Ministry, mystery, and memoir

Christian leadership

The Augustinian Pastor: Deep Wisdom for Modern Ministry

Joseph H. Sherrard
Baker Academic, 240 pages

Augustine of Hippo was a theological giant in the church, especially known for his contributions to Trinitarian doctrine, hermeneutics, and political theology. What is often missed, however, is his central vocation as a minister. He wrote on a wide range of topics and was involved in theological controversies, but he never departed from the pastorate or its ordinary duties. More than 900 of his sermons have survived, and he certainly preached many more. In this introduction to Augustine’s pastoral theology, Joseph H. Sherrard offers not simply an account of his thought, but an attempt to inhabit it, especially his emphasis on humility. For Augustine, humility is not merely one virtue among others; it is the way, because Christ is the way. Pride is the foundational sin, and humility its antithesis. An Augustinian pastor, then, is one who follows this path of humility. The book is both candid and practical. There are a number of helpful discussions, particularly on preaching and catechesis. Augustine’s own practice as a preacher is presented as both central to his ministry and instructive for today. Preaching, in this account, is not merely the communication of ideas but an event in which Christ Himself is active. Augustine’s life was also marked by a dense network of relationships, and he did not imagine the Christian life as something that could be sustained in isolation. True friendship is grounded in a shared pursuit of truth and righteousness, and ultimately in Christ. At the same time, it requires more than agreement. It involves practices of forgiveness, patience, and mutual correction. Sherrard describes his own efforts to cultivate such friendships, including ­regular meetings with fellow ministers. He suggests many pastors do not lack opportunity for friendship so much as the imagination or discipline to pursue it. In an age when many men find ­themselves isolated, this is a timely and necessary word. Sherrard has not only presented Augustine as a pastor, but has shown what it might mean to take that fact seriously. The result is a work that invites its readers to reconsider the shape of their own ministry under the tutelage of this great teacher whose wisdom remains ever relevant. —James R. Wood

Memoir

Homeschooled

Stefan Merrill Block
Hanover Square Press, 288 pages

Novelist Stefan Merrill Block remembered a blissful childhood in Indiana before his family moved to Plano, Texas. Pulling up roots was hard enough for a 7-year-old, but his New England–bred mother fared worse. Casting about for purpose in a strange land, she latched onto her youngest son. Stefan’s complaints about school she interpreted as frustrated genius. The solution was glaringly obvious: bring him home to bloom. During the next five years she put her own spin on educational theory, such as making Stefan crawl on hands and knees to catch his motor skills up to his intellect and leaving him alone for empty blocks of time to develop “passions” he didn’t have. Reentering public school as a freshman, he found himself woefully behind. The book has received rave reviews from homeschool skeptics, and Block himself believes the practice should be better regulated. But his years at home were more an experiment in maternal indulgence than real-life education. And Mom was right about one thing: Her son turned out to be a gifted writer. His memoir explores a complex relationship with Oedipal overtones told in a style both torching and tender, though readers should expect a small amount of foul language and innuendo. —Janie B. Cheaney

Mystery

Death in the Aviary

Victoria Dowd
Datura Books, 400 pages

Victoria Dowd crafts murder mysteries that hearken back to the Golden Age of detective fiction. Death in the Aviary is the first volume in her new series featuring Charlotte Blood. Set in 1928 at Ravenswick Abbey on the English moors, the novel evokes the haunting atmosphere reminiscent of Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles. Lord Ravenswick is a London newspaper magnate, and Charlotte is a journalist for a competitor. Pretending to do an article on the Ravenswick ravens, she gains access to the estate hoping to unravel the mystery of the murder of the Ravenswick heir. Foiled at every turn by the dysfunctional, imperious, aristocratic family and their viciously loyal servants, she struggles to penetrate the conspiracy of family secrets. A parallel plot of her own backstory as a disinherited high-society debutante and grieving WWI widow gives the story depth and further mystery. The novel features complex characters, and Dowd’s skill in weaving raven imagery throughout adds a touch of humor. This whodunit keeps Charlotte and the reader in suspense right up to the surprising ending. —Nina Oetting

