Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village


Elizabeth Warnock Fernea - 1968
    A delightful, well-written, and vastly informative ethnographic study, this is an account of Fernea's two-year stay in a tiny rural village in Iraq, where she assumed the dress and sheltered life of a harem woman.

Making Sense of the Doctrine & Covenants: A Guided Tour Through Modern Revelations


Steven C. Harper - 2008
    After all, it is the only one of the standard works that does not tell its own story.Making Sense of the Doctrine and Covenants addresses this challenge in a creative new way. Rather than giving a verse-by-verse commentary, author Steven C. Harper takes readers on a guided tour through the revelations. Drawing on the earliest manuscripts of those revelations, he provides historically grounded insights into why each revelation was given, what it means, and why it matters.Chapters on every section of the Doctrine and Covenants begin by delving into the historical record to recreate the question or problem each revelation was given to resolve and end by showing readers the outcomes for individuals and the Church.Families and scholars alike will relish the depth and accessibility of Making Sense of the Doctrine and Covenants. It is an invaluable addition to any gospel library and a fascinating resource for anyone who wishes to become more closely acquainted with this marvelous book of scripture.

Why?: Powerful Answers and Practical Reasons for Living LDS Standards


John A. Hilton - 2009
    The authors use quotes from Church leaders, informative real- life stories, and colorful graphics to engage the minds of teenagers. Most important, this invaluable book gives readers, including leaders and parents, the doctrinal whys to back up the standards found in the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet. Features answers to more than 100 questions, such as: Why do some people who break the commandments appear happy? Why shouldn t I just try alcohol, just so I can see what it tastes like? Why is wearing two pairs of earrings such a big deal? Or is it? Why is it wrong to steady date someone if we both have high standards? Why is 16 the magical age is it all that different from 15? Why is pornography a big deal if it doesn t hurt anybody? Why shouldn't I wear flip-flops to Church? Why do some people who pay tithing still not have a lot of money? Why should I talk to the bishop about certain sins?

The New Testament


The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - 2018
    The New Testament is commonly divided into the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, Paul’s epistles, the general epistles, and the book of Revelation. The four Gospels—the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—are accounts of the life of Christ. The book of Acts records the history of the Church and the Apostles, especially Paul’s missionary travels, after Christ’s death. Paul’s letters give instruction to Church leaders and members. The other letters were written by other Apostles and give additional counsel to the early Saints. The book of Revelation, which was written by the Apostle John, contains mostly prophecies pertaining to the last days.

The Practical Implications of Calvinism


Albert N. Martin - 1979
    True Christianity involves a sight of the majesty of God and calls for a godly life.

The Ascent of Humanity


Charles Eisenstein - 2007
    Eisenstein traces all of the converging crises of our age to a common source, which he calls Separation. It is the ideology of the discrete and separate self that has generated these crises; therefore, he argues, nothing less than a "revolution in human beingness" will be sufficient to transform our relationship to each other and the planet. And this revolution is underway already. In all realms of human endeavor, an Age of Reunion is emerging out of the birth-pangs of a planet in crisis. The range and depth of Eisenstein's thesis is breath-taking. Encompassing science, religion, spirituality, technology, economics, medicine, education, and more, he details a vast paradigm shift reflecting a more fundamental shift in the human sense of self. Even in this dark hour, he says, a more beautiful world is possible -- but not through the extension of millennia-old methods of management and control. The convergence of crises is revealing the final bankruptcy of those methods. Soon, he says, we will abandon the Babelian effort to build a tower to Heaven, as we realize that the sky is all around us already. Then, we will turn our efforts to creating a new kind of civilization, a conscious civilization designed for beauty rather than height.

C.S. Lewis: A Life Inspired


Christopher Gordon - 2014
    Lewis, always “Jack” to family and friends, never shied from intellectual debate, and through his written works encouraged others to wrestle with the difficult questions of faith. A master of visual illustration and allegory, Lewis wrote with the intuitive understanding that his readers wrestled with the same questions about the Christian story, about pain, suffering, and notions of Heaven and Hell, as he himself had wrestled. He also understood that others found reason and imagination to be incompatible aspects of an understanding of God and the universe.

Storm Testament VII: Walkara


Lee Nelson - 1990
    The true story of the young savage from Spanish Fork Canyon who became the greatest horse thief in the history of the American West, the most notorious slave trader on the western half of a continent, the most wanted man in California, and the undisputed ruler over countless bands of Indians and a territory larger than the state of Texas, but his toughest challenge of all was to convince a beautiful Shoshone woman to become his squaw.

Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men’s Journey to Bethlehem


Brent Landau - 2010
    The Revelation of the Magi offers the first-ever English translation of an ancient Syriac manuscript written in the second to third century after the birth of Christ and safeguarded for generations in the Vatican Library. Following in the footsteps of Elaine Pagels and her exploration of the Gnostic Gospels, including the controversial Gospel of Judas, Landau delivers an invaluable source of information to a world interested in learning more about the Nativity and the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

The Brotherhood: America's Next Great Enemy


Erick Stakelbeck - 2013
    While we focus on al Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah, it's actually the Muslim Brotherhood, the world’s oldest, most influential, and most anti-American Islamist group, that has become the preeminent voice and power in the Muslim world.Hiding behind a cloak of respectability and expensive Western suits, the Muslim Brotherhood is installing vehemently anti-American governments and power structures throughout the Middle East and the world, as we sit back and cheer for the "democracy" of the Arab Spring.In his new book, The Brotherhood: America’s Next Great Enemy, Erick Stakelbeck teaches us the frightening truth about this dangerous group, from his first-hand experiences investigating the Brotherhood for eleven years, interviewing its members and visiting its mosques and enclaves.In The Brotherhood, Stakelbeck:Reveals how the Obama administration has put the Brotherhood on the threshold of power at every turnExamines the alarming ramifications for America, Europe and Israel of the Brotherhood’s rapid riseWarns against the West’s—particularly the Left’s—shortsighted, naïve and deadly embrace of the Ikhwan andTraces the group from its violent roots to its current strategy of “stealth jihad”With Middle Eastern unrest only growing hotter, and saber-rattling at the West only growing louder, the Muslim Brotherhood’s growing global clout will remain on the front burner of American national security challenges. Revealing and disconcerting, The Brotherhood is a must-read for every American hoping to remain in a free America.

