10th July 2026


Books Spotlight Religion & Spirituality


Titles in this Spotlight are to be published between August 2026 and July 2027 Previews


Journeying from religion to self-help to the occult


T


Our expert, their picks


Sue Baker


The former Books Editor of Publishing News Sue Baker says: “I can’t remember learning to read, I just did – and have never stopped. I loved the additional layers of selling, presentation and converting customers into readers that bookselling involved, and I have enjoyed my later foray into reviewing, unable to lose touch with books and reading, even in my dotage.”


Julianna Glasse This Is What Happens When Women Read


Bloomsbury Circus, October, £20, HB, 9781526694355


Originating from the heart of the American fundamentalist movement, Glasse describes her life after she started to read books that were not on the fundamentalist playlist and which her husband tried to forbid. In a defining moment, Glasse realised that reading, questioning new ideas and learning is often denied to women and she now campaigns to prove the power of reading for all women. Women, especially those living under the thumb of extreme religiosity, need to discover what Glasse has to say and find their own path in life.


Gavin Evans Bible Stories: Fact, Fiction and Fantasy in Scripture


Icon Books, September, £9.99, PB, 9781837732340


The book’s theme originates in the author’s religious upbringing and later doubts about the writings that had been paramount in his life. Although now an atheist, he does not denigrate the followers of the Abrahamic faiths but shows that stories and “facts” from thousands of years ago do need to be re-examined in the light of today’s world, which is so vastly different. I liked the questioning nature of the book, looking for explanations in history, archaeology and legend, as well as the religious texts themselves. Evans shows the dangers of unquestioning faith and the harm it does to the practitioner and the hapless bystander far and near.


24


James Wood Show Us the Father


Jonathan Cape, March 2027, £20, HB, 9781787336704


This title will not be published until March 2027 so I am recommending this purely on author and subject, which from the advance information sheet promises to be a witty and poignant family memoir. Set in the 1970s, the focus is Wood’s father, an atheist turned Anglican vicar who held many secrets of a time before the life Wood knew. This memoir is recommended to readers and lovers of Blake Morrison and Mark Haddon and it feels very much in this genre of novelists and poets looking back on childhood and family, probing beyond what they knew as children.


he description of Rory MacLean’s Geography of Heaven (Abacus) is a strike straight to the heart. MacLean’s wife died some five years ago and his instinct, as a


traveller in our living world, was to search for her somewhere – anywhere – in some place, form or experience, a study in raw grief that one hopes brings some healing. Another excellent writer, James Wood in Show Us the Father (Jonathan Cape), recounts his early life and the part that religion played in his complex family dynamic. Cape recommends this to all Blake Morrison fans. There are four biographies of key religious and philosophical figures to come – from


Bart van Es’ True Fire (Faber), on the life of St Augustine, Aristotle by Philip Freeman (Yale) and from Reaktion Books, The Buddha by Mario Poceski and Francis of Assisi by Michael F Cusato. I have been writing this review over the


hottest period of the year (so far), which is why I end with wintry longing – first, The Season of Frost and Fire by Rebecca Beattie at Elliott & Thompson and, as a guide for witches in the winter season, fingers crossed one of the spells will banish all temperatures rising above 17°C. Staying with the winter theme, I have just enough space to mention John Potter’s history of the Christmas carol from Yale, Christmas Carols: An English Enchantment.


Patrick van der Vorst The Story of Christian Art Lion Books, October, £49.99, HB, 9781739417895


A comprehensive overview of Christian art from its very beginnings, continuing to the present day and seeking out current Christian artists and questioning whether their work remains valid in today’s secular society. With religious belief the backbone of much of Western art, this history is a valuable one for believers and art lovers of any persuasion. The book – of some 500 pages – is profusely illustrated with key works, explaining the themes of each artwork, the symbolism and style, together with details of the artists and patrons.


Matthew Engelke An Honest Death: Life’s End and Humanist Funerals


Princeton, August, £22, TPB, 9780691280097


A study into London- based non-religious funerals. Looking at funerals through the eyes of Humanist celebrants and how they seek to craft funerals that are personalised tributes to the person that has died. Engelke also looks at how the celebrants comfort the living and, having worked with a Humanist funeral celebrant, I found the description of their craft and motivation both cathartic and momentous. This book is a fitting tribute to the people who conduct the final leaving, giving us this view of what they do and why.


Books


Spotlight


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44