As you know, I’m just a little bit (ahem…) obsessed with books. Based on the number of shares and pins on previous book round-up posts, y’all feel the same way.

After several years of compiling these lists, I now split them into three posts due to the number of great releases each year. (Here are the lists for January-April of 2019 and May-August of 2019.)

There are dozens of fantastic books releasing this season, and I’m excited to share these 14 with you—perfect for fall book clubs, Bible studies, or even to give as gifts this Christmas.

The books below are listed in order of release date and include a blurb pulled from Amazon descriptions.

If you’d be so kind, would you consider sharing this list on Facebook or pinning to Pinterest? And I’d love to hear what book(s) you’re most looking forward to in the comments!

P.S. if a book grabs your attention — for yourself or a friend — you might want to preorder a copy.

Why I love preordering through Amazon: First, you’re guaranteed to pay the lowest price advertised. (For example, if you preorder on September 5th when it’s $13.00, then it drops to $10.00 mid-October and is $15.00 when it releases on November 4th, you’ll only pay $10.00) Second, you aren’t charged until the book releases. Third, if you’re going to buy the book anyway, you might as well preorder it so you can submit your receipt and receive free gifts (most authors now offer freebies on their site to anyone who preorders).

 

14 Can’t-Miss Books Coming September-December of 2019 . . .

 

Beholding and Becoming: The Art of Everyday Worship :: Ruth Chou Simons

You are in the process of becoming. Every day is an opportunity to be shaped and formed by what moves your heart…drives your thoughts…captures your gaze. Is it any wonder that where you direct your eyes and your heart matter in your day-to-day?

We become what we behold when we set our hearts and minds on Christ and His redemption story here in the details of our daily lives. Not just on Sunday, not just on holidays, not just when extraordinarily hard or wonderful things happen…but today. 

Bestselling author and artist Ruth Chou Simons invites you on a new journey to Beholding and Becoming. With more than 850 pieces of intricate, original artwork, Ruth encourages you to elevate your gaze to the One who created all things.

++++

What Is a Girl Worth?: My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth about Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics :: Rachael Denhollander

“Who is going to tell these little girls that what was done to them matters? That they are seen and valued, that they are not alone and they are not unprotected?”

Rachael Denhollander’s voice was heard around the world when she spoke out to end the most shocking scandal in US gymnastics history. The first victim to publicly accuse Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor who abused hundreds of young athletes, Rachael now reveals her full story for the first time.

What Is a Girl Worth? is the inspiring true story of Rachael’s journey from an idealistic young gymnast to a strong and determined woman who found the courage to raise her voice against evil, even when she thought the world might not listen. This deeply personal and compelling narrative shines a spotlight on the physical and emotional impact of abuse, why so many survivors are reluctant to speak out, what it means to be believed, the extraordinary power of faith and forgiveness, and how we can learn to do what’s right in the moments that matter most.

++++

Breaking Anxiety’s Grip: How to Reclaim the Peace God Promises :: Dr. Michelle Bengtson

Ours is an age of anxiety. We worry about our children, jobs, homes, health, and finances. News and social media feed our fears. Even the fear of missing out leads to anxiety. The solution isn’t to rid ourselves of the sources of anxiety but to recognize that anxiety originates from a spiritual influence–and then use the weapons of power, love, and a sound mind to fight back and live in God’s peace.

Sharing her own story of emerging from the battle with anxiety as well as the stories of others, Dr. Michelle Bengtson reminds you of your identity as a follower of Christ and of the peace He promises you in spite of everything. She provides tools to cope with the crushing emotional burden of anxiety now, and, more importantly, shows you how to reclaim God’s peace as a way of life so that you can break anxiety’s grip.

