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Spirituality and Religion May 2019
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| The Lost Gutenberg: The Astounding Story of One Book's Five-Hundred-Year Odyssey by Margaret Leslie DavisWhat it's about: Gutenberg Bible #45 (printed by the man himself in the 1450s) and the compelling stories of some of the book's remarkable owners.
Don't miss: the dramatic story of Estelle Doheny, who brought the book to America; the book's role in the development of new technology to examine rare books without harming them.
Reviewers say: "a gripping, well-researched account of the importance of books as cultural artifacts" (Library Journal). |
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Kaddish.com
by Nathan Englander
"The Pulitzer finalist delivers his best work yet--a brilliant, streamlined comic novel, reminiscent of early Philip Roth and of his own most masterful stories, about a son's failure to say Kaddish for his father Larry is an atheist in a family of orthodox Memphis Jews. When his father dies, it is his responsibility as the surviving son to recite the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, every day for eleven months. To the horror and dismay of his mother and sisters, Larry refuses--thus imperiling the fate of his father's soul. To appease them, and in penance for failing to mourn his father correctly, he hatches an ingenious if cynical plan, hiring a stranger through a website called Kaddish.com to recite the daily prayer and shepherd his father's soul safely to rest. This is Nathan Englander's freshest and funniest work to date--a satire that touches, lightly and with unforgettable humor, on the conflict between religious and secular worlds, and the hypocrisies that run through both. A novel about atonement; about spiritual redemption; and about the soul-sickening temptations of the internet, which, like God, is everywhere"
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| Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others by Barbara Brown TaylorWhat it is: a thoughtful account of the author's experiences teaching an introductory religion class over the years and what she's learned from watching her students as they go through the course.
About the author: Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest, professor at Piedmont College in Georgia, and author of other religious memoirs including Learning to Walk in the Dark and An Altar in the World.
Reviewers say: "Taylor effectively reminds us that religion...involves our deepest selves and is the fabric of our shared lives" (Library Journal). |
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Letter to a Christian Nation
by Sam Harris
In a thought-provoking and impassioned new study, the author of The End of Faith continues his battle against rigid adherence to the Christian religious literalism that is transforming America, refuting the essential beliefs, tenets, and certainties of fundamentalist Christianity in terms of sexual morality, intelligent design, and other key topics. 150,000 first printing.
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The book of highs : 255 ways to alter your consciousness without drugs
by Edward Rosenfeld
"Call it altering consciousness, call it getting high, or call it mindfulness. Humans are hardwired to seek ways to transcend the limits of everyday awareness, whether it's the little kid spinning in circles to get dizzy or a runner experiencing the day's first rush of dopamine. And you don't need drugs--as Edward Rosenfeld shows, the "high" is inside, and there are literally hundreds of perfectly natural ways that we can use to find it. An encyclopedic survey of all the ways humans try to achieve altered states of consciousness, The Book of Highs is a complete update of a book published in 1973, after the government outlawed psychedelics. Here are recent developments--Virtual Reality and Brainwave Machines--and positive techniques such as Self-Hypnosis,Alterations of Breathing, Fervent Prayer. And "negative" techniques--Self-Flagellation, Sleep Deprivation. Methods derived from religious and mystic traditions--Transcendental Meditation, Tantric Sex. Techniques that involve devices, whether nonelectric like Mandalas, Metronome Watching, Body Confinement--or electric and electronic--Bio-Feedback, Stroboscopes, the Psychedelic Bathtub, Moire Patterns, Brain Music. Whether you're out for a life-changing adventure--Skydiving, Fire-Walking, or Kayak Disease (which occurs when you spend three days in a kayak off the shore of Greenland)--or just want to have a break in your everyday routine with a Zen Morning Laugh or by Jumping Up and Down, this book is guaranteed to blow your mindfulness"
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Life after death : the burden of proof
by Deepak Chopra
The best-selling author of The Book of Secrets explores the mysteries of life after death, interweaving scientific research and the wisdom of ancient Vedanta sages to describe what happens to us when we die and to build a case for an afterlife. 200,000 first printing.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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