Difference between revisions of "Newest Spirituality and Religion Reviews"

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[[Category:New Reviews|Spirituality and Religion]]
 
[[Category:New Reviews|Spirituality and Religion]]
[[Category:Spirituality and Religion|*]]__NOTOC__ <!--Remove -->
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[[Category:Spirituality and Religion|*]]__NOTOC__  
{|class-"wikitable" cellpadding="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->
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{{Frontpage
|-
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|author=Frederic Seager
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
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|title= Jesus, the Man and the Myth: A Jewish Reading of the New Testament
[[image:1999731506.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1999731506/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
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|rating=4.5
 
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|genre= Spirituality and Religion
 
+
|summary= I was brought up in a family where religion played little or no part. Culturally Irish Catholic on one side and Welsh Methodist on the other, nobody really discussed religion and the adults around me ranged from lapsed to agnostic to atheist. Other than the odd church wedding or baptism or the school nativity play, I didn't think too much about faith or what people did or didn't believe.
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
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|isbn=B092BWWG9Y
===[[Spiritual Atheist by Nick Seneca Jankel]]===
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}}
 
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{{Frontpage
[[image:2star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]], [[:Category:Spirituality and Religion|Spirituality and Religion]]
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|author=Peter Owen Jones
 
+
|title=Conversations with Nature
''Spiritual Atheist'' is a new 'bible' for the spiritual not the religious, according to the tagline. This is a taboo smashing book which solves the problem of modernity and explains how to be a 'spiritual technologist' who can live and love freely in 'spiritual fullness' without relying on a belief in god. Touching on everything from 'brain science' to AI, Jankel offers a 'path to meaning', allowing us to move beyond consumerism towards an ethical life. [[Spiritual Atheist by Nick Seneca Jankel|Full Review]]
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|rating=5
 
+
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
<!-- Hill -->
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|summary= One of the comments made when I was offered this beautiful book for review was that it's not very long.  Having read the book twice over, I'm brought back inescapably to the Spanish proverb that Life may be short, but it is broad.   In this case I'm brought to the idea that the length of life is not the point; the point is its depth. Peter Owen Jones dives deep.
|-
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|isbn=1912992418
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
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}}
[[image:Hill_Atlas.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1783706961?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1783706961]]
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{{Frontpage
 
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|author=Richard Brook
 
+
|title=Understanding Human Nature: A User's Guide to Life
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
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|rating=4.5
===[[The Atlas of Monsters by Stuart Hill and Sandra Lawrence]]===
+
|genre=Lifestyle
 
+
|summary= I am a firm believer that sometimes we choose books, and sometimes books choose us.  In my case, this is one of the latter. Not so very long ago, if I had come across this book I'd have skimmed it, found some of it interesting, but it would not have 'hit home' in the way that it does now.  I believe it came to me not just because I was likely to give it a favourable review [ ''full disclosure The Bookbag's u.s.p. is that people chose their own books rather than getting them randomly, so there is a predisposition towards expecting to like the book, even if it doesn't always turn out that way'' ] – but also because it is a book I needed to read, right now.
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Non-Fiction|Children's Non-Fiction]], [[:Category:Spirituality and Religion|Spirituality and Religion]], [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]
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|isbn=1800461682
 
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}}
There are monsters and mysterious characters, such as trolls, leprechauns, goblins and minotaurs. They're the stuff of far too many stories to remain mysterious, and every schoolchild should know all about them. There are monsters and mysterious characters, such as Gog and Magog, Scylla and Charybdis, and the bunyip. They are what you find if you take an interest in this kind of thing to the next level; even if you cannot place them all on a map you should have come across them. But there are monsters and mysterious characters, such as the dobhar-chu, the llambigyn y dwr, and the girtablili. To gain any knowledge of them you really need a book that knows its stuff. A book like this one… [[The Atlas of Monsters by Stuart Hill and Sandra Lawrence|Full Review]]
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{{Frontpage
 