++++

Something Needs to Change: A Call to Make Your Life Count in a World of Urgent Need :: David Platt

While leading a team on a week-long trek of the Himalayas, bestselling author and pastor David Platt was stunned by the human needs he encountered, an experience so dramatic that it “changed the trajectory of my life.” Meeting a man who’d lost his eye from a simple infection and seeing the faces of girls stolen from their families and trafficked in the cities, along with other unforgettable encounters, opened his eyes to the people behind the statistics and compelled him to wrestle with his assumptions about faith.

In Something Needs to Change, Platt invites readers to come along on both the adventure of the trek, as well as the adventure of seeking answers to tough questions like, “Where is God in the middle of suffering?” “What makes my religion any better than someone else’s religion?” and “What do I believe about eternal suffering?” Platt has crafted an irresistible message about what it means to give your life for the gospel–to finally stop talking about faith and truly start living it.

++++

Love Anyway: An Invitation Beyond a World that’s Scary as Hell :: Jeremy Courtney

Preemptive Love founder Jeremy Courtney has seen the very worst of war. He’s risked his life saving lives on the front lines. He’s come face to face with ISIS, been targeted by death threats, and narrowly escaped airstrikes. Through it all, the most powerful thing he’s learned is this: we’re not just at war with each other. We’re at war with ourselves. But the way things are is not the way they have to be.

Love Anyway will inspire you to confront your deepest fears and respond to our scary world with the kind of love that seems a little crazy. Because when we do, we become agents of hope who unmake violence and unfurl the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.

Love Anyway is the story of Jeremy’s incredible journey–and an invitation to discover the more beautiful world on the front lines where you live.

++++

You Are the Girl for the Job: Daring to Believe the God Who Calls You :: Jess Connolly

You Are the Girl for the Job is not simply a peppy catchphrase. This is the straight-up truth God has proclaimed over your life from the beginning, and it’s not dependent on what you can do or achieve but based on His power, capacity, and character.

God has meticulously prepared you to be an ambassador for the Kingdom right where you are, here and now. Life is too short to get stuck in a holding pattern of shame, self-doubt, and comparison. So let this book be your very good news: you don’t have to wait for permission when you’ve already been commissioned.

Let this book be your jumpstart into confident, purposed living, as Jess walks you through the six steps she has used to coach and encourage women for years: set your focus, take stock of the story that has shaped you, face your fear, catch the vision, make a plan, and finally, make your move–all in the bold belief that God has called you to every step of the journey.

++++

Beginner’s Pluck: Build Your Life of Purpose and Impact Now :: Liz Forkin Bohannon

There’s no lack of people out there telling you to find your passion and dream big. But why does it seem like when we try, we so often end up more lost and overwhelmed than when we started? Liz Forkin Bohannon wants you to rethink everything you’ve been told about finding your passion and following your dreams. Why? Hate to break it to you, but you’re likely never going to “find your passion.” Because your passion and purpose are something you build–actively–day by day. In her signature tell-it-like-it-is fashion, Liz shares 14 actionable principles that will teach you how to do just that.

With total transparency, Liz shares hilarious and heartbreaking stories of her journey of screwups and successes that illustrate the mindsets and principles that will give you a jolt of energy, inspiration, and direction toward your True North. By embracing your Inner Beginner, dreaming small, choosing curiosity over criticism, and so much more, Liz’s story and the principles of Beginner’s Pluck will have you on your way to building a life of purpose, passion, and lasting impact.

Miracles and Other Reasonable Things: A Story of Unlearning and Relearning God :: Sarah Bessey

A deeply moving and life-affirming account of wrestling with faith and God and finding miracles in the most unexpected places.

Weaving together theology and memoir in her trademark narrative style, Sarah tells us the story of the moment that changed her body and how it ultimately changed her life. The road of healing leads to Rome where she met the Pope (it’s complicated) and encountered the Holy Spirit in the last place she expected. She writes about her miraculous healing, learning to live with chronic pain, and the ways God makes us whole in the midst of suffering. She invites us to a path of knowing God that is filled with ordinary miracles, hope in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and other completely reasonable things.

