The Jewish World: 365 Days is a compact, weighty tome that cries out for a coffee table. It, too, is organized around the idea of a year: 365 exquisite items from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem pace themselves from January to December. More than a catalog of accoutrements, this is visual testimony from centuries of sacred and secular lives: books, textiles, interiors, jewelry, pottery, manuscripts, paintings, clothing, toys and much more. Culled from one of the world’s finest collections, it lives up to its goal as “a celebration of Jewish life throughout the ages.” Life throughout many lands is celebrated as well, because Jewish people, with no nation of their own from 70 AD to 1938, have dispersed throughout the world, adapting ancient traditions within host cultures. Thus, for example, will be found Sabbath lamps from Yemen, herb bags from Afghanistan and even a woodcut from a 1713 Amsterdam edition of The Book of Customs, an earlier incarnation of the new book described above. Joanna Brichetto is a graduate student in Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University who longs for sassy wit and hip hindsight.

The Book of Customs: A Complete Handbook for the Jewish Year is described as “the best-selling guide to Jewish life for three centuries.” If this is true, then why haven’t we heard of it? Two reasons: because until now it has not been translated into English, and because the 300-year period of the book’s popularity was centuries ago! Lucky for us, Scott-Martin Kosofsky, an award-winning book designer and editor, has plucked it from obscurity to revive it for a new generation.

This revival is a complete transformation. Kosofsky frames it with tradition, expecting each reader whatever his or her denomination to pick and choose what material is required. The author admits that if Judaism “is a cafeteria’ religion, then it’s one that serves the traditional main courses.” Readers will find a banquet here, whenever hunger strikes, and at whatever intensity.

What exactly is on the menu? A comprehensive guide to the Jewish year: the weekly cycle (revolving around the Sabbath), the yearly cycle and the life cycle (birth, marriage, death) for home and synagogue observance. There is material enough to pilot a beginner or a practiced hand: from how to light the Sabbath candles to when to say the Amidah on the first night of Sukkot. Pithy tidbits, cross-references and Biblical or Talmudic citations are packed into the margins, enticing us to further study. Kosofsky packs a lot in this user-friendly, attractive guide.

Joanna Brichetto is a graduate student in Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University who longs for sassy wit and hip hindsight.

The “you” in Barbara Rushkoff’s Jewish Holiday Fun for You! targets a specific demographic: the hip, 30- or 40-something “who wants to crack the mystery of Jewish holidays.” Rushkoff, creator of the webzine Plotz, offers this crash course to instruct and entertain. She leads readers through the holidays using diverse conceits: a test booklet (multiple choice) for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur; zaftig (Yiddish for “well-endowed”) paper dolls of Ruth, the Biblical character, for Shavuot; and a catalog of wacky prefabricated Sukkah kits for Sukkot (including inflatable, hypoallergenic and mother-in-law versions). Each holiday is introduced by a quirky, one-sentence definition: Passover is “the one with the big crackers,” Purim is “the one they call the Jewish Halloween” and Shabbat is “the one where you can’t do anything because it’s Saturday.” For years, I’ve heard similar descriptions when mildly curious non-Jewish buddies identify a current holiday with, “Is this the one where you build a hut in the backyard?” (Sukkot.) As the book’s title says, the accent is on “fun,” so don’t look for practical how-tos here. This is more an excuse to indulge in nostalgia with hip hindsight, sassy wit and retro-flavored graphics galore. Rushkoff fans: prepare to plotz (Yiddish for “burst with excitement”). Joanna Brichetto is a graduate student in Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University who longs for sassy wit and hip hindsight.

The National Geographic Society is uniquely qualified to produce an exhaustive and fascinating new book, The Geography of Religion. With more than 400 pages of stunning photographs, maps, illustrations and authoritative text, the writers and editors of National Geographic trace the origins and spread of the world’s five great religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. More than just an incredibly beautiful coffee-table book, The Geography of Religion is part history book, part travelogue, part theology text. The authors examine the development of religion in ancient cultures as well as contemporary practices that trace their roots to ancient texts. The twin roles of conflict and persecution as a means of spreading religion are investigated. By identifying those common threads that bind the peoples of the earth together our belief in a higher being, belief that kindness rewards both the giver and the receiver, belief in a hereafter we may at last come to understand one another. Perhaps then there may truly be peace on earth.

Max Lucado may be the most recognizable Christian author on the planet. His 50-plus books have sold more than 39 million copies and have been translated into more than 20 languages. A quick glance at his latest work, Come Thirsty, will reveal the reason for Lucado’s popularity: bite-sized chapters filled with folksy stories that succinctly illustrate his insightful, spiritual points. Comparing spiritual dryness with physical dehydration, Lucado declares soul-thirst resulting in fear, anxiety, hopelessness and resentment to be one of the most common and under-diagnosed ailments in America. The good news, he says, is that there is a well of living water. And Lucado invites, encourages and even commands us to drink our fill. The result of imbibing this spiritual libation is joy, peace and confidence. As an added bonus the book includes a chapter-by-chapter study guide suitable for individual or small group study.

