I very much enjoyed The Cloister Walk and Amazing Grace by Kathleen Norris. In the first she is describing a residency in a monastery in Minnesota, and the second is more of a memoir.
Could I ask for recommendations for non-fiction Christian books that are motivating/thought provoking/inspiring? The sort of thing that makes you go “Gosh, never thought of things that way, but that makes sense”.
Thanks for any ideas!
Terry Pratchett - "Small Gods".
Not technically Christian, or non-fiction, good though it is. So long as you can deal with the occasional wisp of smoke as pterry's rage burns through the page.
Paul W. Brand's books on the human body and how various bits of it (e.g. circulatory system, pain receptors, the brain, etc.) relate to Christianity. He's a surgeon, and it's rather like finding parables in the way the body is put together and functions. I've read three titles, In His Image, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, and Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants.
I have been reading Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb series. (Gideon the Ninth, etc). It is a bit reminiscent of Warhammer 40K in being a dystopian space empire with fantasy elements; only the author clearly thought Warhammer 40K is not goth enough. That said, the goth is a minor element compared to the unresolved lesbian romantic tension and the sentences which gradually work their way around to some appalling joke.
The author is apparently a practicing Roman Catholic. (That she was raised RC I think is obvious; that she is still practicing is a bit more subtle.)
Could I ask for recommendations for non-fiction Christian books that are motivating/thought provoking/inspiring? The sort of thing that makes you go “Gosh, never thought of things that way, but that makes sense”.
I would recommend anything by Frederick Buechner (except his novels, given the request for non-fiction.) The Alphabet of Grace, Wishful Thinking: a seeker’s ABC and Whistling in the Dark: a doubter’s dictionary would be good books to start with.
Anne Lamott is also always worth reading, I think. I’d recommend Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life or Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith.
Volume III of On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle has now arrived. I'm a bit nervous that they won't translate all five books as I can't read Danish.
Comments
Not technically Christian, or non-fiction, good though it is. So long as you can deal with the occasional wisp of smoke as pterry's rage burns through the page.
The author is apparently a practicing Roman Catholic. (That she was raised RC I think is obvious; that she is still practicing is a bit more subtle.)
I think it is very very good.
Anne Lamott is also always worth reading, I think. I’d recommend Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life or Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith.