Finding God in the Fast Lane

Joyce Hugget is a thoughtful and reflective writer, who uses common sense and intelligence to show how to spend more time in prayer, even amongst ultra-busy lives.

This book is partly based on 'Practising the Presence of God' by Brother Lawrence. It looks at ways we can spend time with God creatively, with suggestions for focussing on him at various points through the day as well as taking time out to pray and meditate. Some excellent advice; overall an encouraging book. Probably only really relevant for Christians.

A Question of Trust

In general I like Alexandra Raife's novels. They're generally set in small villages in Scotland, amongst mostly wealthy, highly educated landowners. This one is no exception, but although the two main characters were quite well-drawn, and the settings as lovely as ever, I found the plot rather predictable and implausible. Philippa, a lovely girl with a rather painful past, has settled back amongst her friends to build a new life. Jon, a handsome but bad-tempered hunk with an army background, has arrived in the area to recuperate after something stressful.

Naturally they meet, they're mutually attracted, and conflict ensues. It felt like a classic Mills-and-Boon storyline, and unfortunately it didn't really deviate from that formula. There's a gradual discovery of the painful past as it affected both of them, and a few pleasant interludes with minor characters, but by-and-large the entire book is taken up with misunderstandings and yet more conflict. While some of it is believable, other incidents seem very contrived, and the inevitable resolution at the end relies mostly on luck.

I did also find the huge cast of minor characters a bit overwhelming and confusing. Some of them came into other books by this author - as is her general tendency - but as I hadn't read most of them for some years, I barely remembered them.

Not a bad book - I kept reading, and there were some moving moments as the story progressed. But not one of the author's best.

The Purpose-Driven Life

Rick Warren seems to be considered one of the foremost American Christian leaders these days. His church has grown enormously due to taking on the principles in this book, and it's now being marketed around the world, both to individuals and to congregations. The concept is fairly simple: God has five main purposes for our lives, and we ought to find out what they are so we can live as better Christians.

It's supposed to be read one chapter at a day, for forty days. That immediately put me off! So I actually read between one and three chapters a day, during the last three weeks.

I don’t like the hype surrounding this book, or the self-promotion within it, or the rather rigid way we’re supposed to read it. I don’t like the huge variation in Bible translations used, and that some of the quotations from Scripture are WAY out of context. Nor do I like the structured nature of the book, the way churches are supposed to drop everything else to study it, or the insistence that God only has five purposes for people (what about stewardship of resources, for instance?)

On the other hand… the author does make some good points, even if they’re fairly basic. About worship being an attitude of life rather than just singing on Sundays. About the need for direction. About finding our ministries within the church based on our personalities. About the importance of mission.

If I could take the good points and cut out the padding and irrelevancies, it would probably be about a third the length. Then I would recommend it to anyone who’s newish as a Christian, or who’s been going to church for years but feels a lack of purpose. These folk might benefit from the entire book too - but could find it overwhelmingly prescriptive.

However, I don’t see it as much use for non-believers, nor for those who are already deeply committed as Christians.

The Grand Sophy

I love Georgette Heyer's historical romances, and indulge myself with re-reading every so often. This one features one of her triumphs of characterisation: Sophy Stanton-Lacey. Sophy goes to stay with her aunt and uncle after spending most of her time abroad. She is independent, spirited, argumentative, and totally unlike any other young ladies of the Regency times. Sophy is worried that she might get bored, but quickly discovers that her cousins are not happy. Charles is engaged to a tedious women he does not love; Cecilia is in love with a vague and impractical poet; Hubert has worries he will not divulge. Sophy resolves to sort them out, and does so in her inimitable way.

There's light humour, well-written banter, and brilliantly drawn characters throughout - even if a few of the less likeable one are rather caricatured. At the end, there's one of this author's classic and effective plot devices: an unexpected gathering of most of the important people in the book, where they manage to sort out their misunderstandings.

A great light read; not one of my absolute favourites, but still very enjoyable.

Light from Heaven

This is the ninth and last of Jan Karon's 'Mitford' series about the American Episcopal priest Father Tim and his delightful wife Cynthia. In this novel, Tim and Cynthia spend a year at their friends' farm, Meadowgate, while their friends are away. It's not far from Mitford, so Tim (and we, the readers!) manage to keep up with news of old friends. But Tim also gets asked to take on a new job: to re-start a regular service at a small church in the mountains. There he meets the wonderful Agnes - an elderly and robust lady who gave many years of her life to the mission field. Having been aquainted with two such ladies myself, I found her believable and a great asset to the novel.

