Death, Where is Your Sting? Dying and death examined by Robert Reiss (Christian Alternative Books, £10.99 (£9.89); 978-1-78904-247-4).

“Death, Where Is Your Sting? is about both the process of dying and the question of what, if anything, happens after death. Robert Reiss knows the answers to his questions have eluded philosophers and theologians past, but he gives a compelling argument as to why we should continue to ask the question in light of new evidence from neuroscience and new interpretations of the New Testament. Paying close attention to the contested issue of assisted dying, Reiss shows that questions of life after death are not only eternal, but urgent, as lawmakers continue to use religion and religious ethics as a guide.”

T & T Clark Companion to Liturgy, edited by Alcuin Reid (T & T Cark, £28.99 (£26.09); 978-0-567-70112-1).

“In the decades following the Second Vatican Council, Catholic liturgy became an area of considerable interest and debate, if not controversy, in the West. Mid-late 20th-century liturgical scholarship, upon which the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council were predicated and implemented, no longer stands unquestioned. The liturgical and ecclesial springtime the reforms of Paul VI were expected to facilitate has failed to emerge, leaving many questions as to their wisdom and value. Quo vadis Catholic liturgy? This Companion brings together a variety of scholars who consider this question at the beginning of the 21st century in the light of advances in liturgical scholarship, decades of post-Vatican II experience and the critical re-examination in the West of the question of the liturgy promoted by Benedict XVI. The contributors, each eminent in their field, have distinct takes on how to answer this question, but each makes a significant contribution to contemporary debate, making this Companion an essential reference for the study of Western Catholic liturgy in history and in the light of contemporary scholarship and debate.”

T & T Clark Companion to Atonement, edited by Adam Johnson (T & T Clark, £28.99 (£26.09); 978-0-567-70111-4).

“The T&T Clark Companion to Atonement establishes a vision for the doctrine of the atonement as a unified yet extraordinarily rich event calling for the church’s full appropriation. Most edited volumes on this doctrine focus on one aspect of the work of Christ (for example, Girard, feminist thought, penal substitution or divine violence). The Companion is unique in that every essay seeks to both appropriate and stimulate the church's understanding of the manifold nature of Christ’s death and resurrection. The essays are divided into four main sections: 1) dogmatic location, 2) chapters on the Old and New Testaments, 3) major theologians, and 4) contemporary developments. . . The book comprises 18 major essays, and an A-Z section containing shorter dictionary-length entries on a much broader range of topics. The result is a combination of in-depth analysis and breadth of scope, making this a benchmark work for further studies in the doctrine.”

Selected by Aude Pasquier, of the Church House Bookshop, which operates the Church Times Bookshop.