S&P Awards
The Best Spiritual Books of 2011
365 Thank Yous
A lawyer reporting on the positive results of his project to send 365 thank you notes to deserving individuals in his life from family to peripheral people.
A Lamp in the Darkness
Buddhist Teachings and practices to help us navigate through tough times.
A New Harmony
A wake-up call for the Christian community to heed the unfurling of a new Pentecost.
Abraham Joshua Heschel
A substantive collection of writings from the Jewish teacher and moral prophet.
All That We Share
A bold and imaginative call for a major paradigm shift from the market system to the commons where sharing and caring are the operative ideals.
Alone Together
An abundance of insights and creative observations on our machine mediated lives and what this all means for intimacy, solitude, and being connected.
Between Heaven and Mirth
Examples from scripture, teaching stories from the religions, and the lives of saints about why the way of joy, humor, and laughter is important for spiritual communities.
Beyond Forgiveness
A top-drawer collection of 15 essays on understanding and practicing atonement as an act that makes amends and repairs harm.
Bill Moyers Journal
A top-drawer collection of 47 interviews with independent thinkers on a wide variety of subjects.
Buddha Standard Time
A timely and wide-ranging book on the wisdom Buddhism has to offer in response to the problems of time starvation, addiction to speed, and distractions.
By the Way
Reveals the beauties and the bounties of living a life of everyday spirituality.
Call to Compassion
An anthology of the growing movement of ethical sensitivity toward animals.
Enlightenment to Go
An explanation of the spiritual insights of Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life.
Ethical Wisdom
The case supporting the idea that the brain has hard-wired us to be good and compassionate human beings.
Falling Upward
A visionary work about the second stage of life as an unfolding of spiritual maturity.
Fragments of a Love Story
Essays on the personal spiritual journey of a Sufi mystic.
Fragments of Your Ancient Name
Meditations on the names of God from all religious traditions.
God Is Subversive
The views of a Christian social activist and believer in nonviolence on war, militarism, and the unjust prison system.
Grace Notes
37 stories by a gifted writer offering fresh approaches to everyday spirituality where wonder, imagination, and joy thrive.
Healing the Heart of Democracy
A challenge to us to try practicing politics through the eye of the heart.
How to Train a Wild Elephant and Other Adventures in…
More than 50 mindfulness exercises that can enrich your everyday spirituality practices.
Into the Heart of Life
An incisive overview of Buddhist essentials from the perspective of a woman with 40 years of spiritual practice.
Keep Your Courage
Speeches, sermons, and essays from the last decade which address the rampant fears of our times.
Like a Tree
An extraordinary defense and tribute to the significance of trees.
Living in Gratitude
A thematically rich and spiritually rewarding guide to a month-by-month practice of gratitude.
Morning, Noon, and Night
A superb work of literary criticism and philosophical insights into the transitional stages of life in growing up and growing old.
Naked Spirituality
An explanation of the four stages of the spiritual life and twelve practices to strengthen, sustain, and deepen faith.
Never Say Die
A hard-hitting and illuminating examination of the daunting challenges facing the baby boom generation as they age.
Planting Seeds
An incomparable resource on mindfulness for children with hundreds of spiritual practices.
Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation
A substantive and well-rounded primer on meditation by a masterful Buddhist teacher.
Religion Gone Astray
Common core teachings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam that support the healing of the grievous problems of exclusivity, violence, sexual inequality, and homophobia.
Restoring Life's Missing Pieces
Spiritual exercises for revisiting people, places, things, and self as a process of personal transformation.
Saving Civility
A pathbreaking book with 52 practices and ideas for enabling us to become emissaries of civility in these contentious times.
Streams of Contentment
An exploration of paths and practices leading to contentment.
The Art of Intuition
An expansive and illuminating treatment of intuition as a life skill that can open many new doors for us.
The Art of Uncertainty
A robust and revealing exploration of the spiritual practice of mystery.
The Artist's Rule
A creative and edifying combination of practices to nurture creativity, contemplation, and monastic wisdom.
The Caregiver's Tao Te Ching
Healing and helpful support for caregivers and their loved ones based on the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching.
The Cosmopolitan Canopy
A rousing celebration of city, civility, diversity, and places where the walls between the races are pulled down.
The Emotional Calendar
Keen insights into the challenges faced by those whose emotions act up at certain times of the year, during holidays, and on days connected with by bad memories.
The Evolution of Faith
A look into the transformation of Christianity into a more compassionate, open, reconciling, and loving community.
The Flying Drum
A magical mystery tour with sacred objects, mojo, mystery, and healing sponsored by indigenous elders all over the world.
The Hidden Gifts of Helping
An uplifting exploration of the physical, psychological, and spiritual benefits of generosity, compassion, and hope.
The Listening Book
An exploration of the spiritual practice of listening with an awakened ear.
The Nature Principle
A visionary book about the widespread rise of interest in the natural world, a more balanced existence, and the transformation of our private and public lives.
The Path of the Yoga Sutras
51 key elements of the philosophy of yoga.
The Thom Hartmann Reader
A top-drawer collection of essays by talk radio progressive Thom Hartman challenging us to see a new vision of America.
Tutu Authorized
A wonderful tribute to the life and ministry of Desmond Tutu on his 80th birthday.
Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life
Concepts and practices on 12 ways to embrace and walk in compassion as a transformative path.
Untie the Strong Woman
A poetic and passionate, wild and lyrical spiritual journey into the Sacred Feminine in all her varied guises and glories.