In the Likeness of God (by Dr Paul Brand and Philip Yancey)

'In the Likeness of God' is one of the best and most thought-provoking books I have ever read! It actually contains two works: 'Fearfully and Wonderfully Made', and 'In His Image'; the volume was made as a tribute to the main author, the surgeon Dr Paul Brand, who died in 2004. The writing was edited and turned into book form by Philip Yancey, one of my favourite modern Christian authors.

Paul Brand spent most of his adult life working with leprosy patients in India. He was the person who first suggested that leprosy itself didn't cause deformities: it caused the loss of pain sensation which in turn stopped people from realising when they were in danger. He thus realised how remarkable the body's pain mechanism is, warning us (for instance) when we need to turn over at night, or when we've trodden on something sharp.

This book is basically an entire analogy; it takes the concept of the Body of Christ as used in the New Testament, and then moves it a level further, looking from the perspective of individual cells.

The writing is lively and interesting, peppered with anecdotes and personal thoughts, and I found it absolutely mind-blowing in places. Brand's medical expertise is such that he clearly knows what he's talking about, yet he gives his explanations in ways that are clear to the layman without being at all condescending.

I took several weeks to finish this, just reading a short bit at a time as there was so much on every page. Probably the best book I've read in the past year. Highly recommended to anyone. I'm disappointed to see that it's now out of print in the UK.

Victoria's Walk (by Caroline Grey)

The blurb at the back of 'Victoria's Walk' by Caroline Grey sounded reasonably interesting. Victoria, lively young American widow of a missionary, wants to visit Africa again. She takes a job as governess for the daughters of General William Dobree, who is about to go to Cape Town during the Boer War period. Calamity strikes the voyage, and Victoria ends up using her courage and resourcefulness attempting to lead several people to civilisation.

It's a historical novel which seemed very well-researched from the military point of view; unfortunately I'm not particularly interested in war, and know very little about this period. Worse still, the people did not seem particularly believable: their language often seemed far too modern for the late 19th century, and their discussions entirely unlike that I could imagine any young women having.

I wanted to like Victoria, but simply couldn't identify with her - or, indeed, any of the other characters - in any way. Moreover I found parts of the book distinctly sordid and distasteful - although as I didn't feel anything for any of the people, I didn't feel any pain when they died horirble deaths or suffered unpleasant experiences. I kept reading (skimming some of the duller parts) as there was a sort of compulsiveness about the plot, but despite the main characters being women, it felt far too masculine a book. Not recommended.

Then I learned that the author is in fact a man using a pseudonym!


(This does not seem to be in print, or even available second-hand, at either the UK or US Amazon)

The Doctor's Sweetheart and other stories (by L M Montgomery)

'The Doctor's Sweetheart (and other stories)' is a book of short stories by LM Montgomery, best known as the author of the 'Anne of Green Gables' books. They had all been published in women's magazines early in the 20th century, and were collected for this book later on.

The stories all feature romance of some sort, often with a search for identity along the way, and a touch of humour now and again. They're not particularly deep, although there's more in them than some women's magazine stories, and despite the setting nearly a century ago, the themes are very much up-to-date.

Montgomery lived in a world where fidelity and ideals were important, yet she deals honestly with realistic characters who often struggle to do the right thing.

A pleasant light read for a couple of evenings. There's also an interesting introduction at the start of the book, which I read after the stories, so as not to spoil the plots.

Reprinted every so often - not currently in print but second-hand copies should be available in both the USA and UK.

The Importance of Being Foolish (by Brennan Manning)

'The Importance of Being Foolish' is a thought-provoking book by Brennan Manning, showing what it means to be a 'fool' for Christ. He points out the dangers inherent in modern life - the quest for power, security and pleasures, and how different the Christian life can - and should - be if we're dedicated to following Jesus with all our hearts.

I didn't find this as inspiring or compelling as either 'The Ragamuffin Gospel' or 'Abba's Child', but then those rank as two of my all-time favourite Christian books. Still, there was plenty in it, a book to savour and re-read in sections, a little at a time.

