From A Pilgrim's Progress to The Shack, books with a religious or spiritual theme. Uplifting and enlightening.
Religious & Spiritual Fiction Books
Cornell University Press On the Landing
Book SynopsisA Yiddish Book Center Translation In these sixteen stories, available in English for the first time, prize-winning author Yenta Mash traces an arc across continents, across upheavals and regime changes, and across the phases of a woman's life. Mash's protagonists are often in transit, poised "on the landing" on their way to or from somewhere...Trade ReviewEllen Cassedy has done marvelous work combing through Mash's four collections to select these stories and bringing them to life in an English that honors the beauty and texture of the author's vision. Highly recommended for all libraries. * Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews *Mash's compact stories draw from her difficult life—including her experiences in the Siberian gulag, her postwar decades in Kishinev and her immigration to Israel in the 1970s. These small gems give voice both to the insufficiently documented story of Jewish deportees in Siberia and to the unique experience of Bessarabian Jews. * J. The Jewish News of Northern California *Each story is a gem. Mash's narrative skill is quietly astonishing. * Jewish Book Council *Mash's collection keeps us alert to the riches to be discoveredshowing us the many worlds in which Yiddish thrived and suffered in the twentieth century. * In Geveb *Yenta Mash's stories are a must—a reminder that, through the persecutions in the Russian Pale, 'something very important has been lost,' but also that something strong survives. * Foreword Reviews *Dor ayn, dor oys, der emes blaybt! (From one generation to the next, the truth will out!) * Yiddish Branzhe *An important contribution... much appreciated. * Yiddish Forverts *Small gems. * jweekly.com *The stories provide nuanced insight into their perspectives and psychology, perhaps it is the extremity of many of the stories' settings that draws the reader's attention to the universal and away from the particular. * Los Angeles Review of Books *
£12.34
University of Toronto Press The New Spice Box
Book SynopsisThe New Spice Box brings together contemporary short stories, creative non-fiction, and poetry by a mix of authors offering a window onto new and exciting Jewish writing.Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: Voice Bernice Eisenstein, "Yiddish Holds the World" Daniel Goodwin, "Isaac" Elaine Kalman Naves, "Silent Witness" Naomi Guttman, "Lot’s Wife" Norman Ravvin, "Glendale, North of Alhambra, East of Burbank" Isa Milman, "Yiddish in North America" Nancy Richler, "Life’s Promise" Lauren Kirshner, "Marilyn Monroe Stuttered" Jacquie Buncel, "In the Closet with My Relatives on the French Riviera" Jessamyn Hope, "The Reverse" Part II: Place David Rakoff, "Arise, Ye Wretched of the Earth" Isa Milman, "A Daughter Recognizes a Father Who Spoke" Bob Bossin, "Sweet Lilies’ Advice" Carol Lipszyc, "Feather Boy" Ruth Panofsky, "Pearl" Ruth Panofsky, "Immigrant" Cary Fagan, "Nora By the Sea" Daniel Goodwin, "Heritage" Mireille Silcoff, "Shalom Israel!" David Bezmozgis, "An Animal to the Memory" Part III: Practice Alison Pick, from Between Gods Jacquie Buncel, "Children of Holocaust Survivors" Renee Norman, "Lottery" Renee Norman, "Prayers for the Almost Dead" Ayelet Tsabari, "Brit Milah" Adam Sol, "Simcha" Adam Sol, "Taking Down the Sukkah" Jason Camlot, "Distinctions" Jason Camlot, "Etrog" Jacob Scheier, "The Language of Our People" Jacob Scheier, "My Mother Dies in Reverse" Naomi Guttman, "Prayer" Sigal Samuel, "Wor(l)d Salad: A Writer’s Love Letter to the Hebrew Language" Biographical Notes Permissions
£38.70
University of Toronto Press The New Spice Box
Book SynopsisThe New Spice Box brings together contemporary short stories, creative non-fiction, and poetry by a mix of authors offering a window onto new and exciting Jewish writing.Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: Voice Bernice Eisenstein, "Yiddish Holds the World" Daniel Goodwin, "Isaac" Elaine Kalman Naves, "Silent Witness" Naomi Guttman, "Lot’s Wife" Norman Ravvin, "Glendale, North of Alhambra, East of Burbank" Isa Milman, "Yiddish in North America" Nancy Richler, "Life’s Promise" Lauren Kirshner, "Marilyn Monroe Stuttered" Jacquie Buncel, "In the Closet with My Relatives on the French Riviera" Jessamyn Hope, "The Reverse" Part II: Place David Rakoff, "Arise, Ye Wretched of the Earth" Isa Milman, "A Daughter Recognizes a Father Who Spoke" Bob Bossin, "Sweet Lilies’ Advice" Carol Lipszyc, "Feather Boy" Ruth Panofsky, "Pearl" Ruth Panofsky, "Immigrant" Cary Fagan, "Nora By the Sea" Daniel Goodwin, "Heritage" Mireille Silcoff, "Shalom Israel!" David Bezmozgis, "An Animal to the Memory" Part III: Practice Alison Pick, from Between Gods Jacquie Buncel, "Children of Holocaust Survivors" Renee Norman, "Lottery" Renee Norman, "Prayers for the Almost Dead" Ayelet Tsabari, "Brit Milah" Adam Sol, "Simcha" Adam Sol, "Taking Down the Sukkah" Jason Camlot, "Distinctions" Jason Camlot, "Etrog" Jacob Scheier, "The Language of Our People" Jacob Scheier, "My Mother Dies in Reverse" Naomi Guttman, "Prayer" Sigal Samuel, "Wor(l)d Salad: A Writer’s Love Letter to the Hebrew Language" Biographical Notes Permissions
£18.04
Stanford University Press Ninette of Sin Street
