Even more concise 10 second sermons – Milton Jones

15 06 2014

Most people will know Milton Jones for his stand-up, and as a panellist on Mock the Week.

However, he’s also a Christian, and this book is a mixture of both of those worlds, similar to the first one.

There’s a running theme throughout the book about things we debate on that are not the most important thing – something people don’t normally admit! Some excerpts below:

http://instagram.com/p/pOOmbakYlF/

I like these books of Jones’ as they’re very easy to read in one sitting at less than 100 pages, and yet there’s plenty to them. They make you laugh, but also definitely make you think. One line that definitely struck me was:

“Christianity is not so much a religion, more the beginning of a realisation of how things really are.”

even more concise 10 second sermons


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Re-read: Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins

26 04 2014

The first time I read this I didn’t enjoy it that much, and I read it so quickly so as to find out what happens that I forgot most of it! My housemate would talk about a major plot point and I wouldn’t even remember that it happened, so ready for the first part of the film release later this year, I thought I should read it again!

I enjoyed it much more this time, and I did exactly the same as last time in that I read the last 150 pages (“part iii”) in pretty much one sitting other than stopping for lunch.

I still don’t like the end, I wanted it to end a little differently, but the story is strong, it still twists and turns right up until the end. Definitely a book that hooks you in.

But as we’re due the film soon, I still think I’ll avoid spoilers and just say I misjudged it a little last time, and it really is good!

mockingjay2

Edit: 2nd May 2014

I can’t believe in my re-writing this, I forgot the major bit I intended to mention!

There’s a conversation between a couple of characters relatively early on in the book, which is set in the future. It seems to be to be a very direct comment on us:


“If we win, who would be in charge of the government?” Gale asks.

“Everyone, “Plutarch tells him. “We’re going to form a republic where the people of each district and the Capitol can elect their own representatives to be their voice in a centralized government. Don’t look so suspicious; it’s worked before.”

“In books,” Haymitch mutters.

“In history books,” says Plutarch. “And if our ancestors could do it, then we can, too.”

Frankly our ancestors don’t seem much to brag about. I mean look at the state they left us in, with the wars and the broken planet.Clearly they didn’t care about what wold happen to the people who came after them. But the republic idea sounds like an improvement over our current government.

“And if we lose?” I ask.


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To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

17 04 2014

I sat my GCSE’s in 2004, including English Literature. English was never my strong point, I’m a maths and science girl, and much as I read like crazy as a younger child – Secondary School English really put me off, I didn’t read books for leisure properly for years afterwards (other than Harry Potter maybe!).

The book that was chosen for our exam was To Kill A Mockingbird. I read a couple of chapters of it, and watched the film, and then the night before the exam tried to cram in a few more chapters, and came out with a C grade overall, and everyone was happy.

But a couple of months later I decided to read the book and try to read it properly. It then sat on my shelf until a month or so ago, when I finally picked it up to read properly this time, and it was fantastic! No wonder people rave about it, but when as a 15 year old you’re made to sit there and analyse the placement and choice of every single work then it is impossible to enjoy the story. (Maybe that’s why these blogs I do on books I’ve read can’t really be classed too much as “reviews!)

Reading for leisure, I really enjoyed this. The book has two main storylines, which kind of take turns to be told, but I was laughing at point, sad at others, and genuinely couldn’t see what was coming next! If you failed to read this at school, do try again – it’s worth it!

To Kill a Mockingbird


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The Help – by Kathryn Stockett

15 03 2014

I’d seen the film, but it was quite a while ago and I didn’t really remember it, so in many ways, this was like reading a new book.

The story is set in 1960s Mississippi, and looks primarily into the lives of a few white women, their maids and their children. Now I wasn’t anywhere near alive in the ’60s, but I thought I knew a bit about what had gone on. I know about Rosa Parks, I know about Martin Luther King, and I know about Apartheid in South Africa. I did not know that a white woman would consider, let alone actually build a separate toilet outside her house for her maid to use so that she wouldn’t catch diseases from her. I didn’t know that to serve a white woman her coffee you would set it on the table rather than give it to her for her fear that her hands may touch yours and catch something. I am privileged to have grown up in an environment where this would never be tolerated, though I know that in some places things still aren’t quite right.