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|isbn=Hill_Atlas
<!-- Micheal -->
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|title=The Atlas of Monsters
|-
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|author=Stuart Hill and Sandra Lawrence
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
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|rating=4
[[image:Micheal_Revelation.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1524666866?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1524666866]]
+
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
+
|summary=There are monsters and mysterious characters, such as trolls, leprechauns, goblins and minotaurs. They're the stuff of far too many stories to remain mysterious, and every schoolchild should know all about them. There are monsters and mysterious characters, such as Gog and Magog, Scylla and Charybdis, and the bunyip. They are what you find if you take an interest in this kind of thing to the next level; even if you cannot place them all on a map you should have come across them. But there are monsters and mysterious characters, such as the dobhar-chu, the llambigyn y dwr, and the girtablili. To gain any knowledge of them you really need a book that knows its stuff. A book like this one…
 
+
}}
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
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{{Frontpage
===[[Revelation Ch:25 - A Letter To The Churches From The 24th Elder by Edward K Micheal]]===
+
|isbn=1999731506
 
+
|title=Spiritual Atheist
[[image:1.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]], [[:Category:Spirituality and Religion|Spirituality and Religion]]
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|author=Nick Seneca Jankel
 
+
|rating=2
Edward K Michael has taken the brave step of laying out his spiritual journey for all to see. It is a deeply personal book and he's honest enough - genuine enough - to wonder if he would have taken a different path if he had known then what he knows now, but he's generous enough too to hope that people will find comfort in the supernatural manifestations he has seen. Before you begin reading you will need to accept that the book seems to have been written without editorial intervention: you are hearing the real man speak and what you will read is very close to stream of consciousness. [[Revelation Ch:25 - A Letter To The Churches From The 24th Elder by Edward K Micheal|Full Review]]
+
|genre=Lifestyle
 
+
|summary=''Spiritual Atheist'' is a new 'bible' for the spiritual not the religious, according to the tagline. This is a taboo smashing book which solves the problem of modernity and explains how to be a 'spiritual technologist' who can live and love freely in 'spiritual fullness' without relying on a belief in god. Touching on everything from 'brain science' to AI, Jankel offers a 'path to meaning', allowing us to move beyond consumerism towards an ethical life.
<!-- Mahnke -->
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}}
|-
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{{Frontpage
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
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|isbn=1789015200
[[image:Mahnke_Lore.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1472251652?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1472251652]]
+
|title=Be Your Higher Self
 
+
|author=Samesh Ramjattan
 
+
|rating=4
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
+
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
===[[The World of Lore, Volume 1: Monstrous Creatures by Aaron Mahnke]]===
+
|summary=There are a lot of self-help books about: it's one of the most thriving sections of the average bookshop, but it's not always easy to find the book you need.  Samesh Ramjattan has addressed this problem in ''Be Your Higher Self'', a book which allows us all to make sense of our place in the world, as most of us only glimpse our true potential and few people ever achieve it.  Even with hard work and dedication, obstacles present themselves and it's difficult to understand why or how they can be overcome.  Ramjattan offers us a guide to the spirit world, the chakras, karma and reincarnation as well as information about the age of Aquarius and the ego. It's a slim book - just 128 pages - so can it provide us with the answers we seek?
 
+
}}
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Reference|Reference]], [[:Category:Spirituality and Religion|Spirituality and Religion]]
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{{Frontpage
 
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|isbn=Mahnke_Lore
Every country, every town, every village has a folktale – a story passed down through generations that often focuses on the dark and unexplained. No matter how the modern world moves on, there's a still a part of everyone that is vulnerable to a good tale. From ghosts to werewolves, by way of wendigos and elves, author Aaron Mahnke delivers the reader legends from all over the world, whilst examining how they've become part of our collective imaginations, still striking fear into the hearts of many of us today. [[The World of Lore, Volume 1: Monstrous Creatures by Aaron Mahnke|Full Review]]
+
|title=The World of Lore, Volume 1: Monstrous Creatures
 
+
|author=Aaron Mahnke
<!-- Saxena -->
+
|rating=4.5
|-
+
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
+
|summary=Every country, every town, every village has a folktale – a story passed down through generations that often focuses on the dark and unexplained. No matter how the modern world moves on, there's a still a part of everyone that is vulnerable to a good tale. From ghosts to werewolves, by way of wendigos and elves, author Aaron Mahnke delivers the reader legends from all over the world, whilst examining how they've become part of our collective imaginations, still striking fear into the hearts of many of us today.
[[image:Saxena_Jaya.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1594749779?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1594749779]]
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}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
 