There are some anecdotes, some personal experiences, some Scripture exposition, and some gentle guidelines. The overall theme is that most Christians are only half-living. We say one thing, and behave another way. We may not commit obvious harmful sins, but we get distracted by what's around us and miss - most of the time - the voice of God.

There are chapters on truth, transparency and diversions, then the second half of the book looks at how we can become more like Christ, seeing a little of how his mind works, and what he would wish us to do. Mostly that isn't about being a 'fool' in the sense of an idiot or a clown; it's more about renouncing worldly standards and wisdom, in favour of the one thing that matters.

Recommended for anyone looking for more meaning in their Christian life.

Speak to me of Love (by Robin Lee Hatcher)

'Speak to me of Love' is the fourth Christian novel I've read by Robin Lee Hatcher, but I didn't really enjoy it as much a the others.

It's a fairly standard 'Heartquest' plot. An actress with two young children has to leave her travelling troupe to tend to her sick daughter. She's in a fairly dead-end town, and the only job she can find is that of housekeeper to a bad-tempered man with a patch over his eye, a scar on his face, and an unhappy past.

There are some nice touches - a macho cow-girl who falls in love and needs help looking like a woman, and the children are nicely portrayed too. But the plot is rather like that of 'Jane Eyre' and the Christian input seems a bit forced at times.

It's well-written and probably gives an accurate picture of the life in small-town America in the late 19th century, but I didn't find either of the main characters particularly memorable.

Still, it made a pleasant light read for about three hours, and was more believable than many of this genre.

Tilly True (by Dilly Court)

'Tilly True' is a historical 'Catherine Cookson' style novel at the turn of the 20th century, by Dilly Court. The book opens with Tilly - who works as a housemaid - being beaten by her employer for theft. She swears her innocence, but nobody believes her so she walks out. On her way home, she stops a donkey being beaten, and is rescued by a clergyman. Tilly knows she can't stay with her impoverished family for long and must find some other job.

By the end of the first chapter, Tilly is established as a fiery, determined and impetuous girl who has great strength of feeling. Her main fault is that she stories whenever it suits her, and frequently gets caught up in a tangle of lies.

Although I sympathised with Tilly, and thought the book well-written, there was rather too much action for my personal tastes, and too little characterisation. Other than Tilly, all the other characters were rather shadowy.

Anyone who likes this style of novel would probably enjoy this as a light read. The unpleasantness of working-class life at the time is evident, but isn't given too much gory detail, and the overall theme of the book is fairly uplifting.

My longer review of 'Tilly True' is here at The Bookbag.

Swan Feather (by Lorna Hill)

Having just finished the seventh in Lorna Hill's ballet series, I thought I'd read the tenth, 'Swan Feather'. It was a little better, but there were still rather too many characters, some of whom would be bewildering to anyone who had not read previous books in the series.

Still, this book is mainly about Sylvia Swan, a newly-introduced character, so it does stand better as a complete story. There are some rather horrible incidents early in the book, which might disturb an over-sensitive young teenager, however they're soon passed. More disturbing is the cruel and heartless Nigel who appears in previous books and features again in this one.

The action is really much too rapid - do people really meet, fall in love and plan to get married in the space of about three weeks?! - but my main complaint is the multiple viewpoints and author comments that pepper this book. It would have worked much better if the entire story had been written from Sylvia's own perspective.

If you've read others in the series, this isn't a bad story to while away a couple of hours, but if not - or if you have no interest in ballet or teenage girls - there are much better children's books about.

Long out of print in the USA, and second-hand copies there tend to be pricey. However it was recently re-published in the UK.

Return to the Wells (by Lorna Hill)

'Return to the Wells' is seventh in Lorna Hill's series for teenagers about the ballet world. As a teenager myself, I read and re-read the first four in the series and loved them, but had no idea there were more. Apparently there are 12 or 13 altogether, all out of print, so I was delighted when I discovered this one at a charity shop.

Alas, once I started reading, my delight evaporated.

