In his new book, It’s Debatable, Robert Jensen gives us tools to keep talking to each other–not past each other.
books
Work in progress: Current’s 100 books of the 21st century (so far)
Current’s list of 100 Best Books of the 21st Century is in progress!
On classifying books
With books, as with other good things in life, sometimes you are just in the mood for something different.
The Penguin Little Black Classics: In the beginning
The Penguin Little Black Classics–a treasure you might not have known you needed!
Ideas in Progress: Zachary Sheldon on Christian media, Ellul, and the journey to his dissertation and first book
“Ellul’s perspective on the deployment of media techniques in the service of Christian faith continued to haunt me, for lack of a better term.”
Stacks and stacks of books
Down with the book-stack shelfies!
A few books I’ve recently (re)read
It’s been a good year for reading!
Wise words from historian Thomas Kidd for your summer writing goals
Historian Thomas Kidd’s advice for summer writing goals.
2024 Pulitzer Prize-winners announced
Here are few of the winners that caught my eye: HISTORY (Winner): Jacqueline Jones, No Right to an Honest Living: The Struggles of Boston’s Black Workers in the Civil War Era. See our Author’s Corner interview with Jacqueline Jones here. […]
Celebrating the publication of Kathryn Milne, Inside the Roman Legions, 264-107 BCE
A new book takes us inside life and service in the Roman legions, 264-107 BCE
51.4% of books sell between 12 and 999 units
As Tajja Isen notes in her piece at The Walrus, these numbers are not “especially encouraging.” Here is a taste of her piece, “How Do You Even Sell a Book Anymore?“: All of which highlights the two faces of the […]
Reads of the year for living in modernity
What is the place of human beings–and especially religiously-convicted human beings–in “modernity”? Here is my list of reads of the year to answer this question.
The Author’s Corner with Stuart McKee
Stuart McKee is Associate Professor of Design at the University of San Francisco. This interview is based on his new book, Indigenous Enlightenment: Printing and Education in Evangelical Colonialism, 1790-1850 (University of Nebraska Press, 2023). JF: What led you to […]
What did Richard Nixon write in the margins of his books?
Today The Atlantic is running a fascinating piece by Andrew Ferguson on researching Nixon’s marginalia. Here is a taste: Call it coincidence, serendipity, an aligning of the planets—whatever the term, the moment was creepy and amusing all at once. I […]
“Not every title can be ‘electrifying’, ‘essential’, and ‘revelatory.'”
Over at The Atlantic, Helen Lewis addresses the practice of book blurbs. Here is a taste: And that reveals another dirty secret of the blurb: They’re not addressed to you. “The biggest thing to understand is that blurbs aren’t principally, or […]
Finding common ground with book banners
There’s not much common ground to be had, but I appreciate writer Garret Keizer’s piece today at The New York Times. A taste: More than half a century has passed since I graduated from high school, an eon in digital […]
Umberto Eco on books and libraries
The Italian historian, cultural critic, and novelist Umberto Eco is one of the great thinkers of our time. Next week a film about his life and library opens in New York. It is titled “Umberto Eco: A Library of the […]
In defense of physical books
Here is Ben Sixsmith, editor of The Critic: A couple of years ago, I had almost my entire collection of books shipped from England to Poland. They had been lurking in my dad’s attic but he understandably decided that he […]
Christianity Today announces its 2023 book awards
Here you go: Book of the Year: Uche Anizor, Overcoming Apathy: Gospel Hope for Those Who Struggle to Care Apologetics and Evangelism: Glen Scrivener, The Air We Breathe: How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality […]
“A love of reading.” Now there’s a college general education outcome we can all get behind.
Here is community college dean Matt Reed at Insider Higher Education: Love of reading isn’t all puppies and unicorns, of course. We have a frightening number of books in the house, both on display and in boxes in the basement. […]