Arthur’s top 5 fiction reads of 2014
Over the last year I’ve plowed through a lot of short fiction and continued to nurture my interest in speculative fiction by women, but here are some of my highlights.
December book reviews
Laurinda, Alice Pung Alice Pung’s Laurinda is the brilliant Asian version of Looking for Alibrandi in some ways, and indeed Pung credits Melina Marchetta in the acknowledgements (along with John Marsden — what Aussie reader or writer of our generation wouldn’t?). On the surface, both are about an ‘ethnic’ girl […]
Richard Dowden on China and Africa
The Chinese are everywhere in Tanzania, from mobile phones to Christmas decorations to infrastructure. The University of Dodoma has a whole department dedicated to the study of Chinese language and culture. Richard Dowden says in Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles, “Where the West sees Africa as the place to make […]
Richard Dowden on tribalism
From Richard Dowden‘s Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles: Three words come to mind when people try to explain the failure of Africa’s first generation after independence: leadership, tribalism and resources. They are not bad starting points, but they do not fully explain why Africa, free at last, endowed with enormous […]
November book reviews
Two Brothers, Ben Elton I’m familiar with Ben Elton mainly through his writing of Blackadder but I’ll be going back for more of his novels. This one follows two boys who are brothers in every way except blood. One is adopted, which might not be such a big deal except […]
Mom Enough: book review
Mom Enough is a collection of articles, by various authors, that first appeared on Desiring God. You can get it as a free ebook. I got to it via Rachel Pieh Jones’ blog, and her contributions are the most consistently gospel focused. When mums feel inadequate, God calls us: Chosen, […]
October book reviews
Flying on Broken Wings, Carrie Bailee Bailee’s autobiography is not told chronologically. We’re piecing parts of her life together as she recalls the memories her brain has wiped out for her own protection. Horrific but not graphic, we learn that from the ages of 4-14 her father abused her in […]
Meet Jesus at uni 