Books for the eye.

A charming bedside miscellany, a new novel by P. D. James, and much more.

Why I didn't like the hymns and praise songs we were singing—and why I was missing the point.

Some more keepers from 2005.

… and lists of books.

A parable of community.

A report from AAR/SBL.

A superb study of Chinese popular religion helps to set the context for the appeal of Christianity in China today.

Lessons in "respectful conversation."

A new book by Elizabeth Marquardt offers a child's-eye-view of divorce.

A geography of art in New York at the midpoint of the 20th century.

A chronicle of reading.

A proposal for compromise between "value evangelicals" and "legal secularists" on church-state issues.

Conversation touches on Hebrew parallelism, marriage, and the making of many books.

Europe's rejection of its Christian heritage.

A new book of poems by Paul Mariani, illustrated by Barry Moser.

The lessons of Herman Kahn.

David McCullough's account of the pivotal year 1776 has resonance for Americans in 2005.

Think you're burned out on memoirs? Read this book.

Exploring the valley of the shadow in two literary lives.