Book SynopsisPublished in Tunis in 1938, Ninette of Sin Street is one of the first works of Tunisian fiction in French. Ninette's author, Vitalis Danon, arrived in Tunisia under the aegis of the Franco-Jewish organization the Alliance Israélite Universelle and quickly adopted—and was adopted by—the local community. Ninette is an unlikely protagonist: Compelled by poverty to work as a prostitute, she dreams of a better life and an education for her son. Plucky and street-wise, she enrolls her son in the local school and the story unfolds as she narrates her life to the school's headmaster. Ninette's account is both a classic rags-to-riches tale and a subtle, incisive critique of French colonialism. That Ninette's story should still prove surprising today suggests how much we stand to learn from history, and from the secrets of Sin Street. This volume offers the first English translation of Danon's best-known work. A selection of his letters and an editors' introduction and notes provide context for this cornerstone of Judeo-Tunisian letters.Trade Review"Any responsible teacher (or serious reader!) of modern Jewish literature already understands the urgency with which we need to find more diverse, compelling narratives that explore Jewish experiences throughout the Sephardi and Mizrahi diasporas. Vitalis Danon's Ninette seems, in this respect, almost too good to be true: a pioneering, charming Franco-Tunisian novella that manages, like the best monologues of Sholem Aleichem, to present us with the voice of one indefatigable, unforgettable Jewish woman, and through her, the complexities of Jewish life in a North African city."—Josh Lambert, academic director, Yiddish Book Center, and author, Unclean Lips: Obscenity, Jews, and American Culture"Ninette of Sin Street is a riveting tale of a poor unwed Jewish mother from Sfax struggling to provide for her son. Its intimate and intricate details, beautifully contextualized by Lia Brozgal and Sarah Abrevaya Stein, will fascinate and enrich all those interested in the paradoxes and power plays of colonial life when experienced from below."—Frances Malino, Wellesley College"Ninette of Sin Street, a novella by Vitalis Danon provides Anglophone readers with a rare window into Jewish life in interwar Tunisia. It also gives an excellent overview of the influence and legacy of the Alliance Isralite Universelle (AIU), a French-based institution that offered a European-style education to Jewish children across the Mediterranean basin in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries...Brozgal and Stein's introduction does an excellent job of introducing the reader to both Vitalis Danon and the history of the AIU...a valuable resource to both historians and literary scholars interested in Jewish life in the Maghreb in the age of colonialism."—Nadia Malinovich, H-France Review"Ninette of Sin Street is a precious resource as it brings us a taste of a world that is no more....The scholarly additions to the volume are also most valuable."—Judith Roumani, Sephardic HorizonsTable of ContentsIntroduction: Colonial Society from the Gutter Up 1. Ninette of Sin Street 2. Appendix B: A Visit to the Jews of Djerba (Travel Notes), 1929 3. Appendix A: A Flaneur in Sfax, 1918 4. Appendix C: Mission to Gabès, 1937 5. Appendix D: A Swan Song, 1963
£68.40
Stanford University Press Ninette of Sin Street
Book SynopsisPublished in Tunis in 1938, Ninette of Sin Street is one of the first works of Tunisian fiction in French. Ninette's author, Vitalis Danon, arrived in Tunisia under the aegis of the Franco-Jewish organization the Alliance Israélite Universelle and quickly adopted—and was adopted by—the local community. Ninette is an unlikely protagonist: Compelled by poverty to work as a prostitute, she dreams of a better life and an education for her son. Plucky and street-wise, she enrolls her son in the local school and the story unfolds as she narrates her life to the school's headmaster. Ninette's account is both a classic rags-to-riches tale and a subtle, incisive critique of French colonialism. That Ninette's story should still prove surprising today suggests how much we stand to learn from history, and from the secrets of Sin Street. This volume offers the first English translation of Danon's best-known work. A selection of his letters and an editors' introduction and notes provide context for this cornerstone of Judeo-Tunisian letters.Trade Review"Any responsible teacher (or serious reader!) of modern Jewish literature already understands the urgency with which we need to find more diverse, compelling narratives that explore Jewish experiences throughout the Sephardi and Mizrahi diasporas. Vitalis Danon's Ninette seems, in this respect, almost too good to be true: a pioneering, charming Franco-Tunisian novella that manages, like the best monologues of Sholem Aleichem, to present us with the voice of one indefatigable, unforgettable Jewish woman, and through her, the complexities of Jewish life in a North African city."—Josh Lambert, academic director, Yiddish Book Center, and author, Unclean Lips: Obscenity, Jews, and American Culture"Ninette of Sin Street is a riveting tale of a poor unwed Jewish mother from Sfax struggling to provide for her son. Its intimate and intricate details, beautifully contextualized by Lia Brozgal and Sarah Abrevaya Stein, will fascinate and enrich all those interested in the paradoxes and power plays of colonial life when experienced from below."—Frances Malino, Wellesley College"Ninette of Sin Street, a novella by Vitalis Danon provides Anglophone readers with a rare window into Jewish life in interwar Tunisia. It also gives an excellent overview of the influence and legacy of the Alliance Isralite Universelle (AIU), a French-based institution that offered a European-style education to Jewish children across the Mediterranean basin in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries...Brozgal and Stein's introduction does an excellent job of introducing the reader to both Vitalis Danon and the history of the AIU...a valuable resource to both historians and literary scholars interested in Jewish life in the Maghreb in the age of colonialism."—Nadia Malinovich, H-France Review"Ninette of Sin Street is a precious resource as it brings us a taste of a world that is no more....The scholarly additions to the volume are also most valuable."—Judith Roumani, Sephardic HorizonsTable of ContentsIntroduction: Colonial Society from the Gutter Up 1. Ninette of Sin Street 2. Appendix B: A Visit to the Jews of Djerba (Travel Notes), 1929 3. Appendix A: A Flaneur in Sfax, 1918 4. Appendix C: Mission to Gabès, 1937 5. Appendix D: A Swan Song, 1963
£19.79
Time Warner Trade Publishing Micah's Super Vlog: Just Chill
Book SynopsisThere's a new kid in school. Will Micah give him a chance before writing him off?Based on the popular JellyTelly show, Micah's Super Vlog, in book four of this series there's a new kid in school. Tre is cool but there seems to be more going on than meets the eye. Micah intends to find out what this guy is all about. When he discovers the new kid really does have a secret, will Micah accept Tre for who he is or continue to avoid him?
