We begin our annual roundup

We continue our annual roundup of noteworthy books

"The Worst Book of the Year, more good reading, digital books, and a little Christmas music"

"What to buy with those gift cards, and some of the books in my to-read stacks"

PBS creates a Doctor Zhivago for our time—and entirely omits the (unorthodox) Christianity that informs the novel from start to finish

Soil and the future of creation

Two inside reports

New novels by Michael Morris—whose first novel, A Place Called Wiregrass, was a word-of-mouth hit—and Jan Karon, who continues her beloved Mitford saga

A poet's voice in the evangelical wilderness

The playful provocations of Scott Cairns

A sprawling new novel by the author of Snowcrash and Cryptonomicon goes to the 17th century to investigate the birth of the modern world. (You won't be surprised to learn that the Puritans are among the Bad Guys.)

"Critics of consumer culture are all wet, Virginia Postrel says. The riot of choices available to us resonates with our deepest aesthetic instincts"

An Imperfect God examines George Washington and slavery

The 2003 baseball season concludes with a bang—and 2004 is just around the corner

"William Saletan unspins, and respins, the abortion debate"

How Christians can make a difference in the upside-down world of graduate school.

Eugene Peterson calls believers to a life lived with wholeness, honesty, without contrivance—against the grain of much that's currently driving the church in America

How the nation responded to an earlier attack

Want to understand what's going on in the Golden State? Toss your newsmagazines and pick up Joan Didion's new book