thinking honestly about life and faith
I very nearly broke my rule and gave up reading this book half-way through. I am glad I didn’t, because it offers valuable challenges for reflection. Stone Yard Devotional is pitched as a novel, by Charlotte Wood, but it’s many … Read More »
It was the year after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination that the thin paperback version of his Strength to love was published and, it appears, I bought it for 80 cents! This is another of those thin books, but again … Read More »
I have never forgotten the declaration by a much esteemed teacher of theology to me, a student: ‘This is the age of thin books and thin theology’. True, I came to love the theology contained in large volumes, such as … Read More »
Many of us are enjoying immensely the collection of conversations between Nick Cave and Sean O’Hagan, Faith, Hope and Carnage. (Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2022). Recorded over a couple of years, while Cave was forced to remain in Britain, during lockdowns and other … Read More »
Chris Womersley’s latest novel, The Diplomat (Picador, 2022) is a superbly written but gut-wrenching tale. As the cover blurb says, ‘Shot through with grief and dark comedy, The Diplomat is a powerful story of love and recovery—and a stark evocation of … Read More »
I have so enjoyed The Lincoln Highway. Towles is a fabulous story-teller with a superb insight into the human condition. Having really appreciated his A Gentleman in Moscow, I am amazed by this author’s skill in evoking the social and … Read More »
I thought to share the reflections I offered recently when we had a mini launch of my biography of my biography of Mervyn Himbury, at the Collins Street Baptist Church, Melbourne. Simon Holt has kindly invited me to share with … Read More »
I’ve just finished Douglas Stuart’s fabulous novel, Shuggie Bain, winner of the 2020 Booker Prize. It’s the story of a deeply unhappy woman and her son Shuggie, set in desperately poor housing in suburban Glasgow, over the years 1982 – 1992. … Read More »
I want to conclude this offering of good books that have enriched my life with a biography that has influenced me in several ways—but actually to sneak in another book as well.(Perhaps together they could be classed as a Tome. … Read More »
This is not only a big book, it is a really huge subject and full of rich insights: Walter Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament, (Fortress Press, 1997). It is a work worthy of spending a long time with—it’s over … Read More »