A Wide Range

To learn more about the books to your left, roll over their covers with your mouse.

Andrew Newberg

Why God Won't Go Away

Ballantine/Random House

Newberg and d’Auili’s groundbreaking book uses brain science to understand the biology of belief. “The first work to explicitly probe the biology of religious experience,” according to Publisher’s Weekly, Why God Won’t Go Away blends cutting edge science with illuminating insights into the nature of consciousness and spirituality. A book for believers and non-believers alike, “Newberg’s reverential attitude toward the great unknown is reminiscent of Einstein’s,” says Larry Dossey.

Norman Fischer

Sailing Home

Free Press/Simon & Schuster

Norman Fischer is one of the most respected Zen teachers in the country.  Founder of the Bay Area’s Everyday Zen Foundation, and a poet and graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, Fischer is an important proponent of interreligious dialogue.  In Sailing Home, he shows us how to read Homer’s classic as a spiritual guide, revealing its profound guidance for navigating life's pitfalls, perils, and spiritual challenges.  Fischer has appeared on Oprah and has been praised by Jon Kabat-Zinn and Jack Kornfield, among many others.

August Gold and Joel Fotinos

The Prayer Chest

Doubleday Religion/Random House

Co-founders of Sacred Center New York Joel Fotinos and August Gold present an inspiring spiritual parable in The Prayer Chest, the story of a man on the edge of tragedy who changes his life with the Three Secrets of Prayer.  This uplifting tale has been endorsed by singer-songwriter Judy Collins and authors Laura Berman Fortgang, Tama J. Kieves, and Christiane Northrup, and Publishers Weekly says, “this easy, inspirational read will warm the hearts of seekers everywhere.”

Joan Konner

The Atheist's Bible

Ecco/HarperCollins

This nationally bestselling gift book by the former dean of the Columbia Journalism School compiles the most irreligious quotes of the greatest thinkers, writers, and entertainers of our time. The Philadelphia Inquirer says “consider The Atheist's Bible your atheism beach book, your big-A graphic novel, your Atheism for Dummies, a slim book that permits you to feel like a high-achieving apostate every 20 seconds while you build up strength for serious blasphemy when cooler weather returns.”

Alan Morinis

Everyday Holiness

Shambhala

Alan Morinis, founder and director of the Mussar Institute, recreates his teachings of a little known Jewish traditional practice in Everyday Holiness: The Jewish Spiritual Path of Mussar.  With accessible prose and an enlightening message, Morinis encourages readers to become mensches, or “extraordinary ordinary people,” without neglecting their day-to-day life.  Spirituality and Health says, “You don’t have to be Jewish to appreciate this way of refining and elevating your inner life and outward actions.  Everyday Holiness is an exceptional resource, illuminating how true spiritual transformation can take place in our lives one day at a time.” 

Rabbi Alan Lew

Be Still and Get Going

Little, Brown/Hachette

Rabbi Alan Lew, who passed away in 2009, beautifully married the ancient traditions, history and lore of the Torah and Talmud with the serene meditative practices of Zen Buddhism.  Like any good teacher unafraid to address big, broad issues—suffering, fear, conflict—and agile enough to make sense of the more elusive ones—listening for and finding God, connecting to and appreciating sacred emptiness—Be Still and Get Going gives each lesson with a summation of "practice points." Seekers need not be Jewish to engage the ancient wisdom of these meditations that offer a rich, multileveled path to everyday spirituality.