Ken Follett has done it again—made the bestsellers list, that is. Winter of the World, the second in his Century trilogy, following Fall of Giants, has continued the story of the international heroes of America, England, Russia, and Great Britain during the troubling years of 1933-1949.

For starters, Alexander McQueen created ‘savage beauty’ in every way he chose for having taken couture beyond fashion to high art. We saw it for many years on the runway and then we saw it again collected at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2011. Pure talent let him push all our boundaries much harder than most artists could do. And he did.

Coincidence Is God’s Way of Remaining Anonymous is Gloria Loring’s way of validating God in her life. When her son was diagnosed with diabetes, she joined JDF (Juvenile Diabetes Foundation). Attempting to offer her support to JDF, she came up with the idea of compiling a cookbook made up of recipes contributed by her fellow cast members of Days of Our Lives—where she at the time played Liz Chandler—as a way to raise money.

Lately it seems I have a run on unsympathetic characters. Two books I’ve read recently—one fiction and one non-fiction—have main characters that deserve pitying for their less than honest personalities.

The book is at times very touching and engrossing, at times humorous and will leave you in stitches; but you will leave with a renewed faith in your own religion. Albom makes no distinction between religions, but his nonfiction work attests to a deep respect for one’s personal choice.