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The Rectors favourite reads:
Recommending books is impossible! But here is a selection of some of the best reads (or re-reads) I've had since coming to Astbury:
Science:
Black holes & baby universes - Stephen Hawking.
Shorter, and more reader friendly than his great A brief history of time, which joins the Bible in being very widely owned but not always read! 0553406639
Prayer:
The way of a pilgrim - RM French
French's translation of the anonymous Russian Orthodox classic on the use of "the Jesus Prayer". You won't learn so much about prayer but you'll read of a heart's hunger to pray. 0060630175
A time to keep silence - Patrick Leigh Fermor
An agnostic journalist spends time in a monastery. 0719539633
An Evergreen Classic!:
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens.
I've read it every Christmas for the last 30 years since I saw William Bramble (Steptoe & Son) play the definitive Scrooge at the Weston Playhouse when I was a child. 1862051305
Adventure:
Touching the void - Joe Simpson
Abandoned and injured on a remote Andean mountain, Joe Simpson describes his experience of being brought to the very edge of death. 0099771012
Into thin air - John Krakauer
Stories of survival and loss during Everest's worst storm - if you read it, be patient, the account has a slow beginning but a terrific climax. 0330353977
From the new Archbishop of Canterbury:
Writing in the dust - Rowan Williams
Rowan Williams was in New York on 9/11. This short book emerged from the experience. As well as profound reflections on the tragedy, it’s a marvellous insight into the mind of the Anglican Church's newest leader. 0340787198
The Greatest Briton?
Churchill - a life - Martin Gilbert
Well I voted for him! There are loads of books on Churchill. I am not claiming this is the best, but it is comprehensive, sympathetic, and Gilbert clearly knows his subject intimately. The early pages are a bit of a chore, but things take off once the account reaches the mid-1930s. 0712667253
Pot Luck:
An evil cradling - Brian Keenan
The best book from those involved in the Lebanon hostage saga. 009999030X
The Great Divorce - CS Lewis 0006280560
An under-rated Lewis classic; in my opinion one of his most perceptive.
Blood and belonging - Michael Ignatieff 0099389517
If you want to understand the mentality of civil war, read this.