1) John the Baptizer by Brooks Hansen:

No matter your faith background, or lack of it, or your knowledge of the Bible, or lack of it, I highly recommend John The Baptizer.  Its blends the historical and the literary in ways that defy genre and subject matter to create a powerful story.

2) Right Time, Right Place by Richard Brookhiser

For anyone wanting to understand the conservative movement, and its flagship magazine, Right Time, Right Place is a must read.  And anyone interested in becoming a journalist/writer would do well to read it. But at its heart is a more humane vision: that being true to your ideals and friends is what’s important.

3) The Everafter War by Michael Buckley

With the Everafter War Michael Buckley again shows why this series has won the acclaim and popularity it has.  Each book has just the right amount of humor and seriousness; of plot and character development mixed with satire and slapstick.  He keeps the reader guessing – although both the traitor and the master are pretty easy to spot – and despite all the silliness (and the YA audience) the characters are surprisingly well developed. It is just an ideal light read for me and for kids of all ages.

4) The New Policeman by Kate Thompson

So whether you are fascinated by Celtic lore, love traditional Irish music, or just enjoy creative storytelling, there is plenty to like in The New Policemen.  Thompson’s love of Ireland – its culture, history, people, and land – comes shining through and it is infectious.  When combined with a unique adventure story it makes for enjoyable reading. I recommend it for readers young and old.

5) Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden

This is something of a big complicated mess.  And yet it is a big complicated beautiful mess.  And not to sound cliche, but ain’t that life?

6) Leap Over a Wall by Eugene Peterson

Eugene Peterson takes the story of David and reveals the important theological insights it offers in accessible and yet poetic language. Each chapter is a short read but packed with insights into the Christian life and deep thoughts about what it means to be human.

7) Children of Odin by Padraic Colum

So whether you are looking for an accessible introduction to these myths, something interesting for the younger readers you know or if, like me, you just like exploring myths and ancient stories check out the Children of Odin.

8) The Sorceress by Michael Scott

If you have been living in a cave and haven’t stumbled on this series yet, and you like fantasy adventure, I highly recommend it.

This is one of those great series where each book seems to get better and each wait for the next one to come up seems more intolerable.

9) The End of Secularism by Hunter Baker

If you are interested in the subject of secularism or the interaction of faith in the public square you will want to read this book.  It can serve as a useful introduction or an interesting argument/debate kickoff for those with more of a background in the subject.

10) Secret Son by Laila Lalami

Secret Son has many traditional elements: coming of age; rags to riches to rags; East meets West; family versus individual identity; fate versus free will; etc.  But it has a simplicity and honesty that makes it fresh and avoids cliche or a preachy tone.

So there you have it. Ten books I really enjoyed in 2009. What were your favorites in 2009?

But despite the countervailing habits when I heard about John The Baptizer by Brooks Hansen I was immediately intrigued. Here is the publishers description:

Traditionally, John the Baptist is seen as little more than an opening act—”the voice crying in the wilderness”—in the great Christian drama. In presenting the epic of John’s life, novelist Brooks Hansen draws on an extraordinary array of inspirations, from the works of Caravaggio, Bach, and Oscar Wilde to the histories of Josephus, the canonical gospels, the Gnostic gospels, and the sacred texts of those followers of John who never accepted Jesus as Messiah: the Mandeans.

Gripping as literary historical fiction, and fascinating as a diligent exploration of ancient and modern sources, this book brings to eye-opening life the richly textured world—populated by the magnificently sordid, calculating, and reckless Herods, their families, and their courts—into which both John and Jesus were born. John the Baptizer is a captivating tapestry of power and dissent, ambition and self-sacrifice, worldly and otherworldly desire, faith, and doubt.

A straightforward historical portrayal of John might be interesting in and of itself, but the unique and creative mix Hansen offered put this one on the top of my reading list.

Most of the time the publishers blurb has an element of hyperbole to it – depending on the quality of the book in question this can be annoying or flat out deceptive – but in my opinion this one really does capture the book.

More on why below.The first paragraph relates to the second.  Hansen’s use of a wide variety of sources – and the gnostic Mandeans in particular – are what give the work its unique flavor or perspective.  Hansen doesn’t simply bring a historical view to the story.  Yes, his skillful writing brings the ancient world to life; to the point you almost feel like you are reading a primary source not a novel. But he weaves into this historical story a mystic, spiritual, almost dream like element.

And on a number of levels it is in contrast that the novel builds its power.  There is the dual elements noted above that surround John’s story: the historical and political context of his time and region, and the simple ascetic nature of his life and mission, are contrasted with the mystical and supernatural nature of his life from a birth under a star to his time spent with Nasurai.

In the same way, John’s story and mission is stands in stark contrast with the history of what Kirkus so aptly describes as “the semi-pagan Herod clan.  A tempestuous, incestuous convergence of two royal Israelite dynasties produces Herod the Great.”

This altering between a history pregnant with spirituality and a history full of debauchery, between the simple asceticism that emphasizes self-sacrifice and the gaudy, greedy and power hungry trappings of royalty, pushes the novel forward as everyone familiar with story knows that the two will meet in a violent climax.

This mix might not be attractive to everyone, the Kirkus review concludes:

A curious melange of the sacred and profane, but always captivating when the sinners are onstage.

But I think Publishers Weekly has it right:

The juxtaposition of stark realism and religious loftiness has its perplexing moments, but it’s precisely what will keep the pages turning.

To me Hansen balanced these two aspects to incredible effect.  The contrast of the sacred and the profane – and how often they mixed in provocative ways in the ancient world – are what drove the story.  And it is only by presenting this wider lens on the connection between John and gnosticism, and other by now largely forgotten sects, that Hansen offers more than just a fictionalized history of John; takes it from history to art/literature.

Which is why I found the novel as advertised:

Gripping as literary historical fiction, and fascinating as a diligent exploration of ancient and modern sources … a captivating tapestry of power and dissent, ambition and self-sacrifice, worldly and otherworldly desire, faith, and doubt.

It might seem to odd to describe a literary exploration such as this as gripping but I was pulled into it and wanted to spend all my time reading it; “a captivating tapestry” is a perfect description.

I should note that obviously orthodox Christians will not agree with many of the theological elements found in the story.  Classical Christianity did eventually declare gnosticism heresy after all.  And some might find the interaction of John and Jesus – or more specifically the disciples of John and Jesus – provocative.

And the supernatural element is clearly not historical in the academic sense.

But to get hung up on these issue is to miss the nature of the work.  This is not a thinly disguised catechism, or a loosely fictionalized history, but a work of literature with all the complexity and provocation that can involve.

No matter your faith background, or lack of it, or your knowledge of the Bible, or lack of it, I highly recommend John The Baptizer.  Its blends the historical and the literary in ways that defy genre and subject matter to create a powerful story.