Whereas the first four books were written in the first person, albeit by different characters, this one is written in the third person. It doesn't even focus on just one or two people, the viewpoint dots around all over, and even includes some cringeworthy author asides, almost reminiscent of Victorian novels, but worse.

Nor is the story very interesting. It's supposed to be complete in itself, so I assumed that it wouldn't matter that I hadn't read the fifth or sixth in the series. But I found myself bewildered by multiple characters and subplots, some of which had nothing to do with the main story. Even that was rather convoluted, involving a ballet dancer called Ella who apparently ran away from Sadler's Wells - I didn't gather why - and is now returning. It seems she was an adopted child, from an exaggeratedly awful 'working class' background. Perhaps that was relevant in the earlier book that introduced Ella, but I couldn't see the point of the story popping back to 'Me Mam' every so often, to hear the unintelligent comments of the family who Ella seems to have cast aside in a rather snooty manner.

Then there's a foray into Switzerland when Ella recovers from an illness, which adds nothing at all to the story, and seems to be padding.

Not recommended, unless you've read the first six and want to know what happens to all the characters. I have one more in this series, but begin to think I should just have re-read the first four, which I still remember fondly.

Not in print in either the USA or UK; sometimes available second-hand, but often pricey.

Quantum Leap: The Beginning (by Julie Robitaille)

I'm not entirely sure why the 1980s TV series 'Quantum Leap' appealed to me so much. I'm not a fan of science fiction at all, but this show was really character-based, with the premise that God was sending 'Sam' leaping around time to fix things that went wrong. Each week was different, and for some reason it was compelling viewing. When the series went off the air, I stopped watching television.

We now have the first three series on DVD and are half-way through watching the second series as a family. It's as enjoyable as it was the first time through. When I saw a book of the series, 'Quantum Leap: The Beginning' in a second-hand shop, I couldn't resist.

It turns out to be almost 200 pages just on the first episode - the author, Julie Robitaille, has apparently written others as well. It begins with Sam's total bewilderment at waking up in a house he didn't recognise, beside a wife he was sure he had never met - and yet everyone else seems to know him well. The author has done a very good job of turning an action-packed and exciting episode into a book, and although I remembered the story well I enjoyed reading it again with descriptions of Sam's feelings and thoughts, which of course are more difficult to portray on screen.

I don't think this book would have appealed to me if I weren't a fan of the series, however. Nor will I be searching for copies of other Quantum Leap books. While I usually much prefer books to their film or TV equivalent, this particular series was written for TV and works very well on the screen. The first episode, with so many unanswered questions and confusions, is a good one to read about but I doubt if any of the others would be so interesting.

Recommended, in a low-key sort of way, to anyone who likes the TV series. But it's not currently in print, so it won't be easy to find, though both USA and UK Amazon have some second-hand copies. Considerably less expensive in the UK!

Greek Wedding (by Jane Aiken Hodge)

'Greek Wedding' by Jane Aiken Hodge is a historical novel set in the 19th century during the Greek wars for independence, a period I know little about. However that didn't affect my enjoyment of this novel, which combines exciting history with a low-key romance.

The novel opens on a ship moored in Constantinople. Brett Renshaw is in despair, considering killing himself, when his ship is hailed by two women dressed in Turkish costume. He has no desire to help them, but his crew are more generous, and he finds himself burdened with Phyllida and her aunt Cassandra, who have managed to escape.

There are chases, piracy, battles, kidnap, treachery... all the ingredients of a thriller, yet written from the point of view of the main characters, with a very human touch that kept me reading. The ending was slightly contrived, with various characters converging unexpectedly and coincidentally, but since I like stories to have satisfactory and tidy endings, I didn't really have a problem with this.

I did skim some of the battle scenes, although they were well-written without too much gore; but I'm not terribly interested in military history and quickly lost track of who was whom amongst the leaders mentioned by name, most of whom I assume were real people. But still I finished the book in just three days, finding it quite difficult to put down towards the end. Recommended - though this book hasn't been in print for many years, and is fairly expensive second-hand.

(Note - this book has NOTHING to do with the film 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' which was so popular a few years ago!)

