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If you’ve ever had the misfortune to visit the places I’ve lived in, or the house I share with my wonderful wife and daughter, you may have noticed that I have a few books.

If you live locally, or know me offline, I’d love to lend them to you – see my Librarything profile. Regardless, one of the key ways I can live out a bit of my calling is to read books, and offer reviews of them. I think reading is vital for Christians, and people of no faith, but I also recognise that it is very difficult to find the time to read books. In my reviews I try to engage with the substance of what a book is saying, sometimes in a long-form critical review, other times in a sustained recommendation. Every review is different. To see all of them at once, you can just click on the ‘Book Reviews’ Category, but here I’ll collect them by theme, over time.

This page is gradually becoming a hub for all the book reviews I’ve written, as I port them across from my old blog, tweak them, and republish them. The ‘dates of publication’ thus represent their original publication date, rather than when they first appeared on this blog. Below, though, in broadly alphabetical order in random but hopefully relevant categories, are all of them, eventually…

Books about Jesus

God With Us, by Rowan Williams,
Jesus, the Only Way to God? by John Piper,
Knowing Christ by Mark Jones
Magnificent Obsession, by David Robertson

 

Books about the Cross/Atonement

Jesus Saves, but How? by Steve Burnhope,
Love Story by Glen Scrivener
So Great a Salvation: Soteriology in the Majority World (Langham edited volume)
The Beauty of the Cross, by Tim Chester
The Forgotten Cross by Lee Gatiss

Books about the Bible

Unbreakable, by Andrew Wilson (A great little book about what Jesus said about the Bible)

Books about the Vineyard/Vineyard Theology

Words, Wonders and Power, by Martyn Percy
Empowered Evangelicals by Rich Nathan and Ken Wilson,
Stepping into the Impossible, by Mark Marx,
Post-Charismatic 2.0 by Robby McAlpine
The Cause to Live For, VCUKI
The Wisdom of Wimber, Marty Boller

Books about Pentecostal/Charismatic Issues

Full Gospel, Fractured Minds? By Rick M. Nanez
Holy Fire, by R. T. Kendall
More, by Simon Ponsonby
Ordinary Miracles, Chris Lane
The Spirit-Filled Church, by Terry Virgo,
The Introvert Charismatic by Mark Tanner
Evangelical, Sacramental, Pentecostal by Gordon T. Smith
The Healing Tradition of the New Testament, by Douglas Ellory Pett

Books about Justice

Scars Across Humanity, by Elaine Storkey (Violence against women)
When Evangelicals Care by Brian H. Edwards (the story of Pilgrims Friends Society)
Impossible is a Dare by Ben Cooley (Anti-Slavery campaigner)
Christian Tradition and the Practice of Justice, by Nick Sagovsky

Books about Culture, etc 

A Wilderness of Mirrors, by Mark Meynell
Book Review: Incarnational Humanism, by Jens Zimmerman,
Book Review: A Brief Theology of Sport, by Lincoln Harvey
Race and Place, by David Leong
That Hideous Strength, by Melvin Tinker

Books about Marriage

Glorious Union, by Adrian and Celia Reynolds (for leaders, mostly)
Impossible Love, by Craig and Medine Keener
This Momentary Marriage, by John Piper

Books about Sex and Sexuality

Raising Teens in a Hyper-Sexualised World, by Eliza Huie,
A Better Story, by Glynn Harrison,
A War of Loves, by David Bennett
Journeys in Grace and Truth, edited by Jayne Ozanne,
Satisfaction Guaranteed, by Jonathan Berry with Rob Wood,
A Letter to My Congregation, by Ken Wilson,
What is the Meaning of Sex? by Denny Burk,
Two Views on the Bible, Homosexuality, and the Church, edited volume
Undivided, by Vicky Beeching
Same Sex Relationships by John Stott

Books about Gender Identity/Trans Topics

God and the Transgender Debate, by Andrew T. Walker
This is my Body, edited volume of theology/experience of Transgender Christians
Transgender by Vaughan Roberts

Books about Being Human

Being Human in God’s World by Gordon McConville
Being Human, by Steve Chalke,
Theological Anthropology, a Guide for the Perplexed, by Marc Cortez,
Theology of the Body by Jean-Claude Larchet
What Makes us Human? By Mark Meynell
Identity and Idolatry, Richard Lints

 