It was really encouraging to find out at the end that while it this wasn’t based on the authors life per say, she did grow up with a black maid who she was close to around this time, and so in general it was based on life at that time, though the book itself is fiction. It does close with a nice little account of her story in the back though.

The book itself has three women sharing the job of narration, two black maids and one white woman who isn’t quite like the rest of them. Just home from college and living back with her mother while her friends are married and enjoying high society life, she is far more interested in what life is like for the maids.

Definitely a bit of an emotional rollercoaster – there’s time for laughter, sadness and anger definitely, but it really opened my eyes to what things used to be like compared to what they are now, but also was genuinely a great read. One of those books you carry around with you incase you find a chance to read a few more pages!

the help


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Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet – by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

15 02 2014

I’m a relatively recent convert to Sherlock. I watched my first episode on New Year’s Day this year when the first episode of series 3 was aired – I was hooked! I dedicatedly watched the rest of the series and am now catching up on series 1 & 2 that I’ve been able to borrow from friends.

I was aware they’re based on the old series of books, and another friend offered to lend me the first one – I thought, why not?! Always aiming to read more, why not read something a bit more classic.

I read “A Study in Scarlet” which is the first book in the series, where Sherlock Holmes and John Watson meet, it’s also the book that the first TV episode, “A Study in Pink” was based on. It didn’t disappoint.

Considering the books were written in the 1800s I was expecting it to be hard work, but it wasn’t, the story grabbed me in and I was so keen to know what happened. I had an idea as I’d already seen the TV episode, but there’s enough difference that I didn’t really know how it would come together.

Just when it was about to resolve though I had a bit of a shock. Suddenly we were in Utah, USA, with different characters, and several chapters without any reference at all to our Hero. I messaged my friend who had leant me the book and assured me it was still the same story, but the jump was so sudden I really wasn’t sure.

In the American section of the book there’s a whole bit on the Mormons which was slightly weird for me as one of the last books I read had also had a large section on them – bizarre!

Definitely a recommended read. The book is only little and even then less than 200 pages, so it doesn’t take long, and is definitely entertaining.

sherlock holmes


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“Why doesn’t God do something?”

10 02 2014

For a couple of years now I’ve been working through the “For Everyone” Bible study books. The New Testament ones are by Tom Wright, the Old Testament by John Goldingay. The first one I ever did was Matthew for Everyone. Advent was approaching and it seemed a sensible place to start!

As I say, this was a couple of years ago now, but in that book there was one devotional that really struck me, and stayed with me. At the time I posted it on facebook, but then it was so hard to find last month when I wanted to dig it out for team devotions at work! I’ve found it again, and thought I’d share it with you on here.

The passage it’s based on is Matthew 13 vv 24-35 – The Parable of the Weeds

I don’t really want to reproduce the whole thing a) ‘cos it’s a bit long for a blog post, and b) copyright stuff, so I’ve just pulled some of the bits that stood out to me, and then the bit that really stuck with me is in bold at the end.

“Would people really like it if God were to rule the world directly and immediately, so that our every thought and action were weighed, and instandtly judged and if necessary punished, in the scales of his absolute holiness? If the price of God stepping in and stopping a campaign of genocide were that he would also have to rebuke and restrain every other evil impulse, including those we still know and cherish within ourselves, would we be prepared to pay that price? If we ask God to act on special occasions, do we really suppose that he could do that simply when we want him to, and then back off again for the rest of the time?
These parables are about waiting, and waiting is what we all find difficult.”

“At the heart of the parable of the weeds is the note of patience – not just the patience of the servants who have to wait and watch, but the patience of God himself. God didn’t and doesn’t enjoy the sight of a cornfield with weeds all over the place. But nor does he relish the thought of declaring harvest-time too soon, and destroying wheat along with weeds.”

“When today we long for God to act, to put the world to rights, we must remind ourselves that He has already done so, and that what we are now awaiting is the full outworking of those events. We wait with patience, not like people in a dark room wondering if anyone will ever come with a lighted candle, but like people in early morning who know that the sun has arisen and are now waiting for the full brightness of midday.”


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Categories : Books I've Read, Christian, Things that make you go hmm

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator – by Roald Dahl

14 01 2014

This book is utterly nuts.

Roald Dahl writes some really odd stuff. You don’t notice it as a child, but working through these as a grown up I’m seeing just how odd they are!