£8.07
Stephen F. Austin State University Press A Self-Portrait in the Year of the High
Book SynopsisSelf-Portrait in the Year of the High Commission on Love takes place during the first year of the Reagan era. Jon “Duke” Wain, a charmed 18-year-old growing up in Meyerland, Houston’s enormous Jewish neighborhood, finds a companion for drinking, drugs, and living wildly in Manolo Salazar, his gay best friend, who has grown up in Hispanic Gulfgate, heir to his own father’s evangelical ministry. On a Saturday night in September in 1981, the night Nolan Ryan pitches his record fifth no-hitter at the Astrodome, the two scions light out for Galveston Island intent on heading down the Texas coastline and not returning home. Binging among dangerous revelers, Duke meets Caroline Cahill, a haunting young woman who turns out to be a runaway from West Texas. Confronted at the threshold of life and fate, Duke wonders if Caroline Cahill’s story is the route to putting his birthright behind him. The answer will change his life. Self-Portrait in the Year of the High Commission on Love is about the tensions between ambition and faith, duty and desire, art and life—and about those whose lives must live with the consequences of choosing one over the other.
£19.16
Stephen F. Austin State University Press In The Shadow of Dora: A Novel of the Holocaust
Book SynopsisIn the Shadow of Dora spans two very different decades from the Nazi concentration camp of Dora-Mittelbau to the coast of central Florida in the late 1960s; the book tells the story of the real life intersections between the horror of the Third Reich's V-2 rocket program and the wonderment of the Apollo missions. Eli Hessel, a brilliant young Jewish mathematician, finds himself deep beneath a mountain where he is forced to build Nazi rockets. When he is finally freed from this secret underground concentration camp, he immigrates to New York, studies astrophysics, and is recruited by NASA to help build the largest rocket ever to rise above a launch pad: the Saturn V. To his shock, though, he will be under the command of former Nazi scientists Wernher von Braun and Arthur Rudolph, both of who were at Dora. As America turns to the moon and cheers for rockets that lance the sky, Eli is swallowed up by the past and must cope with memories he thought were safely buried. This is a novel that asks questions about memory, morality, technology, and how the past influences the present. If we clamp down images of horror, will they always ignite and rise up on us?
£18.66
Stephen F. Austin State University Press I Meant to Tell You
Book SynopsisWhen Miranda Isaacs’s fiancÉ, Russ Steinmann, is being vetted for his dream job in the U.S. attorney’s office, the couple joke about whether Miranda’s parents’ history as antiwar activists in the Sixties might jeopardize Russ’s security clearance. But as it turns out, the real threat emerges after Russ’s future employer discovers that Miranda was arrested for felony kidnapping seven years earlier – an arrest she’d never bothered to tell Russ about. Miranda tries to explain that she was only helping her best friend, Ronit, in the midst of a nasty divorce and custody battle, take her daughter to visit her parents in Israel. Russ doesn’t see it quite as innocently. In a frantic search to persuade Russ that she’s not a criminal, Miranda either makes the situation worse or exposes other secrets and mysteries. Miranda’s stepfather – who has just revealed to her mother that he’s been having an affair—starts dropping cryptic hints about her biological father. On top of all that, Miranda is arrested again, this time for drunk driving. With everything she thought she knew upended, Miranda must face the truth about her mother, herself, and her future marriage.
