elouisedouglas's Reviews (721)

What better way to start the year than a trip back to the beginning, back to Genesis. While it’s true that most ‘read the Bible in one year’ plans start in Genesis, this might be the most I feel like I’ve got out of reading Genesis – it felt like a joy rather than a chore, which it has sometimes felt in the past when I’ve been just thinking about how much I need to read and not what I’m reading.

Having the time to really reflect on each day’s readings and the additional extras that are interspersed through the book really helped me to absorb what I was reading and think about how it connects to life now.

And of course, the book was beautiful inside and out. The SRT books always feel really thoughtfully laid out and put together, to really give focus to the words that you’re reading, but to make that reading as focused as possible.

Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2020/02/09/she-reads-truth-genesis/

I’ve wanted to read this book since it first came out, but since I’m not a lover of hardback books, I had a long wait for it to come out in paperback! I also reserved it in audio format on my library app when I found out it was being narrated by Carrie Hope Fletcher, and as luck would have it, the day after I bought the paperback, I finally got to the top of the list for the audio loan!

I was torn between getting lost in the pages, or having it read to me, but it turns out the audio version was the perfect accompaniment for a week of my morning walks. Both Carrie Hope Fletcher and Kwaku Fortune had the perfect voices for the roles, and drew me right into the characters lives.

Unfortunately, because I’m a big fan of Carrie Hope Fletcher, I couldn’t help but picture Tiffy as a red-headed version of her, but that only made me relate to the character more.

The reason I wanted to read the book so much was because the idea seemed so novel to me – two strangers not just sharing a flat, but sharing a bed (at different times), and communicating through notes left in the flat. Leon works nights as a nurse in a hospice so has the flat during the day, and Tiffy has the flat overnight and at weekends. I think just the fact that he works in a hospice probably tells you something of Leon’s nature – he’s so caring and sensitive and as he opens up throughout the book, it’s a wonderful thing. And Tiffy is such a complex character – completely weird, but in the best way.

I thought the author dealt with some pretty complex issues with sensitivity and care, which was really nice. Some of the things that Tiffy and Leon go through can’t have been easy to write about, because they definitely weren’t easy to read. As a warning in case it might be a trigger for you, the book contains gaslighting, stalking and emotional abuse. As I said, it’s written about with care, but that doesn’t make it any easier to read.

Obviously, knowing it’s a romance book means you kind of know what’s going to happen in the end, but there were plenty of twists and turns to get there and at times I was a bit worried that they wouldn’t end up together, but the book ended in the most heart-warming way and I had such a smile on my face when the music started playing at the end of the audio.

I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes a light-hearted read with a bit of depth, and I’d definitely recommend the audio book – the narrators were both fabulous!

Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2020/03/14/beth-oleary-the-flat-share/

Lara Cliffe has had a rocky road to get to this week – her hen do on a cruise to amsterdam and back. Her love life has not been plain sailing (no pun intended), but she’s finally happy and more than ready to settle down.

But when, on the first night of the cruise, she comes face to face with the guy who broke her heart into pieces, and it seems like he might be truly sorry, what will Lara do? Was it fate that brought them back together?

I have to say, even though this was a short story (published as part of the Quick Reads series for World Book Day), it had a lot of ups and downs. Many times that I wanted to reach into the book, grab Lara by her shoulders and shake some sense into her.

I won’t go into the story any more, because being short, it would be really easy for me to give away major spoilers. But it was a delightful read, as per usual from Milly. For only £1, you can’t go wrong, and if you’ve never read a Milly Johnson book before, this is the perfect gateway into a world of loveliness.

Who the hell said dreams had to be big? It doesn’t matter what size your dream is, as long as it fits into that dream-sized hole in your heart.

Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2020/03/14/milly-johnson-the-little-dreams-of-lara-cliffe/

I was sent this book before Christmas as an advanced copy to review, but unfortunately I’ve not been feeling great and haven’t been in the mood for reading very much. So the length of time it took me to read is definitely not a reflection of the book, which I thought was fabulous.