+
|isbn=Saxena_Jaya
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
+
|title=Basic Witches
===[[Basic Witches by J Saxena and J Zimmerman]]===
+
|author=J Saxena and J Zimmerman
 
+
|rating=4
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Spirituality and Religion|Spirituality and Religion]]
+
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
 
+
|summary=Before I started this book I was expecting to be thrown into the world of magic and would know how to levitate by the end of the first chapter. Unsurprisingly, I was wrong. However, what I was met by was a book that explores the origins of witchcraft, teaches you how to dress and act like a witch and contains spells ranging from accepting compliments to conjuring up a relaxing Netflix binge.
Before I started this book I was expecting to be thrown into the world of magic and would know how to levitate by the end of the first chapter. Unsurprisingly, I was wrong. However, what I was met by was a book that explores the origins of witchcraft, teaches you how to dress and act like a witch and contains spells ranging from accepting compliments to conjuring up a relaxing Netflix binge. [[Basic Witches by J Saxena and J Zimmerman|Full Review]]
+
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
|}
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|isbn=Wright_Universe
 
+
|title=The Universe and Life but Not Everything
{{newreview
 
 
|author=Anthony Christian Wright
 
|author=Anthony Christian Wright
|title=The Universe and Life but Not Everything
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
 
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
 
|summary=I often wonder - usually after a moment of shaking my fist at the news on TV - what my manifesto for life and society would look like were I to write it down. I have all sorts of thoughts about these things, from the metaphysics of who we are and where we come from, right down to detailed critiques of quite insignificant government policies. I've never done such an exercise - mostly because I lack the time, the patience and the diligence required. It seems like an enormous task.
 
|summary=I often wonder - usually after a moment of shaking my fist at the news on TV - what my manifesto for life and society would look like were I to write it down. I have all sorts of thoughts about these things, from the metaphysics of who we are and where we come from, right down to detailed critiques of quite insignificant government policies. I've never done such an exercise - mostly because I lack the time, the patience and the diligence required. It seems like an enormous task.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524682012</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1850788332
 +
|title=Rosie: Note to Self
 +
|author=Claire Connor and G P Taylor
 +
|rating=3.5
 +
|genre=General Fiction
 +
|summary=In the first of a five book deal Claire Connor, writing in partnership with GP Taylor, brings us a modern romance based loosely on the story of Ruth from the Bible.  This is total chick-lit, and from the first few pages I thought it was just going to be a very light, funny romance story.  However, the story quickly takes a depressing turn and the rest of the book is as much an exploration of grief as it is a romance novel.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=Santiago_Returning
 +
|title=Returning Home
 
|author=Stephan Santiago
 
|author=Stephan Santiago
|title=Returning Home
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
 
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
 
|summary=[[:Category:Stephan Santiago|Stephan Santiago]] has experienced life in a way that's led him to believe we're all on a soul journey back home – that place we inhabited before we were born.  This book is a guide as to how we can optimise this journey for ourselves, those around us and our children.
 
|summary=[[:Category:Stephan Santiago|Stephan Santiago]] has experienced life in a way that's led him to believe we're all on a soul journey back home – that place we inhabited before we were born.  This book is a guide as to how we can optimise this journey for ourselves, those around us and our children.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1504305272</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Kieron Moore and Rajesh Nagulakonda
+
|isbn=Wilbourne_Shepherd
|title=Buddha: An Enlightened Life (Campfire Graphic Novels)
+
|title=Shepherd of Another Flock
|rating=4
 
|genre=Graphic Novels
 
|summary=I don't do religion, but still there was something that drew me to this comic book. For one, the whole Buddhist faith is still a little unknown to me, and this was certainly going to be educational. Yes, I knew some of the terms it ends up using, but not others, such as bhikshu, and had never really come across the man's life story. Yes, I knew he found enlightenment and taught a very pacifist kind of faith, but where did he come from? What failings did he have on his path, and who were the ones that joined him along the way?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>9381182299</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
 