Powder and Patch (by Georgette Heyer)

'Powder and Patch' is one of the earliest light historical novels by Georgette Heyer, written in 1923. It features Philip, an upright and perhaps dull country gentleman, who falls in love with a beautiful neighbour. Realising he can't compete with the smart London beaux who flirt with his beloved Cleone, he goes to France to learn how to become a fashionable fop.

Set in the days when the smartest young men wore high heels, tight trousers, brightly coloured jackets, powdered wigs and even make-up, this might seem a little shocking to some modern readers, as might the expected immoral behaviour of the average young gentleman. Gently-reared girls, of course, were supposed to remain pure and untainted, and to be married by about the age of 20.

Some of the speech may be a little difficult to understand at first, for anyone not used to books from this period, but it's an enjoyable light book and worth a little perseverance. Not one of my favourite Heyers - the plot is a little predictable, the characters not all that well-developed, other than Philip himself - but it's a short novel and makes a pleasant diversion for a couple of hours.

It's a tribute to Georgette Heyer's writing that her books have been almost constantly in print for eighty-five years. This one can also frequently be found second-hand, either online or at charity shops or thrift stores.

The Big Book of Juices and Smoothies (by Natalie Savona)

'The Big Book of Juices and Smoothies' is one of the most inspiring recipe books I have seen! Natalie Savona is an expert in healthful eating, with an emphasis on enjoyment of good food rather than avoiding what's bad.

This particular book contains 365 recipes for fresh fruit juices and smoothies, well-sorted and with quick-reference guides to various nutritional benefits to each. Within a few days of receiving this book, we had bought an inexpensive centrifugal juice extractor and were enjoying variations on seasonal fruit as juices each morning.

Perhaps the one-a-day recipe idea is gimmicky: to be fair, many of the recipes are similar, and I quickly realised that exact quantities weren't particularly important. But that's my only (very minor) quibble. It's a book to browse for inspiration, and everything we've tried so far has been delicious.

In the back is a useful guide to vitamins and minerals found in various fruits and vegetables, and recommendations for particular recipes to follow when suffering particular illnesses or ailments.

I particularly like the fact that the book is spiral-bound, meaning it can easily lie flat while I follow a recipe. Highly recommended.

The Crowded Bed (by Mary Cavanagh)

'The Crowded Bed' is an unusual book. It begins with the author, Mary Cavanagh, introducing the main character - Dr Joe Fortune - as he prepares to murder his father-in-law. The rest of the book takes place prior to this - six days in June 2006, and many years from the past.

I was a bit ambivalent about reading this book. The blurb on the back tells me it's about revenge, mutual hatred, cruelty, violence and shocking revelations. It sounds over-dramatic and rather exhausting. I don't like thrillers; I like peaceful stories with happy endings.

Now I've finished, I don't think the blurb does it justice. This is a character-driven novel which is cleverly crafted, revealing the past in such as way as to build up a clear and positive picture of both Joe and his wife, and many of their relatives too. There is violence and unpleasantness, but it's not described in gory detail. By the end of the first chapter I could quite see why Joe wanted to murder his wife's ghastly father.

If I have a complaint about this book, it's the amount of bad language. Not so much the expletives used under strong emotion, but the casual use of the same words to describe acts of love. It wasn't so excessive as to put me off entirely, but I did get a bit bored of seeing the same four-letter word repeatedly and (in my view) unnecessarily.

Still, as a debut novel this is impressive. I look forward to reading more by this author in future.

For a longer review and more details of this book, see my review of 'The Crowded Bed' at The Bookbag.

Not, for some reason, available in the USA.

The Jesus I Never Knew (by Philip Yancey)

'The Jesus I Never Knew' is another excellent book by Philip Yancey, one of my favourite modern Christian writers. In this book, he examines the life of Jesus from a journalist's point of view: examining the evidence in the Gospels, and also looking at the cultural context of his life.

As ever, Yancey writes clearly and intelligently, although it's probably not a book to read at one sitting since it covers a great deal. After the introduction, explaining how the book came to be written, he starts at the beginning with the incarnation - the well-known account of Jesus' birth as a baby in a manger.

