100 books like Prophetic Lament

By Soong-chan Rah,

Here are 100 books that Prophetic Lament fans have personally recommended if you like Prophetic Lament. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

Diana Finch Author Of Value Beyond Money: An Exploration of The Bristol Pound and The Building Blocks for An Alternative Economic System

From my list on our thought-provoking socio-economic system.

Why am I passionate about this?

All my life, I’ve been aware that there are many layers to reality, many of which are human fabrications. Some are physical, like roads. Some are social, like healthcare. But the ones that control our lives the most, and that determine our global outcomes (poverty, war and ecological degradation for example), are ideological. The most powerful of these is our economic system. If we are to address the meta-crisis, I feel passionately that we need to be able to question and reimagine the economy. All the books I’ve chosen have been really important in helping me to think differently about things we usually take for granted.

Diana's book list on our thought-provoking socio-economic system

Diana Finch Why did Diana love this book?

I love this book because of how beautiful and hopeful it is. The author pulls together amazing stories from her life to gradually weave an understanding of the meta-crisis we find ourselves in. I was captivated by the way she contrasts her family’s indigenous American culture with our modern approaches to both science and the economy.

I love Robin’s prose, which is exquisitely written. But perhaps what I value the most is the fact that she writes with optimism, giving me the courage to get up every day and think about how to put her wisdom into practice.

By Robin Wall Kimmerer,

Why should I read it?

51 authors picked Braiding Sweetgrass as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Called the work of "a mesmerizing storyteller with deep compassion and memorable prose" (Publishers Weekly) and the book that, "anyone interested in natural history, botany, protecting nature, or Native American culture will love," by Library Journal, Braiding Sweetgrass is poised to be a classic of nature writing. As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer asks questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces indigenous teachings that consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers. Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take "us on a journey that is…


Book cover of New and Selected Poems

Jane Seskin Author Of Older, Wiser, Shorter: The Truth and Humor of Life After 65

From my list on aging.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a clinical social worker and writer of 13 books and more than 40 poems and essays in national magazines and journals. For 20 years, I counseled survivors of violent crimes in individual and group treatment at the Crime Victims Treatment Center in New York. My book recommendations are eclectic, maybe odd, but I read widely for diversion. I set my kitchen timer and try to read every day for at least half an hour. As I age, I read to be soothed, educated, involved, entertained. I no longer finish books that are boring. I used to… but those days are over!

Jane's book list on aging

Jane Seskin Why did Jane love this book?

I’m so not a country gal! No to ‘roughing it’. No to the scenic hikes and the bugs that got under my socks and inside my shirt! And the bear I thought I saw crossing the road ahead of me and my friend. So to love Mary Oliver’s poetry of nature came as a great surprise.

Her observational poems bring me to another space. One where there is a curiosity about things I might take for granted: bogs, streams, mushrooms, owls. Her poems bring calm and are soothing when you’re having a painful knee. Mary Oliver almost makes me want to go on a long walk. Well almost!

By Mary Oliver,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked New and Selected Poems as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Mary Oliver was awarded the National Book Award for New and Selected Poems, Volume One. Since its initial appearance it has become one of the best-selling volumes of poetry in the country. This collection features thirty poems published only in this volume as well as selections from the poet's first eight books.

Mary Oliver's perceptive, brilliantly crafted poems about the natural landscape and the fundamental questions of life and death have won high praise from critics and readers alike. "Do you love this world?" she interrupts a poem about peonies to ask the reader. "Do you cherish your humble and…


Book cover of This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us

Terra McDaniel Author Of Hopeful Lament: Tending Our Grief Through Spiritual Practices

From my list on grieving without getting overwhelmed by despair.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been to hell and back over the years. After experiencing childhood abuse, I lived through a succession of traumas with my family including fraud, painful experiences in church ministry, a death threat, and a catastrophic house fire accidentally started by my mother-in-law. While I was helped by counseling, prayer, and caring friends and mentors, something was still missing. I needed to process all that pain and loss but didn’t know how. I had to learn how to grieve. Over years of rebuilding, I’ve lived the lessons of lament and know the healing that is possible when pain is metabolized. 

Terra's book list on grieving without getting overwhelmed by despair

Terra McDaniel Why did Terra love this book?

I discovered Cole Arthur Riley through her breath prayers and curated wisdom around liberation through her Black Liturgies account on Instagram. Her words in this book are poetry and good medicine for my soul.

