Spring feels like renewal and reflection. These new faith-based titles offer encouragement and wisdom. Devotionals and wholesome fiction, including Christian romance, lead the list. The tone is uplifting and steady. Each book provides comfort for everyday life.
Best Spiritual Books May 2026
Chase the Light
by Suzanne Woods Fisher
She uncovered a piece of history -- but can she make peace with her own?
When Acadia National Park ranger Scout Johnson discovers a weathered note near a remote lighthouse, she never imagines it will expose a century-old mystery. The cryptic message points to a forgotten shipwreck, a vanished treasure, and a lighthouse keeper's suspicious death. Seeking answers, Scout enlists Naki Dana, a thoughtful man whose Penobscot heritage provides crucial insights. As they venture deeper into Acadia's rugged wilderness, their unlikely partnership begins stirring feelings Scout didn't expect to find. But they aren't the only ones searching.
Chase Fletcher, a charming local journalist, sees this treasure hunt as his last opportunity to save his failing paper--and finds himself increasingly drawn to the ranger leading the search. With pressure mounting and loyalties tested, Scout must navigate a winding path between history and justice, truth and betrayal … and determine who -- and what -- deserves her trust.
Suzanne Woods Fisher weaves a contemporary romance filled with mystery, treasure hunting, and adventure as a park ranger uncovers a century-old shipwreck and dangerous secrets at Acadia National Park. Perfect for fans of mysteries and love triangles.
What Grows in Weary Lands: On Christian Resilience
by Tish Harrison Warren
How do we cultivate faith that endures? From award-winning author and former New York Times writer Tish Harrison Warren comes a fresh vision for navigating burnout and weariness through ancient Christian practices--guiding us toward lives of resilience, renewal, and flourishing.
"Warren is one of our best living spiritual writers. . . . It would be impossible to overstate how warmly I recommend this book to all."--John Mark Comer, New York Times bestselling author of Practicing the Way and The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
Early Christians often grappled with a reality we rarely talk about in contemporary life: that God seems to abandon the soul at times, leaving us feeling as if we are alone and left to our own resources. These are times of futility, when work and relationships feel hard, when prayer feels unsatisfying, and we question whether our efforts are amounting to anything.
For centuries, Warren notes, times of "aridity" were seen as necessary prerequisites for growth and maturity. Yet in our culture fixated on speed and optimization, we risk losing this deeper sense of the human journey and the resilience that comes with it.
Writing for a moment when two-thirds of Americans are dissatisfied with their work, and a sense of languishing is widespread, Warren draws from both her own season of exhaustion and the rich well of Christian tradition--particularly that of the earliest Christian monks--to discover the habits and mindsets that anchor us in times of doubt, difficulty, and spiritual dryness. She offers hope to those who feel like life is overwhelming, taxing, and disorienting.
What Grows in Weary Lands speaks to anyone longing for a life of depth in a distracted age. Warren helps us see that nothing is wasted--that even in desert seasons something good is growing, rooted in grace and reaching toward glory.
Ignite Revival: Be Set on Fire to Change the World
by Kathryn Krick
The fire doesn't fall on crowds. It falls on one surrendered life at a time.
Kathryn Krick was not preaching to thousands when revival broke out. She was faithful in small rooms, learning to discern spirits, pressing into the gifts of the holy spirit, doing the quiet, unglamorous work of someone who actually believed God would show up. And He did.
What started in a living room became a movement of deliverance ministry, healing, and transformed lives, spreading across Los Angeles and far beyond. Miracles from Heaven became ordinary. And the fire kept burning, because Krick learned something most believers never figure out: revival is not an event you attend. It is a fire you carry.
People who read this book stop being spectators. They move from knowing about the holy spirit to actually moving with Him. From praying for healing to seeing it happen. From sitting in church, wondering if revival is real, to becoming the person through whom it spreads.
Whether you are hungry for god and revival in your city, navigating your identity in Christ and your calling, or simply desperate to see spiritual gifts flow through your life the way Scripture says they can, this is the blueprint.
In this book, you will:
- Learn to move in discernment of spirits and hear God's voice with clarity
- Understand your identity in Christ as the unshakeable foundation on which everything else is built
- Release the gifts of the holy spirit that have been dormant, and keep them burning
- Build a life of discipleship and evangelism that carries the fire beyond the four walls
- Walk in faith over fear when God asks you to step out before you feel ready
God is not looking for the most talented. He is looking for the most surrendered. Are you ready?
A Brewed Awakening: A Hilarious, Clean, Enemies-To-Lovers Rom-Com
by Pepper Basham
Daphne dreams of Mr. Darcy. Finn serves up pints and rock music. Can opposites attract when a tea shop princess meets her pub-owning rival? Perfect for fans of Courtney Walsh and Emma St. Clair.
