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Spirituality and Religion November 2021 |
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| No Cure for Being Human: (And Other Truths I Need to Hear) by Kate BowlerWhat it is: an incisive collection of essays about grief, hope, family ties, and what it means to think about the future in the face of a devastating cancer diagnosis.
About the author: Kate Bowler is a professor of the history of Christianity at Duke Divinity School whose previous works include Blessed, Everything Happens for a Reason, and The Preacher's Wife.
Why you might like it: Bowler tells her heartwrenching story with unexpected but welcome humor, reflecting on the absurdities of life in even the darkest times. |
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| Exodus, Revisited: My Unorthodox Journey to Berlin by Deborah FeldmanWhat it's about: the moving story of author Deborah Feldman, who left her Hasidic upbringing behind in 2009 to forge a new life for herself and her young son.
Topics include: finding a Jewish identity outside of her insular Hasidic community; learning to be a single mother; and traveling across Europe to explore her family's experiences with the Holocaust.
Media buzz: Feldman's first memoir Unorthodox was adapted into the Netflix series of the same name. |
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Broken horses
by Brandi Carlile
"Brandi Carlile was born into a musically gifted, impoverished family on the outskirts of Seattle and grew up in a constant state of change, moving from house to house, trailer to trailer, fourteen times in as many years. Though imperfect in every way, her dysfunctional childhood was as beautiful as it was strange, and as nurturing as it was difficult. At the age of five, Brandi contracted bacterial meningitis, which almost took her life, leaving an indelible mark on her formative years and altering her journey into young adulthood. As an openly gay teenager, Brandi grappled with the tension between her sexuality and her faith when her pastor publicly refused to baptize her on the day of the ceremony. Shockingly, her small town rallied around Brandi in support and set her on a path to salvation where the rest of the misfits and rejects find it: through twisted, joyful, weird, and wonderful music. In Broken Horses, Brandi Carlile takes readers through the events of her life that shaped her very raw art-from her start at a local singing competition where she performed Elton John's "Honky Cat" in a bedazzled white polyester suit, to her first break opening for Dave Matthews Band, to many sleepless tours over fifteen years and six studio albums, all while raising two children with her wife, Catherine Shepherd. This hard-won success led her to collaborations with personal heroes like Elton John, Dolly Parton, Mavis Staples, Pearl Jam, Tanya Tucker, and Joni Mitchell, as well as her peers in the supergroup TheHighwomen, and ultimately to the Grammy stage, where she converted millions of viewers into instant fans. Evocative and piercingly honest, Broken Horses is at once an examination of faith through the eyes of a person rejected by the church's basic tenetsand a meditation on the moments and lyrics that have shaped the life of a creative mind, a brilliant artist, and a genuine empath on a mission to give back"
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House of sticks : a memoir by Ly TranThis memoir of a young Vietnamese woman follows her journey from war-torn Vietnam to New York City and struggles to reconcile her family’s Buddhist faith and meager lifestyle with her desire to assimilate.
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How to Stitch an American Dream : A Story of Family, Faith and the Power of Giving by Jenny DoanOver the last decade, the Doan family business, the Missouri Star Quilt Company in tiny Hamilton, Missouri, has grown from Jenny's corner shop--with one quilting machine and two bolts of fabric for sale in the back--to become the largest supplier of pre-cut quilting fabric in the world. And the deep connection felt by the company's millions of loyal fans and customers boils down to one thing: their love for Jenny, the mother of seven (and grandmother to twenty-two and counting) whose humorous, easygoing, down-to-earth quilting tutorials have been viewed more than two hundred million times. Now, Jenny is ready to give her fans, the business world, and moms of all ages (and grandmas too!) what they've been asking for: the full story of her journey, from her humble beginnings as a homeschooling mom, to founding MSQC in her fifties, through the remarkable success and inspiration she's so well-known for today. How to Stitch an American Dream is about something more than the chance to get to know Jenny Doan. It's an opportunity for readers to have their lives changed by one woman's remarkable story--an inspirational story of overcoming hardship and finding abundance through family, faith, and the power of giving (from Goodreads).
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Just As I Am by Cicely TysonJust As I Am is my truth. It is me, plain and unvarnished, with the glitter and garland set aside. In these pages, I am indeed Cicely, the actress who has been blessed to grace the stage and screen for six decades. Yet I am also the church girl who once rarely spoke a word. I am the teenager who sought solace in the verses of the old hymn for which this book is named. I am a daughter and mother, a sister, and a friend. I am an observer of human nature and the dreamer of audacious dreams. I am a woman who has hurt as immeasurably as I have loved, a child of God divinely guided by His hand. And here in my ninth decade, I am a woman who, at long last, has something meaningful to say.
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| Where the Light Fell: A Memoir by Philip YanceyWhat it is: a compelling and thought-provoking story of rebuilding a relationship with faith after surviving a traumatic childhood suffused with Christian fundamentalism.
Read it for: the candid portrayal of racism in Southern churches before the Civil Rights Movement; the exploration of fear as a basis for faith and how to create a healthier relationship with spirituality.
About the author: Former Christianity Today editor-at-large Philip Yancey has published numerous books on spiritual topics, including The Jesus I Never Knew, Soul Survivor, and What's So Amazing about Grace? |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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