I'm Perfect, You're Doomed: Tales from a Jehovah's Witness Upbringing

Angry Conversations with God: A Snarky but Authentic Spiritual Memoir

Susan E. Isaacs · 242 pages

Disillusioned, disenfranchised, and disinterested in anything churchy, Susan Isaacs knew of only one thing to do when she hit spiritual rock bottom at age 40. . . . She took God to couples counseling. In this cuttingly poignant memoir, Susan Isaacs chronicles her rocky relationship with the Almighty--from early childhood to midlife crisis--and all the churches where she and God tried to make a ho

Foreskin's Lament

Shalom Auslander · 310 pages

Shalom Auslander was raised with a terrified respect for God. Even as he grew up and was estranged from his community, his religion and its traditions, he could not find his way to a life where he didn't struggle against God daily.Foreskin's Lament reveals Auslander's youth in a strict, socially isolated Orthodox community, and recounts his rebellion and efforts to make a new life apart from it. A

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

A.J. Jacobs · 492 pages

Raised in a secular family but interested in the relevance of faith in our modern world, A.J. Jacobs decides to attempt to obey the Bible as literally as possible for one full year. He vows to follow the Ten Commandments. To be fruitful and multiply. To love his neighbor. But also to obey the hundreds of less publicized rules: to avoid wearing clothes made of mixed fibers; to stone adulterers. The

Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

Anne Lamott · 320 pages

Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome: A Memoir of Humor and Healing

Reba Riley · 359 pages

"A woman about to turn 30 and dealing with health challenges finds that she wants to reconnect with faith, just not with the religion she was raised in. She decides to visit 30 different faith traditions before she turns 30, and finds that her journey encompasses more than just visiting different houses of worship"--

Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality

Donald Miller · 256 pages

Churched: One Kid's Journey Toward God Despite a Holy Mess

Matthew Paul Turner · 256 pages

He spent his childhood trapped within the confines of countless bizarre, strict rules. And lived to tell about it.In this first-hand account, author Matthew Paul Turner shares amusing--sometimes cringe-worthy--and poignant stories about growing up in a fundamentalist household, where even well-intentioned contemporary Christian music was proclaimed to be "of the devil." churched is a collection of

Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church

Lauren Drain · 300 pages

"In the tradition of Escape and Stolen innocence, the first look behind the curtains of the Westboro Baptist Church, by a young woman cast out from its clutches"--Provided by the publisher. Lauren Drain's childhood seemed average American, but when her liberal-minded father set out to film a documentary about the audacious and cultish hate group, the Westboro Baptist Church, he found himself se

Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear

Jinger Duggar Vuolo · 221 pages

Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future

Elizabeth Esther · 213 pages

"I was raised in a homegrown, fundamentalist Christian group--which is just a shorthand way of saying I'm classically trained in apocalyptic stockpiling, street preaching, and the King James Version of the Bible. I know hundreds of obscure nineteenth-century hymns by heart and have such razor sharp "modesty vision" that I can spot a miniskirt a mile away." In her memoir, readers will recognize que

All Who Go Do Not Return: A Memoir

Shulem Deen · 299 pages

Shulem Deen was raised to believe that questions are dangerous. As a member of the Skverers, one of the most insular Hasidic sects in the US, he knows little about the outside world--only that it is to be shunned. His marriage at eighteen is arranged and several children soon follow. Deen's first transgression--turning on the radio--is small, but his curiosity leads him to the library, and later t

The Book of Mormon Girl: Stories from an American Faith

Joanna Brooks · 209 pages

Story about leaving behind the innocence of childhood belief and embracing the complications and heartbreaks that come to every adult life of faith. Explores the author's journey through her faith, and the experience of being a Mormon.

Breaking Up With God: A Love Story

Sarah Sentilles · 244 pages

"Sarah Sentilles relationship with God was not a casual one. When it began to unravel she was in the ordination process to become an Episcopal priest. She was a youth minister at a church in a suburb of Boston and a doctoral student in theology at Harvard. You might say they were engaged and that the wedding was all planned- the church reserved, the menu chosen, the flowers arranged. Calling it of

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor's Journey Into Christian Faith

Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

Rosaria, by the standards of many, was living a very good life. She had a tenured position at a large university in a field for which she cared deeply. She owned two homes with her partner, in which they provided hospitality to students and activists that were looking to make a difference in the world. There, her partner rehabilitated abandoned and abused dogs. In the community, Rosaria was involv

Through the Narrow Gate

Karen Armstrong · 285 pages

Recounts the seven years that the author spent in a convent beginning at the age of seventeen, describing her religous doubts and spiritual struggles which led to her final recognition that she was not suited for life as a nun.

Unplanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Former Planned Parenthood Leader's Eye-Opening Journey Across the Life Line

Abby Johnson · 288 pages

Abby Johnson quit her job in October 2009. That simple act became a national news story because Abby was director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas who, not long after assisting in an actual abortion procedure for the first time, crossed the line to join the Coalition for Life. What happened in that clinic to cause this Planned Parenthood leader and Employee of the Year to take such drastic

By Searching: My Journey Through Doubt Into Faith

Isobel Kuhn · 159 pages

Isobel Miller gave up God for worldly pursuits. But as graduation approached and her engagement was broken, she questioned that decision. "If You will prove to me that You are, and if You will give me peace, I will give You my whole life." God heard Isobel's prayers. He reached out to her, ending years of searching. Her response was to dedicate her life, along with her husband, to missionary servi

An Unquenchable Thirst: Following Mother Teresa in Search of Love, Service, and an Authentic Life

Mary Johnson

The story of Mary Johnson's years as a Missionary of Charity working for Mother Teresa in service to the world's poor. It is a fascinating depiction of the daily struggle to live a life of religious service. After 20 years, she left the order and has since left the Church altogether. Her story will speak to atheists and Christians alike.

Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions

Rachel Held Evans · 232 pages

These Strange Ashes

Elisabeth Elliot · 144 pages

In her first year as a missionary to a small group of native women in the Ecuadorian jungle, Elisabeth Elliot faced physical and spiritual trials. In These Strange Ashes, Elliot captures the mysteries and stark realities surrounding the colorful and primitive world in which she ministered. More than just a recounting of her early days, this is a beautifully crafted and deeply personal reflection o

The Dance of the Dissident Daughter

Sue Monk Kidd · 245 pages

"Sue Monk was a 'conventionally religious, churchgoing woman, a traditional wife and mother' with a thriving career as a Christian writer until she began to question her role as a woman in her culture, her family, and her church. From a jarring encounter with sexism in a suburban drugstore to monastery retreats and rituals in the caves of Crete, Kidd takes readers through the fear, anger, healing,

God's Callgirl

Carla van Raay

Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith

Barbara Brown Taylor · 272 pages

One of America's most renowned and beloved preachers tells the moving story of how she searched for her own authentic way of keeping faith—even when it meant giving up her pulpit.

Girl Meets God

Lauren F. Winner · 316 pages

"Like most of us, Lauren Winner wants something to believe in. The child of a Reform Jewish father and a lapsed Southern Baptist mother, she chose to become an Orthodox Jew. But as she faithfully observes the Sabbath rituals and studies Jewish laws, she finds herself increasingly drawn to Christianity. So, taking a courageous step, she leaves behind what she loves, and converts. Now the even harde