If you’re not sure if you’re read it before, do the words, “Vermicious Knids”, “Wonka-Vite” or “Minusland” mean anything to you? If not, you definitely haven’t read it!

In this sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we go into outer space, we make people younger, we go to the centre of the earth – definitely not a book of reality, but still utterly genius and grabbed me ’til I finished it.

It only takes a couple of days, give it a go if you want a break from all the heavy grown up reading you’re busy doing!

Oh, and if you were wondering why it’s not called “Charlie and the Great Glass Lift”, may I refer you to this quote from the opening chapter:

“‘Madam,’ said Mr Wonka, ‘it is not a lift any longer. Lifts only go up and down inside buildings. But now that it has taken us up into the sky, it has become an ELEVATOR. It is THE GREAT GLASS ELEVATOR.'”

charlie and the great glass elevator


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America Unchained – by Dave Gorman

8 01 2014

I have utterly loved joining in on the journey in this book.

The basic premise is that he buys an old second hand car, and tries to drive coast to coast across the USA without giving any money to chain stores. This means finding independent motels, restaurants, and petrol stations! I don’t think they even exist in the UK, and it turns out that in America they’re pretty few and far between as well!

The thing I love about Dave Gorman’s books is that they never end up being about what they’re meant to be about. His books always end up being about the people he meets on the way through his various adventures/challenges/whatever you want to call them (at least one or two fall under the heading “bets made whilst drunk”!). Plus the whole way through I had utterly no idea if he’d even manage to complete it (and I won’t spoil it for you) – I was definitely kept guessing.

One of the most fascinating sections for me, oddly, was when he visited a town with a high population of Mormons. He looked into it a bit and thoroughly explained (far beyond any level of knowledge I had previously) what they were about, what they believed, where Mormonism originates from – anything you’d ever want to know. I’ll be honest, he doesn’t portray them positively, but then from what I’ve now learnt, I do understand why! I won’t say any more as I don’t want to offend, but it’s definitely interesting, and I’m more educated than I was.

A highly recommended book. I started it in Uganda because the book I was reading at the time was too heavy to take with me, and then picked it up again last month when I finished the large book. Since then I barely put it down. It had me picking it up whenever I could, which I think is always a strong recommendation 🙂

america unchained


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A Lineage of Grace – Francine Rivers

30 12 2013

This book took a little longer than my last few books, five months to be precise, but I’ll put that down to it actually being 5 books in one!

Each book is a historical fictional telling of the life of a woman in the bible, so the book works through the lives of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary.

I found the Tamar and Rahab books fascinating, I’d never heard their stories before – you don’t tend to cover the stories of prostitutes in Sunday School! I thought this would also be the case for Bathsheba as it’s another one I’d never heard, and it was for the first part of the story, but then it just seemed to drag and drag and go on and on!

I really struggled with the Ruth story. I know this story inside out – I’m sure we did it at least once a year at Girls’ Brigade for a while – and so some of the things she added in I found particularly noticeable. For example, she paints Elimelech to be an awful man who is to blame for everything that ever went wrong in Naomi’s life…

Mary’s story was another good one – again, a woman whose story is oh so familiar, but just to read it from her side (or at least an interpretation of) was quite refreshing.

I look forward to trying the male equivalent, Sons of Encouragement, at some point!

Lineage of Grace


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One Hundred Names – by Cecelia Ahern

29 07 2013

I was partway through a slightly heavier book, but what with the heatwave that’s been going on the last few weeks, when my pre-order of Cecelia Ahern‘s latest book arrived, I decided it was time for a break and a slightly easier read!

I have read every novel this lady has written, she’s brilliant! Best known for P.S. I Love You, most of her books have some slightly mystical element, something not quite real, but this was one of the “realistic” ones, one that could technically happen.

I was a little nervous as I started it, the blurb was a little bland. Someone has a list of 100 names and has to work out what links them, but as the book moves on I got more and more involved with what’s going on. I read the entire book in a week and was so sad for it to end!

The only criticism I’d have is that I struggled to keep up with the number of characters. Each time a name came up for the first time in a chapter I had to work out who they were and remind myself, it wasn’t til I was about 90% of the way through I got to grips with them all!

But I’d still recommend it, a really lovely story 🙂

one hundred names


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