I’m maybe a little bit obsessed with books… and there are so many great books releasing in 2016 that you won’t want to miss! I’ve listed many below – in order of release date – and they would make the perfect gift to yourself or a loved one. It’s always such a fun surprise when you forget you’ve ordered something and then it magically appears on your doorstep or in your mailbox!

12 can't-miss books coming in 2016

(Preordering a book is also a really great way to get a Christmas gift for someone still on your list because, well, you don’t have to worry about it arriving in time! You aren’t charged until the book releases and you’re guaranteed to pay the lowest price the book is advertised with — which means you often pay less then the release day price. #winning)

I’ve included a blurb about the book and, when applicable, the book cover.

12 Can’t-Miss Books Coming in 2016

 

Out of The House of BreadOut of the House of Bread: Satisfying Your Hunger for God with the Spiritual Disciplines :: Preston Yancey

Our spirituality needs revival, but the disciplines of the Spirit often go covered with dust, lying unused by Christians because they feel too much like rules. But what if they weren’t rules? What if they were conversation starters? Invitations to discover God right now, today?

In Out of the House of Bread author Preston Yancey leads us in a new but old direction of spirituality engaging the symbolism and experience of spiritual disciplines made plain and accessible by the baking of bread.

The benefits of this book of devotion include: finding a nearness to the holiness of God and feeling the forgiveness of God. You’ll learn again the disciplines of celebration, confession, and conversion, encountering new avenues of prayer along the way. Each chapter pairs a spiritual discipline or practice with insight to the baking of an extraordinary loaf of bread. Readers encounter ancient practices such as the prayer of examen, lectio divina, intercessory prayer, icons, and wonder.

++++

Even If Not: Living, Loving, and Learning in the in Between :: Kaitlyn Bouchillon

If you find yourself in between one thing and another, changing from who you used to be into who you are becoming, how will you live in the messy, beautiful middle? And what if the middle pages hold storylines that wound and surprise? Is God with us on those pages, too?

In Even If Not, Kaitlyn Bouchillon invites you to let go of trying to figure out the ending of your story and instead lean into the faithfulness of God. With honest and vulnerable storytelling from her own in betweens, Kaitlyn encourages you to say – no matter what page of the story you find yourself on – that although you believe God could come through how you’re asking, you’ll trust Him… even if not.

++++

The Gift of FriendshipThe Gift of Friendship: Stories That Celebrate the Beauty of Shared Moments :: Dawn Camp

Whether next door or in the next time zone, our friends provide some of our most important relationships. We cherish time spent with them, bemoan time spent apart, and look forward to the next time we can have coffee or rush to greet them as they walk toward our door. And nothing warms our hearts like stories of true friendship.

Collecting over fifty true stories from some of today best writers, Dawn Camp offers readers a chance to sit back and experience the gift of friendship. With its beautiful photographs and poignant prose, this is a great gift for a dear friend and the perfect pick-me-up any time you need a boost. Contributors include Crystal Paine, Liz Curtis Higgs, Tsh Oxenreider, Myquillyn Smith, Jennifer Dukes Lee, Lisa-Jo Baker, Jessica Turner, Lysa TerKeurst, Holley Gerth, Renee Swope, and many more.

++++

Curious FaithCurious Faith: Rediscovering Hope in the God of Possibility :: Logan Wolfram

We are born with an innate curiosity to explore, marvel, and believe there is more to life. But, laundry piles up. Bills pile up. Ultimately, life piles up. We can doubt God’s goodness and the everyday becomes marked by restraint, limits, and settling for the routine. Hardship extinguishes our hope and we exchange curiosity for control. Curious Faith is about rescuing the now.

It’s about exploring possibility with a God who is unlimited, unpredictable, and ever-loving. In these pages, Logan Wolfram invites you to overcome feelings and outside circumstances that inhibit growth and rob you of hope. Pursue curiosity to enjoy the wonder of an open-handed life.

++++

Looking For LovelyLooking for Lovely: Collecting the Moments that Matter :: Annie Downs

“I want you to take every step of your life with excitement for where you are headed. And I want you to feel beautiful and confident as you do.”

But how? When the enemy whispers lies that we are not smart enough, pretty enough, or rich enough? Or are you too dumb, too loud, too quiet, too thin, too fat, too much or not enough? What if you don’t have what it takes to be who you really want to be?” In Looking for Lovely, Annie F. Downs shares personal stories, biblical truth, and examples of how others have courageously walked the path God paved for their lives by remembering all God had done, loving what was right in front of them, and seeing God in the everyday—whether that be nature, friends, or the face they see in the mirror.

++++

Mother LettersThe Mother Letters: Sharing the Laughter, Joy, Struggles, and Hope :: Seth and Amber Haines

After his wife Amber had given birth to three boys in three years, Seth Haines saw that she needed encouragement in the day-to-day drama and details of motherhood. Secretly collecting nearly six hundred wise, honest, and sometimes hilarious letters from other mothers across the world, Seth compiled these “mother letters” as a gift for her.

Each mother-to-mother letter offers encouragement, advice, and vulnerable honesty about the struggles and joys of motherhood. These letters show that no matter how many times mothers feel like they’ve failed, they are still doing their greatest work. So for the mom who thinks she’s the only one out there who just can’t find time for a shower, Mother Letters shows her that she’s part of a grand and diverse group of strong women who are saying to her, “Me too. But we can do this.”

