S&P Awards

The Best Spiritual Books of 2009
A Book of Silence By Sara Maitland A memoir that deepens and enriches our knowledge and appreciation of silence.
A Book of Wonders By Edward Hays An imaginative, eclectic, and deeply spiritual primer on living a wonder-filled life every day of the year.
A Conservationist Manifesto By Scott Russell Sanders A spiritually rich and beautifully written celebration of a conservation ethic which embraces frugality, simplicity, beauty, community, justice and much more.
A Good Neighbor By Robert Benson Reflections on four spiritual practices suggested by the Rule of St. Benedict to deepen and enrich our participation in community.
A People's History of Christianity By Diana Butler Bass A bold and visionary work that reframes the history of Christianity using beliefs and practices from the past to light the way into the future.
Agenda for a New Economy By David C. Korten Encourages us to move beyond Wall Street to a new economic paradigm based on Main Street and real wealth.
An Altar in the World By Barbara Brown Taylor A field guide to spiritual practices which can lend meaning and richness to our lives.
Be Happy By Robert Holden An entertaining and enlightening survey of being happy.
Claiming the Beatitudes By Anne Sutherland Howard Explores the spiritual firepower of the Beatitudes in the lives of nine progressive Christian seminarians and graduates.
Connected By James Fowler, Nicholas Christakis An immensely revealing and thought-provoking overview of social networks and how the spiritual practice of connections is changing and transforming our lives.
Conquering Fear By Harold S. Kushner A mature spiritual perspective on coping with the many fears of life.
Consequential Strangers By Karen L. Fingerman, Melinda Blau A fascinating and illuminating book about the changes going on in our navigation of the social terrain of our lives.
Daniel Berrigan By Daniel Berrigan, John Dear A capacious work that brings together the essential writings of antiwar activist, peacemaker, poet, and Christian commentator Daniel Berrigan.
Dawn Light By Diane Ackerman A lively and creative journey through the wonderland of dawn.
Eternal Life By John Shelby Spong A masterful meditation on God, religion, human consciousness, death, and eternity.
For Lovers of God Everywhere By Roger Housden 98 poems by Christian mystics with commentaries by Roger Housden.
Getting to the Heart of Interfaith By Don Mackenzie, Jamal Rahman, Ted Falcon A substantive and enlightening exploration of the interfaith journey by three friends of different traditions.
Grandpa's Soup By Eiko Kadono A simple, elegant and richly spiritual story for children that affirms the practice of hospitality. For Children
Happiness By Thich Nhat Hanh A glorious, down-to-earth and practical book containing the key practices developed by Thich Nhat Hanh over the past 60 years.
Holy Eros By Evelyn Eaton Whitehead, James D. Whitehead A rich and compelling celebration of eros as a force field that arouses us to a zest for life.
How Coffee Saved My Life By Ellie Roscher A well-written and soul-stirring memoir by an urban ministry graduate who spends a year in a small town in Uruguay where she learns about grace, small victories, and the power of love to transform us.…
It's Not The End of the World By Joan Borysenko A short and snappy spiritual primer on harvesting hardship, developing resilience, and moving beyond disappointment to a fresh future.
It's Really All About God By Samir Selmanovic An iconoclastic, prophetic, and enlightening work about the contemporary religious scene with its robust spirituality and interfaith experiments.
Listening Below the Noise By Anne D. LeClaire Salutes the ample benefits of practicing silence regularly.
Living Fully Dying Well By Edward W. Bastian, Tina L. Staley A sturdy and enlightening collection of interspiritual teachings and practices to prepare for the end of life and beyond.
Making the Good Life Last By Michael A. Schuler Makes a good case for expanding our view of sustainability to include not only the environment but also economics, community, and relationships.
Memories of Muhammad By Omid Safi A well-developed, rounded, and revealing portrait of the life, work, and legacies of the Prophet Muhammad.
Mirrors By Eduardo Galeano Over six hundred illuminating vignettes about underdogs, losers, and the persecuted in the sweep of history over five thousand years.
Out of Darkness Into Light By Ann Holmes Redding, Jamal Rahman, Kathleen Schmitt Elias A rich and illuminating look at the similarities of the three Abrahamic faiths by a creative Sufi.
Praying for Peace Around the Globe By James McGinnis An incisive and inspiring collection of prayers for peace and justice.
Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia By Rob Brezsny An imaginative tour of our friendly universe where play, optimism, and hope abound.
Recovery - The Sacred Art By Rami Shapiro Explores the teachings and practices of the world religions behind each of the Twelve Steps and the challenges involved in giving up the delusion that you are in control of your life.
Spirit of Service By Nancy Hancock, editor A top-notch daybook describing the work of more than 500 organizations and other ways to serve.
Sum By David Eagleman A wildly imaginative collection of tales about possible afterlives.
Tales of Wonder By Huston Smith, Jeffery Paine An autobiography, one of the best books of the year, that describes a creative, visionary, edifying, and appealing spiritual adventure.
The Book of the Shepherd By Joann Davis A quest story about seeking a new way of compassion, love, and peace in world where violence and revenge hold sway.
The Future of Faith By Harvey Cox A helpful and hopeful overview of church history and the positive dimensions of the Age of the Spirit we are now experiencing.
The Green Collar Economy By Van Jones A passionate, visionary, and hopeful look at what it will take to establish a lively and vital green collar economy in America.
The Hope By Andrew Harvey A vision of the transformation of society brought about by Sacred Activists who wed mystical passion with radical change in the world.
The Joy of Appreciative Living By Jacqueline Kelm A program to bring joy into your life.
The Naked Now By Richard Rohr A challenge to the world's religions to foster mysticism, nonduality, and the contemplative mind.
The Power of Pause By Terry Hershey Challenges us to savor pauses when we can slow down, rest, and recuperate from the stress and pressures of doing.
The Second Book of the Tao By Stephen Mitchell Translations and audacious interpretations of Lao-tzu's disciple Chuang-tzu and Confucius's grandson Tzu-Ssu.
The Three Marriages By David Whyte An engaging and imaginative examination of the triumphs and tragedies of human belonging.
The Wolf at Twilight By Kent Nerburn Another gem by Kent Nerburn filled with Native American wisdom, keen insights into the dark side of American history, and soul-stirring observations about ceremonies, the Great Mystery, and the spirit…
Ubuntu By Michael Battle A solid and substantive overview of the African concept of personhood, cooperative living, and communal solidarity.
Waking Up to This Day By Paula D'Arcy An examination of nine steps to the art of truly being present.
Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants By Arnie Kozak Creatively sheds new light on the spiritual practice of mindfulness.
Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian By Paul F. Knitter A thoughtful, illuminating, and adventuresome interfaith journey by a respected Christian theologian and advocate of religious double belonging.
Writing in the Sand By Thomas Moore Fresh meanings, new possibilities, and a reframing of threadbare interpretations of Jesus.