Shining a spotlight on books we think you'll love, here are our picks for June's books of the month.

“This is an interesting planet. It deserves all the attention you can give it.” - Marilynne Robinson

I made a commitment some years ago to never stop being curious; to never feel I have learned all I that need to know. This is what influenced this month’s picks for the Books of the Month for June. Each of the selections presents some aspect of life or creation in a new, revolutionary way. Skirting through science, spirituality, our own understanding of God and more, these books all offer you a new lens through which the universe becomes a little clearer - and all the more magnificent for it. Full of fresh takes, new ideas, rewritings and revisualising, here are June’s books of the month.

Fiction

The Pilgrim's Regress by C.S. Lewis

A good story is one which has never finished speaking, and in The Pilgrim’s Regress C.S. Lewis teased out of the classic allegory a message for the Church that bears hearing to this very day. The Pilgrim’s Regress saunters through depictions of various denominations, mixing satire and spirituality to wonderfully-memorable effect. It’s an idea entry-point into understanding why Christians cling to fervently to their denominational colours.

Non-Fiction

God is Stranger by Krish Kandiah

The Christian iteration of Aristotle’s famous adage “The more you know, the more you know you don't know”, God is stranger challenges us to be surprised by God, to re-evaluate what we think we know about God. Each chapter focuses on the men and women of the Bible who were caught off-guard by God and pushed into doing the unfamiliar. If you think you know God, and what God wants, think again. God is Stranger is an urgent book that shows that danger of what happens when we make a God who is palatable, comfortable, and isolated from the world outside.

Children’s

Bible Infographics for Kids by Harvest House Publishers

Halfway between data and design, infographics have become a remarkable way of cementing facts and figures in the mind. And in Bible Infographics for Kids, the sheer scope and world of the Bible is presented in memorable new ways. Whether it’s knowing how many footballs it would take to fill up Noah’s Ark or how high a tower of all the Bibles ever sold would be, these facts and figures are brought to life in a brand-new way.

Staff Pick

Finding God in the Waves by Mike McHargue

A book I’ve been coming back to again and again, “Science Mike” McHargue’s story of losing faith and finding again is so much more than a mere science/religion debate. It’s a heartbreaking tale of loss, as well as a voice of limitless curiosity and incredible personal integrity. For anyone who has spent the better part of their life in Church, this book will force to reevaluate some entrenched assumptions you held about Christianity, and about how it depicts the universe. Finding God in the Waves is touchingly honest, and changed the ways I approach, well, everything.

New for June

Borderlands by Mark Brickman

So often, language fails to do justice to a deep, personal and spiritual experience. Our words just fall short. This has left us with a great many books that can be either too dense to most readers, full of abstract language and words most dictionaries would likely omit, or so simplified and “digestible” that they’ve lost any possibility of meaningful change. This is what Borderlands seeks to mend. Drawing from theology, philosophy, literature, art and psychology, Mark Brickman uses the vast brush-strokes of human experience to paint a deep image of spiritual life and growth. It gives the reader the tools of a journey of transformation; a chance for real change.