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"Seen this yet?" was the subject line of an email from my friend John in London. It was a link to a story in the Guardian. John always sends me intriguing links (such as YouTube videos of robots dancing to James Brown songs), so I figured whatever it was had to be good. But I wasn't expecting this.

The headline of the Guardian article: "Beyond Belief."  According to the article, written by staff reporter Stuart Jeffries, archeologists were digging around the famed Mount of Olives cemetery in Jerusalem, the spot where people believe Christ ascended into heaven, and found a white stone cross. And there they also made another discovery: the Holy Foreskin. In Jerusalem.

When I read this my jaw-dropped. I was halfway through writing An Irreverent Curiosity and had come to my own conclusions about what happened to the Holy Foreskin-and those conclusions were far, far away from Jerusalem. My first instinct, of course, was to start looking up airfares to Jerusalem and look at my calendar to see if I'm free to travel next week. I actually wasn't. I had to teach a class.

So, instead of packing my bags for Jerusalem, I started doing a little research. Who were these archeologists and who were Stuart Jeffries' sources? I was going to have to talk them. The reports on this Holy Foreskin discovery were reported in a publication called Judaistic Review which was picked up from one organization and one "journalist" in particular: Mitch Ugana from a publication called African New Dimension.

Viking/ Penguin Author Craig Johnson Wins MPIBA Regional Book Award

Another Man’s Moccasins, the fourth book in the Sheriff Walt Longmire mystery series by Craig Johnson (Viking), has won the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association Regional Book Award in the fiction category. To be eligible for the award a significant aspect of the book must relate to the Mountains & Plains region of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, or Wyoming. The book must also have an understanding of the region on both a geographic and emotional level. For more information on the award, click here.

Craig is pictured here taking a break to tame a wild fiberglass jackalope in Dubois, Wyoming while on dual tour for his latest titles, The Dark Horse (Viking) and Another Man’s Moccasins (Penguin).

For more about Another Man’s Moccasins and other Craig Johnson books, visit his website.

Explore the Another Man’s Moccasins reading group guide to find a Q&A with author Craig Johnson.

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Eight Penguin Young Readers Titles on New York Times Columnist’s “Favorites” List

In an editorial published on July 4th, New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof listed what he believed were the “Best Kids’ Books Ever.” Intent on encouraging kids to read over the summer and keep their minds in good shape, the two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize named 13 titles, 8 of which are published by Penguin Group (USA):

• The Hardy Boys series by Franklin W. Dixon
• Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
• The Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz
• Gentle Ben by Walt Morey
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
• Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
• Lad, A Dog by Albert Payson Terhune; Sam Savitt (illustr.)

Kristof invited readers to comment and discuss his list, which became extremely popular. He noted, “I’d never had a column achieve 1,000 comments, and that one has topped 2,350.” To read his piece, click here.

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Penguin Classics and the Union of Concerned Scientists Form Unique Collaboration for Interactive Book about the Effects of Global Warming

Penguin Classics and the Union of Concerned Scientists, in a unique collaboration between a publisher and a non-profit organization, present essays and photos from a wide array of contributors from across the US to personally illustrate the effects of global warming in a new interactive book called Thoreau’s Legacy: American Stories About Global Warming. This special anthology was launched this week and is available for free online as an interactive book here and as an eBook through the Penguin site limited edition hardcover is also available for purchase.

A team of reviewers from Penguin Classics and UCS went through nearly 1,000 submissions and selected 67 contributions from scientists, students, grandparents, activists, veterans, journalists, evangelical Christians, artists, and businesspeople who live in 32 states stretching from Alaska to Florida. A foreword on global warming by award-winning novelist, poet and nonfiction author Barbara Kingsolver helps to set the context.

Early blog coverage of Thoreau’s Legacy: American Stories About Global Warming includes items in Grist, Earth Times, Terrain.org and Daily Kos.