The Problem of the Christian Master: Augustine in the afterlife of slavery by Matthew Elia (Yale, £35 (£31.50); 978-0-300-26659-7).

“Over the last two decades, scholars have made a striking return to the resources of the Augustinian tradition to theorize citizenship, virtue, and the place of religion in public life. However, these scholars have not sufficiently attended to Augustine’s embrace of the position of the Christian slaveholder. To confront a racialized world, the modern Augustinian tradition of political thought must reckon with its own entanglements with the afterlife of the white Christian master.”

Scottish Religious Poetry: From the sixth century to the present, edited by Linden Bicket, Emma Dymock and Alison Jack (Saint Andrew Press, £25 (£22.50); 978-1-80083-047-9).

“A comprehensive selection of religious poetry that Scotland has produced over the centuries, including some Gaelic voices and reflecting the mixed religious profile of Scotland today.”

Lifescapes: A biographer’s search for the soul by Ann Wroe (Vintage, £10.99 (£9.89); 978-1-529-92254-7). New in paperback

“In this dazzlingly original blend of memoir, biography, observation and poetry, Ann Wroe reflects on the art and impossibility of capturing life on the page. Through her experiences and those of others, through people she has known, studied or merely glimpsed in windows, she movingly explores what makes a life and how that life lingers after.”

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