Great Reading: Merry Christmas To All

The TIME KEEPER

By Mitch Albom

Hyperion $24.99

A wizened old man sits in a cave listening to millions of voices from Earth begging for more … time. Sarah, a brilliant but unattractive teenager begs for more time to prepare for her first date with a handsome and popular boy at school; another, Victor, an immensely wealthy man, attempts to buy time by having his body frozen until a cure for his cancer is discovered. Before the Time Keeper discovered time, people worked like farmers of old: from “Can see, till Can’t see.” The reason God limits our days Victor is told, “Is to make each one precious.” Albom creates another fanciful fable.

GRAND COTEAU

By John Slaughter

UL Press $49.50

For many, if not most, “Grand Coteau” conjures up the images of the Catholic Church and Academy of Sacred Heart, the girls’ school there, and the retreat center. But John Slaughter’s iconic photographs of the town broaden those images considerably, illustrating an idyllic place with its own Oak Alley. The people, buildings and places that make up the Grand Coteau will give an entirely new insight to this historic village. The Catahoula Restaurant, by the way, named for the dogs whose portraits cover the walls, is owned by Slaughter.

WALKING in the DUST of RABBI JESUS

By Lois Tverberg

Zondervan $18.99

Did you ever imagine what it would have been like to be among the crowds who followed and listened to the words of Jesus? If so, this book will help you know more about the Jewish culture at the time and the language Jesus and his disciples spoke. You will see and hear Jesus as the Jews did, calling him “Rabbi.” It’s like a trip back in time. Way back.

THROUGH THE EYE OF A NEEDLE

By Peter Brown

Princeton $39.95

When Jesus said to his apostles that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven, they were astonished. Yet wealthy converts, following the conversion of Constantine in 312, began seeking salvation by making large donations to the Christian community, which then faced the difficulty of how to reconcile this newfound wealth with Jesus’ teaching. Brown, in this masterful history, makes the writings of Augustine, Ambrose and Jerome more accessible to the average reader, and scholars will welcome the voluminous notes and index.

KILLING KENNEDY

By Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard

Henry Holt $28

This is more about John Kennedy’s life than his death: his youth, college, Naval experiences and wife Jackie, who gets substantial space here. As president, Kennedy’s worst moment was losing his nerve in the Bay of Pigs fiasco, while his best was going eye-to-eye with Nikita Khrushchev, forcing the removal of Russian missiles from Cuba. Lee Harvey Oswald is followed from his stay in Russia to his assassin’s nest in the Dallas Book Depository. The book’s writing is smooth and reads like a novel, but conspirator theorists will object to his simple acceptance that Oswald acted alone.

NORA 102 ½

By June Shaw

Amazon $10

NORA 102 ½ is a delightful account of a very remarkable woman, Mrs. Nora Shaw of Thibodaux, who lived, not just survived, to the ripe age of one hundred two and a half years. It’s a “Lesson on Aging Well,” says her daughter, June, who wrote this poignant portrait of her remarkable mother. Anyone who thinks of old age as a curse should definitely read about Miss Nora, who showed how wonderful those later years could be.

LOUISIANA PLACE NAMES

By Clare D’Artois Leeper

LSU Press $39.95

Where did all the strange and unusual names of towns, bayous and villages in Louisiana originate? Here, in one volume, is the name of every place in the state that has a name, from Albania to Zwolle, with short summaries of how they came to be so named. It’s thoroughly enjoyable, and educational, too.

Mitch Albom tackles time’s finite nature in his latest novel and creates “another fanciful fable,” writes critic Ray Saadi.

COURTESY

“Grand Coteau”

“Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus”

“Through The Eye of a Needle”

“Killing Kennedy”

“Nora 102 1/2”