Our God Heals by Fr Nicholas Broadbridge OSB (New Life Publishing, £9.99). The author, a monk at Douai Abbey for more than 60 years, has run healing workshops, family healing sessions and retreats. Now he concentrates on one-to-one sessions only. Reflecting on themes of love and forgiveness, deliverance and the gifts of the Spirit, Fr Broadbridge uses scriptural passages and many personal stories of those he has encountered during his ministry to illustrate his message: that God longs to set free those who are oppressed. Catholics who are wary of healing as somehow “charismatic” should read the testimonies recounted in these pages. Tips from Widowers by Jan Robinson (Bloomsbury, £8.99). The author, whose husband died suddenly, wrote an earlier book, Tips from Widows. Such was its popularity that she has now written another. It is full of suggestions, stories and practical counsel. The broadcaster Robert Peston, whose wife died in 2012, has written the foreword, describing the book, accurately, as “a wise and practically minded friend when you need one most.” Robinson covers finances and funeral arrangements as well as loss, flashbacks, children and remarriage, among other relevant topics. A highly useful little book. Breathing Under Water by Richard Rohr (SPCK, £8.99). Fr Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest who has founded a Centre for Action and Contemplation, has written what he calls a “Companion Journal” that outlines a 12-step structure to overcome addiction from a spiritual perspective. In his introduction he states that “we are all addicted to ourselves”, otherwise known as egotism. Using the 12-step programme devised by the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, his book is offered to readers open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and who wish to reorient their lives and discover a new life in Christ. Selling Apartheid by Ron Nixon (Pluto Press, £14.99). In his book, subtitled South Africa’s Global Propaganda War, Ron Nixon tells the shameful story of how apartheid was sold to Western countries. A journalist on the New York Times, he includes interviews with those involved and thousands of previously unreleased records from the South African archives. Worth $100 million annually and lasting for 50 years, the campaign to promote apartheid included an alliance of global corporations, conservative religious organisations, right-wing Cold War politicians and anti-communist black conservatives. It is a shocking story deserving wide exposure. John Calvin’s Institutes of Christian Religion: A Biography by Bruce Gordon (Princeton, £19.95). This volume is one of the superb new “biographies of a book” series put out by Princeton to look at the effects of the great religious books. This means you won’t get a detailed description of the Institutes or its theology, but rather a fascinating account of how the book came to be and, more importantly, its reception through the centuries. From the Reformation to Karl Barth, Gordon traces the many interpretations of this seminal work. Highly recommended.