Renegade’s Magic, by Robin Hobb (Book 3 of the Soldier Son trilogy)

I reviewed the first volume of this trilogy here, and the second here. So, quick recap: everyone loves Robin Hobb’s first three (linked trilogies), but many reviewers and readers have panned her latest series, complaining that it’s boring and her current hero, Nevare Burvelle, doesn’t do much and isn’t interesting or likable.  However, I liked [...]

Mary: Call Me Blessed, by Patty Froese Ntihemuka

When it comes to Biblical fiction, some characters and subjects are easier to dive into than others. Given the aura of devotion and mystique surrounding Mary, the mother of Jesus, she’s a pretty daunting character to tackle.
Patty Froese Ntihemuka doesn’t hesitate, but dives in with a story that focuses on the shame and degradation [...]

My Jesus Year, by Benyamin Cohen (LentBooks #15)

This book is last on my Lenten reading list because I spent almost all of Lent convincing myself not to buy it.  Every time I went into Chapters I picked it up, leafed through it, and put it back. This was partly because I usually refuse to buy hardcovers, and it’s not out in paperback [...]

Following Jesus, by N.T. Wright (LentBooks #14)

Reading N.T. Wright after reading writers like Harpur and Spong is always a breath of fresh air. In fact, following on my earlier point about being convinced by things we want to believe in, I discovered the good Bishop of Durham some years back when my spirit was being troubled by reading people of that ilk (I [...]

The Apocalyptic Vision and the Neutering of Adventism, by George Knight (LentBooks #13)

I read this one at the suggestion of some other people, with whom I joined in a four-way conversation that will eventually be posted at the Spectrum site (I’ll add the link  once it’s up there so you can listen if you’re interested).
George Knight is a familiar name to Seventh-day Adventist readers as a church [...]

Jesus for the Non-Religious, by John Shelby Spong (Lentbooks #12)

I’ve been hearing the American Episcopal bishop Spong both praised as a visionary and condemned as a heretic for quite some time now, so I figured it was about time to read one of his books.
It’s interesting to read this right after reading Tom Harpur’s The Pagan Christ. Both Spong and Harpur are often reviled [...]

The Pagan Christ, by Tom Harpur (LentBooks #11)

Tom Harpur’s starting point for this book is not terribly shocking: many of the elements of the story of Jesus, as told in the Gospels, share commonalities with the stories of pagan gods — gods who come to earth in human form, who suffer and die, who rise again.  Some Christians might say that these [...]

The Wisdom of Yoga, by Stephen Cope (LentBooks #10)

I started doing yoga because I pulled a muscle in my back two years ago, and the pain was severe.  When I recovered, I wanted to do something that would strengthen my back muscles and help me generally to be more mobile in middle age.
That’s probably a typical North American story for getting involved with yoga — [...]

Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are, by Rob Walker (LentBooks #9)

This book was a random pick-up off the library display table, but I really found it interesting.  It’s about the new direction advertising has taken in the 21st century (since we’re no longer all captive to the same 30-second commercials on the same TV shows, so advertisers have had to get more creative) and the [...]

Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress, by Susan Jane Gilman (LentBooks #8)

I will admit that I picked Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress up off the bargain table at Chapters because I knew it would be light and funny and provide an antidote to the barrage of disturbing reading I’d been doing about the Holocaust. It’s much breezier than my usual Lenten fare, but it is [...]