I am ashamed to say I have not even heard of almost any of the books on the Fiction list, although I have read quite a few on the non-fiction list.

The one on Madame Chiang-Kai-Shek is quite good, although you need a bit of background on modern Chinese history in parts or you have no idea what’s going on. The Life of Louis Armstrong is also a good read.

The one on Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America is a bit revisionist for my taste. The author took some liberties in creating composite characters that are not really historical.

The Dawkins book on The Evidence for Evolution is actually one of his better ones in a while, lower on invective than most of his more recent drivel. I always try to read all his stuff when it comes out if for no other reason than to be able to talk about his work coherently if queried by parishioners. Its worth a read, actually. The major weakness of it, as in most of his work, is that he doesn’t take seriously contrary opinions or evidence. However, his premise of humans being, however distantly, related to the rest of the natural order almost can be interpreted in light of a stewardship of creation theology.

“I am ashamed to say I have not even heard of almost any of the books on the Fiction list”

Don’t be ashamed. I think that books—especially fiction—need some time to shake down and sort themselves out in terms of quality, and that takes time.

So outside of our respective fields, where of course we have to keep up, I see nothing wrong in reading and re-reading books that have stood the test of time. I tend to stay away from current best-sellers, though not invariably. But I am usually not watching the television show or reading the book that “everybody else” is watching or reading.

Which leads me to this recommendation: fairly new books, but out long enough to have been widely and favorably reviewed. For those of you interested in first-rate theological thinking, check out the work of David Brown, a Scottish theologian who recently moved from Durham to St Andrews. Start with his Tradition and Imagination and then go to his Discipleship and Imagination. Both are available in paper from OUP.

Did I read correctly?  The Book of Genesis (an illustrated depiction of God’s Word) is labeled as “Fiction”?