated from the toxic family environment, which has helped her learn how to be a "holy disruptor" and make life-changing decisions for her well-being. This is a story about how she discovered that disrupting such deception is a holy act that brings freedom and joy . . . and it applies to you too. No matter what you've been told or how you've been manipulated in the past, freedom is waiting for you. It's time to use your voice and get loud with the truth. |
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The Explorer's Gene: Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavors, and the Blank Spots on the Map by Alex HutchinsonOff the beaten path, following unmarked trails, we are wired to explore. More than just a need to get outside, the search for the unknown is a primal urge that has shaped the history of our species and continues to mold our behavior in ways we are only beginning to understand. In fact, the latest neuroscience suggests that exploration in any form—whether it’s trying a new restaurant, changing careers, or deciding to run a marathon—is an essential ingredient of human life. Exploration, it turns out, isn’t merely a hobby—it’s our story. In this much-anticipated follow-up to his New York Times bestseller Endure, Alex Hutchinson refutes the myth that, in our fully mapped digital world, the age of exploration is dead. Instead, the itch to discover new things persists in all of us, expressed not just on the slopes of Everest but in the ways we work, play, and live. From paddling the lost rivers of the northern Canadian wilderness to the ocean-spanning voyages of the Polynesians to the search for next-generation quantum computers, The Explorer’s Gene combines riveting stories of exploration with cutting-edge insights from behavioral psychology and neuroscience, making a powerful case that our lives are better—more productive, more meaningful, and more fun—when we break our habits and chart a new path.
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| Healing the Wounds of Rejection: Moving Forward with Strength, Confidence, and the... by Joyce Meyer and Ginger StacheWe live in a time of overwhelming loneliness and disconnection. At least one in four Americans today are living in estrangement from a family member, and over 50% of us experience periods of disconnection from close relatives. No matter who we are, the sting of rejection touches us. As a child, you may have experienced bullying or even a parent or sibling who failed to acknowledge your value and love you as you needed to be loved. As we grow older, the rejections we experience pile upon one another -- a boss who offers constant criticism, a spouse who walks away and leaves us devastated, a friend who ditches us when life gets tough. Rejection is a common denominator of the human experience, and many of us develop into people who view the world through the lens of rejection as our pain causes us to burrow further into isolation, disappointment, and sadness. Here, through Joyce's personal story of abuse and abandonment and Ginger's journey of shock and betrayal in marriage, you will find community in the fact that you are not alone, as well as hope for the dawning of new possibilities. In this book, Joyce Meyer and Ginger Stache are determined to banish the stigma of rejection by leading readers to the healing balm of God's unconditional love. Through facing our pain head-on, learning to embrace the truth of our absolute acceptance in Christ, and understanding how others may react to us and to the world out of their own lens of rejection, we can grow in confidence, develop healthy relationships, and find lasting acceptance. |
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| Give Me a Word: The Promise of an Ancient Practice to Guide Your Year by Christine Valters PaintnerPurpose can change your life. Having a sense of purpose has been scientifically proven to help people find happiness, longevity, and health. But lots of us are also worried about purpose―purpose anxiety has been estimated to affect as much as 91% of people. What’s going on? And how do we do purpose the right way―to unlock all its many benefits, set goals in life, make a mark and journey from anxiety to legacy? This question set hospice doctor and writer Jordan Grumet on a quest, and The Purpose Code shares his remarkable findings to help you change your future forever. The result is a self-development book like no other. It turns out that we fundamentally misunderstand purpose and the role it plays in our lives. In fact, there are two different types of purpose. One will lead to anxiety and disillusionment; the other will lead to connection and lasting legacy. |
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Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World by Anne-Laure Le CunffLife isn’t linear, and yet we constantly try to mold it around linear goals: four-year college degrees, ten-year career plans, thirty-year mortgages. What if instead we approached life as a giant playground for experimentation? Based on ancestral philosophy and the latest scientific research, Tiny Experiments provides a desperately needed reframing: Uncertainty can be a state of expanded possibility and a space for metamorphosis. Neuroscientist and entrepreneur Anne-Laure Le Cunff reveals that all you need is an experimental mindset to turn challenges into self-discovery and doubt into opportunity. Readers will replace the old linear model of success with a circular model of growth in which goals are discovered, pursued, and adapted—not in a vacuum, but in conversation with the larger world. Throughout the book, you will ask hard questions and design simple yet meaningful experiments to find the answers. You will learn how to break free from the invisible cognitive scripts that shape your life, how to harness the power of imperfection, and how to make smarter decisions when the path forward is unclear.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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The Public Library
501 Copper NW
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102
505-768-5141abqlibrary.org |
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