2012

(Originally published on Labor Day 2012) Labor Day, according to Wikipedia, was born of the Management/Labor battles of the late 19th century--particularly the Pullman strike ...

The latest movie version of Anna Karenina is not for family viewing, because it deals with "adult" themes more graphically than it needs to.  The ...

Every year advent takes me by surprise--otherwise I would have posted this last week!   Family advent readers come down from the shelves this time of ...

Now that the turkey feathers have settled, it's time to get back to The Hobbit!  In case you're running behind, here's a recap: 1) Introduction, ...

Tomorrow we have a real treat for you: two Christian dads, one a pastor and one a teacher, who both happen to write books for ...

Seventy-three years ago, on September 1, German tanks rolled across the border of Poland and the conflict that soon became known as World War II ...

Non-writers, or writers who don’t do fiction, often have a misconception about fictional forms.  Short stories are seen as an apprenticeship of sorts—you start out ...

Keeping the Castle: a Tale of Romance, Riches, and Real Estate, by Patrice Kindl.  Viking, 2012, 261 pages.  Age/interest level: 13-up. Althea Crawley, age 17, ...

Rescue from certain destruction is the great theme of the Bible.  When it happens in real life, it should remind us of how blessed we ...

Tuesday’s post about “Twisting Mother Goose” was headed down an alley I didn’t have room to address.  So today’s post springs off YA lit-blogger Georgia ...

A Few Recommendations Last year Janie and I put together a post on football books for kids and young adults, Tim Tebow to Justin Tuck: ...

We've already covered a lot of ground on the Fifty Shades trilogy by E. L. James.  We interviewed Tim Challies on the theology of pornography, ...

God particle, Higgs boson—it's been news since Independence Day (no relation to said holiday) and most of us scratch our heads.  It’s too hot to ...

The Glorious Fourth, as they used to call it, celebrates the birth of a nation whose independence was only declared with the signing of a ...

A handbook of practical wisdom for the would-be college student. Essential summer read for every incoming freshman.--Dr. Gene Veith, provost of Patrick Henry College About ...

As Jesus takes us to the cross this week, I’d like to spend some time looking at recent and classic children’s literature that addresses the ...

Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts On Christian Spirituality, was published in 2003 by Thomas Nelson.  Since then it has become a staple of Christian college ...

By Redeemed Reader intern Jack Mertens Today I continue my series on Kingstone Comics, begun on Monday with reviews of two of Marvin Olasky's graphic ...

Today's reviewer, Jack Mertens, is a 17 year old high school student living in Louisiana where he is, among other things, an avid reader and ...

***SPOILER ALERT: SOME PARTS OF THE END OF THE STORY REVEALED BELOW To read Janie's review of the book, see Hungry. Today, the much anticipated ...

Since Susanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy (reviewed here) has sparked so much discussion in school cafeterias and dorm rooms (not to mention break rooms and ...

Gary Paulsen's classic survival novel Hatchet offers a realistic--as opposed to romantic-- view of nature and what it takes to survive in the wild. Hatchet ...

This month my local public library is offering a marionette show of African folktales starring Anansi the spider. It's a unique way to celebrate Black ...

My first exposure to Charles Dickens was the original Classics Illustrated edition of A Tale of Two Cities.  The last panel of Sidney Carton climbing ...

This interview is part of our Japan: Literary Adventure.  See Part One for an introduction as well as links to the books we talk about ...