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

Every book offers a new way of viewing the world, and our July picks for books of the month offer new ways of looking at the book of books: the Bible.

Fiction

The Stones of My Accusers by Tracy Groot

So often Bible reading focuses on the message of the text, rather than the actual lives of the men and women whose lives were recorded thousands of years ago. It is all-too-easy to see Mary as a metaphor for motherliness, or Paul as a stand-in for Godly transformation. Biblical fiction offers a new way to see the human beings in the Bible. The wild emotions, conflicts and character. Telling the story of lives changed by Jesus, and the mercies that flow from them, the story breathes life into the world of Roman-occupied Israel.

Non-Fiction

What is the Bible? by Rob Bell

Last year the Christian satire site Babylon Bee published an article with the headline ‘Rob Bell Runs Out Of Doctrines To Deny’. In an incredibly wry manner, that gets to the heart Rob Bell’s body of work, and his desire to question the given assumptions that Christians take for granted. For some that makes him a heretic, for others a game-changer. Taking an inquisitive look at the Bible’s past, message and impact, What is the Bible? by Rob Bell offers fresh-takes on the world most widely-read book.

Children's

I Am - The Names Of God For Little Ones by Diane Stortz

I have just the one name, and, most probably, you do too. But God has absolutely loads, which can be confusing when you’re only just learning who God is. I Am helps children move out of that perplexion, and into a deeper understanding not only of why God has so many names, but of what they all mean. Accompanied by vibrant illustrations, I Am shows all the ways God is there for small children, and how those names are different ways God makes himself know.

Staff Pick by Laura White

Storylines by Mike Pilavachi & Andy Croft

"Growing up, Soul Survivor had a significant impact on my faith journey, so I remember being very excited to read Storylines. It helped me to grasp how the big story of the Bible can connect with my day-to-day life and easily explore the main themes of Scripture.

I'll be picking it up again before the release of their new book, Lifelines"

New for July

The Bare Bible by Peter Graystone

The Bare Bible doesn’t mean there are no clothes in it. Well, at the beginning there aren’t, but that doesn’t last long. No, The Bare Bible is all the essential bits. A crib sheet of Christianity. It answers common points of confusion, and assumes no prior knowledge on the reader part, making it the perfect book for new Christians who are confused when they read the Jesus cursed a fig tree, or that God makes His chosen people just amble around the desert for forty years. Peter Graystone takes every effort to present a jargon-free and joyous journey through the Bible, from beginning to end.