The Reluctant Blogger


Ryan Rapier - 2013
    Schenk, I don’t know if what I’ve written amounts to a breakthrough or not, but I hope you know how difficult this was for me. I also hope this proves how serious I am.Todd knows he is in a bad place. That’s why he went to a therapist in the first place, and that alone took a lot of doing. So when Dr. Schenk threatens to stop their sessions unless Todd puts in more effort, he grasps at the last available straw: a personal blog that will force Todd to confront his demons.Ever since he lost his wife, Todd has not been the same. He’s been forced to Single Adult activities at church, and everyone seems to expect him to just forget Marci and get married again—especially when he meets Emily, who makes him smile and starts to bring him out of his depression. But dating again is hard when Todd has three kids of his own, not to mention an overbearing father and friends with their own problems.This beautifully woven and emotional tale is both heartbreaking and humorous. Championing friendship, love, and family, Ryan Rapier deals adeptly with the everyday struggles we face as well as the strongest ties that keep us together. You’re sure to fall in love with this magnificent tale of redemption, forgiveness, and new beginnings.

The Game of Our Lives


Peter Gzowski - 1981
    These were the days when the young Oilers, led by a teenaged Wayne Gretzky, were poised on the edge of greatness, and about to blaze their way into the record books and the consciousness of a nation. While the story of the early Oilers embodies the book, The Game of Our Lives is much more than a retelling of one season in the life of an NHL team.Unlike any book ever written in the annals of hockey, Gzowski beautifully weaves together the anatomy of a modern NHL team with the magnificent history of the game to create one of the best books about hockey in Canada. Here are the great teams and the great players through the ages—Morenz, Richard, Howe, Orr, Hull—the men whose rare and indefinable genius on the ice exemplified the speed, grit and innovation of the game.The Game of Our Lives is the best book on the Canadian passion for hockey; a wondrously perceptive account of the hold the game has on Canadians. —Jack Granatstein, The National Post

The Rabbi Who Found Messiah: The Story of Yitzhak Kaduri and His Prophecies of the Endtime


Carl Gallups - 2013
    In 2007, two Israeli news publications, Israel Today and News First Class reported that the most famous Rabbi in Israel's modern history, 108-year-old Yitzhak Kaduri, had left a cryptic death note revealing the name of the long-awaited Messiah. Within a year after the rabbi's death, the note was reported to have been verified as authentic by some of Kaduri's closest followers and then placed on Kaduri's own website (Kaduri.net). The purported Kaduri message proclaimed that Messiah's name was Yehoshua, or Jesus.  Its significance shocked the religious world. Shortly thereafter the furor began. The note immediately disappeared from Kaduri's website. The media refused to report further upon the matter. The Kaduri family, and several others close to the Kaduri ministry, began to claim that the note was a forgery or a mere fabrication - a cruel joke. Now, author, senior pastor, radio talk show host, and former law enforcement officer Carl Gallups, uses his biblical knowledge and journalistic and investigative skills to explore the matter inside and out. His thorough and balanced reporting of the documented facts of the case will astound you. Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, author of The Harbinger, several renowned biblical experts, as well as former students of Kaduri's rabbinical training school weigh in on the case. Gallup's exciting detailed reporting reaches startling conclusions that will amaze you. Mystical death-curses, visions of Messiah, an important world political figure under threat, religious leaders in shock, a cryptic death note, and more, this story is shocking, it is true and it is still unfolding. Did Rabbi Kaduri actually see and identify the real Messiah? From the publishers and the movie studio that brought you the best-selling documentary The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment comes the story of The Rabbi Who Found Messiah.

The Plateau


Maggie Paxson - 2019
    The same place offers refuge to migrants today. Why?In a remote pocket of Nazi-held France, ordinary people risked their lives to rescue many hundreds of strangers, mostly Jewish children. Was this a fluke of history, or something more? Anthropologist Maggie Paxson, certainties shaken by years of studying strife, arrives on the Plateau to explore this phenomenon: What are the traits that make a group choose selflessness? In this beautiful, wind-blown place, Paxson discovers a tradition of offering refuge that dates back centuries. But it is the story of a distant relative that provides the beacon for which she has been searching. Restless and idealistic, Daniel Trocmé had found a life of meaning and purpose—or it found him—sheltering a group of children on the Plateau, until the Holocaust came for him, too. Paxson's journey into past and present turns up new answers, new questions, and a renewed faith in the possibilities for us all, in an age when global conflict has set millions adrift. Riveting, multilayered, and intensely personal, The Plateau is a deeply inspiring journey into the central conundrum of our time.

A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age


William Manchester - 1992
    In handsomely crafted prose, and with the grace and authority of his extraordinary gift for narrative history, William Manchester leads us from a civilization tottering on the brink of collapse to the grandeur of its rebirth - the dense explosion of energy that spawned some of history's greatest poets, philosophers, painters, adventurers, and reformers, as well as some of its most spectacular villains - the Renaissance.