I never meant to use this blog for book mentions but with 90 percent of my energy for the next week going toward papal coverage, this blog will get a bit of the short end of the stick. One thing I'll be taking with me on the road (will be covering the pope in NYC this weekend) is "Walking with God," the newest book out by John Eldredge, the Colorado Springs founder of Ransomed Heart Ministries.

Eldredge has founded a most unusual organization geared to toward helping Christians hear their own hearts - and that of God - in terms of life direction. There is a lot more to his ministry, which began as an effort to helping men discover their own masculinity. Again, that is simplistic but one must read his books to get a drift. I really like his stuff and have been able to interview him twice.

At first, I thought Walking with God, published by Thomas Nelson, was your basic how-to-pray book. But as I got deeper, the material got more profound and more helpful for folks who've been in the faith for many years. There are certain kinds of battles the newbies don't encounter but the seasoned warriors do. Unfortunately most churches are great at pointing out challenges for the new Christian but bad at spotlighting death traps for those further along the road.

I got to interview Eldredge about two months ago for a book I am writing about the folks who have quit church or are considering doing so. He and his family have not attended a typical church in a decade. Instead, they meet in a home group, which he said is endlessly more fulfilling than the Sunday morning routine in a typical congregation. And he says this while sitting in the Springs; a community of well-known churches.

Anyway, the book is really worth a read and I've gotten not a few moments of enlightenment from it. And realizations of how conflicted I really am inside! Not a comfort but Eldredge asks the right questions to get our stalled relationships with God into driving gear.

Another book I managed to page through and really liked was The Holman Student Bible, issued by the B&H Publishing Group, 1,790 pp. I gave a copy to my niece as she was leaving for a study term in Italy. This is not your grandmother's Bible. The book comes with photos that look straight off the Associated Press wire, with helpful commentary bullets from modern writers and tons of visuals of Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Iraq, Greece, Turkey — all those biblical places.

There are full-color city maps of places like Ephesus and a 3-D map of Nehemiah's Jerusalem is very helpful in seeing how the walls were constructed and the points where his enemies were attacking. There are other 3-D maps of various Old Testament battles that look like something out of the War College — all diagrams and arrows.

Also photos of real-life stuff; the Euphrates River, a stone mason at work, the Corinth canal. Kiddos won't get bored studying this. Text is from the Holman Christian Standard Bible; published by the Southern Baptists.

— Julia Duin, assistant national editor/religion, The Washington Times