2019 Books of the Year
Great books tell stories. Here’s our pick of vivid and insightful new releases for better understanding America, world events, history, science, and theology
TRUTH AND FICTION
A Christian publishing company aims to restore a great literary heritage: high-quality, general-market fiction written by Christians and from a biblical worldview
Novel approach
Budding, unpublished writers are invited to submit short stories in the WORLDview Fiction Contest, sponsored by WestBow Press and WORLD.
Blessed to be a blessing
Novelist Bret Lott on using his God-given talents in his vocation, writing about forgiveness, and "setting God in the midst of these stories"
Single minded
Why must Christian "chick lit" always reach the same destination as its secular counterpart-the altar?
Fathers and sons
Frank Schaeffer discusses life as a wartime parent and how watching his son join the Marines and go to the Middle East changed the way he thinks about his relationship with his famous father
Voices
Mailbag
The answer As our country finds it more and more difficult to understand and to influence the overwhelming chaos in the world, it is wonderful to read of our president as a man of prayer, m...
Joel Belz
Downsizing
I have suggested before in this space that we American Christians ought to learn to think smaller. I hope I am wise enough to reflect on my own advice. Ever since the Tower of Babel, sinful...
Janie B. Cheaney
Grrrls' claws
In The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan used magazine literature as an indicator of attitudes toward women fostered by women. In throwaway short stories about wives and mothers, she detected the o...
Marvin Olasky
Society and souls
In the last treadmill books column I offered seven innings of books about a variety of topics. Now we come to the eighth and ninth, where the pressure is on. Think of the eighth inning in a...
Notebook
Sports
Sports
Diaper dandies Call it post-LeBron syndrome. This year about a half dozen high-schoolers made the jump from their hometowns to the first round of the NBA draft. The talents of some of these NBA ne...
Technology
Technology
Engine trouble Investigators want to know why Microsoft.com, Yahoo.com, Google.com and other major websites were hit by a purported cyber-attack last month. The incident made these destinations sl...
Business
Business
Wealth share Aided by an improving economy, Americans gave at near-record levels last year. In its annual report, the Giving USA Foundation said donations in 2003 by individuals, estates, foundati...
Culture
Culture
A different World
Around the World in 80 Days is the latest joint venture between Disney and the family-oriented Walden Media. This classic Jules Verne story was filmed before in 1956, winning five Academy Awards, ...
Culture
Books on screen
Television exists to sell products. In addition to hawking laundry detergent and SUVs, television sells books. Lately, a few titles have rated full-fledged commercials, but usually television sell...
Culture
Tiger tale
Two Brothers is an involving adventure tale for kids with enough subtlety and nuance for parents, a rarity among "family" films. It comes from director Jean-Jacques Annaud, returning to familiar t...
Books
Know nothings
THE DA VINCI CODE BY DAN BROWN has sold more than 7 million copies in a little over a year. That sets a record for sales within a one-year period, so that its publisher can claim that the book is ...
Books
Swift response
The 1700s also had culture wars. The century was the Age of the Enlightenment, but it was also the Age of Neoclassicism. It produced not only Voltaire, the radical man of reason, but Edmund Burke,...
Notable CDs
Best-Selling CDs
1. The Beautiful Letdown Artist: Switchfoot Weeks on the chart: 63 Style: The mean, median, and mode of modern rock. Worldview: "I want to see miracles, / to see the wo...
Dispatches
Quick Takes
Quick Takes
Car trouble Loaded gun? Check. Cash bag? Check. Bandana for mask? Check. Accused bank robber Knute Falk had almost all the details taken care of when he allegedly made his first heist. But ...
Quotables
Quotables
"We are opening the door of amnesty." Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, who last week offered Islamic militants one month to turn themselves in to authorities or face the "full might" of the kin...
The Buzz
The Buzz
Torture The Bush Administration on June 22 released a stack of classified documents detailing a secret, two-year debate over the proper handling of captured al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. Presiden...