A few reader reviews on Amazon objected to the new characters who were introduced in this story. I thought it was a great idea to start some new threads; otherwise the book would have been too much like the previous ones. Yes, there were some ongoing plot-lines which were nicely tied up in this book, but if that had been all, it would have felt rather slow and tedious. As it was, Tim's new parish and parishioners provided a nice contrast to his older friends in Mitford.

Of course there's a Christian theme running through the book, mostly low-key although there are a few pages of Scripture explanations and mention of the 'Sinners' prayer'. Although a Christian myself, I often find such things rather cringeworthy in novels, and indeed I did find myself skimming a bit when these cropped up. But they're mostly well-written and fit well with the story and characters so they don't feel too out-of-place. It would be quite possible to skip those passages although an understanding of what they are about probably adds to the enjoyment of the novel in general.

I enjoyed reading this in its rightful place in the series, directly after reading all the others. But I think it probably could have been read as a novel on its own, since there were the fresh characters. All in all, I thought it an excellent ending to the series.

Shepherds Abiding

This is the eighth book in Jan Karon's 'Mitford' series. It's shorter than the majority: less than 300 pages, and print well spaced out, so I read it in less than two days.

It's a bit of a novelty book rather than an important one in the Mitford story; Christmas is approaching, and the retired Episcopal priest Father Tim spots a rather scruffy set of plaster nativity figures in the antique shop. Hoping to surprise his wife, he enlists the help of a couple of friends and sets to work to repair and paint the figures for Christmas.

We meet old friends from Mitford: Uncle Billy, trying to figure out what on earth to give his crotchety wife for Christmas; Percy and Velma, about to give up The Grill and retire, Lew Boyd who has married someone from another state in secret... and many more. The author cleverly weaves in and out of their lives, also including some of Father Tim's positive reminiscences from his childhood, as he finally comes to terms with some of the problems he carried around, due to his father's apparent harshness and high expectations.

Quite a pleasant book, if a bit 'sappy', but not really one to read alone, nor a vital part of the Mitford series for someone reading the longer books.

In This Mountain

This is the seventh novel in Jan Karon's 'Mitford' series about the Episcopal priest, Father Tim. Set in a small village in a mountain in the south of the USA, it's a delightful series with cleverly drawn characters, light humour, and some moving moments too.

This book takes place more than a year after the previous one. Tim is now well-established as a retired priest, and his wife Cynthia continues to write successful children's books although she keeps intending to stop. They have been trying to find a productive use of their time, and have agreed to join a small mission organisation in the outback. They are both trying to be enthusiastic about it and believing it's probably right, but messages from the organiser are not encouraging.

Then a disaster happens, because Father Tim is not paying attention to his health. The rest of the book covers his reactions to this, including some quite bad depression which he tries to fight. It's perhaps more serious than some of the earlier books; certainly the Christian message is put more clearly than ever, along with some useful reminders of eternal truths.

Very enjoyable as part of the series, but it wouldn't make much sense as a stand-alone novel. I thought I might have got bored of the series by now, re-reading them one after another, but am finding them all the more interesting as the characters stay fresh in my mind. Knowing the main outlines of the plot doesn't detract from them, it simply means I'm not in quite such a hurry to rush through them as I was the first time around.

A New Song

Sixth in the Mitford series by Jan Karon. Father Tim Kavanagh has finally retired from being a full-time priest, and takes an interim assignment on the island of Whitecap. He and Cynthia, along with their dog Barnabas and cat Violet, spend a great deal of time preparing to move, have a rather traumatic journey and arrival, and then gradually settle in to a new parish. As ever, there are petty squabbles within the congregation as well as some more serious problems, and during the year they have to deal with extreme weather conditions they have not previously experienced.

Inevitably there are lots of new characters as well as familiar ones from Mitford, but they're introduced gradually and are mostly memorable and interesting. Cynthia's heart is captured by three-year-old Jonathan, whose mother is in hospital; Tim employs an excellent new organist, and slowly gets to know his grumpy neighbour Morris, who has an unusual affliction.

It was good to have a foray outside Mitford while reading this series straight through, although the first time I read it I can remember not liking it as much as the previous novels in the series. This time, I found it an enjoyable sequel. Not really recommended to anyone who hasn't read the previous books in the series, starting with 'At Home in Mitford' but anyone who's enjoyed the rest of the series should certainly read this one.