Doris Kearns Goodwin's "An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s" centers on the unique history found by going through her and her husband Dick Goodwin’s boxes of writings and memorabilia from his five-decade career in American politics.

By centering the voices and experiences of Latina/o sanctuary leaders in " Sanctuary People: Faith-Based Organizing in Latina/o Communities," Gina M. Pérez presents sanctuary as both a sacred and secular reality.

In "The Gospel of Peace," the Rev. John Dear embarks on a kind of spiritual experiment: interpreting the three synoptic Gospels through the lens of nonviolent activism and uncovering connections between first-century Judea and modern-day America.

In her new book, "The Mystics Would Like a Word: Six Women Who Met God and Found a Spirituality for Today," Shannon K. Evans beautifully articulates how the spirituality developed by women mystics still inspires and applies to us today.

D. J. Waldie's strikingly beautiful book in 1996 about what it was like to grow up in Lakewood, Calif., "Holy Land," is one of many writings by this chronicler of Los Angeles's past and future.

David Lodge's novels—as well as his many works of nonfiction—made him an important figure in 20th-century British literature. He also captured well the angst of many lay Catholics in the aftermath of Vatican II.