£18.66
Omnidawn Publishing The Lower East Side Tenement Reclamation
Book SynopsisThis magical realist tale follows the travails of a burnt-out teacher from Queens who spends his time obsessing over the fact that he has been cheated out of living in his Grandma Rose’s Lower East Side apartment and is thus priced out of his “More Recent Ancestral Home” of Manhattan. In The Lower East Side Tenement Reclamation Association, David Rothman weaves a rich story about real estate, family, and memory. Daniel, the protagonist, is haunted by the memories of his childhood experiences in his grandmother’s apartment, a home that he desperately wants to inhabit. One day he discovers a hidden relic on Rivington Street: a tenement reclamation office run by an eccentric centurion named Hannah. When Daniel inquires about the chances of reclaiming his grandmother’s old tenement, Hannah is not impressed. “Things don’t work like that, you rude, young schlub!” And so begins Daniel’s journey to take back his past and to secure an affordable space for his family in downtown Manhattan. This is a journey full of twists and turns, ups and downs, and an ending that would make even the most thick-skinned New York real estate agent shake.The Lower East Side Tenement Reclamation Association is the winner of the Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Novelette Prize, selected by Meg Ellison. Trade Review“The Lower East Side Tenement Reclamation Association is a brilliantly-written work of magical fiction in which both contemporary New York and the Jewish immigrant experience come alive. I loved Daniel, who wants a Manhattan apartment in the most desperate way, his sensible wife Julie, and their wise little girl, Hannah. The book is both moving and comic.” -- Phyllis Smith, author of I am Livia“Rothman’s novel lands readers in a magical New York City, where portals and keys lead to wondrous places. But moreover, it’s a story that profoundly explores the weight of loss, the complexities of family, and the power of nostalgia.” -- Noah Lederman, author of A World Erased
£8.57
Gilead Publishing The Refrain Within
Book Synopsis
£10.44
Gilead Publishing Seeds of Hope
Book Synopsis
£9.99
Gilead Publishing Buried Secrets
Book Synopsis
£11.17
Gilead Publishing Summer`s Promise
Book Synopsis
£9.99
Gilead Publishing Reason to Breathe
Book Synopsis
£11.17
Gilead Publishing A Vast and Gracious Tide
Book Synopsis
£11.17
Gilead Publishing High Cotton
Book Synopsis
£11.17
Gilead Publishing Fit to Be Tied
Book Synopsis
£11.17
Gilead Publishing Freedom of the Song
Book Synopsis
£10.44
Kales Press The Prodigal Child
Book Synopsis
£13.29
University of Calgary Press A Kid Called Chatter
Book SynopsisThe kid called Chatter has an affliction. Perhaps it is a gift. He attracts dying jackrabbits. Orphaned by parents whose names he never knew, he was worshiped and savaged in the institutions that raised him. Pushed out by his peers, trailed by the dying, the kid called Chatter fled.In an isolated river valley on the western frontier, as the Great Depression drags on, the jackrabbits are undeterred and the kid called Chatter is trapped inside the choice to survive. Moonshiner Ruddy Lou offers him a future as a messianic faith healer, as long as he never asks questions and never exposes the con. Fierce Azalea, leader of children with no home, calls for him to be a hero in her failing orphan's war. Bound by loyalty and lies, stalked by a vicious shadow, the kid called Chatter must trace a path forward as death trails relentlessly behind.A stunning work of Prairie magical realism, A Kid Called Chatter is a kaleidoscopic mingling of history, truth, folk tale, and fiction. A fable of belonging, it explores how humans use stories to confront what can't be explained, and the way communities come together to protect—or to destroy—the things that make them unique.
£19.76
GMC Publications Little Buddha, The: Looking for Love
Book SynopsisThe journey of the Little Buddha began when Claus Mikosch and his four-year-old daughter used to go walking near a Buddhist temple, and she asked him questions about the Buddha. When Claus had the idea to collect their conversations, the Little Buddha was born. It is not a book about THE Buddha or about Buddhism. It is instead the story of a pretty normal Buddha who, tired of meditating beneath his Bodhi tree, embarks upon a journey. Inspired by Claus' travels to India, The Little Buddha: Looking for Love is the second book in the series: a universal tale of the human need to love and be loved. It carries the reader on a mindful journey in which the Little Buddha encounters a series of people wrestling with matters of the heart, meditates on love in its many forms, and unlocks the secret of love at the heart of life.
£11.69
SPCK Publishing The Hawk and the Dove
Book Synopsis'Even in the darkest moments of the story, hope tarries in the wings. A wonderful writer, a wonderful read.' Liz Curtis Higgs, New York Times bestselling author 'Wonderfully insightful, with a rich historical storyline. There's more substantial content here than in much Christian fiction - about grace, about leadership and loyalty, about humility, about disability and suffering.' FaithfulReader.com The Hawk And The Dove is the opening title in this a series centred around the fictional Benedictine monastery of St Alcuin's, in Yorkshire, and set in the fourteenth century. At the start of the first novel Father Peregrine is appointed Abbot, at the age of 45. Father Peregrine, whose name in religion is Columba, is an arrogant, impatient man, a hawk trying hard to be a dove, whose struggles to manifest the character he considers to be expected of an abbot provide much of the narrative. Peregrine is surrounded by a company of flawed, human monks who are - for the most part - also serious about their calling, and who - again for the most part - come to love their driven and hard-driving leader. They lived six centuries ago, yet their struggles are our own-finding our niche; coping with failure; living with impossible people; and discovering that we are the impossible ones.Trade Review“Even in the darkest moments of the story, hope tarries in the wings. A wonderful writer, a wonderful read.” -- Liz Curtis Higgs, New York Times bestselling author“These tender and charming tales of medieval monastic life have an unexpectedly modern dimension. They highlight the struggles of the human condition both in the present and in the past. They illuminate that all humankind, whether aware of it or not, is on a pilgrimage. Through these stories we accompany Father Peregrine and his monks on their journey as they struggle to overcome their personal defects and to live harmoniously in community for the glory of God.” -- Eleanor Stewart, author, Kicking the Habit“Poignant, moving, rich with imagery and emotion… Modern readers will easily identify with each character in Wilcock’s timeless human dramas of people learning to love and serve on another while growing in their understanding of a tender and compassionate God. Highly recommended.” -- Midwest Book Review“Wonderfully insightful, with a rich historical storyline. There’s more substantial content here than in much Christian fiction – about grace, about leadership and loyalty, about humility, about disability and suffering.” -- FaithfulReader.com“I fell in love with Penelope Wilcock’s Hawk and the Dove series when it first came out. These books are still among my favourites and, incredibly, the series keeps getting better and better. What a delight a first time reader of the series has ahead of them!” -- Donna Fletcher Crow, author, Glastonbury: The Novel of Christian England“This masterful look into a bygone era reminds us that Christians of every age have faced the same basic struggles: how to worship God in spirit and truth, and to love our neighbours as ourselves. Many thanks to Penelope Wilcock for showing us, through the power of literature, an old way to new life.” -- Bryan M. Litfin, Professor of Theology, Moody Bible Institute“Penelope Wilcock has created a wonderful cast of characters to fill the marvellously accurate fourteenth-century monastery in her medieval series. For the lover of medieval mysteries this is a series not to be missed.” -- Mel Starr, author, The Unquiet Bones
£9.49
SPCK Publishing Mosaic: Life in pieces
Book Synopsis“When a pot breaks, it’s useless; at best there might be a shard that you can use to scoop grain. But what about a broken life? What about me? I feel so fragmented. Can I be repaired somehow? How do I live with the hate I feel towards those I’m supposed to be closest to? My life is in pieces and I don’t know what to do…” Will one tragic event leave friendship and family ties irrevocably broken? And how will a historical Middle Eastern mountain community deal with news of a miracle worker? Is he too good to be true?
