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Suggested books for adults, teens, & kids
on theology, religion, and spirituality

About books:

Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan wrote about the miracle of books and their contribution to human development:

"For 99 percent of the tenure of humans on earth, nobody could read or write. The great invention had not yet been made. Except for firsthand experience, almost everything we knew was passed on by word of mouth. As in the children’s game “Telephone,” over tens and hundreds of generations, information would slowly be distorted and lost.

Books changed all that. Books, purchasable at low cost, permit us to interrogate the past with high accuracy; to tap the wisdom of our species; to understand the point of view of others, and not just those in power; to contemplate — with the best teachers — the insights, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, drawn from the entire planet and from all of our history. They allow people long dead to talk inside our heads. Books can accompany us everywhere. Books are patient where we are slow to understand, allow us to go over the hard parts as many times as we wish, and are never critical of our lapses."

That quote appears in an essay called "The Path to Freedom, which is in Sagan and Druyan's book: The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. ₁

And now, with the development of the Kindle ebook reader, a piece of computer hardware which Amazon sells below its cost, a person can carry thousands of book with them everywhere, without first renting a truck. Also, printed books seem to want to mildew; ebooks don't mildew. Books require bookshelves to prevent mess. Ebooks are neatly stored automatically inside computers, Ipads, tablets, etc.

How to purchase Kindle versions of books, or to download, free, the first pages of a Kindle book:

First, you will need to create a free account on the Amazon web site at: https://www.amazon.com/

You can download a free reading app for your tablet, computer, or smart phone by:

Going to https://www.amazon.com/ and:

1. In the search box at the top of the screen, enter: Kindle app
2. Click on the top item "Check out the all-new Kindle app"
3. Click on "Google Play." This allows you to download the amazon Kindle program. Hopefully, it will say: "This app is compatible with your device."
4. Download the app into your device.

On the right side of the screen, Google has listed alternate reading apps from other companies.

You can order a Kindle copy of a book by going to the Amazon web site https://www.amazon.com/, clicking on the "All" pulldown menu, and clicking on "Books." Enter the name of the book. You can purchase a book which will be downloaded to your device. Alternately, you can download a free copy of the first part of a book. If you do not live in the U.S., Amazon's web site will give you a link to their web site for your country. e.g. https://www.amazon.ca/ for Canada.

Lists of recommended books:

• Our recommended book for 2020-JUL

• Tentative selections for future months starting:  2020-AUG

• Books that we have featured during past months:

First half of the year	Second half of the year
-	2003
2004	2004
2005	2005
2006	2006
2007	2007
2008	2008
2009	2009
2010	2010
2011	2011
2012	2012
2013	2013
2014	2014
2015	2015
2016	2016
2017	2017
2018	2018
2019	2019
2020

Additional lists of worthwhile books:

• Books on theology and religion recommended by:
  • The staff at this website
    
    
  • Books' authors:  A to K, and L to Z
    
    
  • Susan Humphreys, a frequent contributor to this web site
    
    
  • Lists of books at various web sites
    
    
• Books on spirituality
  
  
• Religious books for children promoting tolerance and understanding
  
  
• Books for skeptic children and teens about morality, origins, etc.
  
  
• Books covering a wide range of beliefs about the LGBT community
  
  
• Links to religious & spiritual book suppliers, journals, magazines, and movies
  
  
• Books and Culture, an evangelical Christian review lists the best conservative Christian books of the week. They have a free newsletter.

The above quotation comes from:

1. Carl Sagan & Ann Druuyan, "The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark," Ballantine Books 1997. Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store Available in Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook and Audio CD formats.

   Amazon.com comments:

   "A prescient warning of a future we now inhabit, where fake news stories and Internet conspiracy theories play to a disaffected American populace."

2. The Los Angeles Times review:

   "A glorious book . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought."

If you buy books, music, videos etc. online, try....

A stand-alone Kindle reader sold by Amazon.com.

Click on the Kindle picture -- not on the "Shop now" link
(unless you want to add a Kindle to your shopping cart.)

Purchasing from Amazon.com is safe. They have a Safe Shopping Guarantee which they describe in their help section. You can visit and order a Kindle, books and other products from Amazon.com by clicking on the banner ad above. It costs the same to you and we get a small commission, for which we are very appreciative.

For some years now, they offer free but slower shipping for U.S. customers for many orders over $25.00 US.

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