God's wolf : the life of the most notorious of all crusaders, scourge of Saladin by Jeffrey Lee (nonfiction 2017)

Wonderful book, busting some of the Christian and Muslim myths about this extraordinary person who left France as a second son without many prospects and made himself a prince. 

The Lady Queen: The Notorious Reign of Joanna I, Queen of Naples, Jerusalem, and Sicily by Nancy Goldstone (nonfiction 2009)

Joanna was a unique woman in power at the time, and went through quite a bit to hold on.  This book helps shed light on the political structures of the time.  Reading about how Joanna was successful and not-so at navigating the medieval world's touchy relationship with royalty and women is wonderful.

Istanbul: City of Majesty at the Crossroads of the World by Thomas F. Madden (nonfiction 2016)

Wonderful, special and unique story about the City.  I loved it, even more than Madden's previous work about Venice, which was quite edifying.

The Devils of Cardona by Matthew Carr (historical fiction 2016)

Excellent exciting mystery, adventurous and sexy.  This novel is set in Spain during the Inquisition, and I loved it.  Wonderful characters ranged from the King of Spain, Henry of Navarre, and peasants.

God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe 570-1215 by David Levering Lewis (nonfiction 2008)

Lovely to read about a period I don't know well, and Mr. Lewis makes it easy to gather all the threads.  Really moved my understanding of the post-Roman period in Europe forward.

Saladin by John Man (nonfiction 2016)

I have read a lot about the Crusades, fiction and nonfiction, mostly from a European perspective.  This book gave me a lot more nuanced information to think about, and a great portrait of the man in question.  He was certainly unique.

The Devils of Cardona by Matthew Carr (historical fiction 2016)

16th c. Spain, the Inquisition, murders, adventure.  This book is awesome fun and suspense.

The Bible Doesn't Say that by Dr. Joel M. Hoffman (nonfiction 2016)

A fairly enlightening book is made less convincing by the mistakes made when choosing a format.  Several of the chapters should have been grouped together, cut out, or consigned to a footnote.

Jesus before The Gospels by Bart D. Ehrman (nonfiction 2016)

Ehrman breaks down the differences and similarities in The Gospels in light of memory research, trying to get at who Jesus was and how early Christians thought of him. Exciting and insightful, though might have used another round of editing.

History and Presence by Robert A. Orsi (nonfiction 2016)

Beautiful and emotional book by a Catholic thinker about the presence of the gods in modern life. 

Setting the World on Fire: The Brief, Astonishing Life of St. Catherine of Siena by Shelley Emling (nonfiction 2016)

Interesting look at a woman who had a lot of influence on Italian affairs, even in the 14th century.  Emling is able to characterize her as a woman of her times and out of time.

The Many Faces of Christ by Philip Jenkins (nonfiction 2015)

'The Thousand-Year Story of the Survival and Influence of the Lost Gospels' is full of wonderful surprises and immediately added 20 titles to my pages-long reading list.  Jenkins includes nearly the entire world in this discussion of the texts of Christianity.

The Master Yeshua: the Undiscovered Gospel of Joseph by Joyce Luck (historical fiction 2014)

Told from the point of view of a non-existent nephew of Yeshua, or Jesus, this book gets a lot of historical details right.  It attempts to tell the story as the Ebionites believed.  That group, among others, was declared heretical in the early church when they decided to go with Paul's version. 

While the narrative is mostly a delight, the author's voice breaks through the narrator's many times, which can be jarring.  The reader certainly gets the impression that the author is a good and sincere person, but might rather enjoy the POV of the fictional narrator uninterrupted.

Visions and Longings: Medieval Women Mystics edited by Monica Furlong (nonfiction 1996)

Wonderful compilation with intelligent commentary.

The Grammar of God by Aviya Kushner (nonfiction 2015)

Amazing book about a woman who grew up reading the Bible in Hebrew and discussing it with her family.  She later takes a class about the Bible in English and is struck by similarities and differences in translations.  The book is almost a memoir, almost a linguistic analysis, all super neat.

The Pope's Daughter by Dario Fo (historical fiction 2014)

This award-winning book by a theater guy about Lucrezia Borgia suffers from choppiness that may be a result of the translation, but it's a lot of fun.  It really tries to see the real girl behind all the crazy stories.

A New History of Early Christianity by Charles Freeman (nonfiction 2009)

Really great stuff, scholarly and accessible.  This is interesting.

A.D. 33 by Ted Dekker (Christian historical fiction 2015)

A.D. 30 was better, as this book suffers from a little bit of maudlin goofiness.  But it's still better than pretty much all Christian historical fiction out there. 

Born Bad: Original Sin and the Making of the Western World by James Boyce (nonfiction 2015)

Insightful survey of the doctrine of original sin, all the way from St. Paul's and Augustine's mistakes down to Dawkins.  It really made me think about how much of our thought is underpinned by this notion.

The Jewish Lives of the Apostle Paul by John G. Gager (nonfiction 2015)

Interesting and important survey of Jewish thought about Paul.  Lots of insight into how and why Judeo Christians have characterized him the way we have.