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Christian. 
Mother. Working.

Aug 20, 2026 | 2026 - Autumn - Free, Book Reviews

Christian. Mother. Working.

Author Naomi Aidoo
Publisher BRF Ministries £8.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781800394384  (2026)

This book is an excellent balance of encouragement, insight, space-curation, Scripture, and prayer. Each chapter looks at a woman (or women) of the Bible, their story and the application to an aspect of life faced by mothers. The author reflects on the Scriptures with her own journey and experience, including occasional words from additional contributors. The author is careful to recognise different experiences of family and motherhood, loss and struggle, and our own personalities and callings. There is a sense of breadth and inclusion, of wisdom and reflection held lightly. Each chapter ends with further Scripture for consideration 
and prayer. The book concludes with questions to ponder for your own life, to help put insights into practice. The book is designed as one you can return to. It is a simple yet profound book, affirmative 
and also challenging where we might 
lack confidence, miss seeing what God is doing, or struggle to trust. It’s a resource worth reading, keeping to hand and 
sharing with others.

Reviewed by LINDSAY TANNER

Family Life

 

The Cost of 
Christian Living

Aug 20, 2026 | 2026 - Autumn - Free, Book Reviews

The Cost of 
Christian Living

Author Martyn Percy
Publisher BRF 2025 £9.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781800393493

The title of this book arouses interest, and the twelve main chapter headings are also intriguing. Each opens with a quotation from a parable or an event in Jesus’ ministry and proceeds to an unexpected development beginning with some facts about the First century Holy Land context followed by a link to a parallel happening in history or today. The author points out that there is a similar challenge for the church today supported by reference to other authors. Percy also draws on his own experience as a priest and lecturer. There are two parts:e first is excellent for general group study; and the second for a Lent course which includes what he warns are “a few rather difficult paragraphs” because “we should not sanitise the physical horror of Christ’s crucifixion”. There are discussion questions relating to each chapter; overall an excellent book for people in church leadership roles.

Reviewed by DAVID SELLICK

Money

 

What Do I Do with the Ashes?

Aug 20, 2026 | 2026 - Autumn - Free, Book Reviews

What Do I Do with
the Ashes?

Author Phillip Tovey
Publisher Grove Books £5.95
Format pbk
ISBN 9781788275064

This booklet is recommended to all Readers – not just those who currently conduct funerals. The historical context is clear – the church responded late to cremation, losing ground in funeral involvement over decades, but now the rapid growth of direct cremation avoids any contact with church. The process is seen as completed once the ashes are delivered to next of kin, sometimes to be scattered but often to be stored because nobody quite knows what to do next. This may leave families with no opportunity to process a death. Many clergy are hard pressed to take on a new element of pastoral ministry, but Readers may be well-placed to listen to families, to craft liturgies for a service when ashes are buried or a memorial service of thanksgiving, within the theology of our belief in the resurrection of the body. This could be a fresh expression of traditional CofE funeral ministry, based on pastoral and spiritual care.

Reviewed by KAREN SENIOR

Pastoral

 

Becoming Prayer

Aug 20, 2026 | 2026 - Autumn - Free, Book Reviews

Becoming Prayer​

Author Simon Cocksedge & Nicholas Alan Worssam
Publisher Canterbury Press £13.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781786226198

Described as A Franciscan Guide, readers will discover that there is far more to the saint than a lover of the natural world. Each chapter introduces a different perspective on contemplative prayer and helpful guidance is given to those who are new to the practice. We learn much about St Francis himself and about his followers for whom prayer is a way of life. The saint encourages us to pray at all times and to be ready to act in accordance with the promptings of divine wisdom. Simplicity and humility are fundamental to our willingness to be changed. We are encouraged to spend time in silence and solitude: this in turn will be reflected in our preaching and lead to social action. Always interesting, the narrative is sometimes disjointed but we are continually challenged to follow in the footsteps of the saint as so many have done throughout the centuries.

Reviewed by LAURA HILLMAN

Prayer

 

The Middle 
Eastern Jesus

Aug 20, 2026 | 2026 - Autumn - Free, Book Reviews

The Middle 
Eastern Jesus

Author Nadim Nassar
Publisher Canterbury Press £16.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781786225719

Although Jesus lived his entire life in the culture of the Middle East, the image of Jesus held by Christians in the West may be shaped by Western culture and assumptions. This thoughtful book is an engaging corrective to any such tendency. Nassar, a Church of England priest, was born and raised in Syria. Drawing on his heritage and his deep and topical knowledge not only of Syria but the wider Levantine culture, he shows how profoundly the life and ministry of Jesus was rooted in and shaped by that culture. He reflects insightfully throughout the book on how the Christian narrative still offers the message of hope for the region, marked as it is still, by political and religious turmoil, violence, instability and profound human suffering. Critical of the current religious leadership of all the faiths in the region, his keenly felt concern for its people is clear. This personal and impassioned book is well worth reading.

Reviewed by PETER WRIGHT

Bible culture

 

Dare To Be True

Aug 20, 2026 | 2026 - Autumn - Free, Book Reviews

Dare To Be True

Author Wendy Cope
Publisher SPCK £16.99
Format hbk
ISBN 9780281092093

George Herbert is a major poet and a beloved person. This selection of his verse with some prose is a delightfully helpful introduction to his life, poems, faith and practice. Start here, if new to Herbert. If familiar, then trust a fellow poet, and enjoy the author’s appreciation of his wit, playfulness and great skill. He wrote verse as a teenager and was still writing it on his death as parish priest of Bemerton aged 39. He also wrote Latin poems and speeches when Public Orator, Cambridge. The English poems included are mostly from his later Christian years: original, sometimes straightforward, at times complex, often surprising. I had never read The Church-Porch but am glad it was chosen. He had a fondness for patterning his verse, according to the struggle or story unfolding. His endings can be superb and his bon mots memorable. He loved music and his verse confirms that.

Reviewed by JEREMY HARVEY

Poetry

 

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