Christian science fiction

Firebreak

Kathy Tyers
Enclave, 304 pages

After years spent away from her home world, Lady Firebird Caldwell returns to Netaia with the goal of introducing her young sons and husband to her remaining friends and family. But when unknown ships in distress call upon Netaia for help, Firebird is chosen to represent her people and make contact. The crew is surprised to find ­something that is more machine than human—a ship that may have once had a soul. Firebird must use every tool and human talent she has if she and every planet in the Whorl are to survive this mysterious enemy. Firebreak by bestselling science fiction author Kathy Tyers has the feel of a Star Trek film with the depth of a biblical worldview. Through Firebird’s story, Tyers encourages readers to have courage under pressure and to ask in the age of AI: What does it mean to be human? Tyers began the Firebird novels 40 years ago, but Firebreak can be enjoyed by all readers whether they’re familiar with the original series or not. —Marian A. Jacobs

Christian mystery and suspense

The Bookshop of 99 Doors

Jaime Jo Wright
Bethany House, 352 pages

In this tale, supernatural stressors become the building blocks of faith when two women, separated by a ­century, face the same ghost story in a Gettysburg manor house. Present-day Triss enjoys her new job in the bookshop of a Gettysburg landmark house, until the stories of spectral presences lead her spirits-­obsessed brother to its doorstep, forcing her to confront her family as she dis­covers the true God. Post–Civil War Minnie struggles to care for her father in a lonely Gettysburg manor house with a ghostly reputation. An acerbic housekeeper, an increasingly crazed father, and a stalwart Quaker with a troubling disregard for property boundaries lead her to question her deistic certainties and uncover the violent past of her new home. Both women struggle with what it means to honor their families, when doing so might cause real harm to themselves. As they unravel the story of the manor house, they determine that “sometimes you have to define the darkness before you can step into the light.” —Deborah Roby

History

A Kingdom and a Village: A One-Thousand-Year History of Moscow

Simon Morrison
Knopf, 528 pages

Moscow has always been a city of great brooders. Tolstoy perpetually tortured by the human condition; Putin perpetually tortured by the existence of his neighbors. The city itself broods too, and for good reason. From riverside settlement to ­prin­cipality. From ­principality to empire. From empire to ruin. And from ruin, the slow, exhausting job of building it all back up again, knowing exactly how this ends. Simon Morrison traces this thousand-year cycle with style, moving from medieval princes and Orthodox ambition through Ivan the Terrible’s reign of cultured savagery, Napoleon’s catastrophic miscalculation, and Stalin’s wholesale reinvention of the city as a monument to state power. Each era breaks Moscow. Each time it returns — somehow, stubbornly, against all reasonable expectation. The Soviet collapse brought chaos, crime, and genuine uncertainty. Oligarchs carved up the ruins. Gangsters wrote the new rules in blood and bad suits. The city absorbed that too. Morrison’s Moscow is proud, suspicious, and shaped entirely by its losses. Russia’s capital defies easy explanation. It’s less a city you understand than one you endure. And Morrison delivers arguably the most honest account of what a thousand years of endurance actually looks like. —John Mac Ghlionn

Read WORLD’s full review of this book here.

Memoir

Everything You Want Is on the Other Side of Hard

Ken Rideout
Scribner, 304 pages

This is the story of a life shaped by hardship and rebuilt through discipline. Growing up outside Boston, Rideout finds himself surrounded by poverty, addiction, and instability. Hockey becomes his first refuge, a place where rules make sense and effort is rewarded. As an adult, he carries that competitive edge to Wall Street. The environment rewards endurance and aggression, and he succeeds. Yet success merges with self-destruction. Drinking grows. Emotions shut down. Work becomes an escape. Eventually, everything erodes, forcing him to confront a difficult truth: Knowing how to survive is not the same as knowing how to live. Running becomes his way forward. What begins as exercise turns into marathons, ultramarathons, and extreme endurance races across harsh terrain. These races test physical limits while forcing him to face fear, pain, and unresolved trauma. In exhaustion and solitude, answers begin to emerge. Moving between childhood neglect and adult reinvention, the memoir presents hardship as a proving ground rather than a curse. Rideout shows that growth lies beyond comfort, and resilience forms through repetition and resolve. Runner or not, there’s a lesson here for every reader. —J.M.G.

Read WORLD’s full review of this book here.