(REVIEW) Marilynne Robinson won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005 for her novel Gilead. Jack is the fourth book in her Gilead series that goes back in time to show Jack’s point of view in an interracial friendship and forbidden romance that reflect God’s love.
Read More(REVIEW) While 83-year-old Pope Francis is in good health, that hasn’t stopped speculation over who will come next. In his new book, author George Weigel examines the problems affecting the church and what the next pope will need to do in order to address them. Think of it like a very long to-do memo for the next head of the Catholic church.
Read More(EXCERPT) Blood and Oil , by award-winning Wall Street Journal reporters Justin Scheck and Bradley Hope, shows how a rift in the world’s most powerful ruling family, Saudi Arabian royalty, produced Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a charismatic leader with a ruthless streak.
Read More(REVIEW) Norman Lebrecht’s Genius & Anxiety: How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947 paints a complex portrait of Jewish figures and their relationships to each other. He points out that their brilliance and influence was the result of their collective anxiety.
Read MoreRead the prologue of “The Road From Raqqa: A Story Of Brotherhood, Borders And Belonging”, a non-fiction story about two brothers from Raqqa, Syria.
Read More(REVIEW) Traditionalists versus progressives is the major plot of a new novel called The Order by writer Daniel Silva, who puts these sinister inner workings that highlight this modern-day Vatican political power struggle — albeit a fictional account in this case — into greater focus.
Read More(REVIEW) The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates by the National Catholic Register's longtime Rome correspondent Edward Pentin delves into the lives of the cardinals most likely to follow Francis.
Read More(REVIEW) Jimmy Dykes’ new book isn’t just one long series of motivational speeches. Instead, he focuses on how people can strengthen their relationships with one another — the perfect recipe for any team’s success — along with serving God.
Read More(REVIEW) Author Tom Holland does not write about the life of Jesus and never deals with the Resurrection narratives, but they were vital to the rise of Christianity, and Holland’s refusal to understand this most central aspect of Christianity is where “Dominion” misses the point from the very beginning. The book only engages with Jesus as an uncanny character unique in world literature who happened to start a religion that was systematized by the Paul of Tarsus.
Read MoreA new book looks at a variety of female personalities who exerted influence over the centuries. The Vatican may be a male-dominated system, but Lynda Telford’s account has enough history and sleaze in it to make for a gripping Netflix series. What this book does very well is shift the spotlight away from men and places it on the women and their oft-ignored influence on the papacy and Christianity as a whole throughout Europe.
Read More(OPINION) Go with heavy material. Certain translations of holy books offer valuable insights into our world and this era. Thomas Paine’s skewering of biblical religion is a worthy read, along with classics like “Lord of the Flies.”
Read More(OPINION) Responding to a review of his book Reforming Journalism, Olasky writes that a Christian alternative to mainstream journalism is needed and should follow principles of biblical objectivity rather than try to stay neutral on issues the Bible clearly addresses, like abortion or same-sex relationships.
Read More(REVIEW) The WORLD Magazine Editor in Chief and author of 20 books writes that the Christian faith can and should use journalism to further its aims, but the only criterion of good journalism is a good story. Religious literacy simply gets you better stories, and Olasky never says this.
Read More(REVIEW) At a time when the planet is gripped by a pandemic, science and faith have again come into conflict. That nagging age-old question about good versus evil and the role of God and Satan in our lives is the focus of a new book about an Italian priest who went on to become the world’s best-known exorcist.
Read More(REVIEW) Best-selling author and NY Times op-ed contributor Timothy Egan lets us tag along on his journey from Canterbury to Rome in his latest book, A Pilgrimage to Eternity. He’s on his camino – the Via Francigena, an ancient pilgrimage of over a thousand miles beginning from the English world’s oldest church and ending at St. Peter’s Square.
Read More(OPINION) “Race Against Time,” which hits bookstores Tuesday, reflects the deep Christian faith of veteran Mississippi journalist Jerry Mitchell, whose stories have helped put four Klansmen and a serial killer behind bars. (“Weekend Plug-In” is a column by veteran religion writer Bobby Ross Jr. Look every Friday for analysis, insights and top headlines from the world of faith.)
Read More(REVIEW) R.R. Reno is one of America’s most prominent Roman Catholic public intellectuals. In his new book, he writes an eloquent but unAmerican defense of American populism.
Read MoreThe Travels of Guðríður Símonardóttir tells the little-known story of an Icelandic woman in the 17th century who was captured by North African pirates. She was enslaved at a harem in Algiers until ransomed, then married Iceland’s most famous poet. His hymns, inspired by the couple’s suffering, are still sung in churches and at funerals.
Read More(REVIEW) In the new book Welcoming the Unwelcome, 83-year-old American Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön moves past her usual style of writing in poetry and strict spiritual guidance and instead into a vulnerable teaching about how to overcome the pain of the world by explaining how she was led to do exactly that.
Read More(OPINION) Bible stories aren’t enough to convey to children what the biblical narrative is really about. They need to be able to see their place in it, argues Phil Vischer.
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