Childhood Memories

Memorization through story and song was the only way folks like us had of studying and pondering God's word at all for almost half of our recorded existence before Moses ever began writing it all down. And for most folks, that tradition continued on millennia after that, before literacy became as common as it is now. But whether or not you believe any of that, one thing I do know is that I myself have experienced unprecedented power in my own walk with the Lord since beginning to treat long-passage Scripture memorization as devotion.

This program is read by Earphones Award–winning narrator Edoardo Ballerini. "Edoardo Ballerini reads my books exceptionally well. He gets my pacing, the inflections of muted irony, the anxiety of loss, the search for meaning that my prose on paper isn’t always able to convey—he gets it all...

Soul-searing, life-testing situations have what some call “fall-out blessings.” The book is about understanding some of the deeper lessons we are exposed to through caring for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. We all want a cure. But in the meantime, while this...

From the acclaimed author of The Woman in the Dark: a young teacher struggles to solve the mystery of her sister's death while battling hallucinations of her own. Two girls went down to the woods...But only one came back. There's a lot from Tess's childhood that she would rather forget. The...

The first work of long fiction from the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright—a tour de force of memory, mystery, death, and life. This searing, extraordinarily evocative narrative opens with a man in his house at dawn, surrounded by aspens, coyotes cackling in the distance as he quietly...

From one of America’s most beloved storytellers comes his most spiritual book since The Christmas Box and The Walk series with this modern-day, Christmas-themed retelling of the story of the prodigal son. It has been said that sometimes the greatest hope in our lives is just a second chance to...

From National Book Award–winning Elisa Shua Dusapin, a subtle yet powerful portrayal of family, secrets, and silence set against the backdrop of a crumbling house in the French countryside—perfect for readers of Katie Kitamura and Elena Ferrante. “A bewitching meditation on tenderness and...

Alberta Scaglione's spinster aunt had some secrets - like the fortune she squirreled away and a secret lake house in Tranquility, New Jersey. More surprising: She's left it all to Alberta. Alberta, a widow, is no spring chicken, and she's gotten used to disappointment. So having a beautiful view, surrounded by hydrangeas, honeysuckle, and her cat, Lola, sounds blissful after years of yelling and bickering and cooking countless lasagnas. But Tranquility isn't as peaceful as it sounds. There's a body in the water - and it belongs to Alberta's childhood nemesis.

As a neurodivergent child in a hundred-year-old house, Zaji Cox collects grammar books, second-hand toys, and sightings of feral cats. She dances and cartwheels through self-discovery and doubt, guided by her big sister and their devoted single mother. Through short essays that evoke the abundant imagination of childhood, Plums for Months explores the challenges of growing up mixed race and low-income on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon.

I started making a list in my diary entitled “Things I Have Been Silent About.” Under it I wrote: “Falling in Love in Tehran. Going to Parties in Tehran. Watching the Marx Brothers in Tehran. Reading Lolita in Tehran.” I wrote about repressive laws and executions, about public and...

In the waning days of the German occupation of Norway, Karin and her husband move from Oslo to a tiny village in the south with their young son, the narrator. There they aim to live out their dream of caring for those who can't look after themselves. They have spent months building a modest house with rooms for patients, and it's soon filled with three adult men who are psychologically unstable - including Karin's uncle Josef - and five siblings whose parents have been declared unfit, and who are the subjects of much conversation in the village.

In Snippets of Truths, author Mary Hardy shares the stories of her youth while growing up in rural Southern Mississippi in the '50s and '60s. A collection of anecdotes and vignettes, this memoir narrates the memorable experiences of Hardy's childhood. From the large to the small, and from the ordinary and everyday to the remarkable, Snippets of Truths recalls a wide array of events living on a farm, working in the fields, attending school, participating as a majorette, becoming homecoming queen, making homemade ice cream, and creating dolls out of Coca Cola bottles.