Her story of learning to love her physical body as she lives with chronic pain is wise and freeing. I didn’t know how much I needed her wise reimagining of the story of the garden, the fall, and what it means to find home. 

By Cole Arthur Riley,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked This Here Flesh as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In her stunning debut, the creator of Black Liturgies weaves stories from three generations of her family alongside contemplative reflections to discover the “necessary rituals” that connect us with our belonging, dignity, and liberation.

“This is the kind of book that makes you different when you’re done.”—Ashley C. Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Somebody’s Daughter

“Reaches deep beneath the surface of words unspoken, wounds unhealed, and secrets untempered to break them open in order for fresh light to break through.”—Morgan Jerkins, New York Times bestselling author of This Will Be My Undoing and…


Book cover of For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care

Kyle Meyaard-Schaap Author Of Following Jesus in a Warming World: A Christian Call to Climate Action

From my list on helping Christians navigate the climate crisis.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was never an outdoorsy kid. But I was a church kid. As I grew up and moved into a calling to serve the church in ordained ministry, that calling took an unexpected turn when I visited West Virginian hollers poisoned by nearby mining operations and met the people living with the consequences. Subsequent trips to Hurricane Katrina-ravaged New Orleans, drought-wracked Kenyan hillsides, and to international climate negotiations in Paris all solidified for me the truth that loving my neighbor required loving God’s creation too. I’ve spent the last 10 years speaking, writing, and teaching Christians across the country the same simple truth.

Kyle's book list on helping Christians navigate the climate crisis

Kyle Meyaard-Schaap Why did Kyle love this book?

This book was my gateway into Christian climate action 16 years ago.

When my older brother came home from a semester abroad in New Zealand and told my conservative Christian family that he was now a vegetarian because of his environmental convictions, he handed me this book to help me understand why.

It was the first time that I was given permission to engage pollution, environmental destruction, and climate change because of my faith, rather than in spite of it. Nothing has ever been the same.

By Steven Bouma-prediger,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked For the Beauty of the Earth as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Caring for the environment is a growing interest among evangelicals. This award-winning book provides the most thorough evangelical treatment available on a theology of creation care. "Authentic Christian faith requires ecological obedience," writes Steven Bouma-Prediger. He urges Christians to acknowledge their responsibility and privilege as stewards of the earth. The second edition has been substantially revised and updated with the latest scientific and environmental research.


Book cover of Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

Kyle Meyaard-Schaap Author Of Following Jesus in a Warming World: A Christian Call to Climate Action

From my list on helping Christians navigate the climate crisis.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was never an outdoorsy kid. But I was a church kid. As I grew up and moved into a calling to serve the church in ordained ministry, that calling took an unexpected turn when I visited West Virginian hollers poisoned by nearby mining operations and met the people living with the consequences. Subsequent trips to Hurricane Katrina-ravaged New Orleans, drought-wracked Kenyan hillsides, and to international climate negotiations in Paris all solidified for me the truth that loving my neighbor required loving God’s creation too. I’ve spent the last 10 years speaking, writing, and teaching Christians across the country the same simple truth.

Kyle's book list on helping Christians navigate the climate crisis

Kyle Meyaard-Schaap Why did Kyle love this book?

I used to think that the ultimate Christian hope was in life after death. NT Wright convinced me I was wrong.

The true hope of the gospel, says Wright, is “life after life after death”. In other words, resurrected life in a renewed heaven and renewed earth. This book completely reframed what I believe about the end of God’s story for creation and held out for me a gospel way bigger than the one I had been given before.

Understanding that God has a good future in store for his entire creation and that, even now, he is reconciling all of it back to himself means that we live differently right now. This book remains my theological anchor for my climate advocacy.

By N T Wright,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Surprised by Hope as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this groundbreaking book—available in paperback for the first time—renowned Bible scholar, Anglican bishop, and bestselling author N. T. Wright argues that Christians have not distorted the Bible’s message about heaven and what happens after we die.

For years, Christians have been asking, "If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven.

Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian’s future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright asserts that Christianity’s most distinctive idea is…


Book cover of Strong like Water

Terra McDaniel Author Of Hopeful Lament: Tending Our Grief Through Spiritual Practices

From my list on grieving without getting overwhelmed by despair.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been to hell and back over the years. After experiencing childhood abuse, I lived through a succession of traumas with my family including fraud, painful experiences in church ministry, a death threat, and a catastrophic house fire accidentally started by my mother-in-law. While I was helped by counseling, prayer, and caring friends and mentors, something was still missing. I needed to process all that pain and loss but didn’t know how. I had to learn how to grieve. Over years of rebuilding, I’ve lived the lessons of lament and know the healing that is possible when pain is metabolized. 

Terra's book list on grieving without getting overwhelmed by despair

Terra McDaniel Why did Terra love this book?

This book has helped me see a clearer path toward healing and wholeness. It has also allowed me to cultivate more compassion for the trauma in my own and my loved ones’ stories.

Her question, ‘What does safety feel like in your body?’ hit like a lightning bolt. I realized I had no idea. Her authenticity about her own experience of trauma made her a trustworthy guide in finding that and other answers.

The exercises paired with each chapter are practical and profound, resources I return to regularly.

By Aundi Kolber,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Strong like Water as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

There's a cost to being a certain kind of strong.

When it comes to difficult circumstances, we've all heard the platitudes: "No pain, no gain." "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." But if we spend our lives trying to be "the strong one," we become exhausted, burned-out, and disconnected from our truest God-given selves.

What if it were different? Could there be a different way to be strong? Could strength mean more than pushing on and pushing through pain, bearing every heavy burden on our own? What if, instead, true strength were more like the tide: soft and bold,…


Book cover of A Hole in the World: Finding Hope in Rituals of Grief and Healing

Terra McDaniel Author Of Hopeful Lament: Tending Our Grief Through Spiritual Practices

From my list on grieving without getting overwhelmed by despair.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been to hell and back over the years. After experiencing childhood abuse, I lived through a succession of traumas with my family including fraud, painful experiences in church ministry, a death threat, and a catastrophic house fire accidentally started by my mother-in-law. While I was helped by counseling, prayer, and caring friends and mentors, something was still missing. I needed to process all that pain and loss but didn’t know how. I had to learn how to grieve. Over years of rebuilding, I’ve lived the lessons of lament and know the healing that is possible when pain is metabolized. 

Terra's book list on grieving without getting overwhelmed by despair

Terra McDaniel Why did Terra love this book?

Like Opelt, I believed I was well equipped to grieve well before suffering found me. Like her, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Her book was solace because it refused to shy away from the complexity and sometimes downright strangeness of grief. Her exploration of historical rituals for processing grief in community sparked my imagination for more ways of restoring lost practices and finding new ones for engaging loss, remembering well, and honoring life with those I love.  

By Amanda Held Opelt,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Hole in the World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When Amanda Held Opelt suffered a season of loss-including three miscarriages and the unexpected death of her sister, New York Times bestselling writer Rachel Held Evans-she was confronted with sorrow she didn't know to how face. Opelt struggled to process her grief and accept the reality of the pain in the world. She also wrestled with some unexpectedly difficult questions: What does it mean to truly grieve and to grieve well? Why is it so hard to move on? Why didn't my faith prepare me for this kind of pain? And what am I supposed to do now?

Her search…


Book cover of The Lord Is My Courage: Stepping Through the Shadows of Fear Toward the Voice of Love

Wendy Lehnertz Author Of Healing from Codependency: A Devotional with Prayers and Practices for Healthy Boundaries

From my list on draw you closer to a loving, grace-based God.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a faith-based psychotherapist with over twenty years of experience working with couples, families, and adults recovering from trauma and relational wounds. I believe in evidence-based psychotherapy modalities, as well as the power of the Holy Spirit, to guide us each to our ultimate healing. I find journeying with others a sacred privilege and strive to foster love, authenticity, courage, and empowerment not only as a therapist but as a friend, wife, mother, and sister.  

Wendy's book list on draw you closer to a loving, grace-based God

Wendy Lehnertz Why did Wendy love this book?

This book feels profoundly important to understanding the crisis of church culture. KJ forced me to look at the church and understand the implicit ways that power and control can be misused by leadership. I think KJ’s story is not unique, and yet it is rarely talked about in Christian circles. 

I do believe we need to be willing to look at our motivations when in roles of leadership, especially how we can inadvertently misuse our power and control. KJ’s use of scripture to help us see the servant heart behind leadership is truly magnificent.

