A is for Alabaster: 52 reflections on the stories of scripture by Anna Carter Florence (WJK, £16 (£14.40); 978-0-664-26148-1).

“Preacher and writer Anna Carter Florence brings winsome insight to an array of characters and stories in the Bible, some celebrated and some overlooked. . . Florence takes readers on an enchanting tour of the Old and New Testaments with reflections that reveal ancient wisdom and spark imagination anew.”


The Oxford Handbook of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, edited by Michael Mawson and Philip G. Ziegler (OUP, £40 (£36); 978-0-19-890400-7). New in paperback

“This volume provides a comprehensive resource for those wishing to understand the German theologian, pastor, and resistance conspirator Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) and his writings.”

Lydia: A story by Paula Gooder (Hodder, £9.99 (£8.99); 978-1-444-79205-8). New in paperback

“In her second work of fiction, Biblical scholar and popular author and speaker Paula Gooder tells Lydia’s story: who she was, the life she lived and her first-century faith. In doing so, she opens up Paul’s letter to the Philippians, giving a sense of the cultural and historical pressures that shaped Paul’s thinking, and the faith of the early church.”

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