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Right so here are this weeks delights for you, all the books I've read since last week, some nice little crackers in this bunch (and I do mean little - there seem to be a preponderance of short books being published at the moment, don't get me wrong they are great books on big subjects but just short on pages so they feel more like chapter books to me!).
Now Remember:
All these reviews and indeed a geat many more can be found on the excellent Good Book Stall Website www.thegoodbookstall.org.uk - well worth checking out :D
All the books reviewed here (and don't forget to check out the review page we have on here as well!) and those found on www.thegoodbookstall.org.uk can also be found at or ordered from Unicorn Tree Books too, both in the shop and online at either www.lincolnbookshop.co.uk or www.lincolnchristianbookshop.co.uk or at the wonderful www.hive.co.uk (but please do remember to make us your favourite shop when you visit Hive! the online bookshop where every sale supports independent physical bookshops!)
All the books reviewed here (and don't forget to check out the review page we have on here as well!) and those found on www.thegoodbookstall.org.uk can also be found at or ordered from Unicorn Tree Books too, both in the shop and online at either www.lincolnbookshop.co.uk or www.lincolnchristianbookshop.co.uk or at the wonderful www.hive.co.uk (but please do remember to make us your favourite shop when you visit Hive! the online bookshop where every sale supports independent physical bookshops!)
Title –
Confession –
Looking Into The Eyes Of God
Author –
Paul
Farren
Format –
Hardback
Price –
£8.50
Publisher –
Columba
Press
Date of Publication –
January
2013
ISBN –
978-1-85607-878-8
Reviewer –
Melanie
Carroll
A short (only 79 pages) but considered book
on an important subject, Confession, or more accurately in this case the Act of
Reconciliation as practiced in the Catholic church and which in recent years has
lost favour. Largely the author works to show us that this is because it has
lost meaning and understanding in the eyes of people as to what it is really all
about. What at heart it is, Farren says, is an act of love and not an act about
Hell or damnation as so many seem to think it is and as he does admit was for a
time how it largely seemed to be taught as. The book is a lovingly crafted work
on a subject the author really does obviously love and feel a passion for – and
this comes over well and with insight, the book flows and reads in a way that
feels more like a devotional work or a contemplation, and it really does help
open up the view of confession as an act of love so much so that even this
non-participant felt it was something they perhaps should give another
go.
Title –
Like The
Wideness Of The Sea – Women Bishops And The Church Of
England
Author –
Maggie
Dawn
Format –
Paperback
Price –
£6.99
Publisher –
DLT
Date of Publication –
February
2013
ISBN –
978-0-232-53001-8
Reviewer –
Melanie
Carroll
A very short book at only 76 pages long, but
it is nonetheless considered and insightful, and certainly an important book
given the discussions over Women Bishops and the turmoil and unrest that this
has really caused within the Church of England. Maggi Dawn has here penned a
book that is in part a testimony whilst also setting out clearly the arguments
around the issue and the latest vote at Synod. As an ordained Priest within the
Church of England and a theologian currently based at Yale Divinity School in
the US she is well able to put forward clearly and articulately the issues and
pain that is felt by the many women within the church. She pulls no punches in
this small book, but neither does she labour the painful issues of sexism and
disenfranchisement, rather she comments calmly and lucidly from a position of
personal experience. This book is not a harsh condemenation so much as it is an
honest imploration for integrity within the Church of England and an
understanding of where they are leaving women within its environs. – or perhaps
more accurately how they are at risk of leaving them outside those
environs.Regardless of where you stand on this issue this is perhaps a good book to read on a tricky and emotional subject.
Title –
Neighbors –
Short Reflections On Loving The People Around
Us
Author –
Chiara
Lubich
Format –
Paperback
Price –
£5.95
Publisher
– New City
Press
Date of Publication –
November
2012
ISBN –
978-1-56548-476-4
Reviewer –
Melanie
Carroll
Chiara Lubich is well known in Catholic
circles as she was president of the catholic lay movement Focolare, she passed
away in 2008 but her works still speak loudly and deserve a wide audience beyond
the catholic church. This small book is a collection of short insights she
offered over time to do with neighbours and neighbourliness. They are gentle and
have an air at times of the mystic to them even though utterly down to earth at
the same time,‘Only God can form His image in someone. We can only ruin
Him.’