£10.44
Collective Ink David and the Philistine Woman
Book SynopsisNara is a young Philistine woman who has given up hope of ever finding a husband. No man will take a wife who towers head and shoulders above him. She lives in isolation with her father, until she is discovered by the Philistine priests. They betroth her to Goliath, to give him warrior sons. What happens when Nara's fate collides with that of David, who is destined to face Goliath in combat, will forever transform how you experience this pivotal moment in the Bible...Boorstin reimagines David's dangerous path from shepherd to charismatic leader, interweaving his life not only with Nara's, but with key Biblical characters including King Saul, and Saul's daughter Michal, who will later become David's wife. While faithful to the spirit of the Bible, Boorstin reads between the lines of the ancient narrative to bring immediacy, relevance and even greater meaning to the life of the young Israelite who would become the most beloved character in the Old Testament. David and the Philistine Woman combines exciting storytelling and rich characters to fashion an unforgettable epic.Trade ReviewBoth a wise reading and a wild reimagining of the Bible's most fascinating personalities and most memorable single clash. Philistines and the Israelites, their gods and loves and struggles, spring to dramatic life in David and the Philistine Woman. -- Rabbi David Wolpe, Newsweek has called the most influential rabbi in America," author of David: the Divided Heart, King David is revered by more than half the population of the planet, yet he has never been more real and knowable than he is in Boorstin's breathtaking novel. Here the man God called "Beloved" is utterly, unforgettably human. I couldn't put this book down. -- Reza Aslan, author of Zealot and No god but God, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, and executive producer/host of CNN's Believer In David and the Philistine Woman, Paul Boorstin creates a remarkable new kind of narrative voice, at once mythic and insightful. His radiant David is a rare hero who feels as relevant as tomorrow. -- Bill Blakemore, ABC News Middle East Correspondent Boorstin dazzles with razor-sharp insight as he focuses on characters who leap from the pages of history with rich and newly defined clarity. Be prepared for surprises at every turn. -- Lionel Friedberg, New York Times bestselling author With vibrant color, Paul Boorstin paints a wholly new portrait of one of the Bible's most enigmatic figures. David and the Philistine Woman is a welcome addition to the rich tradition of Jewish historical fiction. -- Emily K. Alhadeff, editor of Jewish in Seattle Magazine Paul Boorstin's David and the Philistine Woman is an exciting rendering of the Biblical story with compelling relevance for today. The dialogue sparkles with wit, and the ingeniously constructed plot leads to an unexpected and inspiring climax. -- Joseph Schraibman, Professor of Jewish Studies, Washington University in St. Louis
£13.99
Collective Ink That They Might Lovely be
Book SynopsisNo-one thought Bertie Simmonds could speak. So, when he is heard singing an Easter hymn, this is not so much the miracle some think as a bolt drawn back, releasing long-repressed emotions with potentially devastating consequences...A decade later, Bertie marries Anstace, a woman old enough to be his mother, and another layer of mystery starts to peel away. Beginning in a village in Kent and set between the two World Wars, That They Might Lovely Be stretches from the hell of Flanders, to the liberating beauty of the Breton coast, recounting a love affair which embraces the living and the dead.
£15.19
Collective Ink Womanpriest, The: A Novel
Book SynopsisMacrina McGrath, a young 23-year-old Catholic ex-Marine and unwed mother, begins to see cracks in the Church she grew up loving. Bad priests preying on children, harsh treatment of the divorced and LGBTQ, a deep-seated and toxic sexism, and archaic dogmas force her to choose between leaving the Church or trying to make it better. Pursuing graduate school in theology at Georgetown and a trip to India help form her resolve: She will stop at nothing to take the Church out of the Middle Ages and deliver women from their abject status. Macrina McGrath joins and soon after heads the excommunicated Womanpriest movement and, with the help of the Archbishop of Boston, begins an ascent she never imagined. But her love for Ezra, a Jewish physicist and colleague at Amherst where they teach, is getting in the way.
£14.99
Collective Ink Bridge Jumping: A Novel
Book SynopsisThis is a journal of empowerment. The book of my rebirth. Paige Delaney -- misfit, rebel, heretic -- dies at the age of forty, leaving a cast of characters to deal with her cremation ashes, some willingly and others begrudgingly. The ashes have been divided into twelve vials. Her family and friends -- each with a different spiritual viewpoint -- venture forth from the funeral with the ashes in hand. Through their eyes, as they scatter them, we get to know Paige, and through her own journal entries, we learn about their relationships from her perspective. Their unique beliefs influence their opinions about her and where the ashes should be released. Whether we are devoted religious practitioners, new agers or atheists, our belief systems influence us all. At a time when religious clashes impact all our lives, how do we find common ground? Are there as many paths to the Creator as there are people on this planet?
