Thought for the Day by Christine Morgan (BBC Books, £16.99 (£15.29); 978-1-78594-769-8).

“BBC Radio 4 staple Thought for the Day has been running for 50 years, aiming to capture the mood of the country and speak to it in a way that reaches people of all faiths and none. Take a tour of half a century of daily reflections from some of our most prominent and insightful thinkers, including Pope Benedict XVI, Desmond, Tutu and Mona Siddiqui. Covering our changing attitudes to sexuality, science, politics, national life, international relations, and more, Thought for the Day charts the constant evolution of British society from its uniquely timeless perspective.”


Natural Philosophy: On retrieving a lost disciplinary imaginary by Alister E. McGrath (OUP, £30 (£27); 978-0-19-286573-1).

“This book argues for the retrieval of ‘natural philosophy’, a concept that faded into comparative obscurity as individual scientific disciplines became established and institutionalised.” 


T & T Clark Handbook to Ecclesiology, edited by K. J Bender and D. S Long (T & T Clark, £39.99 (£35.99); 978-0-567-69905-3).

“Divided into three parts, this handbook provides a wide-ranging survey and analysis of the Christian Church. The first section addresses the scriptural foundations of ecclesiology; the second section outlines the historical and confessional aspects of the topic; and the final part discusses a variety of contemporary and topical themes in ecclesiology.” 

Selected by Frank Nugent, of the Church House Bookshop, which operates the Church Times Bookshop.