They would suit a wide range of situations
and would be perfect for a devotional time but could also be used as a basis for
communal prayers or intentions within a wide setting of groups and
organisations. Some of them, like the consideration on page 68 on ‘Today’s
Poor’, could also make very good discussion starters for groups indeed. A lovely
little book for anyone looking to reflect on the issue of
Neighbours.
Title – There Must Be More Than This
… Let God Write Your
Story
Author – Stepehn
Rademan
Format –
Paperback
Price –
£7.99
Publisher – Valleys Ablaze (Dist.
Joining The Dots)
Date of Publication – February
2013
ISBN
978-1-907080-36-4
Reviewer Melanie
Carroll
A short (just over 100 pages long)
testimony book that rather than being a long biography style testimony is
instead a series of incidents in the Authors life that he uses to show that God
is active in his life and that he can be in yours too. These incidents happen at
home, abroad on missions, in his personal life and in his public ministry, and
they all combine to be evidence of God’s continuing activity in his life. They
are short and well written and easy to digest. This book would most appeal to
those within the Pentecostal or charismatic traditions because a lot of the
testimonies do involve things like active healing, revelation and ministry of
the Holy Spirit. Each testimony also comes with a solid bible scripture to
uphold it and underpin it, this is also used as the foundation for showing how
this testimony can in it’s own way also be a teaching for others. The underlying
message of the book is that God is active in your life, believe in him and trust
in him.
Title – Friends In Christ – Paths To A
New Understanding Of Church
Author – Brother John of
Taize
Format –
Paperback
Price –
£14.99
Publisher – Orbis books (Dist.
Alban)
Date of Publication – August
2012
ISBN –
978-1-64698-000-6
reviewer Melanie
Carroll
This is an absolutely wonderful book on
friendship, and through that friendship it is a book on how the church could
really be and should really be. It is beautiful in it’s simplicity of heart and
message and amazing in it’s depth of understanding, conviction and well reasoned
argument. This book does not fail to address the issues that arise from
friendship, the problems of friends falling out, of who is a friend etc, it also
does not fail to acknowledge that a church based on friendship could have
problems on leadership and authority if not done right, but at the end of the
day you are left convicted that only when we truly reach out in friendship will
we truly connect to the church as God and Christ wanted it to be. It’s also a
book that gives you a lovely glimpse into the ethos and day to day understanding
of Taize, and that is a lovely picture. This book is certainly one for anyone
who has been touched by Taize in anyway, but more it is also one for anyone that
wants to see the church be all it can be and/or wants to grapple with the real
issue of friendship.
Title – Fresh Expressions Of Church And
The Kingdom Of God (Ancient Faith, Future Mission
Series)
Author –
Various
Format –
Paperback
Price –
£16.99
Publisher – Canterbury
Press
Date of Publication – July
2012
ISBN
978-1-84825-091-8
Reviewer Melanie
Carroll
The third book in the Ancient Faith,
Future Mission Series that looks at and arises out of the Fresh Expressions
movement within the UK. This is a series of articles from well known
contributors that look at the movement as it is happening and practiced, but
looks also with a critical eye, noting at times the tensions between intent and
action, between saying and doing and this is extremely important, not least to
help set up a framework of understanding and argument against what critics may
say, but also as a checks and measures balance thing within the movement itself.
As someone from within the Fresh Expressions movement, as it were, I found this book to be intelligent and erudite in it’s theology and outlook, especially noteable for me where the chapters by Cray, Tickle and Harvey, although the others were still very good and spanned a range of idea’s within the movement. Certainly one for any involved or interested in Fresh Expressions of Church, but probably also good for those outside the movement too.
As someone from within the Fresh Expressions movement, as it were, I found this book to be intelligent and erudite in it’s theology and outlook, especially noteable for me where the chapters by Cray, Tickle and Harvey, although the others were still very good and spanned a range of idea’s within the movement. Certainly one for any involved or interested in Fresh Expressions of Church, but probably also good for those outside the movement too.
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