In the charming mountain town of Wisteria, North Carolina, Daphne Austen clings to tradition like cream to a scone. She's built her life--and her late grandmother's tearoom, Tea Thyme--around all things English: delicate china, Jane Austen novels, and the comforting predictability of routine. The only thing threatening her perfectly ordered world? The loud, aggravatingly handsome Brit opening a pub next door.
After his ex-wife broke his heart and his business partner nearly destroyed his career, Finn Dashwood packed up his six-year-old daughter and left England behind. He's looking for a fresh start, and the last thing he needs is a fussy, tea-obsessed neighbor criticizing his every pint and playlist. It doesn't matter that she's ridiculously kind (to everyone else) and that his daughter is utterly fascinated by her. Finn's heart is not open to being broken again.
But disagreements turn into prank wars and then a competition when a high-profile wedding needs a last-minute caterer. The townsfolk are thrilled--Wisteria hasn't seen this much excitement since the county fair lost a goat.
When the wedding demands both sweet and savory fare, Daphne and Finn are forced to put down their swords and pick up their serving trays. Between burnt pastries, brewing tempers, trending hashtags (#SipsAndSpats, anyone?), and one very adorable little girl, rivalry soon gives way to reluctant friendship--and maybe something that feels suspiciously like chemistry.
Can a tea shop princess and a pub owner with a past mix their lives as seamlessly as clotted cream and jam . . . or will their differences keep them steeped in rivalry forever?
Fall headfirst into a romance that's as sweet as scones and as lively as a pub singalong. Early readers are raving about the laugh-out-loud humor, irresistible chemistry, and swoony, kisses-only romance that makes A Brewed Awakening impossible to put down. Grab your copy today and discover a charming enemies-to-lovers story brewed with heart, humor, and small-town magic.
These Empty Places
by Sarah Loudin Thomas
When their worlds are upended, two women brought together by their loss discover what truly matters most.
Claire Roth sacrificed love for a life of comfort on Lake Toxaway -- until the dam broke, and the lake washed down the side of the mountain. Fourteen years later, she longs to see the lake restored to its former glory even as the country faces hard economic times on the eve of the Great Depression.
Socialite Lena Hawkins married her first love, who swept her off her feet after skyrocketing from rags to riches by speculating in the stock market. Now penniless and rejected by her family, Lena and her husband have arrived at Lake Toxaway for a fresh start. There, Lena forms an unexpected connection with Claire, who hires her to assist with the personal library Claire is building to provide jobs and education for their struggling North Carolina community. When Claire is given a second chance at love and Lena a tempting chance at a life of independence, both women must release the past to fill tomorrow with promise.
Sarah Loudin Thomas paints a rich Southern historical story of friendship, second-chance romance, and new beginnings set in small-town North Carolina on the eve of the Great Depression. This read is perfect for book clubs and fans of Patti Callahan and Lisa Wingate.
April Books:
With the Enduring Tides
by Jane Kirkpatrick
A Story of Resilience, Redemption, and Friendships That Endure
On the rugged Oregon coast in the early 1900s, the lives of a group of women intertwine through their shared pioneering spirit and the steadfast presence of Mary Gerritse. Struggling with her daughter Belle's desire to live with her grandparents, Mary discovers her own mother facing illness and her father hiring a caretaker with a troubled past. Despite tensions, Mary leaves Belle with her grandparents, feeling guilt and uncertainty. When past secrets bubble over into trouble in the present, Mary's identity is shaken.
As Mary seeks to heal her family--and herself--her friends provide comfort even as they face challenges of their own: Jewell explores questions about her own identity, Henrietta navigates managing a homestead, Virginia seeks refuge from an abusive situation, and Olivia faces the heartache of lost love. The women must endure to find encouragement in each other and refuge in the faith that brings strength amid great uncertainty.
"Kirkpatrick's sense of time and place and her understanding of the trials of women of another century have made her one of the West's most beloved writers."--Sandra Dallas, New York Times bestselling author
Inspired by a true story, this heartwarming tale of female friendship, family reconciliation, and pioneering spirit set on the Oregon coast explores themes of identity, forgiveness, and finding strength through faith and community in early 1900s American West.
The Bookshop of 99 Doors
by Jaime Jo Wright
The manor's rumored one-hundredth door may conceal secrets hidden as deep as the estate's bookshelves extend high . . . but the haunted past has a way of ensnaring curious souls.
In 1888, Minnie Tipton finds herself beset by the dark superstitions that envelop the Pennsylvania mansion her father bought. Convinced the vengeful spirit of a Civil War captain haunts the house and worried by her father's rapidly worsening illness, Minnie delves into the home's fraught past in an effort to bring him peace. Yet the lingering impact of the war and the gruesome tale of murder she uncovers only foster more fear and threaten to unravel Minnie's own sanity.
