Longing for God: A couple of people I know are starting to study theology this autumn which is exciting. I would put this on my list for some 'primer' reading. You see there is a reason why the big guns of church history are indeed big guns. These giants had insights, encounters and wisdom that have managed to last the centuries and are still being constantly referred to by many of us today. To name just a few that you will meet if you read this: Augustine, St Francis, Luther, Calvin, St Teresa, Origen and Thomas Aquinas. This is a wonderfully informative and reflective book and is one you might like to try as a 'back to school' read and I am only half way (going at a Chapter a day pace to let it soak in). Foster has dedicated his life to the subject of 'spiritual formation' and this is a very welcome addition to his canon. He writes it with a theological pal called Gayle Beebe who is another rather well-read and clever chappy.
3. Any Human Heart: I have always enjoyed Boyd and this is a great read. It tells the story of a terrible rogue called Logan Mountstuart and is written in the form of a journal. Stylistically it reads almost identically to The Journals of John Fowles (I wrote about them here) who was a real life literary rogue and must surely have inspired this book. This is not a read for the faint hearted (there are a few E L Jamesesque journal entries) but it made me laugh out loud, particularly once the lead character becomes a grumpy old man. It is perhaps because I am quite familiar with private schools, Oxford, the Army, the lives of writers, the art world and the lives of cads that I enjoyed this so much. However, there is a such a clear and sad backdrop of lostness and pointlessness to this dear man's life. He entertains his every whim but is left in the end with so very little to show for it all. A lesson to us not to trust our hearts too closely until they are regenerate. Logan, I think it's very fair to say, most certainly wasn't nor did he want to be. More's the shame.
Still life of a woodpecker: This was a present from a pal and it has taken me too long to get around to reading it. This is a weird, creative, sexy and at times bonkers book that I quite enjoyed. It is not my usual genre and so it took me a bit of time to work out what was going on but once I did it tripped along quite happily. It is one of the most interesting and odd bits of writing I have read in quite some time. It tells the story, among others things, of the history of the Camel cigarette pack and as an ex-tobacco man I probably found this more interesting than most might. It's also about bombs, outlaws, freedom, love, pyramids and solitude. I think it's good for me to read a book like this every now and again and I may be hunting out the Robbins back catalogue.
I also read Catching the Sun and The Fear Index by Robert Harris
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