Sojo Authors Have the Right Stuff for Under Your Tree

Bible & Theology

• Creating a Scene in Corinth: A Simulation, by Reta Halteman Finger & George D. McClain, uses group simulation to explore 1 Corinthians and how the gospel affected the Roman Empire.
• Truth Speaks to Power: The Countercultural Nature of Scripture, by Walter Brueggemann, invites readers to view the complex, subversive messages found within the Old Testament.
•  In the Company of the Poor: Conversations With Dr. Paul Farmer and Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez, edited by Michael Griffin and Jennie Weiss Block, features major writings, addresses, and a transcribed dialogue between Partners in Health founder Farmer and liberation theologian Gutierrez.
• The Sacredness of Human Life: Why an Ancient Biblical Vision Is Key to the World's Future, by David P. Gushee, addresses the sacredness of life throughout scripture and the history of the church.

Faith in Action

• On God’s Side: What Religion Forgets and Politics Hasn’t Learned About Serving the Common Good, by Jim Wallis, explores how the gospel can bring shared good to our private and public lives.
• From Times Square to Timbuktu: The Post-Christian West Meets the Non-Western Church, by Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, explores the consequences of the Christian church shifting rapidly toward the global south.

Poetry

• Hey Folly: Poems, by Mary Margaret Alvarado, addresses themes of brokenness, sorrow, and grace.
• Stand Our Ground: Poems for Trayvon Martin and Marissa Alexander, edited by Ewuare X. Osayande, gathers the voices of 65 poets to raise funds for families pursuing justice in an often unfair justice system.
• A Concordance of Leaves, by Philip Metres, is a book-length wedding poem and travel diary of a village in Palestine.

Fiction

• Claire of the Sea Light, by Edwidge Danticat, weaves together short tales to tell the story of a missing girl in Haiti.

Creation Care

• In Oil and Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist, Bill McKibben shares his story of taking action against global climate change through large- and small-scale approaches.
• Environmental Justice and Climate Change: Assessing Pope Benedict XVI's Ecological Vision for the Catholic Church in the United States, edited by Jame Schaefer and Tobias Winright, contains 12 essays by lay, ordained, and religious Catholic theologians and scholars that explore Benedict XVI’s teachings.

Economics

• In What Then Must We Do? Straight Talk about the Next American Revolution, Gar Alperovitz proposes a step-by-step approach to fixing the economy and revolutionizing the democratic-capitalist system.
• #Occupy the Bible: What Jesus Really Said (and Did) About Money and Power, by Susan B. Thistlethwaite, is a practical “how to” guide for potential Christian “occupiers” —people who are committed to confronting poverty and inequality.

Movies & Culture

• Cinematic States: America in 50 Movies, by Gareth Higgins, uses films relevant to each state as a lens to analyze culture, identity, and the United States.
• Thrill of the Chaste: The Allure of Amish Romance Novels, by Valerie Weaver-Zercher, analyzes the growing trend of Amish romance fiction and its position in the context of contemporary literature, religion, and popular culture.

Peace

• Conflict Assessment and Peacebuilding Planning: Toward a Participatory Approach to Human Security, by Lisa Schirch, links practical conflict-assessment exercises to the design, planning, monitoring, and evaluation of peacebuilding efforts.
• Evangelical Peacemakers: Gospel Engagement in a War-Torn World, edited by David P. Gushee, contains 15 essays originally presented at a conference on evangelical Christianity and global peacemaking held at Georgetown University in September 2012.

Spirituality

• In Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self, Richard Rohr likens “true self” to a diamond, buried deep within us, formed under the intense pressure of our lives, that must be searched for, uncovered, and separated from all the debris of ego that surrounds it.
• The Way of the Cross: The Path to New Life, by Joan Chittister, art by Janet McKenzie, offers reflections on the stations of the cross as a guide to overcome obstacles and direct us toward a life that is newly fulfilling.
• The Thorny Grace of It: And Other Essays for Imperfect Catholics, by Brian Doyle, contains essays that explore some of the stickier and trickier elements of the Catholic character.

Biography/Memoir

• In Strangers at My Door: A True Story of Finding Jesus in Unexpected Guests, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and his wife tell the story of moving to the Walltown neighborhood in Durham, N.C., where they open their door to anyone who knocks.
• However Long the Night: Molly Melching's Journey to Help Millions of African Women and Girls Triumph, by Aimee Molloy, is the unlikely story of Molly Melching, an American woman whose experience as an exchange student in Senegal led her to found Tostan and dedicate almost four decades of her life to the girls and women of Africa.

Anthologies

• Bury the Dead: Stories of Death and Dying, Resistance and Discipleship, edited by Laurel Dykstra (includes Andrea Ferich and other Sojourners contributors), is a collection of personal encounters with death.
• Buffalo Shout, Salmon Cry: Conversations on Creation, Land Justice, and Life Together, edited by Steve Heinrichs (includes Rose Marie Berger and other Sojourners contributors), tells stories of land use, creation, history, and faith through poems and reflections by people across ethnic and religious divides.

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