The Best Spiritual Books of 2007

We are pleased to announce our choices of the 50 books that have most impressed and inspired us in 2007. We have made this selection from the more than 300 books reviewed during the year on this website. Since we only review books that we want to recommend to you for your spiritual journey, this selection actually represents the best of the best.

We have organized this list by a major theme or spiritual practice covered in the book. (These are not subcategories of the awards.) Through diverse approaches, drawing upon the wisdom and practices of the world's religions, these titles explore the quest for meaning and purpose, wholeness and healing, commitment and community, contemplation and social activism.

We congratulate the authors and publishers of these exceptional contributions to today's spiritual renaissance. Click on the title link to read the full review.

ANIMALS
Animals Matter: A Biologist Explains Why We Should Treat Animals with Compassion and Respect by Marc Bekoff (Shambhala, paperback) is a convincing exploration of why we should care for and share with animals.

BEAUTY
Notes on the Need for Beauty: An Intimate Look at an Essential Quality by J. Ruth Gendler (Marlowe and Company, paperback) is an enthralling, poetic, and creative meditation on beauty and the important role it plays in our lives.

CONNECTIONS
One City: A Declaration of Interdependence by Ethan Nichtern (Wisdom Publications, paperback) is a rich and multidimensional presentation of interdependence as an important Buddhist spiritual practice.

DEVOTION
A Book of Hours by Thomas Merton and Kathleen Deignan (Sorin Books, hardcover) is a collection of prayers and meditations revealing Merton's reading of the texts of divine revelation in nature, scripture, history, culture, and his own heart.

ECONOMICS
The Moral Measure of the Economy by Chuck Collins and Mary Wright (Orbis Books, paperback) is a cogent overview of the inequalities and injustices afoot in the U.S. economy.

ENTHUSIASM
Everyday Miracles: Meditations on Living an Extraordinary Life by Ardath Rodale (Rodale, hardcover) is a collection of inspiring essays on everyday spirituality.

EVERYDAY SPIRITUALITY
Pray All Ways by Edward Hays (Forest of Peace, paperback) is a new edition of this classic that encourages us to expand our devotional life through many concrete ways to pray.

FAITH
A Dynamic God: Living an Unconventional Catholic Faith by Nancy Mairs (Beacon Press, hardcover) contains cogent and creative essays about spirituality by a self-professed unconventional Catholic.

FAITH
Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott (Riverhead, hardcover) is another quirky and appealing collection of essays on Lamott's Christian journey of faith.

FORGIVENESS
Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy by Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt, and David L. Weaver-Zercher (Jossey-Bass, hardcover) is a soulful and thought-provoking meditation by three scholars on the Amish understanding and practice of forgiveness and loving one's enemies.

FRIENDSHIP
Fabulous Friendship Festival: Loving Wildly, Learning Deeply, Living Fully with Our Friends by Sark (Three Rivers Press, paperback) is a charming and frolicsome look at the joy and creative expressions of friendship.

GRACE
Finding God in a Tangled World: Thoughts and Parables by Juris Rubenis and Maris Subacs (Paraclete Press, aardcover) is a soul-stirring collection of parables and thoughts by two Christians in Latvia.

GRATITUDE
Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier by Robert A. Emmons (Houghton Mifflin, hardcover) is an upbeat and enlightening scientific study of the positive and life-enhancing values of gratitude.

HOSPITALITY
Eastern Wisdom for Western Minds by Victor M. Parachin (Orbis Books, paperback) models hospitality as a way for Christians to enrich their faith with the principles and practices of Eastern religions.

HOSPITALITY
Emerging Heart: Global Spirituality and the Sacred by Beverly Lanzetta (Fortress Press, paperback) is a bold and adventuresome vision of a new global spirituality that is mystical, nonviolent, compassionate, and heart-centered.

HUMAN RIGHTS
Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade - and How We Can Fight It by David Batstone (HarperSanFrancisco, paperback) is an incisive overview of the global slave trade epidemic and the heroic contributions of modern-day abolitionists to stop human trafficking.

IMPERMANENCE
Jake Fades: A Novel of Impermanence by David Guy (Trumpeter, hardcover) is a juicy Zen novel about teachers, sex, and letting go.

INNER WORK
Living Your Unlived Life: Coping With Unrealized Dreams and Fulfilling Your Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Robert A. Johnson and Jerry M. Ruhl (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, hardcover) presents tools and exercises to help us deal with our shadow and our unlived lives.

INTERFAITH SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE
Noticing the Divine: An Introduction to Interfaith Spiritual Guidance by John R. Mabry (Morehouse, paperback) is a challenging overview of the art of spiritual guidance in this age of deep ecumenism.

JESUS
Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope by Brian D. McLaren (Thomas Nelson, hardcover) is a visionary work that relates Jesus and Christianity to the global crises of our time, seeing it as a faith that offers love, peace, justice and hope.

JOY
Chasing Joy: Musings on Life in a Bittersweet World by Edward Hays (Forest of Peace, paperback) is an exuberant guidebook to joyful living that celebrates laughter, love, patience, hope, singing, smiles, and happiness.

JOY
Living a Joyous Life: The True Spirit of Jewish Practice by David Aaron (Shambhala, hardcover) is an enthusiastic presentation of Judaism animated by deep spiritual meanings and a joy that keeps growing.

JUDAISM
Everyday Holiness: The Jewish Spiritual Path of Musar by Alan Morinis (Shambhala, hardcover) presents a sturdy and substantive spiritual curriculum that nourishes the soul and provides a plethora of practices to try every day.

KINDNESS
The Power of Kindness: The Unexpected Benefits of Leading a Compassionate Life by Piero Ferrucci (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, paperback) is a rich and rounded exploration of eighteen different dimensions of kindness.