£14.99
Collective Ink Amity: Stories from the Heartland
Book SynopsisAmity: Stories from the Heartland is a collection of short stories by well-known Quaker writer Brent Bill. Each story is set in the Midwest of the United States, a region known for its honest, hardworking, plain-speaking, religious people who are as complex and thoughtful as the most urbane city dwellers. These stories are about 1930s housewives, modern day priests, 1960s kids, and more -- as well as the varieties and vagaries of their lives' trials, triumphs, failings, joys, sorrows, and surviving -- and the beauty and mystery of it all.
£10.97
Collective Ink Quantum Conspiracy, The – A Novel of
Book Synopsis"The Quantum Conspiracy" explores the global shift in consciousness that is being fueled by evolution theory, the appearance of remarkable children being born who reveal a new DNA-like shift, and the threats posed by a potential nuclear war and environmental degradation. It also explores the possibility and reality of the decades-long dream of Earth being visited by benevolent aliens to help us through our present crisis. Along the way the authors discuss Native American prophecy, Egyptian mythology and the crisis American leadership has created in the Middle East. This book is a rare discussion of these elements with a powerful and credible hope for a positive outcome for all mankind.
£12.99
Collective Ink Holy Night
Book Synopsis"Holy Night" is a blending of an old mystery with a new one, the ancient tale of God's nativity on Earth but within modern cosmology's discovery that our planet is just one tiny dot in a colossal universe that emerged billions of years before the Bethlehem event. The result is a science fiction drama which quickly widens into a cosmic power struggle. It begins in the 'Star' which hovers over Bethlehem and soon develops into a confrontation between a God and a Satan who look disconcertingly like each other. But the drama isn't always intense. The scene in which God manages to make Satan laugh for the first time in his existence, and then can't help joining in until they're both helpless, is one instance of a strand that threads its way all through the book, from cosmic to comic and back again.Trade ReviewThis is one of the two most extraordinary books I have read. You know the entire plot before it starts - But this telling is different. Unless you are really allergic to spaceships or angels, you will be astonished and delighted.Chris Clarke, Professor of Applied Mathematics, author of Living in Connection.
£11.99
Collective Ink Jesus Outside the Box – Twelve Spiritual Tales of
Book Synopsis"Jesus Outside the Box" is a re-released, re-titled version of the author's previous book "The Magician's Tale". It a short book of twelve incredible stories written from the perspective of some of the lesser known characters of the New Testament. Each story offers an exciting and radical new portrait of the one we call The Christ. The author's intention was to present a picture of Jesus, without the 2,000 of Christian doctrine and dogma that have put him some great ecclesiastical box (and suffocated him the process). The Jesus of these tales has broken free from that box of Churchianity and will help readers do the same. This Jesus is human yet magical, gentle yet dangerous, distrustful of religion, yet unconditionally loving. He is exciting beyond our dreams. You may just discover that you'd thrown the divine baby out with the holy water.Trade ReviewMark is the master of the short story. These are powerful tales which speak directly to the heart and soul, allowing us to eavesdrop on events which were to shape the destiny of the world. (Barbara Erskine, International Bestseller) If these stories and others like them were to be told, or even read, in Church, perhaps in place of sermons, we might see a tide of joyful renewal sweep through the old institutions. Full of fresh inspiration these enchanting stories bring the ancient wisdom to life. (Rt Revd Alistair Bate, Independent Liberal Catholic Fellowship)
£10.16
Collective Ink Miracle Man, The
Book SynopsisImagine the Messiah came today as TV talent show judge. Imagine that his healing powers made medicare, drugs drink shopping and our other addictions redundant. The Miracle Man charts two years in the life of a modern day Messiah who is judge on The Miracle Mile (America's Got Talent). Living in the spotlight every move he makes is splashed all over the media. The book follows the exact chronology of the four Gospels of the New Testament, featuring every major character and updating every story to make it relevant for the secular world of today. Josh Gardner harnesses the world of the media to launch a celebrity led peaceful liberation of Tibet and an extraordinary U turn in Chinese policy. But a man this powerful is too much of a threat to the world order. Josh's PR guru Jude Isaacs (Judas Iscariot) believes that the greatest publicity coup would come from a live on air assassination. After all Josh will complete the story by rising again won't he.
£10.99
Collective Ink Mar Saba Codex
Book SynopsisWhile attending a Catholic conference in the US to boost the faith in difficult times, Australian political journalist and ex seminarian Jack Duggan is made aware of a controversial codex written by a 4th century Syrian bishop. Only photographs of the codex are available, the original having gone missing soon after its discovery at the Palestinian monastery of Mar Saba. Within a few pages we are engaged in Duggan's struggle with his religious past, a past that furnished him with the expertise to translate the codex, but left him antagonistic to all things religious. From there we are carried into the thick of a story that reveals, step by step, what this ancient codex contains, and it contains not a few historical surprises. At once a kind of thriller, a romance and a slice of life, The Mar Saba Codex is a big story with many an unexpected twist that traverses the globe from Sydney to San Francisco, and from New York to Rome, reaching its grand climax in the old walled city of Jerusalem where equally belligerent forces strive for dominance.Trade ReviewAn extremely well-written and well-crafted book, The Mar-Saba Codex takes up a set of philosophical issues that mirror those explored in Going Beyond the Jesus Story, and yet the intellectual weight of those issues is not such as to overload the narrative, but actually provides the interplay that drives it forward. (Jeff Malpas, Professor of Philosophy and ARC Professorial Fellow, University of Tasmania.)
