Books
The talented Tara Isabella Burton
In Burton's debut novel, Louise and Lavinia represent the possibility that compulsive self-disclosure is a form of self-concealment.
A deep history of women’s cultural criticism
Michelle Dean's book isn't exactly a group biography. But it is a highly entertaining feast of quotes, anecdotes, and analysis.
In The Baghdad Eucharist, an Iraqi Christian family weathers Saddam, U.S. invasion, and ISIS
Sinan Antoon's acclaimed novel, now out in English, sheds light on the realities faced by Christians in Iraq.
Letting Augustine be Augustine
How to capture the urgency of Confessions? New translations by Sarah Ruden and Peter Constantine offer very different approaches.
Steven Pinker’s absolute faith in reason
"This is not a book of Enlightenolatry," writes Pinker. But it is.
How a doctor finds hope at a Jerusalem hospital
Pediatric oncologist Elisha Waldman explores a city's complexities as he reflects on his patients' spiritual needs.
Helping white people talk about racism—with each other
Carolyn Helsel's guidebook is insightful, sensitive, and deeply practical.
Theodicy in real life
William Abraham's theological affirmations of faith are shadowed by a persistent question: Why don't they work?
A writer’s careful, surprising attention
J. D. Daniels writes beautiful letters to no one. They aren't for everyone.
The coming-of-age novel comes of age
If old age is another country, three novelists are exploring not just the peaks and valleys but also the rough places in between.
The remarkable life and martyrdom of Lin Zhao
As Chinese communism turned to violence, Zhao turned to Christ. Lian Xi tells her story in memorable fashion.
When Rome succumbed to the elements
What brought down the Roman Empire? Kyle Harper says it was plague and cold climate.
The questions private prisons raise
Is private management more efficient? Is it wrong to profit from punishment? Is the whole idea immoral in concept?
Will the real fundamentalists please stand up?
What counts as fundamentalism? David Harrington Watt and Sathianathan Clarke give contrasting answers.
A Christian apologist's memoir of suffering
Telling the story of his wife's tragic illness, Douglas Groothuis combines lament with grace-filled love.
Is Jamie Quatro’s novel really about marital infidelity?
Maybe Fire Sermon is more fundamentally a parable about religion.
Zadie Smith leaves no cultural stone unturned
Smith's collection of essays considers the self as an improvised response to language and the world.
How Christian was Meister Eckhart?
The eccentric preacher's ideas hover between God's absolute otherness and God's self-revelation in Christ.
Marxism and the New Testament
As Roland Boer and Christina Petterson see it, the Gospels contradict the witness of Jesus about slavery and property.
Take & read: New books in Old Testament
Does biblical scholarship still matter for the life of faith?