This book provides a well-structured, lyrical, and fictionalized account of the narrator's earlier years in the village of Bialik's birth. It describes the awakening curiosity of the gifted child, his wonder at the riddle of the mirror, and his inability to read the symbols of the alphabet.

A fictional account of the life of Christ "illuminated by ferocious wit, gentle passion, and poetry"—from the Nobel Prize-winning author of Skylight ( Los Angeles Times Book Review).For José Saramago, the life of Jesus Christ and the story of his Passion were things of this earth: a child crying, a gust of wind, the caress of a woman half asleep, the bleat of a goat or the bark of a dog, a prayer uttered in the grayish morning light. The Holy Fami...

The Bible is filled with women of faith, bravery, and cunning. Here is one woman’s tale—as it might have happened . . .“Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be,Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.” Judges 5:24”Like many a bride-to-be, Jael looks forward to a long, loving marriage. But when her husband, Heber, takes her home to live in the company of his other wife and concubine, Jael’s dreams begin to crumble. The wom...

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER and winner of the International Literature Prize. At once an exquisite love story and a coming-of-age novel, an allegory for the state of Israel and for the biblical tale from which it draws its title, Judas is one of Amos Oz’s most powerful novels.Jerusalem, 1959. Shmuel Ash, a biblical scholar, is adrift in his young life when he finds work as a caregiver for a brilliant but cantankerous old man named Gershom Wald. There is, howe...

Whoever saves a single life saves the entire world . . .In 1592, as the Catholic Church and the Protestants battle for control of the soul of Europe, Prague is a relatively safe harbor in the religious storm. Ruled by Emperor Rudolph II, the city is a refuge for Jews who live within the gated walls of its ghetto. But their lives are jeopardized when a young Christian girl is found with her throat slashed in a Jewish shop on the eve of Passover. Charged with blood libel, the shopkee...

Walter Wangerin Jr. is know for his powerful storytelling in such books as The Book of the Dun Cow, The Book of God, and Paul: A Novel. Now he offers the most important story of the Christian faith—the life of Jesus presented in the author’s inimitable style. Rich in atmosphere and historical detail and as compelling as any contemporary fiction, this novel will move readers with its creative perspectives and deep insights.

Our perception of God makes a difference in every crevice of our character, from our inner anxieties to our public conversations. It determines whether we're trusting or suspicious, whether we're happy or discontent - and whether or not we can rely on God matters mightily on the day of our death. Mark Buchanan's third book continues his penetrating exploration of the God we worship. Bravely and honestly, he poses the direst question of human existence: Can God be trusted?It's life ...

Take a leap of faith into a world unlike any you have ever known, one where mankind still remembers its foundations and all the earth is clothed in perpetual springtime. Here, angels and demons wage war for the souls of mankind, and man lives for hundreds of years, forever growing either in righteousness or in evil.In these days, there are few who acknowledge where they have come from, few who keep hold of the one true God who wrought the world. For those who do, t...

Barabbas is the acquitted; the man whose life was exchanged for that of Jesus of Nazareth, crucified upon the hill of Golgotha. Barabbas is a man condemned to have no god. "Christos Iesus" is carved on the disk suspended from his neck, but he cannot affirm his faith. He cannot pray. He can only say, "I want to believe."Translated from the Swedish by Alan Blair

'Cottrell has a gift for inhabiting the most diverse perspectives . . . All are rendered in glorious physical language, a strange but apt mix of Scripture and modern idiom. The result is revelatory.' The TabletWalking Backwards to Christmas gives you a new and grown-up perspective on the Nativity story you first encountered in school and church Nativity plays. Stephen Cottrell gets you back into the real meaning of the childhood story simply by telling it backwards...

“I love The First Christmas. What a charming way Stephen Mitchell has found to tell my favorite story of all, the Nativity, character by character (I love the donkey and the ox), with wise and thrilling interludes about God, reality, truth.” –Anne LamottIn The First Christmas, Stephen Mitchell brings the Nativity story to vivid life as never before. A narrative that is only sketched out in two Gospels becomes fully realized here with nuanced chara...

In poems marked by tenderness and mischief, humanity and humor, Yehuda Amichai breaks open the grand diction of revered Jewish verses and casts the light of his own experience upon them. Here he tells of history, a nation, the self, love, and resurrection. Amichai’s last volume is one of meditation and hope, and stands as a testament to one of Israel’s greatest poets.Open closed open. Before we are born, everything is openin the universe without us. For as long...