A Failure Worth Imitating

It's hard to imagine a religious memoir with wider appeal than Flunking Sainthood by Jana Riess. Although clearly the work of a committed Christian, it scrupulously avoids proselytizing (pains are taken, in fact, to obscure precisely which religion Riess adheres to) and doesn't worry much about doctrine. Instead, it details what the author learns from exploring practices well outside her spiritual comfort zone, including fasting like a Muslim, observing an orthodox Jewish Sabbath, and praying like a Russian Orthodox Christian. The tightly focused and concise result can help secular readers understand what religion offers at its best, while the book's ecumenical approach to spiritual self-improvement lays down a challenge to the religiously dogmatic and doctrinaire.