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Spirituality and Religion January 2021
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| Our Only Home: A Climate Appeal to the World by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Franz AltWhat it is: a concise, issue-oriented plea to politicians and other powerful decision-makers to rise to the challenge of fighting climate change.
Why you might like it: A hopeful, conversational tone make a sometimes overwhelming topic feel more approachable.
Don't miss: the discussion of the work being done by a new generation of climate activists like Elsa Mengistu, Xiye Bastida, Greta Thunberg, and Jamie Margolin. |
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Advice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself
by Mark Epstein
What it's about: the combined positive effects of Buddhist teachings and psychotherapy techniques on an individual's struggles with self-doubt and unrealized potential.
Topics include: managing the ego, coping with destabilizing life events, and the importance of taking advice but drawing your own conclusions from it.
About the author: Mark Epstein is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and has published other books on Buddhism and psychology, such as Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart and The Trauma of Everyday Life.
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| I Am Restored: How I Lost My Religion But Found My Faith by LecraeWhat it's about: the author's faith journey and the obstacles he has faced along the way; the power of self-awareness and reflection in developing an authentic relationship with God.
Reviewers say: "This personal story of faith lost and found is especially recommended to Christians who are struggling to comprehend God's complex ways" (Library Journal).
About the author: Grammy-winning hip-hop artist Lecrae has also published Unashamed, a memoir about his traumatic childhood experiences and how his faith helped him cope. |
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| The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories... by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi BrettlerWhat it is: an accessible and thought-provoking comparative study of the scriptures shared by Judaism and Christianity and the different interpretations that that both faiths bring to them.
What makes it unique: the emphasis placed on historical and social context, and how it can affect the way a text is understood by a given culture.
You might also like: The Islamic Jesus by Mustafa Akyol; The Book of the People by A.N. Wilson. |
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| Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope by Esau McCaulleyWhat it's about: the unique lens through which the Black church tradition has viewed the Bible and what it has meant for both theology and the wider society.
Chapters include: "The South Got Somethin' to Say," "Tired Feet, Rested Souls," and "What Shall We Do with This Rage?"
Reviewers say: This book is "an exercise in hope that speaks powerfully to readers of every race and ethnicity" (Booklist). |
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| Toil & Trouble by Augusten BurroughsWhat it is: the candid and darkly humorous account of the author's experiences with ritual and his family's relationship with witchcraft and the supernatural.
Who it's for: Burroughs fans; anyone interested in the informal ways that beliefs from the past can find their way into the present.
About the author: Writer Augusten Burroughs has published essays, fiction, and nonfiction, and is best known for his memoirs Running With Scissors and Dry. |
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| After Life: My Journey from Incarceration to Freedom by Alice Marie Johnson with Nancy FrenchWhat it's about: the pre-and-post-imprisonment life of Alice Marie Johnson and the role her faith played in supporting her through it all.
Don't miss: Johnson's experiences in early life with Jim Crow and other forms of systemic injustice and the legacy in the legal system to this day.
You might also like: The Buddhist on Death Row by David Sheff, which tells the story of Buddhist teacher Jarvis Masters and how his practice sustains him through his efforts to appeal his death sentence. |
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| American Harvest: God, Country, and Farming in the Heartland by Marie Mutsuki MockettWhat it is: an engaging and descriptive memoir of life in the "flyover states" that also raises timely issues about religious and political identity and the problematic underpinnings of the American farming industry.
Read it for: the nuanced view author Marie Mutsuki Mockett brings to polarizing conversations and her humane portraits of people who are often stereotyped.
Reviewers say: "A revealing, richly textured portrait of the lives of those who put food on our tables" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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A Force for Good
by Daniel Goleman
What it's about: Psychologist Daniel Goleman applies his research on emotional intelligence to the Dalai Lama's philosophy of compassion and action. Starring: the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, who is the leader of Tibetan Buddhists and exiled head of the Tibetan people. He discusses how his monastic training guides his views of the world and the choices he makes. What you might like: The Dalai Lama's sense of humor shines, along with his wisdom, in this practical interpretation of Buddhist precepts.
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A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith
by Timothy Egan
What it’s about: the Via Francigena (a medieval Christian pilgrimage route from England to Italy) and writer Timothy Egan's modern journey along it.
Read it for: the conversational tone and the author's reflections on the generous hospitality he encountered along the way.
You might also like: Sonia Choquette’s Walking Home, in which a series of major life events inspire her to walk the Camino de Santiago, a Christian pilgrimage route in Northern Spain.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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