Spirituality and Religion
May 2023

Recent Releases
Please, Sorry, Thanks: The Three Words That Change Everything
by Mark Batterson

What it's about: the power that three polite words (“the psychology of please, the science of sorry, and the theology of thanks”) can have on your life and your faith.

Topics include: respectful disagreement, the desire to serve others, empathy as a Godly attribute, and gratitude for miracles.

Reviewers say: “This earnest entry offers believers abundant inspiration” (Publishers Weekly).
Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day
by Kaitlin B. Curtice

What it is: a thoughtful and accessible call to explore the concept of resistance as it relates to the self, the spirit, and society. 

Read it for: the author's moving story of growing up as an evangelical Christian and how it intersected with her indigenous (Potawatomi Nation) identity.

Book buzz: "
A work of both spiritual direction and challenge toward social engagement, with welcoming, lambent prose" (Library Journal).
Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says About the End
by Bart D. Ehrman

What it's about: popular misconceptions about the biblical Apocalypse, with a deep dive into the text and context of the Book of Revelation.

Don't miss: the examination of the social and political consequences of misunderstandings about Armageddon throughout history.

About the author: Bart D. Ehrman is a bestselling New Testament scholar whose previous work includes Misquoting Jesus and Jesus Before the Gospels. 
Curveball: When Your Faith Takes Turns You Never Saw Coming (or, How I Stumbled and...
by Peter Enns

What it is: a persuasive and engaging treatise in favor of developing a relationship with your faith that can handle the titular "curveballs" life throws your way.

Topics include: scripture-based arguments in favor of flexibility; the Bible as a "messy, complex, dense mine of wisdom."

Reviewers say: Curveball is "
a convincing, accessible argument for facing religious uncertainty head-on, and will leave readers with insights about using doubt to enrich one’s faith" (Publishers Weekly). 
Christendom: The Triumph of A Religion, A.D. 300-1300
by Peter Heather

What it's about: Christianity's journey from a small sect of scattered, isolated groups of believers to a continent-spanning movement with connections in the highest circles of power.

Don't miss: an illuminating and richly detailed section about the Christianization of northwest Europe and the unique strategies missionaries deployed there. 

About the author:  
Peter Heather is a historian of late antiquity and early medieval Europe and professor at King's College London.
Strong Like Water: Finding the Freedom, Safety, & Compassion to Move Through Hard Things...
by Aundi Kolber

Where it starts: with author and trauma therapist Aundi Kolber standing on a beach, overcome by a feeling of God's love and rethinking what it means to be strong. 

What's inside: inspiring practices and resources to help readers reframe their understanding of strength as something that can come from a place of compassion.

Reviewers say: In addition to reflections on her own spiritual experience, Kolber "
offers a healing approach that’s compassionate and personal, yet still grounded in practical psychology" (Publishers Weekly).
The Transcendent Brain: Spirituality in the Age of Science
by Alan Lightman

What it's about: "Spiritual materialism" or the idea that a scientific worldview can (and maybe should) coexist with spirituality.

Read it for: the lyrical and engaging writing and thought-provoking questions it raises.

About the author: In addition to his scholarly work, professor, physicist, and writer Alan Lightman is also known for his fiction, including Einstein's Dream and Three Flames.  
All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir
by Beth Moore

What it is: a candid, inspiring memoir about joining -- then leaving -- the Southern Baptist Convention and finding a more sustainable way of engaging with faith during politically fraught times. 

Reviewers say: "The frank views expressed in this remembrance will divide opinion, but the quality of Moore’s writing is indisputable" (Kirkus Reviews).

You might also like: Where the Light Fell by Philip Yancey or Becoming Free Indeed by Jinger Vuolo.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Central Mississippi Regional Library System
100 Tamberline Street
Brandon, Mississippi 39042
601-825-0100

http://www.cmrls.lib.ms.us