The sudden illness and resulting death of Valerie Volk's husband cast her into a world of suffering and separation. What emerged was a strengthened faith and a book of poetry that has the ability to lead similarly suffering readers through to a new gratitude and acceptance.

Youthworks publishing scoops four of the eight nominees for Christian Book of the Year - have your say as to which volume you think was the best read for 2009.

Naomi Reed has spent two years interviewing and cataloguing life stories from missionaries, grouping them according to personality type, to bring her readers a useful tool for alleviating Christian guilt and setting people free to serve.

I must confess an important bias. I am a sucker for books with textures and this new box set aimed at toddlers provides plenty to cheer about. But there are also some clear illustrations of the divide between Victoria Osteen’s beliefs and Biblical Christianity.

So weighed down by past experiences that freedom seems virtually impossible? Then this is the book for you.

Does God exist or did we make him up? Whatever answer one might feel inclined to give, Rodney Stark’s latest book, Discovering God – the origins of the great religions and the evolution of belief, offers much that is worthy of discussion and debate.

Andrew Wright has set himself a noble goal as a Christian author: write a Bible-based novel that will lead non-Christians on to spiritual truth.

With Australians fat and prosperous, but starving to death for eternal food, I can think of four good reasons why you should grab this little book.

There are few books that can truly be described as a Christian Classic. If there were ten in the world, CS Lewis’ Screwtape Letters would definitely be among them.

For anyone struggling with unwanted same-sex attractions or who has a family member or friend with such a struggle, the book Choices by Christopher Keane is a definite must-read.

Given that the Reformation was both an influence upon, and was strongly influenced by, the turmoil of its historical setting, Kirsten Birkett has written an unnervingly short, overwhelmingly positive account of this period of church history.

John Chapman’s latest book is down-to-earth. He doesn’t gild the lily but helps us to understand that a life lived for Jesus will be good and hard.

Thanks to the amazingly successful ‘Twilight’ series, parents struggling with drug-proofing their children and teaching them about sex, now have to add coping with vampires to their list.

The key give-away for the Connect09 outreach program, The Essential Jesus is now available as a pdf, MP3 and Bible study, so you can be completely familiar with what you are connecting people with.