Best spiritual books of the year

DAVID CRUMM: Enlightening reads: "Our spiritual options are exploding: from the ever-widening styles of worship in congregations to inspirational movies we can pick up on DVD along with our groceries. As we shop, even some brands of food and drink are hawking transcendent values now.

It's only natural that spiritual publishing is diversifying just as rapidly. This column marks the 10th anniversary of the Free Press' Top 10 Spiritual Books of the Year, a list we started in 1997, near the start of the religious-publishing boom.

The expansion hasn't stopped. This year's list is the first to honor graphic novels, a publishing form that might seem like glorified comics until one looks at the reflections in these artful books closely. And this is the first time we've listed a recipe book; this creatively crazy little volume is no ordinary cookbook."

Interesting list... but a little odd too.