God in Pain: The mystery of suffering by Barbara Brown Taylor (Canterbury Press, £10.99 (£9.90); 978-1-78622-094-3).

“Barbara Brown Taylor explores the eternal mystery of suffering from human and divine perspectives with her characteristic grace, sensitivity and profound biblical insight.”
 

Saints on Sunday: Voices from our past enlivening our worship by Gail Ramshaw (Liturgical Press, £12.99 (£11.70); 978-0-8146-4558-1).

“How might Ambrose of Milan, Hildegard of Bingen, and Catherine of Siena inspire us to improve Sunday worship? What about Lawrence, John of Damascus, Thomas Cranmer, Johannes Kepler, Margaret Fell, and Dorothy Day? Even Amy Carmichael can point our assemblies toward more profound worship.”

Past Perfect: Freedom from perfection in life and faith by Stephen Mitchell (Christian Alternative, £7.99 (£7.20); 978-1-78535-788-6)

“We seem to be obsessed with perfection. It's everywhere, permeating our conversations, our language, our advertising, our films and our religion. It's not only widespread across our culture; it has roots deep in the beginning of our civilization. For the sake of our well-being and our faith we need to be liberated from this pre-occupation.”

God: A Human history of religion by Reza Aslan (Corgi, £8.99 (£8.10); 978-0-5521-7499-2). New in paperback.

“In God, Reza Aslan sheds new light on mankind's relationship with the divine and challenges our perspective on the history of faith and the birth of religion. From the origins of spiritual thought to the concept of an active, engaged, divine presence that underlies all creation, Aslan examines how the idea of god arose in human evolution, was gradually personalized, endowed with human traits and emotions, and eventually transformed into a single Divine Personality: the God known today by such names as Yahweh, Father, and Allah.”

Advent for Everyone: A journey through Luke by Tom Wright (SPCK, £8.99 (£8.10); 978-0-281-07967-4).

“Join Tom Wright on a journey through Luke, as he explores the Gospel themes of faith, repentance, justice and celebration. Within each of these themes, Wright offers daily readings and meditations for a week, beginning with the Sunday reading in the Revised Common Lectionary, and ending with stimulating questions for personal reflection or group discussion.”

Selected by Frank Nugent, of the Church House Bookshop, which operates the Church Times Bookshop.