The best psychology of religion books

A raw, authentic story written in dual perspectives by two alcoholics, now married and in recovery. Sandy is sober, moving toward God and a better life. Deb is not sober. She believes a sober life would be like staying awake through major surgery.  What happens when this unlikely match agrees to a blind date? Solo, they're a mess, but as a duet? God help them! They are modern-day characters right out of the Bible. Remember the sheep? That pesky fellow wandering off causing the shepherd to leave the ninety-nine and take care of it? That's them. What lengths will God go to save this couple from their worst enemy--themselves?

From adrenaline to dopamine, our lives are shaped by the chemicals that control us. They play a role in all aspects of our experiences, from how we make decisions, who we love, what we remember to basic survival drives such as hunger, fear, and sleep.

In Overloaded, author Ginny Smith explores what these tiny molecules do: what roles do cortisol and adrenaline play in memory formation? How do hormones and neurotransmitters affect the trajectory of our romantic relationships? Ginny meets scientists at the cutting-edge of brain chemistry research who are uncovering unexpected connections between these crucial chemicals. An eye-opening route through the remarkable world of neuro-transmitters, Overloaded unveils the chemicals inside each of us that touch every facet of our lives.

Whether you are stalled on the smallest of tasks or on major projects with long time spans, you'll find that The Sixty-Second Self-Starter is both a valuable tool and an action guide for helping you become more accomplished and more satisfied with your work and your life.

You’ll find great value in The Sixty-Second Self-Starter for several reasons. The 60 tips range from time-tested techniques to fresh and innovative insights that other people have found to be helpful. Also, the book was written in an engaging, friendly, witty, down-to-earth style. As a former procrastinator, I share with you the insider techniques and vital lessons that I’ve learned over the years which help keep procrastination at bay. 

A hilarious take on the philosophy, theology and psychology of mortality and immortality. That is, death. The authors pry open the coffin lid on this one, looking at the Big D, its prequel, Life, and its sequel, the Hereafter. Philosophers such as Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Camus and Sartre have been wrestling with the meaning of death for as long as they have been wrestling with the meaning of life. Fortunately, humourists have been keeping pace with the major thinkers by creating gags about dying. Death's funny that way - it gets everybody's attention.

Reading my discipline’s discoveries leaves me sometimes surprised, occasionally awestruck, and frequently fascinated by our mind and its actions. This wee book’s 40 essays offer psychological research revelations—snapshots of the field’s mind-expanding discernments.

The essays are brief and playful musings that I hope you might enjoy during a bus ride, an office wait, or as bedtime mental morsels. Each has a simple premise: Although we all know a lot, we don’t know what we don’t know—even about ourselves. So, let’s shine the light of psychological science on our sometimes bewildering but ever-intriguing lives.

I wrote this short, intensely personal, book  to sort out a question: after growing up in a secular, scientific post-religious family, in high school, went with some friends to an evangelical “Crusade for Christ,” and, to my own surprise and my parents’ shock, I fell right in: got “born again.” To my surprise, that opened up a new dimension of experience that I’d previously met in music, dance, poetry—until, a year later, the “Christian friends” at the evangelical church told me that a close friend who’d just been killed in a car crash was “going to hell” because he was Jewish. Shocked, I asked, "Wasn’t Jesus Jewish?" That didn’t seem to matter: I left immediately, and never went back. 

“I should have assumed with parents known to the world as Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ, I would be different.”

It is not her lineage that makes Sara different. It is her ability to time travel forward into other people’s bodies. Sara, whose Aramaic name means ‘bringer of happiness,’ travels into Sarah-Marie, a young Cathar from Montségur. Sara is determined to save her from the 13th Century siege. The Bringer of Happiness is a compelling (almost) true tale comprised of history, myth, and imagination. Our histories are becoming unstuck. The patterns of power through religion are shifting, making way for new narratives. This book is part of this process.

Part travel, part romance, part failing at life, The Backpack Years intertwines two memoirs, charting Stef and James’s six-year journey from happily wandering to miserably settled and back again.

Stef left America to study abroad in Spain, letting loose and falling for a handsome local and travel. Travel won out. Fueled by debt and a deteriorating relationship with his father, James fled to Australia and found a better life. When Stef and James eventually meet at an Irish pub in Sydney, they ditch the single life to forge a path together. Spanning thirteen countries and four continents, The Backpack Years is a story about how far we’re willing to go to be with the one we love.

Hand on the Shoulder: Finding Freedom in the Confluence of Love and Career takes readers on a journey from a small town in Virginia to a fast-moving career in a high-tech company. Navigating occupational complexities, foreign cultures, and rapid societal change, Grant searches for meaning while spiraling into disillusionment and loneliness. Grant climbs the long slide from despair to peace, ultimately renewing his understanding of what truly matters in life. 

Readers will experience the joys and absurdities of work life and the struggle to find a balance between personal ambition and the human need for love. The book includes small-town stories, deeply personal experiences, conflicts in corporate life, and encounters with the CEO who diminished IBM’s culture.