The autobiography of former Principal of the NSW Baptist College, Gordon Morling, is a book to be read with a prayerful heart and mind – and is a reminder that, when we have an inner composure, we are enabled to do more.

Peterson’s book has been described as profound and practical. Christians will be disappointed that it is ‘sub-Christian’. But there is much that can be learned from it. The children of this world can sometimes be wiser than the children of light.

Words are used to define, but are also instruments of love, healing and peace, writes Marilyn McEntyre. Yet like any other life-sustaining resource, words can be depleted, polluted, contaminated, eroded and filled with artificial stimulants. How can we guard against the abuse of language?

How do we finish life’s race with intentionality and grace, strength and focus? Gordon MacDonald writes about the temptation to quit and the habits of heart and mind that can build resilience in the Christian life.

The necessity of reading well is now more urgent than ever because the information coming from the internet is disjointed, failing to give a right vision for life. Karen Prior’s book is an invitation to read attentively and to rediscover the art of close, linear, meditative type of reading.

Botton describes journeys as ‘the midwives of thought’. Writing with considerable sensitivity to the human condition and unafraid to deal with the rawest of emotions, Botton explores what we do or think about on our travels, how travel might enhance our lives and give us a larger vision, and how to minimise disappointment.

Melancholy is central to the human condition, writes Jacky Bowring, and we are as much drawn to it as we are repelled by it. Extolling the benefits of sadness, Bowring questions our obsession with the pursuit of happiness: ‘To lose melancholy is to be deprived of one of the imagination’s last refuges’.