What’s the meaning of life? In 1991, the editors of Life Magazine published the answers that 300 “wise women and men” gave to this very question in The Meaning of Life: Reflections in Words and Pictures on Why We Are Here. Their responses, as you might expect, are far-ranging and diverse. Author John Updike (raised a Lutheran, by the way ☺), suggested that “Ancient religion and modern science agree: we are here to give praise. Or, to slightly tip the expression, to pay attention.” Noted scientist Stephen Jay Gould, disavowing divine inspiration, argued instead that, “We cannot read the meaning of life passively in the facts of...

I count myself among the lucky in that I stumbled upon Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games shortly after it was published and so had a chance to read it, love it, and recommend it to others way before the film buzz. (Of course, that also meant that I had to wait a full year in between each of the successive two volumes!) Since then, I’ve been wondering about the phenomenal appeal of this book. Not only is it tremendously popular but it’s been one of the stories that has most stayed with me in recent years (indeed, I’ve read it a couple of times now). I’ve also been wondering about how we might read it with our kids (both in our families...