Most Anticipated Book Releases Fall & Winter 2016: Non-Fiction

Happy Friday, friends 🙂

Today I’m taking a (momentary) break from the new releases in fiction (contemporary, historical, suspense, Amish) to talk about the non-fiction new releases I’m most looking forward to through the end of 2016.

Tomorrow, I’ll close out the week by looking at the new releases in the fantasy and young adult genres 🙂

Also… on a sorta side note … I make rough drafts of these lists (in a notepad doc, to emphasize how rough it is) months in advance and then go back and verify dates and add to it before making these “official” posts. But I’ve noticed that the time in between fades memory and very often I’ll look at a title, have no recollection of what it is, head to Goodreads, and go, “Ohhhhh. Yeah. I really DO want to read this one!” LOL. So I’m re-adding to my TBR piles too, folks. Y’all are not alone 😉

We Died Before We Came Here by Emily Foreman (NavPress, Sept 1) – If not you, who? If not now, when? This was the challenge answered by Stephen Foreman and his wife, Emily, when they traded in their American white picket fence for a giant, dusty sandbox as missionaries in the deserts of North Africa. Stephen had given Emily a well-read copy of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs on their first date, a telling foreshadowing of the ultimate cost he would pay when, at 39, he was shot and killed by al-Qaeda operatives in 2009. His life and death planted a seed of boldness and inspiration in the hearts of local believers. This seed would grow and multiply efforts to help reach the very goal that Stephen was willing to give his life for―glorifying God and seeing his Kingdom established among the nations.

In this memoir, Emily, left with four kids and an undying calling to reach the Muslim world, recounts their heartrending yet uplifting story of sacrifice and love for a people held captive by the ultimate Enemy. Stephen did not die in vain. This promise echoes through the book’s pages and far beyond, in the minds and lives of countless individuals touched by a man who daily put his life in the hands of God.

Because of security issues and the need to protect other workers and local believers in the country, the book employs pseudonyms for all major characters, including the authors.  Goodreads | Amazon

Flourish by Margaret Feinberg (Worthy, Sept 20)

With a unique blend of enthusiasm and encouragement, best-selling author Margaret Feinberg offers a year of weekly devotions that will awaken our souls to a life of fullness and joy that spills over to bless others.

Featuring Dive Deeper Scripture references, reflections, and prayers for each devotion, Flourish challenges us to live more fully, create more actively, and be more engaged in the present moment.

Feinberg’s signature coloring pages are woven throughout, making Flourish an interactive spiritual experience.  Goodreads | Amazon

The Broken Way by Ann Voskamp (Zondervan, Oct 25) – New York Times best-selling author Ann Voskamp sits at the edge of her life and all of her own unspoken brokenness and asks: What if you really want to live abundantly before it’s too late? What do you do if you really want to know abundant wholeness? This is the one begging question that’s behind every single aspect of our lives — and one that The Broken Way rises up to explore in the most unexpected ways.

This one’s for the lovers and the sufferers. For those whose hopes and dreams and love grew so large it broke their willing hearts. This one’s for the busted ones who are ready to bust free, the ones ready to break molds, break chains, break measuring sticks, and break all this bad brokenness with an unlikely good brokenness.  You could be one of the Beloved who is broken — and still lets yourself be loved.

You could be one of them, one who believes freedom can be found not only beyond the fear and pain, but actually  within it. You could discover and trust this broken way — the way to not be afraid of broken things.  Goodreads | Amazon

Rhythms of Rest by Shelly Miller (Bethany House, Oct 4) – Sabbath-keeping not only brings physical refreshment, it restores the soul. God commands us to “remember the Sabbath,” but is it realistic in today’s fast-paced culture? In this warm and helpful book, Shelly Miller dispels legalistic ideas about Sabbath and shows how even busy people can implement a rhythm of rest into their lives–whether for an hour, a morning, or a whole day. With encouraging stories from people in different stages in life, Miller shares practical advice for having peaceful, close times with God. You will learn simple ways to be intentional about rest, ideas for tuning out distractions and tuning in God, and even how meals and other times with friends and family can be Sabbath experiences.

Ultimately, this book is an invitation to those who long for rest but don’t know how to make it a reality. Sabbath is a gift from God to be embraced, not a spiritual hoop to jump through.  Goodreads | Amazon

Made Well by Jenny Simmons (Baker Books, Oct 4) – From the woman fighting cancer to the man who has lost his child to the girl sinking into depression, so many of us are engaged in daily battles as we long for healing. When he walked the earth, Jesus said to an unwell man, “Do you want to be made well?” His invitation stretched beyond physical healing–he sought to restore the soul. The same invitation stands for us today.