Books about Evangelicalism

Prophetic from the Centre, by Don Carson
Prophet of Purpose, by Jeffrey L. Sheller (a biography of Rick Warren)
Serving the Church, Reaching the World, edited by Richard Cunningham (for Don Carson)
Still Christian by David Gushee (a memoir)
In Search of Ancient Roots by Kenneth J. Stewart

Books about Mission

Stay in the City, by Mark Gornik and Maria Liu Wong
Streets Paved with Gold, by Irene Howat and John Nicholls (LCM’s history)
The World on our Doorstep, by Dewi Hughes (a great little book about international mission in our back garden)

 

Book Reviews about Anglicanism

Feed my Sheep, ed. by Lee Gatiss
The Bible Theft, by Peter Sanlon (about False Teaching)

Book Reviews about Church History

Convinced by Scripture, by Andy Johnston
The Unquenchable Flame, by Mike Reeves,
Know the Heretics, by Justin Holcomb,
China’s Urban Christians by Brent Fulton

Books about Theology – For Everyone

Enjoying God, by Tim Chester
Visual Theology, by Tim Challies and Josh Byers,
Justification, 5 Views, edited by Bielby and Eddy.
A Theology in Outline by Robert Jenson

Books about Theology – Academic

Words of Power by Jem Bloomfield,
Unity and Diversity, by Oscar Cullmann,
Sin, Grace and Free Will Vol. 1 by Matthew Knell
Justification by Stephen Westerholm

Books about the Trinity

The Essential Trinity, edited by Brandon Crowe and Carl Trueman,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit by Bruce Ware
The Good God, by Mike Reeves

Books about Leadership

Church Leadership, by Ray Evans
Progress, by Adrian Reynolds
Radical Leadership by Michael Green
To Fly, To Serve, by Adrian Reynolds (a great little book on preaching!)

Books about Mental Health

Learning to Breathe, by Rachel Newham
The Perfectionism Book, by Will Van Der Hart and Rob Waller.
The Big Ego Trip, by Glynn Harrison

Books about Aging and Older People

A Good Old Age, by Derek Prime
Dementia from the Inside, by Jennifer Bute and Louise Morse

 

Books about Apologetics/By Atheists

Does Life Have Any Meaning? by John Blanchard
Have No Fear, by John Lennox
Letter to a Christian Nation, by Sam Harris
Unapologetic by Francis Spufford

Books about Pastoral issues

Some Words for Another Time, by Ken Benjamin (a little book about grief and grieving)
The Pastor’s Kid, by Barnabas Piper,
Where was God when that Happened? By Christopher Ash

Books about Eschatology (The End of the World, Heaven, Hell, etc)

Surprised by Hope, by Tom Wright,
Is Hell for Real? (Multi-Contributor volume)
For All the Saints, by Tom Wright
Kingdom, Hope and the End of the World by Ian Paul (an excellent Grove Booklet)

Books about Disability/Disabilty Theology

Disability in the Christian Tradition, ed. John Swinton and Brian Brock,~
The Enabled Life, by Roy McCloughry

Books about Discipleship/Christian Living

A Doubter’s Guide to the Ten Commandments by John Dickson
MORE: Distinct by Calvin Samuel
MORE: Real by Jon Brown
The Sunshine of the Gospel, edited by Dave Bish,
Humility, by C. J. Mahaney,
The Radical Disciple, byJohn Stott.
Suffering and Singing by John Hindley
The Art of Turning by Kevin DeYoung (little book about conscience)
The Selfish Gospel by Freddie Pimm (great book about what the Gospel is and means)
Travel, by Peter Grier
Unpopular Culture by Guvna B

Books about a Christian view of work

Revolutionary Work by William Taylor

Books about Prayer

5 Things to Pray for your City, by Helen Thorne and Pete Nicholas
A Call to Spiritual Reformation, by Don Carson
Celtic Christian Spirituality, by Mary C. Earle
Living the Prayer, by Trystan Owain Hughes
Enjoying your Prayer Life by Mike Reeves

Books about Spirituality

A Silent Action: Engagements with Thomas Merton by Rowan Williams
Spirituality According to Paul, by Rodney Reeves

Novels

Camino Island, By John Grisham
Silence, by Shusaku Endo
The Essex Serpent, by Sarah Perry

Other Non-Fiction Books 

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall (one of my Top Ten books of 2017)
The Holocaust, by Laurence Rees

Lent/Advent Books

In Touch with God, by Michael Green
Love Came Down at Christmas, by Sinclair Ferguson
Reconciliation, by Muthuraj Swamy
Songs for a Saviours Birth, by William Philip
The Beauty of the Cross, by Tim Chester