Every year from the more than 300 books we review on this website, we choose the Best Spiritual Books. In addition to 50 adult books, we also include 10 Best Spiritual Children's Books.

These are titles that have most impressed and inspired us. 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. 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.

The Age of Dignity: Preparing For the Elder Boom in a Changing America
by Ai-Jen Poo and Ariane Conrad
A helpful and hopeful overview of the developing crisis around caregiving for elders.

The Art of Grace: On Moving Well Through Life
By Sarah L. Kaufman
A wise, capacious, and multidimensional examination of grace.

Being Taoist: Wisdom for Living a Balanced Life
by Eva Wong
A poetic and practical guide to the Taoist art of living fully in the public, domestic, private, and spirit sectors of life.

Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives
by Gretchen Rubin
A thorough review of what is involved in changing bad habits and strengthening good ones.

Between the Dark and the Daylight: Embracing the Contradictions of Life
by Joan Chittister
An uplifting work about the art of reframing drawbacks and imperfections as spiritual teachers.

Between the World and Me
by Ta-Nehisi Caotes
A hard-hitting criticism of racist violence against the bodies and souls of black people.

Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel
by Carl Safina
A watershed work on the emotional lives of elephants, wolves, and orcas.

Caravan of No Despair: A Memoir of Loss and Transformation
by Mirabai Starr
A memoir about an interspiritual teacher's experiences on the path of grief and surrender.

Change the Story, Change the Future: A Living Economy for a Living Earth
by David C. Korten
A stirring vision of renewal for spiritually independent and progressive people of all types.

Considering Hate: Violence, Goodness, and Justice in American Culture and Politics
by Kay Whitlock and Michael Bronski
A call for an ethic of interdependence and accountability, an expansion of the Commons, and a compassionate embrace of the neighbor to counter hatred and violence.

Deep Violence: Military Violence, War Play and the Social Life of Weapons
by Joanna Bourke
An incisive and shocking overview of the militarization of nearly all aspects of life in the United States.

D.I.Y. Magic: A Strange and Whimsical Guide to Creativity
by Anthony Alvarado
A comprehensive and playful overview of inspiring creativity with magic.

Eastern Light: Awakening to Presence in Zen, Quakerism, and Christianity
by Steve Smith
A serious, subtle, wise, and capacious spiritual memoir which addresses the hungers of seekers in this era of religious pluralism.

Enchanted Objects: Design, Human Desire, and the Internet of Things
by David Rose
An exciting description of a world transformed by objects with extraordinary powers.

A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives
by Thupten Jinpa
A thorough course in compassion practice both for ourselves and others.

Felicity: Poems
by Mary Oliver
Poems about living and loving in the wider world.

Finding God in the Verbs: Crafting a Fresh Language of Prayer
by J. Brent Bill and Jennie Isbel
Exercises and practices to help you establish a creative, meaningful, and flourishing prayer life.

For Love of the Real: A Story of Life's Mystical Secret
by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
A celebration of the servanthood path of Sufism based on an intimate relationship with the Divine.

A God That Could Be Real: Spirituality, Science, and the Future of Our Planet
by Nancy Ellen Abrams
An atheist's spiritual journey to discover the practical dimensions of the Divine.

Grounded: Finding God in the World A Spiritual Revolution
by Diana Butler Bass
A beautiful explanation of a broad and inclusive concept of God that can be embraced by all seekers.

The Heart of the Matter: Studies in Jewish Mysticism and Theology
by Arthur Green
Essays by a seasoned Jewish scholar on Hasidic contributions to spirituality.

Inside the Miracle: Enduring Suffering, Approaching Wholeness
by Mark Nepo
A memoir and deep conversation about cancer, healing, personal transformation, and falling in love with the world.

The Lioness in Winter: Writing an Old Woman's Life
by Ann Burack-Weiss
A helpful book by female writers providing insights into the last stage of life.

The Listening Life: Embracing Attentiveness in a World of Distraction
by Adam S. McHugh
A fervent plea for churches to see themselves as listening communities.

Make Me One With Everything: Buddhist Meditations to Awaken from the Illusion of Separation
by Lama Surya Das
A practice-grounded book from the Tibetan Buddhist teacher on inter-meditation in everyday life as a way to achieve oneness.

The Nourishing Homestead: One Back-To-The -Land Family's Plan for Cultivating Soil, Skills, and Spirit
by Ben Hewitt and Penny Hewitt
The case for homesteading as a way to connect to the world big time.

Peaceful Neighbor: Discovering the Countercultural Mister Rogers
by Michael Long
A celebration of the peace, justice and compassion advocacy of Mister Rogers.


Rain: A Natural and Cultural History
by Cynthia Barnett
A glorious exploration of rain and all its lessons, bounties, and mysteries.

Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age
by Sherry Turkle
Keen insights into our excessive use of smartphones and other devices that distance us from the treasures of face-to-face conversations and the practice of empathy.

Reclaiming the Wild Soul: How Earth's Landscapes Restore Us to Wholeness
by Mary Reynolds Thompson
A lovely and lyrical tribute to the natural world and its role in our lives as a spiritual teacher.

The Reason for Flowers: Their History, Culture, Biology, and How They Change Our Lives
by Stephen Buchmann
A beguiling and lyrical journey through the varied, creative, and wonderful world of flowers.

Replanting Ourselves in Beauty: Toward an Ecological Civilization
by Jay McDaniel and Patricia Adams Farmer
A soul-stirring collection of essays on beauty as a catalyst to environmental renewal.

Rise of the Robots: Technology and The Threat of a Jobless Future
by Martin Ford
A wide-ranging look at the acceleration of robotic technology.

Seeds for a Boundless Life: Zen Teachings from the Heart
by Zenkei Blanche Hartman
Profound and enlightening Zen teachings.

Shift into Freedom: The Science and Practice of Open-Hearted Awareness
by Loch Kelly
A practice-filled book that maps a path to bring consciousness, heart, and openness into a new synthesis.

Simply Open: A Guide to Experiencing God in the Everyday
by Greg Paul
A tribute to the spiritual practice of openness as experienced through the senses.

The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise
by Martin Prechtel
Keen insights into grief and reframing it as beauty.

The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within
by Christine Valters Paintner
Ways to take an inward spiritual pilgrimage in our daily life.

The Spectators
by Victor Huseenot
A bold and innovative graphic novel that celebrates the city of Paris as a lark, a mystery, and a quest for walkers and wonderers.

The Spiritual Child: The New Science on Parenting for Health and Lifelong Thriving
by Lisa Miller A pre-eminently wise, practical, and inspirational book for parents eager to support their children's spiritual journeys.

The Spirituality of Age: A Seeker's Guide to Growing Older
by Robert L. Weber and Carol Orsborn
A cogent guide to the challenging spiritual dimensions of aging.

A Step Along the Way: Models of Christian Service
by Stephen J. Pope
Edifying profiles of six spiritual exemplars of the Christian faith.

Striking Beauty: A Philosophical Look at the Asian Martial Arts
by Barry Allen
An elegant book on the beauty and philosophy of the martial arts.

Surprise: Embrace the Unpredictable and Engineer the Unexpected
by Tania Luna and Leeann Renninger
A sprightly and entertaining celebration of surprises.

A Treasury of Sufi Wisdom: The Path of Unity
edited by Peter Samsel
More than 550 sayings from the Qur'an, the Hadith, and Sufi writers.

To Be A Man: A Guide to True Masculine Power
by Robert Augustus Masters
A reframing of conventional views of manliness that opens doors to new possibilities for this besieged gender.

Vital Signs: The Nature and Nurture of Passion
by Gregg Levoy
An enlightening overview of the passion that comes to the fore when we truly come alive.

Way of the Bushman: Spiritual Teachings and Practices of the Kalahari Jul'hoansi
by Bradford and Hillary Keeney
A spiritually stimulating overview of the key insights and practices of one of the oldest cultures on earth.

Wearing God: Clothing, Laughter, Fire, and Other Overlooked Ways of Meeting God
by Lauren F. Winner
A playful and thoughtful excursion into some fresh images of God.

What We're Fighting for Now Is Each Other: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Climate Justice
by Wen Stephenson
A journalist's reflections and interviews with more than 100 climate and environmental activists.

Children's Books

Book
by David Miles
A tribute to the benefits of a book.

Butterfly Park
by Ellie MacKay
An inspiring tale about how a little girl's love of butterflies led to an experience of community.

Changes: A Child's First Poetry Collection
by Charlotte Zolotow
Poems on the seasons that provide pleasure and enchantment.

The Day the Crayons Came Home
by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers
A delightful book for people of all ages that encourages respect and empathy for crayons.

Grandma in Blue with Red Hat
by Scott Menchin
A creative and colorful picture book about how a boy is inspired by learning what is art.

I Am a Bear
by Jean-Francois Dumont
A reflection on the challenges of homelessness.

Inside Out Box of Mixed Emotions
by Brittany Candau
Color-coded little storybooks in which five key emotions express what they are about.

Just for Today
by Saint John XXIII
An exquisite Decalogue for Daily Living by the People's Pope.

Look
by Edouard Manseau
A playful book created to draw out the curious kid in all of us.

The Yes
by Sara Bee
A delightful tale about the power of optimism and a positive attitude.