As a disclaimer, I’m neither in ministry or a mum, so I’m almost certainly not the target audience, but I found it so eye opening for a general member of the congregation to see a bit of what it takes to be a vicar, let alone a vicar and a mum.

I loved the style of this book. Each chapter started with a quotation, and ended with a reflection from another ministry mum. The thing I loved most however was the author’s writing style. Very down to earth and with a humorous style that makes the subject seem more approachable and understandable, but she didn’t shy away from tackling subjects that must have felt difficult to talk about, breaking ‘boundaries’ in a way I’ve never read before.

I believe that with Jesus’ help and the help of others around us, we can all thrive as ministry mums. We can thrive with passion. We can thrive with compassion. We can thrive with humour and style. (paraphrased)

With chapters discussing things like keeping your multi-faceted identity while people attempt to pigeon-hole you, to the endless expectations that are piled onto a vicar, and in particular a female vicar who has children.

To be authentic we need to embrace who we are , rather than who we think we are supposed to be.

The book, as you would expect, is filled with the author’s personal experiences and insights, and it definitely opened up a whole new side of thinking for me. Not being a mum myself, I admire any working mum who is juggling a career with bringing up a family, but I’ve learnt so much from reading this book. Not to dismiss people’s complex identities with statements like “you’re a breath of fresh air”, conveying the idea that they’re different and not what you expected.

I said previously that I’m not the target market for this book, but there were so many places that I felt were speaking directly to me, to the point where multiple times I had to put the book down and just sit and think about what I’d just read.

If we can hold on to just how loved we are, whatever we face, whatever rubbish is thrown at us, we might find it easier to deal with fear, condemnation and difficult times.

I’ve been reminded perhaps with alarming regularity, that God’s expectations of us are usually far less demanding and much less judgemental than human ones. Indeed, the Bible regularly reminds us to aim to see things God’s way.

If God can take Moses and his hesitancy, lack of confidence and impatience and use him in such dramatic ways, don’t you think God can use you in your flawed identity too?

I’d personally recommend this book firstly to any woman thinking of entering into ministry, whether or not they have children. But really, I think this book should be read by anyone in a ministry capacity, to give them an insight into what life might be like for people with different lifestyles and backgrounds to their own.

And finally, I’d recommend this book to other people like me – neither in ministry or a mum, but interested in understanding more about how we can support those around us and challenge the male-dominated attitudes that are still unfortunately prevalent within the church and the wider world.

I’ve been seeing Susan Calman more and more on tv since her appearance on Strictly Coming Dancing – she was my favourite that year! And I really feel like she’s a ray of sunshine – she makes me smile when I see her.

So it was surprising to me that she struggles with depression. It shouldn’t be a surprise as I have learnt over the last couple of years how easy it is to put a happy face on when you feel the complete opposite, but it was a stark reminder that things aren’t always what they seem.

I think the world would do well to remember that – it’s easy to think that everyone is happy, particularly in a world where we all share the good bits on social media, but I think more people are struggling than you think.

Over the past few years I’ve changed my life. I’ve gone from being miserable in the shadows to walking in the sunshine. I’ve most definitely turned my life Sunny Side Up.

But while depression was the main subject of Calman’s previous book, this book was about how we can spread joy. Joy, kindness and community spirit.

Fear, anger, rude behaviour, intolerance, spite and bullying are all in evidence every single day of the week. But I believe that if we were all a little bit kinder, a little bit more full of joy, things would be better.

As the blurb says: “Susan is a one-woman army of hope and joy, and she’s ready to lead the nation in a different direction. This is her Calmanifesto of Happiness.”

And not just talking about being kinder to other people, but to yourself too:

Be kind to others, but above all be kind to you. You deserve it. You can be Wonder Woman if you want to. I know I am.

