Yavne: A Jewish Case for Equality in Israel-Palestine
by Peter Beinart

Language of War, Language of Peace: Palestine, Israel and the Search for Justice
by Raja Shehadeh
One of the finest Palestinian writers. A Christian, and attorney, a memoirist. A short, human, introduction to the challenges.

Whose Promised Land: The Continuing Conflict over Israel and Palestine
by Colin Chapman
(Lion Books, 5th edition, 2015, revised and updated) 
Revised and updated since its first publication in the 1980s, this is a ‘go to’ book on Bible, Israel, Palestine, and the arguments. 

Blood Brothers
by Elias Chacour and David Hazard
(Baker Books, updated 2013 edition, with new material).
The personal story of a Palestinian priest, educator, peace worker. Opens the conflict in ways most Christians have never heard. This book has influenced many.

The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew and the Heart of the Middle East
by Sandy Tolan
Another introduction to the human side of the conflict through story.  "[Tolan] sensitively describes the tough friendship between Dalia Eshkenazi Landau, the daughter of Romanian Jewish immigrants who settled in Ramla, and Palestinian Bashir Khairi, who in 1967 knocked on her door to look at the house his family lost when it was forced to flee in 1948 . . . Tolan uses the beloved backyard lemon tree to drive home the shared humanity of the successive inhabitants of one home." - Los Angeles Review of Books

From the Holy Mountain: A Journey Among the Christians of the Middle East
by William Dalrymple
Dalrymple traces the ties of Eastern Orthodox congregations scattered in the Middle East to their ancient origins; it also deals with the question of how they have fared over centuries of Islamic rule and the complex relationship of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity in the Middle East.

Bethlehem Besieged: Stories of Hope in Times of Trouble
by Mitri Raheb

Mitri Raheb is a Palestinian Arab Christian pastor who minister to his people in Bethlehem, where his family has lived for hundreds of years. The story of Bethlehem, its painful history, stubborn hopefulness and indefatigable spirit shine through the pages of this remarkable but deeply troubling book. It is required reading for anyone who wants to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its importance for the whole world.

A History of God: The 4,000-year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam
by Karen Armstrong

Fear Not: Living Grace and Truth in a Frightened World
by Eric Law

Learn how to face your fears and live into courageous and faithful action. Americans live in a culture of fear, whether we know it or care to admit it. Who will attack us next? Who will steal our jobs? Whose relationship undermines the sanctity of mine? In an era when manipulative messaging is unavoidable, politicians, media, marketers, and even faith leaders play on our fears and use them to win elections, gain attention, sell products, and influence the way you view those around you -- all in the name of claiming power. Fear Not subverts insidious fear-based messaging with the creation of courageous communities committed to truth-telling, grace, hope, and love. Drawing on decades as a community-building and church growth leader for churches and nonprofit organizations, Eric H.F. Law shares practical resources and processes for bringing diverse people together to build authentic relationships and share their truth. Each chapter includes suggested activities and questions for discussion and tips for creating small discussion groups.

Between the World and Me
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
In a profound work constructed in the form of a letter to his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates shares thoughts that pivot from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son. Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?