THE MIP INTERFAITH BOOKSHELF
(An online resource for building a resilient and engaged interfaith community)
Why an Interfaith Bookshelf?
We in MIP deeply believe that spirituality is an essential component of our humanity. The wisdom and insights of diverse religions and philosophies contribute great depth and resilience to human societies.
MIP’s mission fosters interfaith community, understanding, and social justice from a position of deep respect and reverence for each other’s religious traditions, as well as for those whose spirituality is not specifically religious. Our Interfaith Bookshelf highlights books we have found to be consistent with MIP’s positive perspective on religious plurality and interfaith collaboration.
Not all books about religion, religious experience, or spiritually-motivated social action share our perspective. Google searches, online reviews, and the many shelves of books about religion in bookstores or libraries give readers little guidance for selecting from among the vast array. Each book listed here is one that a friend of MIP has personally loved and referred to our bookshelf curators for consideration (see our selection criteria and submission form below to suggest books to us).
Enjoy browsing our Interfaith Bookshelf as you grow in faith, hope, and love.
A Special Request
We hope to add books in our selected themes that are appropriate for children of all ages, and would love to receive your thoughtful suggestions.
What’s New on our Bookshelf?
Roughly monthly, or when whenever we have something exciting and new to share, we post on our ongoing bookshelf blog. Check back regularly to see what’s new.
What would it take to be truly UNDIVIDED?
Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church by Hahrie Hahn (2024, Alfred A. Knopf) is a book about real contemporary people putting faith into practice in their personal lives and in community with one another. Undivided is also a faith-based program activating communities for racial healing and justice.
This book chronicles the story of four people “whose lives were fundamentally altered by Undivided, a faith-based program designed to foster anti-racism and systemic change. As each of their journeys unfolded – in unpredictable and sometimes painful ways – they came to better understand one another, and to believe in the transformative possibilities for racial solidarity in a moment of deep divisiveness in America. The lessons they learned have the power to teach us all what an undivided society might look like – and how we can help achieve one.” (from the publisher)
And, you can also jear Undivided author, Hahrie Hahn in person at the Amos Fortune Forum, Jaffrey Center Meeting House, Friday, August 1, 8pm.
Founded in 1946 by a group of friends, the Amos Fortune Forum has been inviting residents and friends of the Monadnock region to hear notable speakers present their ideas on issues of public interest for over three quarters of a century.
The lectures are a continuing tribute to Amos Fortune, one of Jaffrey’s most distinguished citizens and a free black man who lived in Jaffrey in the late 1700’s.
The Amos Fortune Forum is free to the public, and is held on Friday evenings in July and August at the historic Meeting House, built in Jaffrey in 1775.
“What is justice but unconditional love for and belief in the dignity of all people? In other words, what is justice but the belief that everyone deserves grace? For the people I met in Undivided, their deep, abiding belief in God’s grace manifested itself as the courage to fight for one another’s dignity.” (p. 238)
Taking the Blue Boat Home
This month we feature the Blue Boat Home by Peter Mayer, with illustrations by Sue Todd (2025, Skinner House Books). A book for children of all ages, to treasure for a lifetime.
Have you ever heard a book sing, or maybe read a song with pictures? This book is both a well-loved hymn and a charming picture book. It is proof that a book can be deep, profound & theological, and yet appealing and accessible at any age: toddler to nonagenarian.
Click here for Lea Morris’ toe tapping version of Blue Boat Home!
“The wide universe is the ocean I travel and the earth is my blue boat home.”
Click on the links below to access each subject’s dedicated section of our online bookshelf
BOOKS ABOUT FAITHS (RELIGIOUS LITERACY)
BOOKS ABOUT SPIRITUALITY
AND THE
EXPERIENCE OF FAITH
BOOKS ON PEOPLE
OF FAITH
WORKING TOGETHER
BOOKS ABOUT
SOCIAL JUSTICE
(IN A FAITH CONTEXT)
BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
Noted as Child+ (ages 3 +),
Middle+ (ages 9 +) or
Young Adult+ (ages 13 +)
Guidelines for Submission
Please fill out THIS SUBMISSION FORM in as much detail as you can (but please try to limit your remarks to the suggested word limits). We are particularly interested in the following:
- Why you loved this book.
- What the book is about.
- How this book promotes interfaith understanding, community building, or collaboration for social justice.
Criteria for Submission
The Interfaith Bookshelf is a resource for books in five categories related to MIP’s mission.
- BOOKS ABOUT FAITHS (RELIGIOUS LITERACY): Books that introduce one religion (or multiple religions) to others who are not of that (or those) faiths. These books promote religious literacy: presenting the basic beliefs, practices, history and contexts of the faith without presenting any one faith as superior to others or attempting to prostelytize.
- BOOKS ABOUT SPIRITUALITY AND THE EXPERIENCE OF FAITH: Books appropriate for an interfaith context that present a religion or spirituality from the point of view of the faithful, often as a memoir: what is it like to be this relisious or spiritual person in a particular time and social context? (e.g. Threading My Prayer Rug: One Woman’s Journey from Pakistani Muslim to American Muslim.) Books might present difficulties or misgivings about aspects of a religion from the individual’s perspective, but should not be blanket criticisms of the whole faith.
- BOOKS ON PEOPLE OF FAITH WORKING TOGETHER: Books that are oriented towards the attitudes and interactions of religious persons or organizations working together in collaborative effort — for interfaith understanding, community building, and/or for social action.
- BOOKS ON SOCIAL JUSTICE (IN A FAITH CONTEXT): Books that deal with issues of working for social justice from a faith, or spiritual, perspective, either comprehensively (ways to collaboratively effect change) or relative to specific issues (hunger, homelessness, justice, etc.)
- BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS in any of the above categories, grouped as child+ (ages 3 and up), middle+ (ages 9 and up), of young adult+ (ages 13 and up).
If you have any misgivings about, or objections to, any of the books listed on our site, please let us know what concerns you via monadnockinterfaith@gmail.com. We’d like to talk to you about it.