Scattered throughout the book are tweets that Calman collected while she was on tour asking for people’s unexpected acts of kindness – they made me smile so much to realise that our world is not all so bad – the news is so full of negativity these days with people panic buying and neglecting the most vulnerable people in our society, that it’s nice to remember that there are people who still care.

If we are kind to each other not only can we learn more but we can become less frightened of those who we consider different. Kindness is letting people change. Kindness is getting to know people. Kindness is letting people be people.

I would recommend this book to anyone who just wants to feel a bit happier – you can’t help but be happy at the end of this book. I’m definitely adding Susan to my list of fantasy dinner guests, I’d love to just sit down and talk to her, she’s such an inspiration. Plus, I’d love to talk more about what it was like to dance with Kevin on Strictly – she talks about it a lot in this book, but he was my favourite Strictly Pro!

I want this to be a wonderful world. I want it to continue to be a place where magnificent, odd, eccentric individuals flourish. I need it to be better for those who come after us. I’m going to do my absolute best, even if I fail along the way.

To be honest, I’m a bit conflicted about this book. Even calling it a book feels weird, because it’s not a novel, it’s a collection of short stories. And that’s the main reason I’m conflicted.

I loved Geralt, the main character (aka The Witcher), his sense of humour and his unique perspective on the world are definitely going to make this series an interesting read. But it was really hard to get to know him when the story kept flipping about.

So while I thought this was an intriguing collection of stories, it’s not the way I would have chosen to be introduced to a new series of books, as getting any kind of ‘relationship’ with the main characters was pretty difficult.

I did, however, think that the use of short stories to give you a broader background of the world and the characters was pretty clever – there’s no long pre-ambling introduction necessary – you’re just dropped into the action and then the background unfolds itself as the stories progress. Which was brilliant for setting a good pace and making sure the first few chapters weren’t just dry and boring like a history lesson.

I definitely think I’ll go on and try to read the next in the series, which I’m hoping is a novel and not another story collection, but it’ll have to wait until this lockdown is over and I can get back out to Waterstones to spend my voucher. Which to be honest, sums up my feelings perfectly – I liked the book enough to carry on to the next one, but it didn’t set me on fire enough to amazon prime the next one to my door.

Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2020/03/21/andrzej-sapkowski-the-last-wish-the-witcher-1/

I’ve read many books with a quote on the cover which says “This book is a must-read”, but I think this is one of the first where I can whole-heartedly agree that it’s true.

I’m not going to lie, this isn’t an easy book to read, but then it isn’t an easy life that Vicky has lived, and her bravery in writing this book is astounding.

I cried multiple times while reading this, thinking of all that Vicky had to live through growing up in her traditional evangelical church, keeping her identity secret so that she wasn’t disowned by those around her – seeing what happened to other people who came out as gay and were ostracised from church.

I’m lucky to live and worship in a church where that would (hopefully) never happen, but I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for Vicky as a teenager to sit in her own church, a place that’s supposed to be safe and supportive, and have to listen to people condemning the very secret that she was hiding.

All I could think about while reading was the young people in my youth groups and how I would never want them to go through something like that.

I cried for all the health problems that Vicky has had to endure as a result of keeping her sexuality a secret and the stresses that put her under. Having to choose between a career as a highly successful worship leader/recording artist, and living a life that was true to her. It made me feel very fortunate, but very angry too.

Vicky shared a Billy Graham quote that she shared with her grandfather when she finally came out, and I think it summed it up perfectly:

It’s God’s job to judge, the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, and my job to love.

There were many chapters in the book devoted to Vicky’s internal battle with being told her sexuality was un-biblical, and her eventual realisation that that wasn’t the case. I really appreciated how well researched this all seemed to be, because it definitely opened my eyes to some bible verses which I’ve definitely seen used in different contexts in the past.