|author=David Wilbourne
 
|author=David Wilbourne
|title=Shepherd of Another Flock
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Autobiography
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|genre=Spirituality and Religion
|summary=[[:Category:David Wilbourne|David Wilbourne's]] CV looks like a career path for people who are hard-of-humoured.  Banker, teacher of Ancient Greek, vicar, bishop…none of these are jobs normally connected in our minds with a jovial twinkle.  Yet in David's case we'd be totally wrong to assume.  The current Bishop of Llandaff takes us by the hand to show us episodes from his life as vicar of the character-packed Yorkshire parish of Helmsley proving that tears of sorrow are equally shared with tears of laughter.
+
|summary=[[:Category:David Wilbourne|David Wilbourne's]] CV looks like a career path for people who are hard-of-humoured.  Banker, teacher of Ancient Greek, vicar, bishop…none of these are jobs normally connected in our minds with a jovial twinkle.  Yet in David's case, we'd be totally wrong to assume.  The current Bishop of Llandaff takes us by the hand to show us episodes from his life as vicar of the character-packed Yorkshire parish of Helmsley proving that tears of sorrow are equally shared with tears of laughter.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0283072709</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Massimo Pigliucci
+
|isbn=Pigliucci_How
|title= How to be a Stoic
+
|title=How to be a Stoic
|rating= 3.5
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|author=Massimo Pigliucci
|genre= Spirituality and Religion
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|rating=3.5
|summary= ''Stoicism is about developing the tools to deal as effectively as humanly possible with the ensuing conflicts, does not demand perfection, and does not provide specific answers.'' For many readers, living in an age of rules to make us happy and the inevitable failure to stick to them, this is an intensely reassuring sentence. Pigliucci certainly makes Stoicism an appealing philosophy, one which can sit alongside religious faith but doesn't have to, one which doesn't demand Aristotelian heights of intelligence, beauty or riches in order to truly succeed in life, and one which recognises life's messy difficulties.
+
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184604507X</amazonuk>
+
|summary=''Stoicism is about developing the tools to deal as effectively as humanly possible with the ensuing conflicts, does not demand perfection, and does not provide specific answers.'' For many readers, living in an age of rules to make us happy and the inevitable failure to stick to them, this is an intensely reassuring sentence. Pigliucci certainly makes Stoicism an appealing philosophy, one which can sit alongside religious faith but doesn't have to, one which doesn't demand Aristotelian heights of intelligence, beauty or riches in order to truly succeed in life, and one which recognises life's messy difficulties.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=Pearce_Biblical
 +
|title=A Biblical Theology Behind Music, Praise, and Worship
 
|author=Dr Mark Pearce
 
|author=Dr Mark Pearce
|title=A Biblical Theology Behind Music, Praise, and Worship
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
 
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
 
|summary=Music used in religions and worship itself goes back to the beginning of humankind.  In this book musician and theological academic [[:Category:Dr Mark Pearce|Dr Mark Pearce]] explores its Biblical history in a Christian context as well as providing tips and suggestions for those involved in worship in the present day.
 
|summary=Music used in religions and worship itself goes back to the beginning of humankind.  In this book musician and theological academic [[:Category:Dr Mark Pearce|Dr Mark Pearce]] explores its Biblical history in a Christian context as well as providing tips and suggestions for those involved in worship in the present day.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524677280</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=Iles_Thoughts
 +
|title=The Thoughts and Inner Journey of Dr. John Dee
 
|author=Clair Iles
 
|author=Clair Iles
|title=The Thoughts and Inner Journey of Dr. John Dee
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
 
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
|summary=[[:Category:Clair Iles|Clair Iles]] is, in her own words, a normal person who was educated at a normal comprehensive school.  However, she's a normal person who hears dead people.  Yes, Clair is a spiritualist with ability to hear from those who have passed on.  In the past they had generally been relatives or everyday folk.  Imagine, then, her surprise when she felt she was hearing from Elizabethan court polymath John Dee.  Over a period of time she could feel his dictated thoughts and ideas in her mind and this book of the channelled words is the result.
+
|summary=[[:Category:Clair Iles|Clair Iles]] is, in her own words, a normal person who was educated at a normal comprehensive school.  However, she's a normal person who hears dead people.  Yes, Clair is a spiritualist with ability to hear from those who have passed on.  In the past they had generally been relatives or everyday folk.  Imagine, then, her surprise when she felt she was hearing from Elizabethan court polymath John Dee.  Over a period of time she could feel his dictated thoughts and ideas in her mind and this book of the channelled words is the result.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524676691</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Patrice Chaplin
+
|isbn=Woodcock_Becoming
|title=The Stone Cradle 
+
|title=Becoming Reverend: A diary
|rating=5
 
