c. 2003 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Headed to the beach but haven’t a thing to read?

Here’s a sampler of recently published books with spiritual and religious themes certain to fill the idle hours of summer.

“The Rabbi and the Hit Man” by Arthur J. Magida (HarperCollins Publishers)

For those looking for a cross between a true crime thriller and a no-holds-barred memoir, Magida’s 295-page hardback fits the bill: There’s murder, there’s adultery, there’s deceit that never seems to end.

But Magida also examines the ways in which religious leaders can be deified by their followers, and the crisis in faith that can result. He recounts the experience of a young woman who belonged to New Jersey Rabbi Fred Neulander’s temple and who told Gary Mazo, the assistant rabbi, that she had decided to leave Judaism as a result of Neulander’s actions.

Mazo listened, Magida writes, then advised her: “Judaism is a way of life. Judaism is the Torah, the holidays … the lessons and values your family, your heritage, and your rabbis have tried to teach you. We follow ideals, philosophies, and values, not individuals. No one person is Judaism.”

The woman, Magida writes, stayed in the faith.

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“In the Presence of My Enemies” by Gracia Burnham with Dean Merrill (Tyndale)

Gracia Burnham documents her life with and love for her late husband, Martin, in her account of the one year and 11 days the missionary couple spent as captives of Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist group in the Philippines with ties to Osama bin Laden. While many may be familiar with the Burnhams’ story as it was related in the media, “In the Presence of My Enemies” gives readers the opportunity to learn more of the Burnhams’ faith and courage in the midst of unfathomable fear.

As inspiring as it will be for many, the book is filled with heartbreaking moments. Gracia recalls that the second night after she and her husband _ along with 18 other hostages _ were kidnapped, the men and women lay awake, singing John Lennon’s “Imagine.” It was then, as they sang, “Imagine all the people, living life in peace,” Gracia writes, that she “lost it.”

Such moments of honesty endear the heroic missionary to readers who can barely imagine how they would have responded to the situation.

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“Flabbergasted” by Ray Blackston (Baker)

With a lime green Cadillac and a beach ball bouncing across the dust jacket, “Flabbergasted” just looks like a beach read.

Between the covers, readers will find just that. What’s more, they’ll even read about people reading at the beach.

What may be best about Blackston’s novel, though, is that it’s never preachy and hardly sentimental.

From the beginning, you can guess that things are going to turn out happily ever after in the everafter, as well as in the here-and-now, but between pages 1 and 331, you’ll have fun, read a happening homily and thank God Mr. Gruber doesn’t call you a zillion times a day.

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“The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?” by Rick Warren (Zondervan)

Rick Warren’s book has been a best seller for months, offering guidance and inspiration to countless readers. But there will be those, no doubt, who haven’t found the time to read it yet, and who may pack it to peruse during their next vacation.

This isn’t exactly the way Warren wants you to read his book.

As he writes in his introduction: “This is more than a book; it is a guide to a 40-day spiritual journey that will enable you to discover the answer to life’s most important question: What on earth am I here for?”

But if you’ve got only a four-day weekend to read his book, I think Warren would give you special dispensation.

Other than that, don’t expect the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., to offer much wiggle room.

Pick up this one, and buckle up for a biblical ride.

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“The Lights of Tenth Street” by Shaunti Feldhahn (Multnomah)

For years, evangelicals have been devouring novels about spiritual warfare faster than you can say “Frank Peretti.” Best-selling author Shaunti Feldhahn has grabbed readers’ interest lately, and “The Lights of Tenth Street” just hit bookstores this month.

The novel tells the tale of Ronnie Hanover, a young girl who flees an abusive home only to end up waitressing at a strip club in Atlanta. There, her path intersects with a suburban couple: Doug Turner, who occasionally frequents the club where Hanover works, and his wife, Sherry, who struggles to understand her husband’s behavior.

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“Small Wonder” by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperCollins Publishers)

You may not find Barbara Kingsolver on the shelves at your closest religious bookstore, but anyone who’s familiar with Kingsolver’s work knows that spirituality threads its way through much of her prose.

This 267-page text was first published in 2002, and has now been released in paperback. The book is a series of essays that Kingsolver says she began writing Sept. 12, 2001.

“Sometimes writing seemed to be all that kept me from falling apart in the face of so much death and anguish, the one alternative to weeping without cease. … This is a collection of essays about who we seem to be, what remains for us to live for, and what I believe we could make of ourselves.”

Kingsolver’s essays are challenging, not exactly the stuff of fluff that generally sits next to sandcastles on a hot afternoon. But the merit of reading Kingsolver when you’re away from the humdrum of your daily activities is that you may be more willing to consider what might be, and how you might act when you return to your previously scheduled life.

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“At Home in Mitford” by Jan Karon (Penguin)

The paperback version of the seventh book in Jan Karon’s best-selling series, “In This Mountain,” hit bookstores in late spring, but you’d best start at the beginning, “At Home in Mitford.”

Here you’ll meet the characters populating the quirky town in North Carolina, where Father Tim Kavanagh serves as rector of Lord’s Chapel. But first, you’ll meet Barnabas, the big black dog who adopts Kavanagh and is quieted only by Scripture quotations.

What’s charmed readers about Karon’s characters is that many of them seem like familiar friends. While you may not know exactly what’s going to happen next, you can trust that in Mitford, all things will work together for good.

DEA END CAMPBELL