++++

Giddy Up, Eunice: Because Women Need Each Other by Sophie HudsonGiddy Up, Eunice (Because Women Need Each Other) :: Sophie Hudson

It’s no secret: Women need each other—especially now. We’re in one of the most puzzling cultural places we’ve ever been: we have young girls looking for security in selfies, older women feeling dismissed and diminished, and a generation of mom-agers in between. But all too often, especially in the church, we limit our relationships to people who are just like us: in the same age- and stage-related circles.

In her delightfully quirky, Southern style that readers have come to know and love, Sophie Hudson has written a rallying cry for women everywhere to open their eyes to the people God has put into our lives—those behind us and those in front of us—that we are meant to share the road with. It was never God’s intention to only be friends with women just like us. Giddy Up, Eunice is an invitation to extend our hands to the generations on either side and to truly love each other, pour into each other, and soak up all the wisdom that we can along the way. We will all be the better for it.

++++

Present Over PerfectPresent Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living :: Shauna Niequist

In a culture that values speed, efficiency, image, and busyness, some of us are aching for another way to live: more intentional, more connected. Simpler, slower, richer. Many of us have believed the myth that achievement and success bring us contentment, only to find it’s actually things like connection and meaning, not success and achievement, that provide true peace and genuine happiness.

Present Over Perfect is bestselling author Shauna Niequist’s motto for how to live a rich, engaged, and loving life in the midst of what often feels terribly messy and imperfect. Present Over Perfect is a collection of essays that focuses on the journey from frantic and tired to connected and free. Many of us find ourselves busier than we want to be, missing the sweetest moments along the way. We end up resentful and distracted, full of regret and feeling disconnected. Present Over Perfect is a hand reaching out to a new way of living—full of grace, space, and connection.

++++

Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and LonelyUninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely :: Lysa TerKeurst

The enemy wants us to feel rejected . . . left out, lonely, and less than. When we allow him to speak lies through our rejection, he pickpockets our purpose. Cripples our courage. Dismantles our dreams. And blinds us to the beauty of Christ’s powerful love.

In Uninvited, Lysa shares her own deeply personal experiences with rejection—from the incredibly painful childhood abandonment by her father to the perceived judgment of the perfectly toned woman one elliptical over.

With biblical depth, gut-honest vulnerability, and refreshing wit, Lysa helps readers end the cycle of perceived rejection by refusing to turn a small incident into a full blown issue and start believing that “set apart” does not mean “set aside.”

++++

Youve Got It In YouYou’ve Got It in You: How to Depend on God’s Power in You to Accomplish God’s Purposes for You :: Renee Swope (6/4/16 update: The publisher is now saying this book will release summer of 2017.)

This book is for the woman who feels overwhelmed, inadequate, and convinced she just doesn’t have what it takes to do and be all that is expected of her. Then she feels guilty for not being enough. She wanted most of the roles, responsibilities, and relationships she has, but now her soul feels depleted and her mind divided. Why doesn’t she have it “in her” to be more, give more, and get more done?

Based on Ephesians 3:20, You’ve Got It In You helps a woman live in the beautiful truth that Christ is not only with her, he is in her. Therefore she has all she needs to be who God created her to be. Renee Swope empowers and equips a woman to stop focusing on all she can’t do and rely on what God promises to do, in and through her, as she fully depends on him.

++++

The Broken Way by Ann VoskampThe Broken Way: A Daring Path into the Abundant Life :: Ann Voskamp

How can it be? When we’re naked and ashamed and alone in our brokenness, Christ envelopes us with his intimate grace. When we’re rejected and abandoned and shattered beyond wanting, Jesus cups our face, “Come close, my Beloved.” When we’re dirty and tear-stained and despairing, Jesus Christ proposes undying, dying love: “All that you painfully are and are carrying—I’ll take. All that I perfectly am and have—is yours. Just take me.”

There is a wooing that washes our wounds. Falling into this intimacy with Him is the one thing we pray to never recover from. This kind of intimacy can only be tasted and swallowed, and it burns a holy yes through our begging veins. Am I willing to take all that I have, break and give to Him? Because all that He is, He broke and gave to us.

++++

Falling Free by Shannan MartinFalling Free: Rescued from the Life I Always Wanted :: Shannan Martin

Shannan Martin had the best life she could imagine. She lived with her husband and three adorable kids in a cute little farmhouse on six rambling acres and had enough money, plenty of friends, a great church, and a safe, happy existence. Then the bottom dropped out when they lost their jobs and God called them to something radically different. Their world shifted to a small house on the other side of the urban tracks, an income on life support, failing local schools, and the county jail (where her husband is chaplain). And yet their plunge from “nice, safe, and happy” was the best thing that ever happened to them.

Falling Free chronicles the Martin family’s pilgrimage from the faulty, me-centric wisdom of this world to the topsy-turvy life of God’s more being found in the less, challenging readers to rethink their own assumptions about faith and the good life. Anyone who yearns for something beyond status quo, middle-class Christianity but hesitates out of insecurity or safety concerns will find encouragement, food for thought, and practical guidance in this sweetly subversive book.

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