At bottom, country music is about the abiding joys of home—both real and imagined. Take away the songs that express in one way or another a longing to return to the comforting place of one’s childhood, and there would be precious... Read More

Several interesting health items have been made public recently by the BBC: Stressed out parents make both themselves and their kids sick. Caring for children with developmental illnesses, like Down’s or autism, weakens parents’... Read More

The Florida community of Lantern Island is home to business executives, doctors, and at least one shady accountant hiding behind steel shutters and motion detectors. It is a bit exclusive, but Wayne Grusza knows the way because he’s... Read More

Unlike the sacred texts of Judaism and Christianity, which are dynamic and open to the possibilities of interpretation (although the extent to which different groups accept interpretations varies), the Qur’an, Islam’s sacred text,... Read More

After September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda and one of its leaders, Osama bin Laden, became household words. News organizations monitored the organization’s every move, and the media broadcast almost daily the messages that various political... Read More

Ever since Dan Brown published his bestselling The Da Vinci Code in 2004, thrillers about religious history have become a lucrative, if predictable, staple of the publishing world. To stand out from the stacks, it seems, would take an... Read More

A near-encyclopedic history of the fires, looting, and other assaults that have destroyed or damaged many great libraries—public and private—may not strike many as a “must-read” book. But those who work through "Books on Fire"... Read More

Travel writer Meg Parker appears to have a dream job living and working in the French countryside, but the reality of having to deal with an inattentive husband, two young children, and incompetent home remodelers is forcing a rude... Read More