Vicky also talks about how it’s not just sexuality that is frowned upon by some parts of the church, but other things like struggles with mental health, and I think that even though it feels like the church is moving on, there’s definitely a lot of work to do (and as mentioned before, I think I’m lucky for the church that I’m in too).

The Christian faith teaches: “Love your neighbour as you love yourself” – the implication being that we must learn to love ourselves first, in order to love others from a place of health and well-being.

Discussed in the book, and something I’ve never thought about before, is how the church has changed it’s viewpoint on seemingly immovable topics before, like historic views on slavery and female equality, so we can have quiet hope that we will keep progressing and get to a point where all people are affirmed and respected.

I really can’t say much more about how I think this book should be essential reading, it gave me so much to think about, and things to reflect on from my own past, as well as making me want to work hard to make sure my own young people never have to go through what Vicky went through – she’s truly a remarkable woman – and so I’ll finish this review with a quote from her:

We become our most beautiful, powerful, irreplaceable selves when we allow our diversity to shine.

Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2020/03/26/vicky-beeching-undivided/

“The stories of people in Scripture are case histories of God’s relationship with human-kind”

Throughout this book, we are introduced to 25 case histories of women in the Bible. Some well known like Mary Magdalene, others lesser known like the five daughters of Zelophehad, but all notable for being included in the history of what is undoubtedly a patriarchal society – and clearly showing what value God places on women in his world.

Some of the women are not even named, but Storkey brings them to life and puts their story into context of the times they lived in. I found it so enlightening to read these stories and pay more attention to women who I may otherwise have skipped over.

What I also loved was that after the first half of each chapter where we learned more about these women, the second half of each chapter was about how we can apply their lessons into our lives today. It’s very easy to read the Bible without stopping to think about what it’s teaching us now, and this really unpacked it.

In fact, when I think about negatives for this book, my only criticism was that the passages from the Bible that were being discussed were not included in the actual book, which meant I kept having to switch out of the book and look up the passages, which was just a little annoying.

But apart from that, I read through this book in two sittings, highlighting passage after passage that I wanted to remember and come back to – at one point I started to think that the highlights were becoming ineffective as there were so many – I definitely want to just read this again.

The author had a very easy writing style, which made the book feel almost conversational rather than text-book-like, but that’s not to diminish the content, which was clearly well researched and insightful.

One example is the chapter about Moses – we’ve all read this story many many times, it’s one we were taught in sunday school. Yet I’ve never thought past the basket in the reeds to the women involved in the story – the mother who calmly hid her son in the river at a time when it was probably filled with other dead babies. The sister who watched the baby from the banks, and the princess who found him. They all play such a big part in the history, as Storkey writes:

None of them had the power to change a barbaric, unjust law. Yet the joint weight of the power they did have meant that one baby escaped the consequences of that injustice to become a future leader anointed by God.

Through this story, we learn that:

When we are led by love rather than fear, we gain more courage, and God often empowers us to be stronger and to see things more clearly.

I’ll finish with one more quote from the book, about the 23rd woman, Lydia.

Finally, Lydia challenges us to face our own significance in the spread of the gospel. Women were not at the margins in the early Christian Church; neither silent in churches nor absent in evangelism. They were effective communicators and vital in the expansion of mission.

I’d recommend this book to anyone with an interesting in uncovering a new layer to the stories we’ve all read many times before, but specifically to women who may be experiencing challenges in their own faith journeys – this book was such an encouragement.

Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2020/04/11/elaine-storkey-women-in-a-patriarchal-world/

In a complete coincidence, I managed to finish reading this book 7 years to the day that I finished reading The Rosie Project (or so Facebook memories tells me). I still remember being given an advanced reading copy of that first book and loving it so so much.

And here we are, the third and final book in the series, and I have to say, it did not disappoint!

We join Don more than 10 years after the conclusion of The Rosie Effect, and his son Hudson is now in his final year at primary school. He’s showing signs that he might be autistic, and Don desperately wants him to fit in at school, and so starts the ‘Hudson Project’.

