Book cover of The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness

Book description

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The New York Times bestselling author of A History of God delivers the gripping, inspirational story about her own search for God.  

“A story about becoming human, being recognized, finally recognizing oneself…. It fills the reader with hope.” —The Washington Post Book World

In 1962, at age…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Spiral Staircase as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The Spiral Staircase is the book I’ve read the most number of times as an adult. It is the autobiography of Karen Armstrong who was a Catholic nun for six years in the 1960s in the UK. The book picks up after she leaves her convent and is studying English literature at Oxford University. She is also suffering from mysterious episodes of fainting and memory loss, and so we are taken into her struggles with both academia and the psychiatry of the 1970s. She then spirals through other careers and eventually returns to God – not now as a person…

From Niki's list on living well together.

If you love The Spiral Staircase...

Book cover of Our Lady of the Rock: Vision and Pilgrimage in the Mojave Desert

Our Lady of the Rock by Lisa M. Bitel,

Every month on the 13th, Maria Paula Acuña arrives at a barren spot in the Mojave Desert where she sees and speaks with the Virgin Mary. Hundreds of people follow her to the makeshift shrine, which Maria Paula named Our Lady of the Rock, to watch her and search the…

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Was Jesus of Nazareth a remarkably holy man and a prophet, or was he God in human form? This question tore the early Christian community apart in the fourth century CE, generating 60 years of violent conflict and raising questions that still concern millions of people worldwide.

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