Memoir from Manus

Book | No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison| Behrouz Boochani

Review by TIM LAM

This haunting memoir from Kurdish journalist Behrouz Boochani is an act of resistance against Australia’s ruthless offshore detention regime.

Written via WhatsApp text messages sent from a smuggled mobile phone, and translated from Farsi by University of Sydney researcher Dr Omid ...

Faith no more

Review by Nick Mattiske

Book | Seven Types of Atheism |John Gray

The cover of John Gray’s Seven Types of Atheism features seven highlighted gumnuts.

Is Gray suggesting atheism is a form of nuttiness? Sort of, as even though Gray is an atheist himself, he thinks that only a minority of the wide variety of ...

Deep thinking

Review by Nick Mattiske

Book | Wild Sea: A History of the Southern Ocean | Joy McCann

We Australians are beach lovers. But in winter there is a stark difference between our idyllic, northern, Pacific beaches and the southern coastline pounded by icy waters travelling unhindered from Antarctica.

The Southern Ocean is an example ...

Graphic Gospel

Review by TIM LAM

Graphic novel | The Reign of God: Book One | Issey Fujishima

This debut graphic novel from Melbourne-based artist Issey Fujishima blends Western-style comics with Japanese manga to create a fresh take on the Gospel.

The Reign of God is set in 70CE, a period of conflict and bloodshed in the ...

All natural

Review by David Merritt

Book | Seasons and Self. Discourses on being ‘At Home’ in Nature | Rex A. E. Hunt

The author’s introduction to this book starts with a quote from American author and philosopher Sam Keen: “Whether we continue to talk about God is not so important as whether we retain the sense of ...

Present beliefs

Review by Nick Mattiske

Book | Paul and the Gift | John M G Barclay

The main argument of this large, scholarly book is actually quite simple: if we are to understand what Paul says about salvation as a gift we need to understand what the concept of gift meant in the culture of the day. ...

Issues of belonging

Review by John Rickard

Book | Why Indigenous Sovereignty Should Matter To Christians | Chris Budden

Chris Budden is profoundly qualified to write this book that examines the issue of Indigenous sovereignty for the church. He has a passionate heart and a willingness to sit and listen to the concerns and desires of the First Peoples of ...

State of amnesia

Review by Nick Mattiske

Book | The Long Hangover: Putin’s New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past | Shaun Walker

What’s going on in Putin’s Russia?

The Guardian’s Moscow correspondent, Shaun Walker, recently wrote that, while World Cup soccer fans realised Russia is not entirely alien, there remains a dark side. It is a ...

Illustrated Bible

Review by Tyson and Evie Robinson

Book | Mystic Bible | Alexandra Sangster

Tyson (aged 13): Mystic Bible, by Alexandra Sangster, is a children’s book about the story of Jesus.

I got to experience this book firsthand and I am impressed. I was wowed at the beautiful drawings and found it really easy ...

Natural wonder

Review by Nick Mattiske

Book | The Wasp and the Orchid: the Remarkable Life of Australian Naturalist Edith Coleman  | Danielle Clode

Australians may be more likely to look overseas before recognising our own nature writing endeavours. Women writers are particularly prone to being forgotten.

Zoologist Danielle Clode, formerly with Museum Victoria and the University of Melbourne, is a ...

Puritan redemption

Review by Nick Mattiske

Book | What Are We Doing Here?  | Marilynne Robinson

American novelist and essayist Marilynne Robinson is particularly interested in rehabilitating the Puritan founders of the US in this work.

Although they have a reputation for dour strictness, they were, she argues, relatively tolerant for their time and their legacy ...

Theological perspective

Review by Bob Faser

Book | A Genuinely Theological Church: ministry, theology and the Uniting Church | Geoff Thompson

At the very least, Dr Thompson has given us a book with a provocative title.

In some UCA circles, whenever the T-word (theology) is mentioned, people look rather tense, as if they assume an all-in brawl ...