In Pursuit of Love by Mark Bostridge

★★★★ ☐ The publisher has provided a copy for review.

If you've ever been captured by an idea that has reshaped your life, you'll love this tale of pursuit. I liked the now-and-then exploration of life in Hugo's time. The genre of creative non-fiction allows for musings between what we actually can prove and what might or could have been. Bostridge combines facts and speculations in an engaging and interesting way.

Recommended for history buffs, for literature and Victor Hugo fans, and for the curious. Useful for academics as well as literary bystanders. Enjoy this unusual and engaging book (complete with photos.)

What's Next Is Now by Frederik Pferdt

★★★★ ☐ The publisher has provided a copy for review.
What does it mean to balance faith and works? I felt this was an essential question as Pferdt explores the meaning and working out of our salvation. I like the use of tools like the Johari Window; the affirmation of every believer as created uniquely and purposefully for his/her time and place; and the encouragement to servanthood.

Where you're exploring what it means to have Jesus as "the Way," whether you are seeking "the Truth," or living in abundance in him as "the Life," there's something here for you. There are reminders of what you know, what you haven't thought of, and ways to live out your commitment to God.

Recommended for those seeking spiritual direction, teaching or growing in spiritual formation, and those who are considering the path of faith in Jesus.

Trust the Whisper by Kathy Izard

★★★★ ☐ The publisher has provided a copy for review.
How do you know when God is speaking to you? How can you be sure that your purpose and path are the right ones? That you are being guided and led?

I liked the stories of how God has spoken to others. It gave me ideas of ways God has whispered to me in the past and brought life and light to my journey. It's a tale of progress in the faith, of understanding how ordinary life unfolds day to day. Sometimes we see the steps we are taking. Other times, we look back in wonder at how far we've come. 

If you aren't certain that God is a speaking and interacting One, if you think God is far away and uninterested in you, read this book. It will help you look at the voice and the voices around you - how the Living Word is present in and through you. 

Even After Everything by Stephanie Duncan Smith

★★★★ ☐ The publisher has provided a copy for review.
Love is risky. We know that after the first disappointment, the first heartbreak. Yet are we willing to stay open to new people and fresh experiences when those things happen and those people crush our expectations (not in a good way ...)?

I came late to the Christian calendar, growing up in a low-Protestant environment where liturgy and church feasts were suspect. This book reconciles the human need for connection and being a conduit for living water with the reality of a broken world. 

Smith makes personal the idea of having hope amid distractions and disappointments. She offers stories and pathways to see life as abundant and glorious even in seasons of pain. She invites the reader to connect to the life of Christ and the life of others: of "joining" this unfolding of the Kingdom of God.

I enjoyed it. I recommend it to spiritual seekers, those distrustful of Christ's community of faith, and to those maturing and opening their hearts to the joy offered in the Body of Christ.

The Secret Lives of Numbers by Kate Kitagawa; Timothy Revell

★★★★ ☐ The publisher has provided a copy for review.
"I avoid math but I like stories." I can honestly start my review that way. Reading about the people and ideas that shocked and propelled the way people see the world was interesting. 

There are twists and turns at many points of history that open our understanding to what is there. There are dead ends and rabbit trails. I found the travels through thousands of years of mathematics fascinating. And, since I didn't stand in God's math line (but instead in his art and story line), you might really enjoy this as well.

Recommended for the curious and explorers.

Being a Sanctuary by Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez

★★★★★  The publisher provided a copy for review. 
 The dedication gives the hope of the contents: radical love, radical labor, radical life that is sacred, soft, and safe for the Church and the world around it.

Contrasting the perceptions and realities of an unloving, not-serving Body of Christ with the hopefulness and possibilities of Christ's nature, Dominguez opens the possibilities of a collective reflection, repentance and restoration of what Jesus intended.

Each chapter starts with a quote, a verse and a story or observation on how things are. And it ends with reflections in meditations, questions, and scripture. Well worth picking up. Because the concepts are worth pursuing wherever God has placed you in this world of hurt and hopelessness.

Be the body! I'm recommending this for spiritual formation, ministry leadership, and ministry team members - so that through you will flow living water as you reach and teach others in the same.

Becoming by Beholding by Lanta Davis

★★★★ ☐ The publisher has provided a copy for review.
I've enjoyed recent trends and discoveries in spiritual formation. It takes a while for a book to come to press so the ideas aren't completely new to me. 

This book highlights the mysteries of our faith: the beauty of art, the thoughtfulness of writing, the history in orthodoxy and orthopraxy. I was fascinated by the threads of care- and carefulness related to Christian beliefs and praxis.

If you are teaching, experiencing, or considering a spiritual director or spiritual formation, I recommend that you ponder these explorations and exercises. Caution is advised: stay close to the scriptures and examine what you read as you open your heart to experiencing God-with-us-in-Christ in new ways.