Culture

WaterBrook Press RRP $23.95 Too Small to Ignore argues strongly for the importance of children, outlining the negative consequences of neglecting them and the benefits of carefully nurturing them. Wess Stafford campaigns for children as integral members of church and community, aiming his book at the wider church, not just children’s workers. The book is heavily anecdotal, which the author ...

David Fickling Books, 2006$23.95 John Boyne is an Irish author http://www.johnboyne.com  who will be speaking at the Voices on the Coast Youth Literature Festival (at Immanuel Lutheran College, Buderim) some time between 27 May and 2 June 2007 www.immanuel.qld.edu.au/voices. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is Boyne’s fourth, and most successful, book. This novel is an astonishing attempt at the ...

Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd RRP $49.95 You’ll notice that the succinct title of David Hay’s book Something There has neither a question mark or explanation point. As the result of over 30 years research into the spiritual experiences of Britons who don’t attend church, Hay neither questions nor aggressively champions the existence of the spiritual realm. Rather his book ...

Allen & Unwin RRP$45.00Drawn by the title and witty cover, I was nevertheless expecting to find this book heavy-going as it was written by the principal of a theological college, and described as a “serious treatment” of the role of clergy. What a delightful surprise to find it provides robust research and rigorous arguments, yet in a highly practical and ...

Published by CopperHouse CanadaRRP $34-95 Amir Hussain is Associate Professor who teaches World Religions writing for “people who want to learn more about Islam and Muslims, particularly as they relate to Christians and Christianity.” He feels that if we are to survive in the 21st Century we must learn to live together and understand our great spiritual traditions. Oil and ...

Upper Room Books RRP $20.45 from MediaCom I recommend Sarah Parsons’ book A clearing season: reflections for Lent for all those wanting to be refreshed in their faith this Easter. I did not do it justice by skim reading it in a week. I look forward to Lent when I will revisit the book and read it as it is ...

Upper Room Books RRP$22.25 from MediaCom The Uniting Church Basis of Union affirms that we belong to the people of God on the way to the promised end. While a pastor of the United Church of Christ USA, John Indermark’s God-given gifts of insight and communication will prove to be invaluable to us as we journey on the way. In ...

Hodder & Stoughton, 2003Paperback $21.00 David Nicholls’s first novel, Starter for Ten, has recently been made into a movie starring James McAvoy (who played "Mr Tumnus" in the Narnia film). The book is a good-natured British romantic comedy narrated by Brian Jackson, a first-year English Literature student, who has ambitions to be on the cult TV Quiz Show "University Challenge" ...

Documentary FilmRated PG Did you know that 100 years ago there were more electric cars on the road than there are today? What surprised me was that there were any electric cars on the road 100 years ago. What surprised me even more was to realise this is not ‘pie-in-the-sky’ technology. The film argues that these clean, green, and economic ...

University of Queensland Press RRP: $34.95 Over twenty years ago Fr Frank Brennan, advisor to the Australian Catholic Bishop’s Conference, and I became good friends as we collaborated on efforts to obtain justice for the Indigenous people of Queensland. At the time I was the Director for Social Responsibility in the Queensland Synod of the Uniting Church. Sadly, our friendship ...