I very much enjoyed The Cloister Walk and Amazing Grace by Kathleen Norris. In the first she is describing a residency in a monastery in Minnesota, and the second is more of a memoir.
Could I ask for recommendations for non-fiction Christian books that are motivating/thought provoking/inspiring? The sort of thing that makes you go “Gosh, never thought of things that way, but that makes sense”.
Thanks for any ideas!
Terry Pratchett - "Small Gods".
Not technically Christian, or non-fiction, good though it is. So long as you can deal with the occasional wisp of smoke as pterry's rage burns through the page.
Paul W. Brand's books on the human body and how various bits of it (e.g. circulatory system, pain receptors, the brain, etc.) relate to Christianity. He's a surgeon, and it's rather like finding parables in the way the body is put together and functions. I've read three titles, In His Image, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, and Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants.
I have been reading Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb series. (Gideon the Ninth, etc). It is a bit reminiscent of Warhammer 40K in being a dystopian space empire with fantasy elements; only the author clearly thought Warhammer 40K is not goth enough. That said, the goth is a minor element compared to the unresolved lesbian romantic tension and the sentences which gradually work their way around to some appalling joke.
The author is apparently a practicing Roman Catholic. (That she was raised RC I think is obvious; that she is still practicing is a bit more subtle.)
Could I ask for recommendations for non-fiction Christian books that are motivating/thought provoking/inspiring? The sort of thing that makes you go “Gosh, never thought of things that way, but that makes sense”.
I would recommend anything by Frederick Buechner (except his novels, given the request for non-fiction.) The Alphabet of Grace, Wishful Thinking: a seeker’s ABC and Whistling in the Dark: a doubter’s dictionary would be good books to start with.
Anne Lamott is also always worth reading, I think. I’d recommend Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life or Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith.
Volume III of On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle has now arrived. I'm a bit nervous that they won't translate all five books as I can't read Danish.
Could I ask for recommendations for non-fiction Christian books that are motivating/thought provoking/inspiring? The sort of thing that makes you go “Gosh, never thought of things that way, but that makes sense”.
Thanks for any ideas!
How about Milton Jones's "Ten-Second Sermons"? Can indeed be read in about that length of time but there were a few good nuggets in there...
I have been reading Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb series. (Gideon the Ninth, etc). It is a bit reminiscent of Warhammer 40K in being a dystopian space empire with fantasy elements; only the author clearly thought Warhammer 40K is not goth enough. That said, the goth is a minor element compared to the unresolved lesbian romantic tension and the sentences which gradually work their way around to some appalling joke.
The author is apparently a practicing Roman Catholic. (That she was raised RC I think is obvious; that she is still practicing is a bit more subtle.)
I think it is very very good.
She's an amazing writer. I thought Gideon the Ninth was reminiscent of Gormengast, but haven't read any of her other books. I found Gideon the Ninth too depressing to read more in the series (and maybe that's why it reminded me of Gormengast), despite the lyrical descriptions and the interesting characters.
I tried to get into Gideon the Ninth because I'd heard so many amazing things about it, but I could not get into it. A few chapters in, not only was I trying to figure out anything about the world it was set in (which I'm generally OK with learning about gradually, not in a huge infodump at the beginning) but I felt no connection to the characters at all - which is a much bigger deal-breaker for me. I'll generally persist for quite awhile with a book and a total DNF is rare for me, but I gave up on this one and I'm still wondering if I was wrong to do so.
It took me a while to get into The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri - there was quite a lot of necessary world-building, and several different points of view. Then the Evil Emperor sent his sister away to be imprisoned in just the worst possible place for her state of mind, and I thought "Yes, of course the bastard would imprison her there!" and after that I was totally hooked.
I am at the stage of life where I can pick up mystery novels I read 45+ years before, with no memory of their content at all. It is quite the money-saver to find all these "new" books already on my shelves!
I have just started on an omnibus edition of three Ellery Queen mysteries grouped under the omnibus title of "The Bizarre Murders." The book reprints the 7th, 8th and 9th Queen novels: "The Siamese Twin Mystery," "The Chinese Orange Mystery," and "The Spanish Cape mystery."
I just started a book written in 1915 written by a Maine Normal School teacher with advice for beginning teachers. Certainly an insight into that time period and gender roles. I learn a new word in the second chapter: hectograph. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hectography
She's an amazing writer. I thought Gideon the Ninth was reminiscent of Gormengast, but haven't read any of her other books. I found Gideon the Ninth too depressing to read more in the series (and maybe that's why it reminded me of Gormengast), despite the lyrical descriptions and the interesting characters.
Gormenghast is explicitly an influence, though I think Gene Wolfe is more so. But the main difference is that there's very little love or hope in Gormenghast, while in the Locked Tomb it may be well hidden in the darkness but it's all the brighter for it. I don't think any character in Gormenghast is motivated by love, but in one way or another most of the major characters in The Locked Tomb are.
Spoiler for books two and three:
Death is very much not the end in this series. I don't know how the fourth book is going to end up resolving things but I think all possibilities for the fate of the two romantic leads are on the table.