|genre=Autobiography
 
|summary= 'The Stone Cradle' is a remarkable book from the author Patrice Chaplin. It is a biography, the third in a series set in the Catalonian city of Girona. It is also an enduring love story and a journey into mystery and spirituality. The city has drawn artists, writers and philosophers for centuries. Rich in Kabbalistic thought through Azriel, the most famous student of Isaac the Blind, it has always been a home for mysticism and secrets. The magnetism and resonance of the city has had a hold on Patrice Chaplin since she first visited it in the fifties. The series of books detail her journey and her encounters with the esoteric society that have protected its mysteries since ancient times. 'The Stone Cradle' also gives a new life and direction to the mysteries of Rennes le Chateau, the small French village, made famous by the Da Vinci Code and the Holy Blood and The Holy Grail. Linking the two places through sacred geometry to the mountain of Canigou.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>190557083X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
 
|author=Matt Woodcock
 
|author=Matt Woodcock
|title=Becoming Reverend: A diary
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Autobiography
+
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
 
|summary=[[:Category:Matt Woodcock|Matt Woodcock]] is enjoying life: successful journalist, happily married and a new dream home bought and heavily mortgaged.  The only cloud on the horizon is their struggle to have children but they have faith in the IVF treatment as it's early days yet.  Then comes the funny turn Matt has on the way to a story one day.  This takes him by surprise but the resulting clergy collar comes as a total shock.  He's a normal bloke who always thought of himself as more pint than piety believing in a God who's happy for him to remain in the pews.  Errrrm… whoops!
 
|summary=[[:Category:Matt Woodcock|Matt Woodcock]] is enjoying life: successful journalist, happily married and a new dream home bought and heavily mortgaged.  The only cloud on the horizon is their struggle to have children but they have faith in the IVF treatment as it's early days yet.  Then comes the funny turn Matt has on the way to a story one day.  This takes him by surprise but the resulting clergy collar comes as a total shock.  He's a normal bloke who always thought of himself as more pint than piety believing in a God who's happy for him to remain in the pews.  Errrrm… whoops!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781400105</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Kurt Vonnegut and Ivan Chermayeff
+
|isbn=Chaplin_Stone
|title= Sun Moon Star
+
|title=The Stone Cradle
|rating= 4.5
+
|author=Patrice Chaplin
|genre= For Sharing
+
|rating=5
|summary= In his own delightfully imaginative way Kurt Vonnegut tells the story of the birth of Christ in this unique and long out of print children's book. Told from the perspective of the new born infant in his first hours of birth, this charming little story feels different to other children's Christmas books whilst at the same time goes back to the basics in exploring the true nature of Christmas.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1609807243</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jabulani Midzi
 
|title=The Forbidden Tree: History or Folklore?
 
|rating=3.5
 
 
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
 
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
|summary=This is indeed a good question that not even Christians can agree on.  The spectrum goes from the right wing Evangelical literalists who believe right down to the creation's 7 days being just that, all the way over to the left wing Anglo Catholic liberals, some of whom take issue with the virgin birth and the crucifixion. Staking my colours to the mast, I'm in the middle, believing that the Bible should be taken in historical context, that it does contain Old Testament myths and some accounts clearly written in a one-sided way but I firmly believe in Jesus, the miracles etc.
+
|summary=''The Stone Cradle'' is a remarkable book from the author Patrice Chaplin. It is a biography, the third in a series set in the Catalonian city of Girona. It is also an enduring love story and a journey into mystery and spirituality. The city has drawn artists, writers and philosophers for centuries. Rich in Kabbalistic thought through Azriel, the most famous student of Isaac the Blind, it has always been a home for mysticism and secrets. The magnetism and resonance of the city has had a hold on Patrice Chaplin since she first visited it in the fifties. The series of books detail her journey and her encounters with the esoteric society that have protected its mysteries since ancient times. 'The Stone Cradle' also gives a new life and direction to the mysteries of Rennes le Chateau, the small French village, made famous by the Da Vinci Code and the Holy Blood and The Holy Grail. Linking the two places through sacred geometry to the mountain of Canigou.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524661910</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Bhakti Mathur
 
