From editorial director of news Kate Shellnutt: When I was a little kid, my family From national political correspondent Harvest Prude: I’m not sure what most people do in the in-between days when the old year is winding down and the new year is still on the horizon, but for me, the answer is usually a fair bit of reading for pleasure. Often, the challenge for me is pushing myself to read a new book and not just return to an old favorite from Jane Austen, Orson Scott Card, or Diana Wynne Jones. (Someday, I’d like to make a spirited defense of rereading. Isn’t remembering basically our whole thing as Christians? From sacraments like Communion to the exhortations to read the Bible through every couple years?)

This year, I asked CT’s news editor, resident historian, and author Daniel Silliman for recommendations. He sent me a long list of books exploring evangelicalism and American public life, starting with God’s Own Party by Ashland University historian Daniel K. Williams. Who knows? Maybe one of the books on Daniel’s list will turn into a favorite that I’ll revisit in years to come. And if I happen to run into any CT readers this holiday season and you see me toting around a battered copy of Austen’s Persuasion instead of a historical tome, I’ll rely on your charitable silence.