Heart-searching and bloody hands
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky Struggling through this huge work is a great challenge; the style and tone are so unfamiliar.
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A Christian ‘Who’s Who?’
They’ll never read that by Tony Collins Tony comes over as both entertaining and inspiring in this very personal book, in which he neither brags nor seeks to hide his failures. It reads more as an autobiography than – as the subtitle implies – a how-to-fail book about the challenges of book publishing.
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Roman history through the eyes of a patrician family
Dominus by Steven Saylor Starting in 165 AD, multiple generations of the legendary Pinarius family of sculptors lead us through 160 years of otherwise rather obscure Roman history. We follow the often very brief reigns of some thirty emperors – often called Dominus. We learn of their military exploits, family rivalries and sexual perversions. But…
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A sad, sad story
Where the Light Fell by Philip Yancey This is a very personal and a very honest autobiographical book, covering primarily the author’s childhood and youth. Growing up in a very conservative Christian environment, which causes him much emotional anguish, Yancey develops into an intelligent and gifted writer. His many successful books and fame as an…
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Wanting to build a ship?
I like this maxim: If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.
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Great fireside entertainment
The Top of the Dales by Gervase Phinn Tom Dwyer – the ex-professional footballer, whom we got to know during his teacher training in The Little Village School series and is now newly qualified – turns out to be an immensely likeable, too-good-to-be-true addition to the tiny, old-fashioned school at the top of the Dales.
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Intriguing but not entirely convincing
Walled City by Maressa Mortimer The theme of this book is both original and thought-provoking: a clandestine evangelistic mission to a despotically ruled city – reminiscent of present-day North Korea. Neither talking about the past nor emotional behaviour, neither pets nor religion, is permitted. Gax is living in the house in which his grandparents grew…
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What happened next?
Pillars of Barabbas by M.D. House I’m sure readers of the Bible sometimes wonder what happened next. Was that prophecy fulfilled? Did that tax collector or that prostitute manage to start a new, upright life? What became of the healed cripple?
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Time travel to tackle trauma
The Face of the Deep, by Michael Mitton Had trouble putting it down! Rev. Mitton takes us on an exciting adventure, as a burnt-out Vicar meets the not-so-angelic Dorchadas and his worldly and otherworldly friends!
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A life-long quest for peace of heart
The Healing by Joy Margetts Philip de Braose dares not use his real name. He has too many enemies. In any case, as far as he is concerned, Philip de Braose is dead. That was public knowledge. An agonizing betrayal in his youth had left him with no aim in life. Unless the desire to…
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Almost incredible!
God intervenes in astonishing ways. Glory Zone in the War Zone: Miracles, Signs, and Wonders in the Middle East, by Andrew White One cannot repudiate Canon Andrew White’s frequent experiences of divine intervention, guidance and help in scenes of horrendous tragedy in the war zones of Baghdad and the religious tensions in other parts of…
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Torn apart for their faith
The Huguenot Chronicles by Paul C.R. Monk Dramatic events following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes France, 1685. Louis XIV has brazenly revoked his grandfather Henry IV’s treaty, which had granted Protestants substantial residential and religious rights. Now the King is determined to unite the nation in one Church – by force, if necessary. A…