Frank Carlson Library

Anne Tyler wrote a novel called The Accidental Tourist about a man who is forced to travel but does not want to have any new experiences...My goal on my trips has been just the opposite: not to do anything too foolish, but to be open to an endless round of new experiences and possibilities." Father Edward Malloy never planned to share his trip diaries with readers throughout the world. Affectionately known as "Monk," the president of the University...

Many of our religious beliefs are based on faith alone, but archaeology gives the opportunity to find evidence about what really happened in the distant past-evidence that can have a dramatic impact on what and how we believe. Join celebrated archaeologist and rabbi Richard Fruend as he takes readers through digs he has led in the Holy Land, searching for evidence about key biblical characters and events. Digging Through the Bible presents overviews...

Celebrate Jewish culture with this fun collection of facts and stories! Jewish traditions aren't just something they sing about in Fiddler on the Roof. Explore them all with this delightful book of essential Jewish foods, philosophers, pop culture, and more. It's sure to be way more satisfying than the typical encyclopedia-but probably not as exciting as finding the perfect bagel. • Discover cultural touchstones-From babka to Mel Brooks, learn...

The Christmas season has been so distorted by man-made traditions and commercialization that we are losing sight of the gritty and miraculous truth of that first Christmas-and wonder is being replaced with want. Weaving beautiful storytelling with forgotten and overlooked biblical truth, bestselling author Angela Hunt takes your family on a visceral journey to learn more about the places, people, prophecies, and purpose of Christmas. Each of the...

Before heaven and earth and with all of you here as my witnesses...I declare, and I must declare, that the Order is innocent. Its purity and saintliness is beyond question. from the final recorded statement by Jacques de Molay, the last Templar Grand Master, on March 18, 1314, before he was led to the stake. Who were the medieval Knights Templar? How is their name connected to Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem? What does their red cross symbolize?...

In his wildly entertaining, winningly irreverent, New York Times bestselling Don't Know Much About® series, author Kenneth C. Davis has amused and edified us with fascinating facts about history, mythology, the Bible, the universe, geography, and the Civil War. Now, the sky's the limit in his latest irresistible installment-a grand tour of knowledge that carries us from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Berlin Wall, from the Salem Witch Trials to...

Cornelia Brown is reeling from a terrifying act of violence when she gets word that her mother has been badly injured in an accident. Cornelia returns to Virginia, to the house she grew up in, and in the weeks that follow, she watches her mother Ellie struggle to recover, fluctuating between her usual crisp, can-do clarity and periods of delirium during which she seems haunted by a devastating loss from her past. In grief-stricken tones, Ellie begs...

"From the best-selling author of Into the Raging Sea comes a moving and eye-opening look at the story of manufacturing in America, whether it can ever successfully return to our shores, and why doing so is vital to our well-being as a nation, told through the experience of one young couple in Maine as they attempt to rebuild a lost industry, ethically. Ben and Whitney Waxman are two tireless idealists trying to do the impossible: make an American-made,...