I'd always wondered what the jelly copying process was called @Caissa, so thanks for posting that link. Not sure whether it was just my classmates, but when the teacher handed around the hectograph worksheets, everyone picked them up and gave them a good sniff.
In my early working life (pre personal computers), my favourite job was duplicating the catalogue cards using a very small gestetner machine. I loved the task for it's messiness and had a painting smock stained with ink and glue (used for book repairs).
I haven't started it yet, but have on hand, A history of the world in 37 borders as I thought it sounded interesting and thought it would probably explain the origin of conflicts of this and last century. I'm looking forward to starting it.
I tried to get into Gideon the Ninth because I'd heard so many amazing things about it, but I could not get into it. A few chapters in, not only was I trying to figure out anything about the world it was set in (which I'm generally OK with learning about gradually, not in a huge infodump at the beginning) but I felt no connection to the characters at all - which is a much bigger deal-breaker for me. I'll generally persist for quite awhile with a book and a total DNF is rare for me, but I gave up on this one and I'm still wondering if I was wrong to do so.
Not all books are for everyone.
I think it's worth pointing out that both main characters have had spectacularly awful childhoods and have emotional defences like the walls of Troy. Underneath they're much better people and more loveable than they think they are. (I think I fell in love with the books at the point, just before the climax of book two, where one finds out just what Harrowhark has done and why.)
I've just started The Light of Day, by Christopher Stephens and Louise Radnofsky.
It's about Roger Butler, the first man to come out as gay, in 1960, when he was one of a small group who signed a letter to newspapers that began "Sir, we are homosexuals...."
They were trying to get the law changed to decriminalise homosexuality - which finally happened in 1967.
I went to a talk at the local gay bookshop, Gay-on-Wye, given by the authors, and it was fascinating. Christopher met Roger when he was a young student at Oxford, and Roger needed someone to read to him, as he went blind in his thirties. So it's about gay liberation, but also the disability that marginalised Roger from his community, and contributed to him being almost forgotten in the history of gay rights in the UK.
Currently reading Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov (International Book prize winning novel - translated into English of course. I can't read Bulgarian. I even had to cut an past his name).
It is a challenging read, but very good once you get into it. It is about this desire to live in the past, that is so prevalent among the populist movements today. This harkening back to some ideal past time.
And relates it to Alzhiemers. As if, I guess, populism is a form of cultural cognative decline.
Comments
Not technically Christian, or non-fiction, good though it is. So long as you can deal with the occasional wisp of smoke as pterry's rage burns through the page.
The author is apparently a practicing Roman Catholic. (That she was raised RC I think is obvious; that she is still practicing is a bit more subtle.)
I think it is very very good.
Anne Lamott is also always worth reading, I think. I’d recommend Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life or Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith.
How about Milton Jones's "Ten-Second Sermons"? Can indeed be read in about that length of time but there were a few good nuggets in there...
She's an amazing writer. I thought Gideon the Ninth was reminiscent of Gormengast, but haven't read any of her other books. I found Gideon the Ninth too depressing to read more in the series (and maybe that's why it reminded me of Gormengast), despite the lyrical descriptions and the interesting characters.
I have just started on an omnibus edition of three Ellery Queen mysteries grouped under the omnibus title of "The Bizarre Murders." The book reprints the 7th, 8th and 9th Queen novels: "The Siamese Twin Mystery," "The Chinese Orange Mystery," and "The Spanish Cape mystery."
Spoiler for books two and three:
In my early working life (pre personal computers), my favourite job was duplicating the catalogue cards using a very small gestetner machine. I loved the task for it's messiness and had a painting smock stained with ink and glue (used for book repairs).
I haven't started it yet, but have on hand, A history of the world in 37 borders as I thought it sounded interesting and thought it would probably explain the origin of conflicts of this and last century. I'm looking forward to starting it.
I think it's worth pointing out that both main characters have had spectacularly awful childhoods and have emotional defences like the walls of Troy. Underneath they're much better people and more loveable than they think they are. (I think I fell in love with the books at the point, just before the climax of book two, where one finds out just what Harrowhark has done and why.)
It's about Roger Butler, the first man to come out as gay, in 1960, when he was one of a small group who signed a letter to newspapers that began "Sir, we are homosexuals...."
They were trying to get the law changed to decriminalise homosexuality - which finally happened in 1967.
I went to a talk at the local gay bookshop, Gay-on-Wye, given by the authors, and it was fascinating. Christopher met Roger when he was a young student at Oxford, and Roger needed someone to read to him, as he went blind in his thirties. So it's about gay liberation, but also the disability that marginalised Roger from his community, and contributed to him being almost forgotten in the history of gay rights in the UK.
It is a challenging read, but very good once you get into it. It is about this desire to live in the past, that is so prevalent among the populist movements today. This harkening back to some ideal past time.
And relates it to Alzhiemers. As if, I guess, populism is a form of cultural cognative decline.
Which I cannot disagree with.