All Book review articles
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ReviewsBroken by love - Val Jeal MBE
Val Jeal was 50 when her work with homeless men in Bristol began. Over the next 20 years, her reach extended to sex workers, drug users and their families. Starting from a place of vulnerability and inexperience, Val makes herself available to God who shapes her into ...
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Reviews
By bread alone - Kendall Vanderslice
Professional baker and practical theologian Kendall Vanderslice unpacks an everyday truth: that “our spiritual lives are deeply connected to bread – the bread we break with family and friends, and the Bread that is Christ’s body”. Vanderslice argues that no food is more spiritually significant than bread, ...
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Lennon, Dylan, Alice, and Jesus - Greg Laurie with Marshall Terrill
Greg Laurie’s enjoyable book hurtles along like a train, travelling from the gospel roots of rock and roll and terminating at Justin Bieber. The church background of the “million dollar quartet” of Elvis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis sets the scene. Laurie then investigates ...
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I, Julian - Claire Gilbert
Julian of Norwich’s 15th-century classic, Revelations of Divine Love, is widely regarded as the earliest manuscript written in English by a woman. But beyond that text, little is known about the remarkable woman who lived as an anchoress (or hermit) bricked into a small cell on the ...
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David Baddiel’s The God Desire is no argument for atheism
Far from being a convincing argument against the existence of God, much of the comedian-cum-writer’s new book seems to find its natural fulfilment in Christian theism, says Chris Witherall
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Reviews
Enough - Dr Kathrine McAleese
Dr Kathrine McAleese’s book is a word in season for those of us who are suspicious of the latest self-help guru, but nonetheless want to hit the pause button and take stock of where we’re at in life, with a view to making some big changes. While ...
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Reviews
Why do I do what I don’t want to do? - JP Pokluda
Jonathan Pokluda is a seasoned author and church leader from Texas, USA. His third book takes its name from Romans 7 and is split into two parts. The first examines standard sins such as lust and pride, while part two looks at the modern vices that particularly ...
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Heartbreak, hope and holy moments - Kate Canty
This overview of prison chaplaincy offers a wide variety of stories. While the scope is impressive, it sometimes feels like a collection of anecdotes, upended onto the page. As a former prison chaplain, Canty’s experiences are familiar. But it is not clear who this book is ...
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The Church who hears God’s voice - Tanya Harris
It is a rare to find an academic and prophet with a down-to-earth approach. It is even rarer to have them write an in-depth, yet accessible book about hearing God’s voice today. Tania Harris weaves a fascinating narrative, highlighting key points in history where the pendulum ...
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Reviews
The Word - John Barton
John Barton’s understanding of the nuances of Bible translation flow from a lifetime of study. In The Word he shows how it has been key at critical junctures in history. There are many issues that arise in translating, particularly the balance between preserving the authority of the ...
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The falling of Dusk - Paul Dominiak
This book is a detailed theological study of the last seven words spoken by Christ on the cross. Cambridge academic Dr Paul Dominiak has invited a cacophony of voices – believers and atheists alike – into a conversation about how faith and doubt coexist, and how we ...
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Reviews
'Magisteria' expertly demolishes lazy myths about science and religion
Many, but perhaps not all of us, will be familiar with the 1957 big-screen portrayal of Reginald Rose’s legendary drama Twelve Angry Men. For the uninitiated, and with a spoiler alert duly declared, the post-trial drama unfolds in an American courtroom, where the jurors are finalising the ...
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Reviews
Gifts of grace - Jared C Wilson
When people used to ask me: “Are you ready for Christmas, Patrick?”, the answer was usually: “No!” This was especially true when I had Christmas services to organise across two rural parishes, programmes to broadcast on local radio and a family Christmas to plan. Perhaps Jared Wilson’s ...
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A pocketful of hope - Pat Allerton
While the dark days of Covid-19 lockdowns are becoming an increasingly distant memory, the image of a lone vicar cycling the empty streets of his London patch, stopping to pray and play a hymn to his unsuspecting parishioners is an event that many of us still recall ...
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Something you once knew - Joshua Luke Smith
“The culture today tells us we can be whoever we want to be. So why do so many of us feel stuck?” asks musician, pastor and poet-turned-author, Joshua Luke Smith. Described as an invitation to rediscover “the magic, the mystery and the miracle” of everyday life, create ...
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The unhiding of Elijah Campbell - Kelly Flanagan
When a book is described as anything “…meets The Shack”, the bar is immediately set high. In Kelly Flanagan’s debut novel, Elijah Campbell is a successful author who is happily married to Rebecca. But when his wife leaves him, and with unmet deadlines and debts looming, the ...
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Reviews
Distracted by your smartphone? This is the book you’re looking for
Andy Crouch doesn’t advocate ditching your electronic gadgets. We just need to use them differently, he says
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Reviews
Elizabeth Finch: Julian Barnes’ novel fails to grasp the rudiments of Christianity
The Booker Prize winning author Julian Barnes has supposedly written a “loving tribute to philosophy”. But our reviewer says his latest novel misunderstands what Christianity is all about
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Reviews
A Day In the Death of Charlie Vaughan - Jonathan Ford
Have you ever wondered what heaven is like? Can you fly in the afterlife? Will you be married? Will you be able to re-visit earth? Are there animals in heaven? These are some of the questions considered in this fictional tale of Charlie Vaughan, an older gentleman ...
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Reviews
The Da Vinci Fraud: Did Dan Brown guilty of theft?
Dan Brown’s popular novel The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction which sets the hero, Robert Langdon, on a knight’s quest to find the holy grail – a supposed last descendant of the “marriage” between Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. You might expect The Da ...