£18.04
Pushcart Press The Long Road From Paris: A Novel
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£12.34
SPCK Publishing Love for the Lost
Book Synopsis"... yet another superb and gripping novel about faith and forgiveness, love and loss, by the wife of the Dean of Liverpool." Paul Beasley-Murray; Ministry Today Isobel Knox is happy and confident in her new job and likes her single life, free as it is from confusing and complicating entanglements. Supressing her emotions and burying painful memories has become second nature to her, but it seems to work; after all, why should letting it all out necessarily be good for you? But there are two men who could shatter her calm, brittle world: Davy, a young policeman, who, despite Isobel's distance, falls in love with her, and Johnny Whitaker, a charismatic priest with a troubled marriage. As Isobel's feelings for Johnny become stronger and deeper, her facade begins to crack, and the memories and emotions of years before come back, overpowering her with feelings she had thought long past and dealt with.Trade ReviewWith a wry sense of humour and an astute sense of personalities, the author charts a year in the life of a curate who at the beginning thinks that she has it all sorted and at the end realizes her need for the grace of God. The book combines good entertainment with good theology. An excellent read, highly recommended! * goodreads *... yet another superb and gripping novel about faith and forgiveness, love and loss, by the wife of the Dean of Liverpool. -- Paul Beasley-Murray; Ministry Today
£11.39
SPCK Publishing Appointed to Die
Book SynopsisDeath at the Deanery – sudden and unnatural death. Someone should have seen it coming. For even before Stuart Latimer arrives as the new Dean of Malbury, shock waves are reverberating through the tightly-knit and insular Cathedral Close, with sweeping changes afoot. And the reality is even worse than the expectation. The Dean’s naked ambition and ruthless behaviour alienate everyone in the Chapter: the gentle John Kingsley, vague Rupert Greenwood, pompous Philip Thetford and, especially, the strongly traditionalist Arthur Brydges-ffrench. Financial jiggery-pokery, clandestine meetings, malicious gossip, and several people who witness more than they ought to, make for a potent mix. But who could foresee that the mistrust within the Cathedral Close would spill over into violence and death? Canon Kingsley’s daughter Lucy draws in her lover David Middleton-Brown, against his better judgement, and together they probe the surprising secrets of a self-contained world where nothing is as it seemsTrade ReviewA disarming comedy of clerical manners . . . What you'd expect if Trollope decided that what the Barsetshire novels needed to juice them up was a tincture of illicit (albeit well-bred) passion and homicide. * Kirkus Reviews *Fascinating behind the scenes cathedral politics * Sunday Telegraph *KATE Charles’s earlier series of mystery books, "A Book of Psalms Mystery" (as an expatriate American she prefers "mystery" to the British usage of "crime novel"),has been republished, 25 years after their first appearance in the now almost-unimaginable world of record players, fixed telephones and address books. As befits a former chair of the Barbara Pym Society,Kate Charles’s books are more concerned with the people than the crime, and this is demonstrated in two of the series’ volumes. The first in the series, A Drink of Deadly Wine (£8.99), introduces the reader to solicitor David Middleton-Brown and artist Lucy Kingsley as they try to unravel the problems confronting Fr Gabriel Neville. A familiar cast of church community characters – eccentric organist, disapproving family, main gossip source – has to be investigated in what one reviewer described as "A bloodstained version of the world of Barbara Pym". The same duo are put to the test in The Snares of Death (£9.99) where denominational clashes manifest themselves at the National Pilgrimage to Walsingham. More recently – and in tune with today’s Anglican Church – a new female sleuth takes the lead in a new series. Deacon Callie Anson appears for the fourth time in False Tongues (£8.99), set in Cambridge and London and with the thoroughly up-to-date topic of cyber-bullying to confront. All three books are published by Marylebone House and any one of them is likely to set the keen who-dunit reader on a hunt to discover the whole of Kate Charles’s very readable output. -- Margaret Daniels * Methodist Recorder *
£10.44
SPCK Publishing A Dead Man Out of Mind
Book SynopsisA woman priest at St Margaret’s? Over my dead body! Dolly Topping, head of the national organisation ‘Ladies Opposed to Women Priests’ and wife of one of the churchwardens, feels that strongly about it. It is unfortunate, therefore, that Father Julian, the well-loved curate of the Pimlico church, should have been killed in a burglary gone wrong. And doubly unfortunate that the Vicar, upwardly-aspiring William Keble Smythe, should choose to appoint a woman to replace him. From the moment that Rachel Nightingale enters the serene Anglo-Catholic world of St Margaret’s, tempers and emotions run high; Christian charity is not much in evidence, even among those who espouse it loudly. Then another ‘accidental’ death unites the parishioners in new heights of hypocrisy, and leaves some crying ‘murder’. But David Middleton-Brown is sceptical – until he learns about Father Julian’s death. With the encouragement of the Archdeacon, David and Lucy Kingsley embark on a search for the truth about the ‘dead man out of mind’, and discover more than they ever wanted to know about greed, hypocrisy, ambition – and the cost of love.Trade ReviewThe plot is absolutely gripping, and what’s more, a few of the characters actually display Christian charity. · * Church Times *The modern ecclesiastical mystery . . . is a fast-growing sub-group of whodunnitry; no one is more skilled at it than Kate Charles. With the lightest of touches, she weaves the goriest murders into a convincing and provocative backdrop of clerical politics. Thoroughly entertaining, even to those of no religious bent.’ * The Times *
£10.44
SPCK Publishing Evil Angels Among Them