|title=Amma, Tell Me About Diwali!
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Klaka had celebrated Diwali and it had been great fun - a wonderful, beautiful day and tonight the city is lit up by thousands and thousands of lights.  Amma and daddy had given many gifts to their boy and Klaka and his brother had lit the earthen oil lamps known as diyas. They didn't just eat and have a good time - they also offered their prayers for good fortune, prosperity and health to Ganesha, the God of new beginnings and to Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth.  But Klaka was curious:  ''Amma'' he said, ''tell me about Diwali''.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>9881502888</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Cees Nooteboom and Laura Watkinson (Translator)
+
|isbn=Vonnegut_Sun
|title= Letters to Poseidon
+
|title=Sun Moon Star
|rating= 4
+
|author=Kurt Vonnegut and Ivan Chermayeff
|genre= Travel
 
|summary= A serviette, a glass of champagne taken outside a fish restaurant in the open-air Viktualienmarkt in Munich, all taken to celebrate the first day of spring, prompt Cees Nooteboom into Proustian reverie. Upon the paper napkin is written in blue capitals the word POSEIDON, the Greek god who has preoccupied Nooteboom's thoughts for several summers. The blue colour reminds him of the sea viewed from Mediterranean garden of his villa in Menorca. Taking this prompting as a moment of benign synchronicity, he later begins a correspondence with this sea-deity. He seeks to inquire how this somewhat unreliable ancient Greek Olympian sees aeons of time and sends him letters and legenda; meditations and stories to be read, both poetic and tragic, from the arts and the contemporary world. He is not expecting a reply.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782066209</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Alison Pick
 
|title=Between Gods
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Autobiography
 
|summary= Alison Pick's paternal grandparents escaped Czechoslovakia just before the Holocaust by bribing the Nazis for visas to Canada; the rest of the family died in Auschwitz. They spent their whole lives trying to pass as Christians, and Pick's father, too, was reluctant to have anything to do with Judaism. Pick only learned he was Jewish through a conversation overheard when she was 11.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1472225090</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Christopher Dell
 
|title=Mythology: An Illustrated Journey Into Our Imagined Worlds
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
 
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
|summary=What does a rainbow mean to you?  How would you explain the creation of the world if you had no science as such, or the changing of the seasons?  What other kinds of natures – chaotic trickery, evil personae or even the characteristics of goats – people your world?  And why is it that the answers man and woman have collectively formed to such questions have been so similar across the oceans and across the centuries?  This highly pictorial volume looks at the mythologies that formed those answers, and locks on to a multitude of subjects – blood, music, godly activity – to show us what has followed.
+
|summary=In his own delightfully imaginative way, Kurt Vonnegut tells the story of the birth of Christ in this unique and long out of print children's book. Told from the perspective of the new born infant in his first hours of birth, this charming little story feels different to other children's Christmas books whilst at the same time goes back to the basics in exploring the true nature of Christmas.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0500291519</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
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Latest revision as of 12:29, 4 April 2023

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Review of

Jesus, the Man and the Myth: A Jewish Reading of the New Testament by Frederic Seager

4.5star.jpg Spirituality and Religion

I was brought up in a family where religion played little or no part. Culturally Irish Catholic on one side and Welsh Methodist on the other, nobody really discussed religion and the adults around me ranged from lapsed to agnostic to atheist. Other than the odd church wedding or baptism or the school nativity play, I didn't think too much about faith or what people did or didn't believe. Full Review

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Review of

Conversations with Nature by Peter Owen Jones

5star.jpg Spirituality and Religion

One of the comments made when I was offered this beautiful book for review was that it's not very long. Having read the book twice over, I'm brought back inescapably to the Spanish proverb that Life may be short, but it is broad. In this case I'm brought to the idea that the length of life is not the point; the point is its depth. Peter Owen Jones dives deep. Full Review

