Robert F. Darden

Be My Amazon

Fiction

“Be My Amazon is that happily unexpected book that hits the reader in several places at once. Is it an Ann Lamott-styled biographical novel? Is it a mystery set in a cozy little suburban church? Is it a modern take on C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters? Or is it a little of all the above? W. A. Noble’s precise, well-crafted prose takes the reader into the life of a well-established congregation that suddenly has to face a challenge that could tear it apart. It’s funny, insightful, and—blessedly—full of grace.”

Laughter in a Time of Turmoil

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

“To be sure, there are theological riches to be found in Richard Olson's Laughter in a Time of Turmoil. The chapter on Sara's smile . . . is worth a couple of Bible study sessions all by itself. But Olson's theme--that laughter and joy and humor are God's gift and should be celebrated (and practiced intentionally) by Christians--is an equally strong reason to read this book. It is warm and funny and silly and insightful--sometimes in the same paragraph. Recommended for both private instruction and for reading out loud. . . . Be prepared to share.”

Love and other Mysteries

Arts & Literature

“To read one of Megan Willome's jewel-like poems is to become Leeuwenhoek again, staring in gape-jawed wonder at the tiny "animalcules" swimming in the dish at the end of the first microscope. You're seeing things for the first time. Or maybe you're seeing old things with a new lens. This is elegant, insightful stuff, equally capable of delivering a quick gasp or a gentle chuckle. Yes, please.”

Murder in the Tidwell Building

Fiction

“In the literary realm of murder mysteries, there is no richer environment to explore than that of higher education, where petty rivalries can erupt into all-out war; where deans cower, lecturers run for cover, and tenured faculty bully and bluff and buff their CVs—all in the course of a single faculty meeting. Authors James Nogalski and Mark Biddle expertly navigate academia’s treacherous shoals in Murder in the Tidwell Building and remind us, once again, of that hoariest of all university truisms: ‘They fight so fiercely because the stakes are so low.’”

Roger Williams’s Little Book Of Virtues

History & Biography

“It has never been more timely, more important than now to rediscover the great, mostly under-recognized champion of religious liberty, Roger Williams. Becky Garrison’s on-point commentary and judicious use of Williams’s best, most insightful quotes reminds me of the work of Molly Ivins—another champion of no-nonsense political and religious insight.”