On Reflection: Looking for life’s meaning by Richard Holloway (Canongate £18.99 (£15.99); 978-1-80530-291-9).

“In On Reflection Richard Holloway thinks back on some of the questions that have shaped his life. Here, then, are the big asks: is there a God? How can we forgive? Where does creativity come from? How can we face loss and death? How can we live a good life? And how do we find beauty in the world?” 

The Living Philosophy of Edith Stein by Peter Tyler (Bloomsbury, £28.99 (£26.09); 978-1-350-26560-8). New in paperback

“Studying with Husserl in Göttingen, becoming a Carmelite nun, and finally meeting her death in Auschwitz, the multifaceted life of Edith Stein (1891-1942) is well known. But what about her writing? Have the different aspects of her scholarship received sufficient attention? Peter Tyler thinks not, and by drawing on previously untranslated and neglected sources, he reveals how Stein’s work lies at the interface of philosophy, psychology, and theology.” 

In the Stillness, Waiting: Christian origins of the prayer of the heart by Nicholas Alan Worssam SSF (Canterbury Press, £16.99 (Church Times SPECIAL OFFER PRICE £13.59); 978-1-78622-488-0).

“Many are familiar with the Orthodox ‘Jesus prayer’, but there is much more to discover about its tradition of contemplation as a grounding both for the interior spiritual life, and for compassionate action in the world. The author, an Anglican Franciscan friar and theologian, reflects on the wealth of Orthodox spirituality through the teachings of its key figures and texts.”

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