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Review of

Understanding Human Nature: A User's Guide to Life by Richard Brook

4.5star.jpg Lifestyle

I am a firm believer that sometimes we choose books, and sometimes books choose us. In my case, this is one of the latter. Not so very long ago, if I had come across this book I'd have skimmed it, found some of it interesting, but it would not have 'hit home' in the way that it does now. I believe it came to me not just because I was likely to give it a favourable review [ full disclosure The Bookbag's u.s.p. is that people chose their own books rather than getting them randomly, so there is a predisposition towards expecting to like the book, even if it doesn't always turn out that way ] – but also because it is a book I needed to read, right now. Full Review

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Review of

The Atlas of Monsters by Stuart Hill and Sandra Lawrence

4star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

There are monsters and mysterious characters, such as trolls, leprechauns, goblins and minotaurs. They're the stuff of far too many stories to remain mysterious, and every schoolchild should know all about them. There are monsters and mysterious characters, such as Gog and Magog, Scylla and Charybdis, and the bunyip. They are what you find if you take an interest in this kind of thing to the next level; even if you cannot place them all on a map you should have come across them. But there are monsters and mysterious characters, such as the dobhar-chu, the llambigyn y dwr, and the girtablili. To gain any knowledge of them you really need a book that knows its stuff. A book like this one… Full Review

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Review of

Spiritual Atheist by Nick Seneca Jankel

2star.jpg Lifestyle

Spiritual Atheist is a new 'bible' for the spiritual not the religious, according to the tagline. This is a taboo smashing book which solves the problem of modernity and explains how to be a 'spiritual technologist' who can live and love freely in 'spiritual fullness' without relying on a belief in god. Touching on everything from 'brain science' to AI, Jankel offers a 'path to meaning', allowing us to move beyond consumerism towards an ethical life. Full Review

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Review of

Be Your Higher Self by Samesh Ramjattan

4star.jpg Spirituality and Religion

There are a lot of self-help books about: it's one of the most thriving sections of the average bookshop, but it's not always easy to find the book you need. Samesh Ramjattan has addressed this problem in Be Your Higher Self, a book which allows us all to make sense of our place in the world, as most of us only glimpse our true potential and few people ever achieve it. Even with hard work and dedication, obstacles present themselves and it's difficult to understand why or how they can be overcome. Ramjattan offers us a guide to the spirit world, the chakras, karma and reincarnation as well as information about the age of Aquarius and the ego. It's a slim book - just 128 pages - so can it provide us with the answers we seek? Full Review

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Review of

The World of Lore, Volume 1: Monstrous Creatures by Aaron Mahnke

4.5star.jpg Spirituality and Religion

Every country, every town, every village has a folktale – a story passed down through generations that often focuses on the dark and unexplained. No matter how the modern world moves on, there's a still a part of everyone that is vulnerable to a good tale. From ghosts to werewolves, by way of wendigos and elves, author Aaron Mahnke delivers the reader legends from all over the world, whilst examining how they've become part of our collective imaginations, still striking fear into the hearts of many of us today. Full Review

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Review of

Basic Witches by J Saxena and J Zimmerman

4star.jpg Spirituality and Religion

Before I started this book I was expecting to be thrown into the world of magic and would know how to levitate by the end of the first chapter. Unsurprisingly, I was wrong. However, what I was met by was a book that explores the origins of witchcraft, teaches you how to dress and act like a witch and contains spells ranging from accepting compliments to conjuring up a relaxing Netflix binge. Full Review

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Review of

The Universe and Life but Not Everything by Anthony Christian Wright

3.5star.jpg Spirituality and Religion

I often wonder - usually after a moment of shaking my fist at the news on TV - what my manifesto for life and society would look like were I to write it down. I have all sorts of thoughts about these things, from the metaphysics of who we are and where we come from, right down to detailed critiques of quite insignificant government policies. I've never done such an exercise - mostly because I lack the time, the patience and the diligence required. It seems like an enormous task. Full Review

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Review of

Rosie: Note to Self by Claire Connor and G P Taylor

3.5star.jpg General Fiction

In the first of a five book deal Claire Connor, writing in partnership with GP Taylor, brings us a modern romance based loosely on the story of Ruth from the Bible. This is total chick-lit, and from the first few pages I thought it was just going to be a very light, funny romance story. However, the story quickly takes a depressing turn and the rest of the book is as much an exploration of grief as it is a romance novel. Full Review