Without giving away too many spoilers (because like the previous books in the series, I think this one was fantastic and you should go and read it), we know from the previous two books that Don’s plans never go quite the way he wants them to.

I have to say, this book to me felt a lot less ‘light-hearted’ than the first two – I don’t know if it’s just these weird Covid-times that we’re currently living in, but I felt much more of an emotional pull towards Hudson, and while some of the things that Don did were a bit off the wall, it made me a bit sad that he felt like he had to change Hudson at all.

Perhaps it’s because it’s a child involved, but in previous books I found myself laughing at the crazy situations that Don got himself into, but not so much in this one. That’s not a bad thing though, because my emotional involvement with Hudson made me so tied to this book that I couldn’t stop reading.

In the previous two books, Don never really acknowledges that he has autism (although as readers, it seems pretty obvious to us), but I appreciated how this book tackled the subject a bit more head-on, addressing some of the stereotypes that are commonplace and delving into the topic of trying to change to fit in – why should he?!

After following Don and Rosie’s relationship from the start, it was really nice to see them together 13 years later, and looking at how their relationship has grown. How much they both care for Hudson and are willing to give up so much to see him happy – even if they don’t quite know what that looks like.

I’m at risk of just going on and on and spoiling the book, but all I’ll say is that if you haven’t read this series – seriously, go out and buy it. It’s such a lovely read and if you’re anything like me, you’ll definitely find yourself wanting to be best friends with Don.

I’m just really disappointed to know that this is the final book in the series, but I think it definitely finished in the best way – no third book blues for this book!

Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2020/04/16/graeme-simsion-the-rosie-result/

This book was requested as an advanced-review copy from NetGalley. I’ve not read anything by this author before, so I had no idea what to expect, but the cover and the title instantly drew me in.

The book is written as a series of devotions based around the sermon on the mount, and although I read this book in a few sittings, I think it would probably have benefited from being read more slowly to give me more time to absorb and ponder on what I was reading, so perhaps one in the morning and one in the evening would have been a good pattern to follow.

As I started reading, I started to highlight passages of the book that I wanted to remember, but as I got a few chapters in I realised I was highlighting probably around 70% of the book, so I quickly had to revise that plan, but the truth is that so much of what was written just hit the nail right on the head.

We Christians have probably all read the Sermon on the Mount before, but have we ever really stopped to consider “What if Jesus was serious?”?. In this book, the author breaks the sermon down into bitesize pieces and reflects on what those meant in the time that Jesus preached them, but also what they mean for us now in our modern context which looks nothing like the same.

And as a modern Christian, it may or may not be a shock to find that everything that Jesus said back then sure stands up now too, and if we could just think about what Jesus said and try to live it out, we could make a mighty change to our world.

"We who claim to be Jesus’ followers and seek a life shaped by his Kingdom hold the antidote to the division and anger that is poisoning our culture."

The format of the book was excellent, as mentioned before it’s broken down into small chapters that wouldn’t take too long to read (although will definitely give you lots to ponder), and each chapter is started with a drawing designed to illustrate the authors point neatly and succinctly.

"While the world says the strong, powerful, and happy are “well off”, Jesus turns our expectations upside down by saying it’s the weak, sad, and overlooked who are well off in God’s kingdom."

I will say that unlike most devotionals that I’ve read in the past, this one isn’t designed to give you warm fuzzy feelings and set you up for a day of feeling like you’re the model Christian. This book will challenge you and make you think seriously about how you’re living and where you might be falling short.

I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to every Christian I know, with the caveat that it should not be rushed. Now I’ve finished and can see the immense value in the contents of these pages, I’ll be starting from the beginning and taking a slower journey.

I was going to add some more of my favourite quotes from the book here, but like I said earlier, there were just too many, so all I’ll say is go pick up this book when it’s released, you definitely won’t regret it!

Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2020/04/19/skye-jethani-what-if-jesus-was-serious/