‘God: A Human History,’ by Reza Aslan
As he confesses in the introduction to “God: A Human History,” Reza Aslan has been a seeker nearly all of his life, looking for ways to connect with the divine. Though he grew up in a not terribly devout Iranian Muslim family, influenced by his Southern Californian friends as a teenager, he converted to evangelical Christianity. In college, he returned to Islam, developing a deep interest in the Sufi mystical tradition. Today he is one of America’s most high-profile — and controversial — commentators on religion, having produced best-selling books on Islam and the historical Jesus, and hosted the CNN documentary series “Believer.