Book Synopsis‘Peaceful’ is the most common entry in the visitors’ book of fifteenth-century St Michael’s Church, with its glorious angel roof and its medieval Doom painting. But away from the church, and beneath the idyllic veneer, the tiny Norfolk village of Walston is anything but harmonious. The Rector’s new bride, Becca Thorncroft, is receiving phone calls so unpleasant that her very sanity is at stake; and the newest residents of Walston, Gillian English and Lou Sutherland, are not exactly welcomed with open arms. Then sudden, gruesome death shatters any remaining semblance of serenity. Fortunately for Father Stephen Thorncroft, he is able to enlist the help of his friends Lucy Kingsley and David Middleton-Brown to unravel the tangled relationships and uncover the dark motivations of the villagers. As the investigation proceeds, they stumble on more than they’d bargained for. But it is not until a little girl goes missing that the final, deadly pieces fall into place in their search for the ‘evil angels among them’.Trade Review· ‘Quick-witted . . . nice, tight plot.’ * The New York Times Book Review *· [Kate Charles’s] love certainly does not blind her to the failing of church members . . . betrayal of trust, malicious gossip, petty thievery and blackmail; but the author’s delicious sense of humour and compassion make this a narrative that is far from depressing. * Church Times *
£10.44
SPCK Publishing The Well of the North Wind
Book SynopsisSixth-century Ireland . . . Five-year-old Fian finds solace from a difficult home life by drawing shapes and patterns in the sand. The artistry he reveals in interpreting the beauties of nature takes him to Iona, where he will be the ‘fourth hand’ on the Book of Kells, that great treasure of the Celts. Greeted on arrival by the imposing Colum (Columba), Fian is gradually drawn into a community of laughter and stories, prayer and scholarship. But his formative experiences have left him vulnerable. In encountering blue-eyed Mara, a girl who bears a terrible secret, he recognizes another soul who lives with both desolation and joy. And as their friendship begins to deepen, Colum’s rough-and-ready kindness leads the master to make an error of judgement that will have devastating consequences . . . This lyrical, timeless story, which unfolds amidst the elemental beauty of one of the holiest places on earth, is an exploration of doubt, faith – and the brokenness of spirit that finally releases us into love.Trade ReviewSteven’s first novel robustly and sensitively explores the debilitating consequences of abuse, violence and the lack of love. It promises even greater things to follow -- Review of Glen Lyon * Scotland on Sunday *There is honesty in the novel about the nature of love . . . gripping -- Review of Glen Lyon * The Lochaber News *This is no ordinary love story but a complex tale of two people feeling their way towards each other […] wonderful descriptions of a landscape and weather unique to Scotland -- Review of Glen Lyon * Scottish Home and Country *It’s not every day that you read a book that strikes you as something completely new. When I was offered the chance to read a review copy of Kenneth Steven’s The Well of the North Wind, I was pleased to have the opportunity, but unsure of what to expect. What I found was a book that was a million miles away from my standard reading list of fantasy, sci-fi, Christian non-fiction and ‘classic’ literature. This short novel (coming in at around 150 pages) is set in 6th century Britain, taking place predominantly in Ireland and islands around Ireland and Scotland, so already, it’s not a commonly used setting. The novel itself follows the early life of Fian, a boy born in an Irish village and then raised through later childhood and adolescence in monastic communities that have settled the area and begun to spread the message of Christianity. In the course of his childhood, Fian is taken to one such community where he meets Colum, who is actually the historical St Columba, and in this location undertakes work as a scribe. This is the background for a story that follows Fian’s relationships with the local people, particularly a girl named Mara, with the monks, and with the God that the monks believe in. This is not a novel that appears overly driven by the plot. There is a progression from event to event, but those events seemed to me to have more importance in themselves, rather than simply functioning to drive on some bigger plot. The language of the book is simple, childlike in places, and, for me, served to ground the narrative more clearly in the consciousness of Fian and, to a lesser extent, those around him. Though this is a novel narrated in the third person, Stevens creates a closeness to the characters that not all third person narratives achieve. This is essential to the book because it leans so heavily on the experiences of those characters, Fian especially. It is a novel that invites you into their most private thoughts, doubts and fear, and carries a lot of emotional weight because of that. At times, I’ll admit, I got a bit lost with where the narrative was trying to take me, or what was going on in certain bits, but on reflection, those kind of details are really much less important than the emotional journey that you are invited to join Fian on. In fact, some of the vagueness of details that did, at times, frustrate me, serve to further that experience of being inside Fian’s head. Your knowledge is largely limited to his knowledge, and those limits are very real in the book. He is not a main character who has it all sorted; he is not necessarily there as an archetype or an example, as some main characters in novels by Christians are. He is there as a lens through which you can view his world, and maybe reflect on your own life in the light of that. His view of the world is refreshingly unsure and honest. He doesn’t know if he believes in the God of the monks, and Steven doesn’t shy away from that. He develops the character and allows him to be real. The Well of the North Wind was an excellent book. It was not necessarily the easiest read, despite its length, but those features that made it more difficult in places put in fantastic work elsewhere, drawing you in to the very real lives of the characters. It is an emotionally sensitive, refreshingly honest book, and brings a little known period of British history vividly to life. -- Ben Garry * Ben Garry blog *
£9.49
Monkfish Book Publishing Company The Return of the Goddess: A Divine Comedy
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£24.56
Sea Crow Press The Three Marks of Existence
£15.95
Editorial Planeta, S.A. El ángel perdido
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£22.81
Libros de Seda Edenbrooke
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£19.92
Edaf Antillas Ultima Aparición de la Virgen, La
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£21.52
Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial La llave de Sarah / Sarah?s Key
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£14.60
Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial Herodes El Grande Herod the Great
£23.36
Miraguano Shangrilá viaje por las fronteras chino tibetanas
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£999.99