He draws the obvious contrast between the sterile and beautiful pictures we see at Christmastime and the reality of a teenager giving birth without medical aid, surrounded by animals. But he goes into more depth than is usual, enabling me to feel more than ever before a little of the confusion and embarrassment both Mary and Joseph would have felt, as well as the amazing wonder of God becoming man.

Subsequent chapters look at the Jewish background to Jesus' life, and what that would have meant in reality, the messages of the Beatitudes, the miracles, the final week of Jesus' life, and much more.

While written from a clear Christian perspective, the writing seems to me unbiased and helpful to anyone wanting to know more about Jesus, whatever their belief or background. Yancey does not try to push anyone towards faith, more to encourage them to look clearly at the facts and make any decision based on reality, not on the many failings of the church through the ages.

Gardens of Delight (by Erica James)

'Gardens of Delight' is a modern novel by Erica James.

Lucy works at a garden centre, her best friend is Orlando, and she's estranged from her father. Helen is married to the rich and rather overbearing Hunter, and they've recently moved to the same village where she tries to work out what to get involved with. Conrad lives not far away with his beloved uncle Mac, who had a stroke and isn't in the best of health.

Oh, and Conrad suffered a terrible tragedy in his past, Lucy has three elderly friends at her allotment and a grandmother suffering from dementia, and Hunter has two ex-wives and two grown-up children.

Confused? Well, these are not the only characters who are introduced in the first four chapters of this novel. But by the end I had realised they were the most important ones. Unfortunately, that wasn't clear early in the book and the rapid switch of situations and viewpoints left me rather bewildered, forgetting from day to day who on earth I was reading about.

On the whole, I enjoy Erica James' novels. Her earlier ones were light village sagas that I thought above average; she then produced a mediocre book, 'The Holiday' which read like a Mills-and-Boon, but followed that with one of my all-time favourites, 'Precious Time'. Three or four more of her novels since then have also been moving, thought-provoking and well-written, and I looked forward to her latest offering.

Alas, I was disappointed. There was almost no character development - perhaps it would have been difficult with such a huge cast! - and no real overall plot. There was a point at which almost everyone went on a short holiday to Italy for guided tours of some gardens, and I suppose that was meant to be the main point of the book, given its title. But it was almost irrelevant to the various relationships and events that took place at amazing rapidity in the lives of the characters, both major and minor.

I thought perhaps the novel would improve as it got going; sometimes writers struggle in the early chapters, but the latter half is so captivating that I can forgive the slowness to get going.

Sadly, this was not the case. Oh, I slowly started to remember who was who - except when a minor character was suddenly brought to the fore unexpectedly, as happened a few times - and I could tell who I was supposed to like or dislike. Mostly, anyway. The elderly Mac, and one of the guys at Lucy's allotment were my favourite characters and could have done with much bigger parts to play. But even amongst the six most significant characters there were unpredictable events or thoughts that jarred. Part of the reason I felt they weren't well-developed was that several times behaviour seemed totally out of character, designed only to further whatever subplot they were involved in at the time.

Another problem is there was far too much description of the past history of just about everyone in the book, much of it written in the pluperfect tense which always makes for slightly awkward reading. Of course it's a good thing that a writer has a detailed account of her characters' childhoods and backgrounds, but not necessary to include it all in a novel!

Then the viewpoint switches were pretty confusing. I have no problem with stories from multiple viewpoints, but books usually work best if there are just a small number of these. I lost track of how many people's viewpoints were described in this book, some of them for only a few paragraphs - not nearly enough to develop any kind of empathy for them.

I couldn't decide whether Erica James has decided to experiment with 'chick-lit', or whether this novel was intended to be in the style of a TV soap. Or whether she submitted her first draft to the editor, and it somehow got published by mistake. Either way, I wasn't impressed.

Then again, I didn't hate it. I was interested enough to keep going to the end, some of which was predictable and some of it rather discouraging - but I wouldn't really recommend it either. Except, that is, for those who like chick-lit or TV soaps in books, since this is above average for those genres.