August 13, 2005 – 5:52 pm
Book: Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God
A theology book, written by a prominent Charismatic theologian isn’t the kind of thing I usually find myself reading through, but I found it a useful book nonetheless. I found that I agreed with much of what he had to say, in spite of evangelical prejudices - [...]
August 6, 2005 – 10:58 pm
Book: Open Here: The Art of Instructional Design
This has been sitting on my shelf for a long while, and while it’s mostly illustrations, the text - a history of instructional design (think instruction booklet, not training courses) - was one of those “I’d never thought about this before” fields. A range of ideas, and approaches [...]
Book: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Yes, it’s mostly just filler for the final book, but it doesn’t disappoint: if you enjoyed the first five, you’ll enjoy this one. Somehow, Harry has ended up being less of an annoying git in this book.
Book: Islam in our backyard: a novel argument
After an evening where we looked at the beliefs of a range of faiths, I realised how poor my knowledge was in this area, so I grabbed this book to help deepen my understanding of both Islam, and of how Evangelical Christians understand Islam. This book certainly provides [...]
Book: Blink : The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Malcom Gladwell has written a book that feels like a long magazine article. Covering a wide range of research that’s been done on the “gut-feel” decisions that we make without even being aware of them. An enjoyable read, challenging the reader to consider their own instinctive decision-making.
Book: KISS Guide to Photography (Keep It Simple Series) - to help me better understand SLR photography, and photography in general, I grabbed this from a second-hand bookshop. Rather out of date with regard to digital cameras - as you’d expect from a book of its age, it is still packed with good ideas, and [...]
March 23, 2005 – 10:01 am
Book: Love Life for Every Married Couple
I know what you’re thinking. Another "marrieds only" Christian book, that’s going to say the same kind of things as every other book about being married that I’ve ever read. In part, you’d be right: this is another book showing advice from the bible on what it means to [...]
March 18, 2005 – 12:37 pm
Book:The Essence of Psychology
Another of the short books that Birkett has written. Mostly a summary of the history of Psychology, with some coverage of the issues to consider in reconciling Christianity with psychology. Having read it, I feel like I recognise the names and the timeframes of the various movements in psychology, although which movements [...]
Book: The Da Vinci Code
Good airport fiction. I can see why it was so popular. I can’t say I agree with its conclusions about spirituality, nor about the accuracy of its historical information, but it has motivated me to look into the seminar that my church is running next month.
Point Man: How a Man Can Lead His Family
Another one to add to the stack of "Be a better husband / father" books that I’ve read lately. This one is something of a classic - I’ve been meaning to read it for about five years. It was actually better than I thought it would be. [...]
February 19, 2005 – 8:39 am
Book: Fatherhood: what it is and what it’s for
First, don’t panic. I’m reading this book to help me start thinking about parenting in a more realistic way: the idea that you can play with kids for a while, and then take the batteries out (so to speak) when you don’t want to play with them [...]
February 12, 2005 – 12:25 pm
Book: The Essence of Feminism
A book written by an ex-feminist. Kirsten Birkett started out as a feminist, but changed her opinion as a result of the research she went through for the book. Despite aiming to be a dispassionate critique, there are moments in her arguments where a Christian world-view creeps in. Overall, it was [...]
January 22, 2005 – 9:20 pm
Nelson Mandela’s autobiography - Long Walk to Freedom - is an amazing story. It gives great insight into the life of a man who spent many years preparing, or being prepared, to be a statesman. It shows the tensions between his family life, and being the "father of a nation", the tough choices he made, [...]
January 12, 2005 – 5:00 pm
Book: Kochie’s Guide
Another book about budgeting; feels a little like it was rushed-to-press to make a Christmas deadline: there was at least one spot where a number was missing from the middle of a bullet list! Enjoyable read, though, and provided a step-by-step rundown on putting a family budget together.
December 19, 2004 – 10:02 pm
Book: Who You Are When No One’s Looking
December 12, 2004 – 6:44 pm
Book: Against the Wind; Wycliffe Bible Translators Australia in Action
November 18, 2004 – 5:45 am
Book: Pray with your eyes open