100 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ SEPTEMBER 2, 2019
Review_NONFICTIONChange, and Letting Go” for autumn.
Therapeutic topics include “Opinions Are
the Lowest Form of Knowledge”
(“empaths tend to take others’ judgments
too seriously”) and “I Am Not My
Mother” (“empathic children instinctively
want to help their mothers and may inad-
vertently absorb their anxieties”). She also
includes passages about the East Asian
bodhisattva Quan Yin, the Hawaiian
Ho’oponopono Prayer, and Shakti, the
force of Hinduism. While bringing so
many sources into a daily meditation book
creates a compelling overview, short sections
dedicated to lesser-known traditions risk
oversimplification, like Native American
animal medicine in “The Jaguar
Meditation.” However, this will be an
effective practical tool for sensitive
people looking for daily meditations.
(Nov.)modern Western cultures. He defines
unbelief as a state of dissociation from or
dissatisfaction with a dominant Christian
religious narrative, and categorizes these
responses as either an emotional story of
anger or an anxiety that individuals put
upon themselves. The former he con-
siders a reaction against an overwhelm-
ingly homogenous Christian society; the
latter as the inability to keep one’s faith as
sturdy as one feels it should be. Ryrie
begins with a careful discussion of the
history and changing definitions of
atheist and unbeliever, and his reasons for
using these particular terms. The bulk of
the work concerns unbelief in Western
Europe in the centuries around the
Reformation, through the experiences of
Protestants, Catholics, and various
breakaway groups that sought to locate
belief outside the organized church.
Wrapping in and analyzing the writing
of Machiavelli, Christopher Marlowe,
and Walter Raleigh, as well as lesser-
known figures such as Hannah Allen,
Ludovic Muggleton, and Caspar
Schwenkfield, Ryrie’s comprehensive
research makes this a masterly piece of
scholarship. Ryrie’s deeply researched
work is an enlightening ramble through
intellectual history of opposition to
Christian belief that will appeal to any
reader interested in religious history.
(Nov.)Thriving as an Empath:
A Daily Guide to Empower
Sensitive People
Judith Orloff. Sounds True, $24.95 (408p)
ISBN 978-1-68364-291-6
Orloff (The Empath’s Survival Guide), a
psychiatrist on the UCLA Psychiatric
Clinical Faculty, provides a practical guide
of daily prompts and intentions for each
day of the year. Combining “self-care
practices, perspectives, and meditations”
from ancient traditions with the science
of modern psychology, Orloff guides
readers in becoming “a compassionate,
empowered empath.” An empath herself
(one with paranormal abilities to sense
emotion), Orloff structures one-page
meditations to capture the changing
emotions of the seasons: “Going Inward,
Sensing Truth” for winter, “Growth and
Rejuvenation” for spring, “Passion, Play,
and Abundance” for summer, and “Harvest,take time, practice, and careful atten-
dance to the sophisticated folding
techniques described before neo-
phytes can expect to be expertly
folding the more complex projects.
However, for those in search of a
thoughtful and artistically fulfilling
hobby, LaFosse’s well-appointed primer
should prove a solid entry point to a
rewarding new pursuit. (Oct.)Religion/Spirituality
A Month of Sundays:
Thirty-One Days of Wrestling with
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
Eugene H. Peterson. WaterBrook, $16.99
trade paper (208p) ISBN 978-1-6014-2982-7
Peterson’s excellent posthumous devo-
tional, gleaned from sermons he gave
during his tenure as pastor of Christ Our
King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air,
Md., provides a month-long journey
toward spiritual renewal. Pairing scripture
from Peterson’s popular paraphrase of the
Bible, The Message, with excerpts from
his homilies, he challenges readers to
wrestle with familiar (albeit complex)
spiritual concepts, such as sin, repentance,
and righteousness. With a mix of personal
stories and quotes, Peterson evens out the
heavy scriptural sections of close reading.
Though he retired from the pulpit in 1991,
his topics remain relevant; especially
timely are several readings focused on how
God continues to love the world, while
many of his followers seem to be either
fearful of it or angry. Peterson’s answer to
this dilemma (and counsel for life in gen-
eral) is to learn “to live all of the details of
our lives in the company of Jesus.” Since
Peterson offers more theological insight
than practical application, figuring out
how exactly to achieve this goal is left for
readers to process on their own.
Regardless, fans of Peterson’s work and
newcomers looking for an easy entry point
will enjoy these soothing sermons. (Nov.)★ Unbelievers: An Emotional
History of Doubt
Alec Ryrie. Belknap, $27.95 (272) ISBN 978-0-
674-24182-4
This brief, entertaining volume from
Ryrie (Protestants) explores the experience
and practice of “unbelief” as it emerged inFICTION
The Body in Griffith Park Jennifer Kincheloe.
Seventh Street, ISBN 978-1-63388-540-0, July
Hideaway Nicole Lundrigan. Viking Canada,
ISBN 978-0-7352-3781-0, July
The Mythic Dream, edited by Dominik Parisien
and Navah Wolfe. Saga, ISBN 978-1-4814-6239-6,
Sept.
The Titanic Secret Clive Cussler and Jack Du
Brul. Putnam, ISBN 978-0-7352-1726-3, Sept.
The Waters and the Wild (SERRAted Edge
#10) Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill.
Baen, ISBN 978-1-4814-8430-5, Oct.
NONFICTION
Beethoven: The Relentless Revolutionary
John Clubbe. Norton, ISBN 978-0-393-24255-3, July
★ The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir
Samantha Power. Dey Street, ISBN 978-0-06-
282069-3. Sept.
MGM Style: Cedric Gibbons and the Art of
Hollywood’s Golden Age Howard Gutner.
Lyons, ISBN 978-1-4930-3857-2, Oct.
Tough Luck: Sid Luckman, Murder Inc., and
the Rise of the Modern NFL R.D. Rosen.
Atlantic Monthly, ISBN 978-0-8021-2944-4, Sept.
★ Travel Light, Move Fast Alexandra Fuller.
Penguin Press, ISBN 978-1-59420-674-0, Aug.http://www.publishersweekly.comONLINE
NOWEditor’s note: Reviews noted as “BookLife” are for
self-published books received via BookLife, PW’s
program for indie authors.