Insightful, profound, and unexpected, Miracles and Other Reasonable Things is a wild, spirit-filled story of what it means to live with both grief and faith, suffering and joy, as we wrestle with God.

++++

To Hell With the Hustle: Reclaiming Your Life in an Overworked, Overspent, and Overconnected World :: Jefferson Bethke

Our culture makes constant demands of us. Do more. Accomplish more. Buy more. Post more. Tweet more. And in following those demands, we have indeed become more–more anxious, more tired, more hurt, more depressed, more frantic. What we are doing isn’t working because, Jefferson Bethke argues, we have forgotten the fundamentals that make us human, the things that anchor our lives, providing us with roots and meaning.

This book delivers a wake-up call to resist our culture and embrace the slowness of Jesus. To stop doing and start becoming by proactively setting up boundaries in our lives and cultivating disciplines within them. Bethke shows his readers how to find landmarks, anchors, and rhythms that provide depth and meaning and that push back against the demands of contemporary life. And he reveals that what the world teaches us to avoid at all costs–things such as silence, obscurity, solitude, and vulnerability–are the very things that can give us the meaning, depth, order, and the richness we are truly looking for.

++++

Be the Bridge: Pursuing God’s Heart for Racial Reconciliation :: Latasha Morrison

A leading advocate for racial reconciliation offers a clarion call for Christians to move toward relationship and deeper understanding in the midst of a divisive culture.

With racial tensions as high within the church as outside the church, it is time for Christians to become the leaders in the conversation on racial reconciliation. This power-packed guide helps readers deepen their understanding of historical factors and present realities, equipping them to participate in the ongoing dialogue and to serve as catalysts for righteousness, justice, healing, transformation, and reconciliation.

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The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World :: John Mark Comer

Who are you becoming? That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer. By outward metrics, everything appeared successful. But inwardly, things weren’t pretty. So he turned to a trusted mentor for guidance and heard these words: “Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life.” It wasn’t the response he expected, but it continues to be the answer he needs.

Too often we treat the symptoms of toxicity in our modern world instead of trying to pinpoint the cause. A growing number of voices are pointing at hurry, or busyness as a root of much evil. Within the pages of this book, you’ll find a compelling emotional and spiritual case against hurry and in favor of a slower, simpler way of life.

++++

When Less Becomes More: Making Space for Slow, Simple, and Good :: Emily Ley

Statistics don’t lie. People today are more fatigued, burned out, and overwhelmed than ever. Smartphones constantly ping and alert and demand our attention. Add to that family commitments, work that is accessible around the clock, and overscheduling, and you have a life that can feel unmanageable and frantic . . . even running on empty.

n this book, Emily Ley takes readers on a journey out of that empty place and shows them how to fill their wells with the nourishment that only true connection can provide. She presents some radical concepts that push against the tethers of modern life, with the promise that more of the good stuff comes when we say yes to less of what keeps us empty: less rush and more rhythm, less liking and more loving, less frenzy and more should rest, less fear and more community, less chasing and more cherishing.

Getting to more might require some outside-the-box changes, some reworking of the day-to-day so that readers can build a life based on their core values instead of slipping into a life dictated by society or what’s “normal.” Because we weren’t made for normal. We were made for more—for a life of fullness, dreaming, and lasting joy.

++++

Relentless: The Unshakeable Presence of a God Who Never Leaves :: Michele Cushatt

How do you hold onto faith when faith itself seems lost? Whether in struggle, illness, death, or failure, the presence of pain causes us to question the presence of God. We pray and watch the sky, crossing our spiritual fingers for hardcore proof of God’s nearness. And in the silence, we sense something more sinister: perceived abandonment.

But what if we could collect evidence that God hasn’t left us? What if we could be absolutely certain of God’s presence and affection, strengthening our faith against any assault?