In the present day, Triss Bellamy eagerly steps into the role of bookshop manager in the mansion-turned-museum boasting ninety-nine doors. But Triss's dream job turns into a nightmare when havoc breaks loose with the arrival of her brother's team of self-proclaimed paranormal investigators. Their determination to find a rumored one-hundredth door--a dangerous portal to the madness long said to plague the mansion--results in calamity, leaving Triss no choice but to hunt down the truth or watch her brother slip forever beyond her reach.
An atmospheric dual-time Gothic suspense masterfully penned by acclaimed author Jaime Jo Wright with themes of a Civil War-era ghost, a possible hidden door, and unexplained mysteries at a historic mansion's bookshop with a troubled past.
We Mend with Gold: An Immigrant Daughter's Reckoning with American Christianity
by Kristin T Lee
"A smart, searching look at the need for more inclusive forms of Christianity in the U.S." -Publishers Weekly, starred review
A daughter of the Asian American church wrestles with faith, exile, and belonging.
Being a Christian has nothing to do with being Chinese American--that's what Kristin T. Lee learned as a child. A fissure between her identity and what she was told to believe opened wide. In We Mend with Gold, she asks: What if we can bridge the divide?
Lee describes both the breaking of her young faith and the sacred art of repair. She examines how immigrant churches often assimilate to Western theology, even as they offer crucial spaces of belonging. Through lyrical storytelling about her upbringing in Asian immigrant churches as well as in white evangelicalism, Lee wrestles with history, ancestral stories, and what it means to follow Jesus. What might it look like to expand beyond the scripts we've been given and bring our questions to God--as well as building solidarity with the marginalized?
Drawing on Black, Asian, and other minoritized theologians, Lee separates the theology of empire from what Jesus preached and lived. Writing of the fractures in our families, churches, and the world, Lee relies on the Japanese art of kintsugi to describe the resplendence of a faith that repairs but doesn't paper over. And she offers pieces of the Asian American experience--such as liminality, displacement, and exile--that attend to the breaking and the mending, the wounding and the healing. How might marginality bring us closer to God and others? What do we lose when we "make it"? And when we expand our notion of who belongs to our family, what do we gain?
We can repair the seams between our cultural identities and our faith, Lee claims. By leaving room for mystery, we encounter God's love. We mend the fractures--between and within us--with gold.
March picks:
All Booked Up
by Melody Carlson
When preserving precious memories means welcoming unexpected changes, Riva finds that her heart has room for so much more than she imagined.
Widowed empty nester Riva Owen lives in the Victorian house that's been in her family for three generations, but finances have become a challenge she can no longer ignore. Her daughter is pushing her to move, and after considering all her options, Riva knows selling would be the smartest course. But she just can't bring herself to leave decades of memories--and her cherished library filled with hundreds of books.
The Lie You Don't Know You Believe: How to Find It, Fight It, and Live Free
by Jennie Allen
If there was a core lie sabotaging your life, wouldn't you want to know what it is?
And wouldn't you want to find the way to be free?
Most of us have been living inside a lie so long it feels like the truth. It has quietly shaped our identity, our relationships, and even how we see God. Until we see it, we'll keep circling the same frustrations, the same shame, the same thoughts of I'll never change. But freedom is possible. In The Lie You Don't Know You Believe, Jennie Allen pulls back the curtain on the enemy's oldest trick--and shows us how to dismantle it with the spiritual authority we already have in Christ. She guides us through how to:
- Spot the three core lies everyone believes--and name the one running your life.
- Trace the moment your lie took root and how the enemy's been using it to keep you stuck.
- Cut ties with your old narratives so they stop shaping your choices.
- Challenge lies in real time and replace them with God's truth.
The Supreme Gift: Love Is the Greatest Thing in the World
by Paulo Coelho - Margaret Jull Costa
Love is humankind's supreme gift. Paulo Coelho, the internationally bestselling author of The Alchemist, teaches us how to embrace it.
"I thought that I had already thought about everything you could think about Love when Henry Drummond's sermon fell into my hands. My life changed a lot from the moment I read the words in this book and tried to put his teaching into practice."--Paulo Coelho
What is love? In the 19th century, the young missionary Henry Drummond defined love as the culmination of nine elements:
He laid this out in his sermon, "The Greatest Thing in the World," which has become a classic and is, without doubt, one of the most beautiful texts ever written on love. Reflecting on this sermon and its subject, St. Paul's Letter to the Corinthians, the admired spiritual teacher Paulo Coelho, author of The Alchemist, a fable of following your dream and one of Oprah's "Best Self-Help Books of a Generation," brings us on his own journey of deepening his practice of Love.
Related: For more book recommendations that encourage self-growth and reflection, check out our top picks for Self-Starters and The Hobbyist.