Welcome to my blog...whatever image springs to mind, be it a hippopotamus, Tigger, red-haired Highland cattle, or a simple kitchen table, 'Unless a Seed' is a four-legged creature. My hope is that having read a Book Review, a Poem, or a What is a Christian? or some random post in Everything Else, you will be kind enough to leave a comment or a short reply. And I hope you enjoy reading its contents
What is a Christian?
Book, Podcast, Film, and Blog Reviews
Poetry
For Writers, Writing and Everything Else
Book Review: Fully Alive, Elizabeth Oldfield, Hodder 2025
Fully Alive - only read this if you’re curious about the human condition and spirituality, Christianity and community, and want to be ‘fully alive’.
Book Review: The Correspondent, Virginia Evans, M&J, 2025
An intriguing novel in the form of letters to and from Sybil, a retired lawyer.
Book Review: No Bad Parts Richard C. Schwartz, Vermilion
Internal Family Systems is a very popular psychotherapeutic approach to wholeness. An intriguing and controversial methodology.
Book Review: There Are Rivers in the Sky, Elif Shafak, Penguin
A masterpiece - one to be added to your pile of Must Reads.
Book Review: Cosmic Chemistry, John C. Lennox Lion – 2021
Do God and Science mix? That’s the sub-title - this book reviews the arguments.
Book Review: The Wizard of the Kremlin Guiliano Da Empoli Pushkin Press – 2023
If you’d like to be taken into the heart of Russia, and Putin’s Kremlin, then buckle up and read The Wizard of the Kremlin
Book Review: ‘Surrounded By Idiots’ Thomas Erikson Penguin – 2019
Red, Yellow, Green, Blue - four personality types, why they clash and how to pour oil on troubled waters
A Two Books Review: The Spark of My Womb, B. Coil The Gift of Being Yourself, David G. Benner
A Two Books Review - two very different books dealing with overcoming brokenness and the search for wholeness
Podcasts, BBC Sounds, Red Hand Files…out walking or jogging No1.The Robcast with Bonnie Tyler and her book ‘The Spark of My Womb’
First in a series of reviews of podcasts and the likes whilst out jogging or walking
Shortcuts? There Are No Shortcuts
June’s contribution to MoreThanWriters.blogspot.com maybe a life lesson but certainly a writer’s life lesson
Book Review: Secrets about Life Every Woman Should Know by Barbara De Angelis
Wot! A self-help book? Lord, help us! Why John? Why? Read on and you’ll find out why.
Book Review: Joe Marler – Loose Head Confessions of an (Un)professional rugby player, Joe Marler Penguin – 2020
A must read…a moving and hilarious account of one of England’s best
Are You a Filer or a Piler…or a Lurcher?
Are you a filer or a piler? Organised or in disarray? I discuss my tendency to lurch between the two
Bolt Hole for Writers – an ideal Writer’s Retreat?
An account of a recent solo writer’s retreat - and the tug of war between the idyllic and the unpredictable
Book Review: Banshee, Lindsay Rumbold, Resolute Books
‘A sophisticated Cold War mystery…’ is Fiona Veitch Smith’s comment on the cover of Banshee. I concur. It is a gripping read.
The Illusion of Control
Imagination versus inspiration - is there a difference? Internal v external source?
Book Review: Light Force, Brother Andrew and Al Janssen, Hodder & Stoughton (2008)
An extraordinary account of the impact of Brother Andrew’s mission to Palestinian and Israeli Christians - and meeting leaders from Hamas and Hezbollah. A must read.
Book Review: Phoebe – A Story, Paula Gooder, Hodder & Stoughton
Rome AD 50 - Paul is on his way to Rome, Phoebe’s visit with Paul’s letter stirs up the church…and the past