Woven throughout Scripture sits a single, extraordinary theme: God is with us. Like the Old Testament story of Joshua’s altar of twelve stones, Relentless delivers twelve key biblical stories that demonstrate God’s unfailing presence. Each chapter offers an invitation to identify a “stone” in your own life as tangible evidence of God’s nearness. With the turn of the last page, you will have discovered twelve markers of your own, an altar of memory to carry you through questions and losses, even ones yet to come. Relentless is an invitation to search for divine presence in our everyday stories.

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Sacred Endurance: Finding Grace and Strength for a Lasting Faith :: Trillia J. Newbell

God promises to finish the good work He began in us―but that doesn’t come without bumps in the road. Life can be hard, faith can wane, and distractions abound. Too many today are at risk of compromising their integrity or giving up on their faith. How can we persevere to the end?

Trillia Newbell, a fellow struggler on the journey, offers encouragement and hope for us to run the race well. While life may be full of challenges, we have a true and real hope in Jesus, who provides us with what we need to endure through pain and doubt.

Newbell shares theological insights and practical disciplines to train us for faithful, godly living over the long haul. The race is hard, but you are not running it alone. Find strength and courage here to endure and finish well.

 

Bonus: Three Devotionals . . .

 

Strong, Brave, Loved: Empowering Reminders of Who You Really Are :: Holley Gerth

Bestselling author Holley Gerth feels like your best friend, your supportive sister, and your biggest cheerleader. She understands that you want to be a woman who looks life in the face and says, “You can’t beat me.” A woman who knows love is a risk and reaches out anyway. A woman who understands kindness takes real courage. Who doesn’t fake it or try to hide her scars. Who fights to believe she is who God says she is and helps others do the same.

Strong, Brave, Loved offers 60 short devotions to empower you to be that kind of woman. It’s simple, personal, and practical, with room for you to journal your own responses and reflections. With these concise and compassionate devotions, Holley leads you on a journey of discovery as you learn to live in freedom, hope, and holy courage.

++++

Women of Courage: A 40-Day Devotional :: the (in)courage community

Whether you’re trying something new, enduring the grind of the everyday, or facing something you never imagined would come your way, life can be overwhelming and sometimes even scary. When that happens, how do you live brave? How do you learn to become a woman of courage? Who do you turn to as examples or mentors?

This warm, honest, and encouraging devotional features women from the Bible who lived courageously despite unusual, difficult, or even frightening circumstances. From women who were called to step into leadership roles, to women who had to rely on God’s daily provision for their needs, these heroes of the Bible show you exactly how to lean into the strength of the Lord when your own isn’t enough.

Featuring 40 brave women—some well-known (like Ruth, Elizabeth, Mary, and Martha) and some lesser-known (such as Shiprah, Puah, Lois, and Eunice)—this devotional will walk with you through the hardest days and leave you with the courage you need to lead, to love, to trust, and to turn to God in every situation.

++++

Live in Grace, Walk in Love: A 365-Day Journey :: Bob Goff

Bob Goff’s first two books, Love Does and Everybody, Always, spent dozens of weeks each as New York Times bestsellers with their unique combination of entertaining, witty storytelling, and challenging, surprising perspectives. Now Bob is back with a year-long devotional made up of his distinctive, entertaining, deceptively profound reflections on what it means to live every day in light of the grace of God.

Built on Bob’s trademark storytelling and unique way of helping us to see things in a new way, Live in Grace, Walk in Love takes us through an entire calendar year of meditations on how we can step out in love and confidence in every aspect of our lives. More than a tweet, less than a blog post, these devotional readings–accompanied by Scripture–will inspire and galvanize you to live a more liberated, love- and life-giving existence than you ever thought possible.

 

Stay Tuned . . .

 

I’m already jotting down titles of can’t-miss books releasing in 2020, because of course I am. (There are 29 books already bookmarked on my computer. Bless it. This will be a hard one to narrow down!) If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss the list when it’s live, click on the image below to subscribe. (Don’t worry, I promise not to add to the noise or fill your inbox — you can expect 2-3 emails from me each month.)