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Review of

Returning Home by Stephan Santiago

3.5star.jpg Spirituality and Religion

Stephan Santiago has experienced life in a way that's led him to believe we're all on a soul journey back home – that place we inhabited before we were born. This book is a guide as to how we can optimise this journey for ourselves, those around us and our children. Full Review

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Review of

Shepherd of Another Flock by David Wilbourne

5star.jpg Spirituality and Religion

David Wilbourne's CV looks like a career path for people who are hard-of-humoured. Banker, teacher of Ancient Greek, vicar, bishop…none of these are jobs normally connected in our minds with a jovial twinkle. Yet in David's case, we'd be totally wrong to assume. The current Bishop of Llandaff takes us by the hand to show us episodes from his life as vicar of the character-packed Yorkshire parish of Helmsley proving that tears of sorrow are equally shared with tears of laughter. Full Review

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Review of

How to be a Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci

3.5star.jpg Spirituality and Religion

Stoicism is about developing the tools to deal as effectively as humanly possible with the ensuing conflicts, does not demand perfection, and does not provide specific answers. For many readers, living in an age of rules to make us happy and the inevitable failure to stick to them, this is an intensely reassuring sentence. Pigliucci certainly makes Stoicism an appealing philosophy, one which can sit alongside religious faith but doesn't have to, one which doesn't demand Aristotelian heights of intelligence, beauty or riches in order to truly succeed in life, and one which recognises life's messy difficulties. Full Review

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Review of

A Biblical Theology Behind Music, Praise, and Worship by Dr Mark Pearce

4star.jpg Spirituality and Religion

Music used in religions and worship itself goes back to the beginning of humankind. In this book musician and theological academic Dr Mark Pearce explores its Biblical history in a Christian context as well as providing tips and suggestions for those involved in worship in the present day. Full Review

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Review of

The Thoughts and Inner Journey of Dr. John Dee by Clair Iles

3.5star.jpg Spirituality and Religion

Clair Iles is, in her own words, a normal person who was educated at a normal comprehensive school. However, she's a normal person who hears dead people. Yes, Clair is a spiritualist with ability to hear from those who have passed on. In the past they had generally been relatives or everyday folk. Imagine, then, her surprise when she felt she was hearing from Elizabethan court polymath John Dee. Over a period of time she could feel his dictated thoughts and ideas in her mind and this book of the channelled words is the result. Full Review

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Review of

Becoming Reverend: A diary by Matt Woodcock

4.5star.jpg Spirituality and Religion

Matt Woodcock is enjoying life: successful journalist, happily married and a new dream home bought and heavily mortgaged. The only cloud on the horizon is their struggle to have children but they have faith in the IVF treatment as it's early days yet. Then comes the funny turn Matt has on the way to a story one day. This takes him by surprise but the resulting clergy collar comes as a total shock. He's a normal bloke who always thought of himself as more pint than piety believing in a God who's happy for him to remain in the pews. Errrrm… whoops! Full Review

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Review of

The Stone Cradle by Patrice Chaplin

5star.jpg Spirituality and Religion

The Stone Cradle is a remarkable book from the author Patrice Chaplin. It is a biography, the third in a series set in the Catalonian city of Girona. It is also an enduring love story and a journey into mystery and spirituality. The city has drawn artists, writers and philosophers for centuries. Rich in Kabbalistic thought through Azriel, the most famous student of Isaac the Blind, it has always been a home for mysticism and secrets. The magnetism and resonance of the city has had a hold on Patrice Chaplin since she first visited it in the fifties. The series of books detail her journey and her encounters with the esoteric society that have protected its mysteries since ancient times. 'The Stone Cradle' also gives a new life and direction to the mysteries of Rennes le Chateau, the small French village, made famous by the Da Vinci Code and the Holy Blood and The Holy Grail. Linking the two places through sacred geometry to the mountain of Canigou. Full Review

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Review of

Sun Moon Star by Kurt Vonnegut and Ivan Chermayeff

4.5star.jpg Spirituality and Religion

In his own delightfully imaginative way, Kurt Vonnegut tells the story of the birth of Christ in this unique and long out of print children's book. Told from the perspective of the new born infant in his first hours of birth, this charming little story feels different to other children's Christmas books whilst at the same time goes back to the basics in exploring the true nature of Christmas. Full Review

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