MEANING
Porch Talk: Stories of Decency, Common Sense, and Other Endangered Species by Philip Gulley (HarperSanFrancisco, paperback) is a relaxed and edifying collection of stories demonstrating the art of everyday spirituality with pieces on family, marriage, friendship, simplicity, and more.

MEANING
The Way of the Small: Why Less Is Truly More by Michael Gellert (Nicholas-Hays, Inc., paperback) makes a good case for the way of the small in a world warped by grandiose dreams and schemes.

MEMOIR
Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation by Eboo Patel (Beacon Press, hardcover) is a fascinating memoir about the founder of an interfaith youth movement that combines pluralism with compassionate service.

MONASTIC PRACTICES
The Desert Mothers: Spiritual Practices from the Women of the Wilderness by Mary C. Earle (Morehouse, paperback) challenges us to learn from the wisdom and spiritual practices of the fourth century desert mothers.

MYSTICISM
Entering the Castle: An Inner Path to God and Your Soul by Caroline Myss (Free Press, hardcover) uses Teresa of Avila's The Interior Castle as a launch pad for becoming a mystic without a monastery who yearns to connect with God.

OPENNESS
Instant Enlightenment: Fast, Deep, and Sexy by David Deida (Sounds True, paperback) is a playful collection of exercises and helpful aphorisms on the spiritual practice of openness, love, and shadow.

PARENTING
Momfulness: Mothering with Mindfulness, Compassion, and Grace by Denise Roy (John Wiley & Sons, paperback) is a lively and eclectic group of spiritual practices that mothers and other family members can do at home and elsewhere.

POWER
The Art of Power by Thich Nhat Hanh (HarperOne, hardcover) reframes the art of power and gives us a fresh, practical, and spiritual way of incorporating it in our lives.

PRACTICE
Wisdom Walk: Nine Practices on Creating Peace and Balance from the World's Spiritual Traditions by Sage Bennett (New World Library, paperback) includes wisdom from nine world religions in the form of one spiritual practice for each.

PRAYER
May I Have This Dance?: An Invitation to Faithful Prayer Throughout the Year by Joyce Rupp (Ave Maria Press, paperback) is a new edition of this inspiring and imaginative devotional resource that opens us to a deeper and richer prayer life.

RELIGION
Speaking of Faith by Krista Tippett (Viking, hardcover) is a top-drawer spiritual memoir that refurbishes and expands our understanding and appreciation of faith, religion, and spirituality.

SERVICE
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Viking, paperback) introduces us to a one-man Peace Corps who has worked humanitarian wonders in Muslim communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

SEXUALITY
Passionate Hearts: The Poetry of Sexual Love by Wendy Maltz (New World Library, paperback) is an extraordinary collection of 117 poems about sexual love.

SPIRITUAL COUNSEL
Dear Lama Zopa: Radical Solutions for Transforming Problems into Happiness by Lama Zopa Rinpoche (Wisdom Publications, paperback) presents wisdom from a Tibetan spiritual teacher for students and others who have written him letters about the challenges in their lives.

SUFISM
The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam's Mystical Tradition by Seyyed Hossein Nasr (HarperOne, hardcover) is an erudite, enlightening, and wide-ranging overview of Sufism, its history and practice.

TAOISM
The Tao of Daily Life by Derek Lin (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, paperback) is a top-drawer collection of Taoist teaching stories and commentaries on this ancient path.

TAOISM
A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are by Byron Katie (Harmony Books, hardcover) is a commentary that bases musings on the experience of being human in our times on passages from the Tao Te Ching.

VISION
Visionaries: The 20th Century's 100 Most Important Inspirational Leaders by Satish Kumar and Freddie Whitefield (Chelsea Green Publishing, paperback) presents profiles and quotations from 100 visionaries chosen by the editors of Resurgence Magazine.

VOCATION
Sky Sweeper by Phillis Gershator (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, hardcover) is an exceptional children's book that reveals the spiritual nature of work.

WISDOM
The Lost Spiritual World: Mark by Ruth Rimm (The Global Renaissance Society, hardcover) is a beautifully designed interfaith work in which the Gospel of Mark gives rise to meditations on a spirituality that is open, hospitable, and flexible in its outreach.

WISDOM
Welcome to the Wisdom of the World and Its Meaning for You by Joan Chittister (William B. Eerdmans, hardcover) contains wisdom literature from all the world's religions on the spiritual challenges of life.

WONDER
Sightings: Extraordinary Encounters with Ordinary Birds by Sam Keen (Chronicle Books, hardcover) contains 12 creative essays designed to draw out our wonder and respect for the beauty and mystery of birds and other creatures.

WORLD RELIGIONS
What Is Hinduism?: Modern Adventures into a Profound Global Faith by the Editors of Hinduism Today Magazine (Himalayan Academy, paperback) is a rich and robust resource on the diversity, practices, rituals, and challenges of modern-day Hinduism.

YOU
Happiness and the Human Spirit: The Spirituality of Becoming the Best You Can Be by Abraham J. Twerski (Jewish Lights, hardcover) probes the connection between happiness and spirituality.

YOUTH
When No One Understands: Letters to a Teenager on Life, Loss, and the Hard Road to Adulthood by Brad Sachs (Trumpeter, paperback) is wise counsel dispensed by a family therapist to a troubled 16-year-old girl through 20 letters.

ZEN
Untrain Your Parrot and Other No Nonsense Instructions on the Path of Zen by Elizabeth Hamilton (Shambhala, paperback) presents practical and imaginative insights into the conditioned mind and ways to live a wholehearted life of love, peace, and joy.