BOOKS


Category Spotlight Religion & Spirituality


Category Spotlight


Religion & Spirituality T


A preview of new titles published from July 2024 to June 2025


Upcoming titles in this category range from inspirational autobiographies to meditative guides and beautiful tarot sets


Sue Baker Freelance previewer


here has been some press coverage of the rise in religious involvement among younger generations. Lamorna Ash’s Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever (Bloomsbury) is an ideal introduction to this growing trend. As a balance, Andrew Copson provides an introduction to the issue of humanism in What I Believe from Piatkus. A further and far more disturbing trend is exposed in Greg Epstein’s Tech Agnostic (MIT). He argues that the major religion of our times is now to be found in the world of technology. His book acts as a warning and a means of discovering a way out. The presentation of history through “100 objects” continues with Mathew


Byrne’s A History of English Churches in 100 Objects from Pitkin, which publishes in October, an ideal Christmas giſt for the religious and history markets alike. Continuing the history theme is Jessica Wärnberg’s Cit of Echoes (Icon Books), which looks at the cit of Rome through the rise and domination of the papacy. As a pet owner I am all too aware of the


inevitable grief that follows their death. Until very recently this subject was one of the last holdouts of the “stiff upper lip” syndrome. Now Paul Koudounaris provides the surprisingly recent history of memorialising the passing of much-loved companion animals in Faithful unto Death from Thames & Hudson.


Category highlights


Christianity


Catherine Coldstream Cloistered:


My Years as a Nun Chatto & Windus, out now, £20, hb, 9781784745059


At 24, Catherine Coldstream joined an order of nuns and for 12 years led a cloistered life. It was a life of serenity and purpose and remained so until the nuns fell into a struggle for power at the monastery. Her description of the heartbreaking decision she had to make—to stay or to go—is a cautionary tale of separation and isolation.


Current Affairs


Lucy Ash The Baton


and the Cross Icon Books, October, £25, hb, 9781837731831


Under Putin, the religious community is being weaponised as an arm of the state. With the all too willing help of many clerics, the state and the Russian Orthodox Church are dismantling any progress made since the fall of commu- nism, endangering all Russian citizens. A stark investigation about how religion can become suffocating state directed terror, with Ash also investi- gating the role of “big money” in this travesty.


34 12th July 2024


Beliefs


Andrew Copson What I Believe: Humanist Ideas and Philosophies


to Live By Piatkus, November, £16.99, hb, 9780349438429


A range of interviews with humanists such as Stephen Fry, Jim Al-Khalili, Sandi Toksvig and Alf Dubs. Today, there is a great diversity of humanist thought. This book shares some of these ideas and philosophies, and provides a wealth of inspiration, exploring the basic tenets of humanism and how these interviewees interpret the values of living a secular life.


History


Paul Koudounaris Faithful unto Death Thames & Hudson, Septem- ber, £25, hb, 9780500027516


Koudounaris dates the birth of pet cemeteries to 1881, with the unusual decision—for the time—to leave a public memorial to Cherry, a much-loved dog. He traces how we gradually began to publicly acknowledge the pain involved in the loss of companion animals with the establishment of pet memorials. Illustrated with the author’s own photographs, this is a book that addresses a compelling topic for any pet owner.


Myths


Sharon Blackie, Angharad Wynne Wise Women: Myths and Stories for


Midlife and Beyond Virago, October, £20, hb, 9780349018317


Taken from European myth and folklore, a collection of stories retold to celebrate the power of women in the second, golden half of their lives. Begone crones, witches and hags—here, the old ways of thinking are cast aside for inspira- tion, boldness and fierceness. The mature woman is a force of nature, a positive spirit. Find your inner wise woman and become the new Superwoman.


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