By K.J. Ramsey,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Lord Is My Courage as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Walking through Psalm 23 phrase by phrase, therapist and author K.J. Ramsey explores the landscape of our fear, trauma, and faith. When she stepped through her own wilderness of spiritual abuse and religious trauma, K.J. discovered that courage is not the absence of anxiety but the practice of trusting we will be held and loved no matter what.

How can we cultivate courage when fear overshadows our lives? How do we hear the Voice of Love when hate and harm shout loud? This book offers an honest path to finding that there is still a Good Shepherd who is always…


Book cover of The Eco-Design Handbook: A Complete Sourcebook for the Home and Office

David Bergman Author Of Sustainable Design: A Critical Guide

From my list on the climate crisis that actually offer hope.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an architect, ecodesigner, economist, environmentalist, author, and professor. I like making use of all or parts of these to break down silos between fields in order to better understand and communicate sustainability. As a professor who is hoping to entice the next generation to not repeat our environmental mistakes, I try to emphasize carrots rather than sticks. I look to the win-win-win approaches: the symbiotic overlaps between sustainability, health, happiness, and economics. I call this EcoOptimism, and it’s the focus of my blog by the same title. Though it can be harder to remain optimistic amidst the worsening climate crisis and other environmental issues, I still find it one of the most viable routes.

David's book list on the climate crisis that actually offer hope

David Bergman Why did David love this book?

(Disclaimer, some of my own work is included in this book.) The author’s preface says, “This book is intended to stimulate new ways of thinking by illustrating an…approach to design that encourages people to tread more lightly, so that people may inherit a healthy planet.” Even as we are half a century into environmentalism, there is still a perception that “green” design is ugly: all burlap and granola. This book is chock full of examples of furniture, clothing, accessories, kitchen utensils and the like that prove otherwise. And in the decade-plus since it came out, there’s even more like this, more of what I call Transparent Green: designs that don’t shout greenness.

By Alastair Fuad-Luke,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Eco-Design Handbook as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Eco-Design Handbook is the first book to present the best-designed objects for every aspect of the home and office, including the most environmentally sound materials and building products. The book contains three essential components. An introduction puts forward the history and latest thinking in green design strategies. Its core comprises two sections devoted to detailed illustrated descriptions of objects for domestic living and products for the office or work-related activities. The third element is a vast reference source, defining available materials, from organic to specially developed eco-sensitive composites and then providing detailed information on manufacturers, design studios, green organizations,…


Book cover of At Home on an Unruly Planet: Finding Refuge on a Changed Earth

Julia M. O’Brien Author Of Prophets beyond Activism: Rethinking the Prophetic Roots of Social Justice

From my list on the Bible and the climate crisis.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been a biblical scholar for over 35 years and have spent a lot of time reading and writing academic volumes, analyzing arguments, and teaching diverse audiences. However, some of my formative experiences were as a child on my grandparents’ North Carolina farm, to which I still feel an almost elemental connection. Perhaps that farm (and my vegetable gardening) first sparked my interest in the environment. My interest turned to advocacy through research, which set me on the path to grasping the urgency of the climate crisis and my conviction that everything must reflect this reality. I’ve poured over the scientific reports (such as by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and read lots of nonfiction. 

Julia's book list on the Bible and the climate crisis

Julia M. O’Brien Why did Julia love this book?

This book isn’t really about the Bible, but its themes resonated so intensely with the Bible that I just had to recommend it. Ostrander’s stories about climate refugees in the present were valuable in helping me empathize with biblical characters such as Ruth, Abraham, and Joseph, who were also climate refugees seeking both physical and metaphorical homes.

Members of my book club (held at an organic farm) found her stories about various parts of the U.S. compelling, and we had a great conversation about our attachments to spaces now pressured by climate change. 

By Madeline Ostrander,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked At Home on an Unruly Planet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One of Kirkus Reviews' 100 Best Nonfiction Books of 2022
A gold Nautilus Book Award winner, Ecology & Environment

From rural Alaska to coastal Florida, a vivid account of Americans working to protect the places they call home in an era of climate crisis

How do we find a sense of home and rootedness in a time of unprecedented upheaval? What happens when the seasons and rhythms in which we have built our lives go off-kilter?

Once a distant forecast, climate change is now reaching into the familiar, threatening our basic safety and forcing us to reexamine who we are…


Book cover of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Book cover of New and Selected Poems
Book cover of This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us

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