For anyone struggling on the journey toward wholeness, singer/songwriter Jenny Simmons offers a resting place and a friend along the way. With personal insight into emotional pain, she invites readers to encounter a God who is working out their restoration–often in surprising “half-baked” ways. Her humorous and inspirational prose lights a path toward wholeness. Anyone trying to find their way to spiritual, mental, and emotional healing will benefit from Jenny’s vulnerable and compassionate stories of being made well in the midst of a messy life.  Goodreads | Amazon

All is Bright: A Devotional Journey by Nancy Guthrie & Lizzie Preston (Tyndale, Oct 1) – This Christmas season, celebrate the birth of our Savior through beautiful design and devotion. Grab your colored pencils, cozy up with your favorite blanket and a cup of tea, and settle in for a night of peace and wonder with All Is Bright.

For lovers of the Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest coloring books, All Is Bright is the perfect way to transform the Advent and Christmas seasons for your whole family, re-centering the holidays on the miracle of Jesus’ birth.

Combining 31 days of rich content by the beloved and inspirational Nancy Guthrie with intricate designs that will reconnect you with the heart of Christ, this coloring book devotional journey reminds us all of what the season really calls us to: worship.  Goodreads | Amazon

How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind by Dana K. White (Thomas Nelson, Nov 8) – “The dirty little secret about most organizing advice is that it’s written by organized people,” says blogger, speaker, and decluttering expert Dana K. White. “But that’s not how my brain works. I’m lost on page three.” Dana blogs at A Slob Comes Clean, chronicling her successes and failures with her self-described “deslobification process.” In the beginning she used the name “Nony” (short for aNONYmous), because she was sharing her deep, dark, slob secret. Now she has truly come clean—with not only her real name but the strategies she has developed, tested, and proved in her own home. She has learned what it takes to bring a home out of Disaster Status, which habits make the biggest and most lasting impact, and how to keep clutter under control.

In How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind, Dana explains that cleaning your house is not a onetime project but a series of ongoing premade decisions. Her reality-based cleaning and organizing techniques debunk the biggest housekeeping fantasies and help readers learn what really works. With a huge helping of empathy and humor, Dana provides a step-by-step process with strategies for getting rid of enormous amounts of stuff in as little time (and with as little emotional drama) as possible.  Goodreads | Amazon

Choosing REAL by Bekah Jane Pogue (Shiloh Run, Dec 1) – Are you ready to release your control of needing to be everything for everyone? . . . The invitation is yours.

In Choosing REAL, author Bekah Pogue walks with you into life’s unplanned circumstances–specifically frantic schedules, pain and transition, feelings of unworthiness, loneliness, and tension. . .  And she’ll remind you that it is in these very moments that God invites you to notice, respond, and even celebrate how He shows up in every little detail.

“I was so inspired by Bekah’s words on embracing the everyday, living fully with all of our senses, and celebrating the life right in front of us. Choosing Real will motivate you to look for the beauty in the middle of the unplanned and unexpected.” —Crystal Paine, Founder of MoneySavingMom.com, New York Times bestselling author of Say Goodbye to Survival Mode

Goodreads | Amazon

What Falls from the Sky by Esther Emery (Zondervan, Dec 13) – Esther Emery was a successful playwright and theater director, wife and mother, and loving it all – until, suddenly, she wasn’t. When a personal and professional crisis of spectacular extent leaves her reeling, Esther is left empty, alone in her marriage, and grasping for identity that does not define itself by busyness and a breakneck pace of life. Something had to be done.

What Falls from the Sky is Esther’s fiercely honest, piercingly poetic account of a year without Internet – 365 days away from the good, the bad, and the ugly of our digital lives – in one woman’s desperate attempt at a reset. Esther faces her addiction to electronica, her illusion of self-importance, and her longing to return to simpler days, but then the unexpected happens. Her experiment in analog is hijacked by a spiritual awakening, and Esther finds herself suddenly, inexplicably drawn to the faith she had rejected for so long.

Ultimately, Esther’s unplugged pilgrimage brings her to a place where she finally finds the peace – and the God who created it – she has been searching for all along.   What Falls from the Sky offers a path for you to do the same. For all the ways the Internet makes you feel enriched and depleted, genuinely connected and wildly insufficient, What Falls from the Sky reveals a new way to look up from your screens and live with palms wide open in a world brimming with the good gifts of God.  Goodreads | Amazon

What about you? What new releases in non-fiction are you most looking forward to for the rest of 2016?

Shop my “Most Anticipated Fall/Winter 2016” store to see all these upcoming new releases in one place!