The Bible Jesus read (by Philip Yancey)

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I’ve appreciated and liked reading all the books I’ve collected by Philip Yancey, over the years. I’ve reread most of them at least once. The one I found least memorable was ‘The Bible Jesus read’, which I read in 2008. It was well overdue for a reread; all I could remember about it was that it related to what is generally known as the Old Testament (the Hebrew Scriptures). 

I’ve read about half a chapter per day over the past couple of weeks. The introductory chapter asks why we should read, or at least be familiar with the older parts of the Bible. Christians, after all, focus mainly on Jesus. His life, ministry and death are covered in the four gospels, and the rest of the New Testament explains the growth of the early church, and instructions for lifestyle, worship, and so on. 

But, as Yancey points out with examples, Jesus himself was familiar with the Jewish Scriptures. He quotes them several times, and expects his followers to know the context and background. So as a most basic tenet, if we are following Jesus, we should read the Scriptures that he read, as well as the more recent ones. 

The exiles at home (by Hilary McKay)

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It’s a long time since I read ‘The exiles at home’ by Hilary McKay. I don’t know why I left it so long, as these books are thoroughly enjoyable. I reread the first book in the series, ‘The exiles’, at the end of December, so I felt as if the characters were familiar to me. Hilary McKay’s writing is excellent; she has a gift of characterisation, which makes her people memorable. 

Ruth is the oldest of the Conway offspring. She’s thirteen at the start of the book, and tries to be responsible. But she has a tendency to act without thinking. She is a very good artist, but generally uninterested in school. The next child, Naomi, is twelve, and her main interest is gardening. 

The ‘little ones’ are Rachel, who is nearly nine when this book opens, and Phoebe who is nearly seven. Rachel generally tries to stay out of trouble; she’s usually placid and practical. She’s also very keen on eating. Phoebe is much more intuitive and tends to drift through life with little interest in the consequences of her actions.

A secret garden affair (by Erica James)

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I have liked all the books I’ve read by Erica James, since my husband first gave me some of her books over twenty-six years ago. She’s quite a prolific writer of character-based novels, and I usually acquire each one after it is published as a paperback. I was given ‘A secret garden affair’ for Christmas 2023 but had not read it until the past few days, as I was slowly re-reading my collection of Erica James’ books at a rate of about one per month.

The main character in this book is a likeable young women called Libby. She’s in her late twenties, and we meet her on her way to stay at Larkspur House. The novel is set in 1981, so the whole country is obsessed with the upcoming wedding between Prince Charles and Lady Diana.  Libby is taking refuge after she caught her fiancé in bed with her best friend, three weeks before her wedding. She feels betrayed and deeply hurt, and knows she will be welcomed, loved and not judged by Elfrida and Bess, two women in their late seventies. 

Big sky (by Kate Atkinson)

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I hadn’t previously read anything by Kate Atkinson. But she’s a bestselling author, and her book ‘Big sky’ has several positive recommendations on the cover. I understand that it’s fifth in a loose series involving a private investigator called Jackson Brodie, but it isn’t necessary to have read the earlier ones. 

I doubt if I would have picked this up even if I’d seen it secondhand, but it was this month’s read for our local book group. So I bought it (used) last year, and have been reading it over the past week. It’s quite a long book - nearly 500 pages in my paperback edition - and we’ve been quite busy with guests. 

In addition, it really didn’t grab me. If it hadn’t been for the upcoming book group, I would probably have given up after about fifty pages. The first chapter is gripping: two Polish girls are video chatting with a man in the UK who is promising to find them work in hotels in London. They’re quite wary, but everything seems authentic. And he’s even going to pay for their flights. At the end of the chapter, we learn that he is not who he says he is…

Listening to God (by Joyce Huggett)

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I very much liked the three books I had read by Joyce Huggett. She was a thoughtful Christian writer, and I knew something of her because she lived, for a while, in Cyprus, though I never met her. I didn’t expect any of her books to be currently in print, but put second-hand editions of one on my wishlist. I was very pleasantly surprised to be given a new edition of ‘Listening to God’ for Christmas. 

The byline on this book says that it’s the 30th anniversary edition of the ‘bestselling spiritual classic’. It’s been recommended by many writers on prayer and contemplation. The first edition was published in 1986, and it was something of a landmark at the time. In the notes at the end, on the anniversary edition, the author expresses great happiness that the boundaries between different strands of Christianity were much less obvious than they were in the 1980s. 

The purpose of the book is to encourage all Christians to spend more time in prayer, in particular in contemplative prayer. The idea of this sounds very positive to me; as an introvert, I need a lot of time on my own. Despite many decades of being a believer, and many prayers, I’m not good at sitting, and meditating, or contemplating. Partly this is because I don’t ‘see’ things with my eyes closed, partly, I suppose, because my mind is constantly active, wandering around all kinds of topics, ideas and thoughts.