July 2010
New Books this Month

The Essential Sri Anandamayi Ma
by Alexander Lipski and Anandamayi Ma
The great Indian saint Anandamayi Ma has inspired millions of individuals of diverse faiths and circumstances—from Prime Ministers, artists, and industrialists to shopkeepers, beggars and monks, including Mahatma Gandhi and a long list of prominent political figures worldwide. Beautifully illustrated with over 100 color and sepia photos and illustrations, this book includes a concise and sensitive biography of Anandamayi Ma with important selections from her oral teachings.

Moments of Clarity
by Christopher Kennedy Lawford
In his memoir, Symptoms of Withdrawal, Christopher Kennedy Lawford chronicled his deep descent into near-fatal drug and alcohol addiction, and his subsequent hard-won journey back to sobriety, which he has maintained for more than twenty years. The overwhelming response his book received impressed upon Lawford the number of people struggling to find their own way back from addiction and the need to share their stories. The histories gathered here are the recollections of lives snatched back from the brink of a precipice so wide and deep it threatened to engulf them. As the men and women, young and old, across all barriers of celebrity, color, and class, bravely share their stories, they shed light not only on their own experiences but also on the journey we all take as human beings trying to make sense of the world.

A New Kind of Christianity:
10 Questions That Are Transforming the Faith
by Brian D. McLaren
McLaren's fans and detractors have eagerly awaited this book, which promises to codify the beliefs he introduced in his bestselling A New Kind of Christian and other titles. McLaren, one of the most visible faces of an emergent movement, examines 10 questions the church must answer as it heads toward a new way of believing. McLaren deconstructs the Greco-Roman narrative of the Bible and addresses how the Bible should be understood as an inspired library, not a constitution. He moves into questions regarding God, Jesus, and the Gospel, urging us to trade up our image of God and realize that Jesus came to launch a new Genesis. The Church, sexuality, the future, and pluralism merit chapters, as does McLaren's final call for a robust spiritual life. Followers will rejoice as McLaren articulates his thoughts with logic and eloquence; detractors will point out his artful avoidance of firm answers on salvation, hell, and a final judgment.

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