Like The Tao of Pooh and The Gospel According to Peanuts, Toni Raiten-D’Antonio’s new book, The Velveteen Principles draws on well-known children’s literature for inspiration. The author skewers the prevalent worldview that equates wealth, beauty, public acclaim, power and popularity with happiness. True happiness, she says, only comes from being “Real,” and “Real” rarely means conforming to the standards of the “United States of Generica.” Instead Raiten-D’Antonio extracts 12 principles for becoming real from the charming children’s classic, The Velveteen Rabbit. It begins with realizing that “Real is Possible,” confesses that “Real Can Be Painful,” and defines “Real” as Generous, Grateful, Flexible and Ethical. “Real,” she insists, is “a life well-lived, where we are true to ourselves,” and “all the struggles and challenges only make us more Real.”

Author and gospel lyricist Gloria Gaither captures the sublime and sacred joys of the Christmas season in He Started the Whole World Singing, a heartwarming compendium of her original prayers, stories and songs, rounded out with time-honored Gaither family recipes. The book, named for an original song by Gaither, gives an intimate peek into the faith and spiritual devotions of her family, prompting a deeper vision of Christmas. Accompanied by a CD produced by husband Bill Gaither, this thoughtful, spiritual celebration of Christmas is sure to inspire comfort in our often cold world. Alison Hood still waits up for Santa every Christmas Eve and eats way too many cookies while keeping watch at the hearth.

In a more philosophical vein is Reynolds Price’s Letter to a Godchild: Concerning Faith. Price is a professor of English at Duke University and the godfather of Harper Peck Voll, Gregory Peck’s grandson. Letter to a Godchild began in 2000 as a christening gift to the infant Harper and his parents, and is Price’s attempt to share his philosophy and faith with the young man his godchild will one day become. In the book, Price explores his own life of faith and the choices, good and bad, that have led him to the place he is today. Letter to a Godchild is well crafted and deeply personal, a reflection of Price’s faith, thought and self-examination. The reader may not agree with every interpretation Price offers, but this short journey is well worth taking.

Neither Tolkien nor C.S. Lewis could have devised a panorama of personages and events more fantastic than the one which befell the human race at the dawn of its recorded history. Starting around 900 B.C.

E., four separate civilizations experienced a spiritual transformation spanning some seven centuries. The peoples in the regions now called Greece, India, China and Israel developed ethical ideas so consistent with each other that their independent evolution is a matter of pure astonishment.

This cross-cultural axis of religious awakening was first discerned and described 60 years ago by the German philosopher Karl Jaspers, who believed that history possessed both a clear origin and an achievable goal. Our generation’s premiere historian of religious thought, Karen Armstrong, is naturally less optimistic about humanity’s course, but she feels all the more impelled to provide a direction through her own writings. At the very outset of her monumental new book, The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions, Armstrong articulates the dire necessity to recognize and recreate the Axial Age of the first millennium B.C.

E. Her enterprise is so urgent the global stakes could not be higher that it demands a structure both simple and tremendous: she composes a historical symphony in four movements, one Greek, one Indian, one Chinese and one Hebrew. But just as, from our perspective, the different trees of thought in these four civilizations intertwine their branches, so too do the distinct movements of Armstrong’s prose symphony insinuate themselves into each other, chapter by chapter, under the headings of certain spiritual principles.

What are these radical principles of the Axial Age? First, the ability to recognize the divine in both the other and oneself, along with a likening of the other to oneself an empathy later to be called The Golden Rule. Second, the rise of introspection and self-discovery over external ritual and magic. Third, the recognition of the inevitability of suffering and the development of spiritual technologies for transcending it. Fourth, the capacity to see things as they really are a realism terribly undervalued in our own time. Fifth, the spread of knowledge, beyond the confines of an elite, to ordinary folk. Sixth, an awareness of the limitations of human knowledge. In all four geographical regions of the Axial Age, these gospels were long in coming and short in staying. What’s far worse, they are so familiar to us these days particularly through the sayings of that latter-day child of the Axial Age, Jesus of Nazareth that we can recognize neither the awesome strangeness of their universality nor their potential to change the world. The Buddha and Socrates, Confucius and Jeremiah were foremost among the many sages of those centuries. Could Armstrong be the first sage of a second Axial Age? It is literally up to the reader to decide. Michael Alec Rose is a music professor at Vanderbilt University.

The Bible covers thousands of years of history, culture and religion. Making sense of it all is a daunting task; it’s all too easy to get lost in the sea of odd names and ancient cultures or to forget just where in all those pages to find a particular reference or event.

The Illustrated Everyday Bible Companion is an excellent tool for understanding the concepts and customs within the Bible’s historic span. Described in its subtitle as An All-in-One Resource for Everyday Bible Study, this amply illustrated volume lives up to its billing, providing an encyclopedic listing of Biblical names, objects and concepts and placing each within its cultural and historical context. Packed with photos and drawings, this impressive guide also includes concordance information and a thematic summary of each book of Scripture. Want to know where King Jehoshaphat and King Ahab formed an alliance? The summary of 2 Chronicles will set you straight (18:1-3, in case you wondered).

The Illustrated Everyday Bible Companion is easy to read and fun to thumb through. A suitable guide for personal study or family devotions, it places a true understanding of the Bible within the reach of every reader, not just historical scholars and seminarians. A writer in Franklin, Tennessee, Howard Shirley is the author of Acts for God: 38 Dramatic Sketches for Contemporary Services, as well as Christian video and devotional materials.