Posts tagged as:

books

The best sci-fi and fantasy – really??

March 3, 2010

I’m grateful for Loren Rosson drawing my attention to this list of the 100 greatest sci-fi or fantasy novels of all time. (I obviously missed Stephen Carlson’s Facebook note.) These things are always subjective, not least because we all read different books, but by and large I would agree with Loren’s strictures: this list has [...]

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So, farewell then J D Salinger

January 28, 2010

J D Salinger has died. One of the men who had a profound influence on my growing-up, although I like most know almost nothing about him. I shall go back, I think, and re-read that most important book that articulated so much of my own teen angst and frustrated romanticism. The opening lines seem curiously [...]

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MacCulloch’s History of Christianity

November 3, 2009
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I’ve just finished reading Diarmaid MacCulloch’s massive History of Christianity . The TV series based on this begins this Thursday on BBC4. I’m not going to try to review it, since I would guess there is only a small band of people competent enough to do so, but I do want to commend it. If [...]

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My first baby

October 21, 2009
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I have surprised myself by my reaction to the arrival of my author’s copies of my first book. It is, in every sense of the word a very slight book. It only aspires to offer a distillation of practical guidance for people who lead five minutes or so of prayers in perfectly ordinary congregations. I [...]

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One book to rule them all – John Anderson’s non meme

September 17, 2009

Earlier this week John Anderson asked the very difficult question:

What ONE book has most shaped your perspective on the Bible and why?

Indeed, it was so difficult I was avoiding answering it, because every time I thought of one book, I was all Vicky Pollard about it (For all you non Little Britain watchers – “Yeah [...]

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My intellectual bibliography: the five influential books meme

June 18, 2009

John Hobbins has tagged me with Ken Brown’s “five books that influenced me” meme. This is not easy. First. here’s a reminder of his rules:

Name the five books (or scholars) that had the most immediate and lasting influence on how you read the Bible. Note that these need not be your five favorite books, or [...]

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