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Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

My Book! Being (Pre-)Sold!

Posted in Books, tagged , , , , , , , , on 5 July, 2013| 7 Comments »

I came back from a day off trip to look at pianos to a bit of a surprise today. Our ancient piano was condemned by the tuner the other week because a bunch of keys have stopped playing and are only fixable at the cost of more than a replacement instrument. And the Engineer is just starting some new pieces and is finding the absence of random notes rather tiresome. So off we went to inexpertly chose one.

When we got home there were a few posts on my social media to tell me that the ever-enterprising Jonathan Carswell at 10ofthose has started to offer my book on pre-order. And my publisher IVP, are also offering it from their bookshop. I’m still needing to finish my approval of copy edits but there it is, on proper websites, with Ian Mitchell’s great illustration on the front. Ian’s never seen my kitchen but seems to know it surprisingly well, including the design of the chairs, the countless piles of clutter (tax files this week) and the iron left out optimistically in case I am suddenly overcome with a spurt of domesticity.

When I saw this I wondered if IVP had organised it to give me the jolt I need to finish the editing tasks that are waiting in my email inbox. Since I finished all the tax forms this morning, I really have no excuse now. Apart from the lovely sunshine. Have you seen how gorgeous it is out there? I promise I’ll do those edits next week. Honest.

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Shoes to Nottingham

Posted in Books, tagged , , , , , , , , on 12 June, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I took my new shoes to Nottingham yesterday. I’m pleased to report that the shoes performed pretty well at the IVP sales meeting. My feet were comfy enough and I didn’t need to change into my slippers immediately I got home.

It was great to see my editor and meet the IVP sales team and tell them a little about The Ministry of a Messy House. I got to meet most of the people in the office too and saw how the process goes through from editing and artwork through customer services and finance through to the boxes of books being packaged for sending out.

Anyway, just in case  you’ve not already seen the pics on Twitter, here are the shoes:

Purple shoes

They came from Brantano for a bargainaceous £13 and were accompanied by a swished dress from the Proc Trust Minister’s Wives conference and a £3 cardie from my favourite jumper stall on the market. Seemed like an appropriately authory outfit. All authors are impecunious, aren’t they?

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Book News

Posted in Books, tagged , , , , , , , on 29 April, 2013| 2 Comments »

Still a mess

Still a mess

A few updates on the book which has been occupying me pretty well for the past four months. And looks like taking up my time for a few weeks longer…

1. The title has changed! It’s now

The Ministry of a Messy House:

Grace in place of guilt

My favourite other option was ‘Another Fine Mess’ but we thought that we might miss those who were’t Laurel and Hardy fans.

2. The book is going to have illustrations by the wonderful Ian Mitchell. I’ve seen a couple of rough drafts and am pretty sure he’s set up a surveillance camera in the Vicarage.

3. I wrote over 36,000 words for the first draft and flabbergasted myself by submitting it pretty much on the deadline. Now I’m editing and writing an introduction and a few other bits to go with the main manuscript.

4. I am writing this blogpost as a distraction activity from the editing and writing I should be doing. Of course.

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Books for Camp: Some New Ones to Try This Year

Posted in Books, Church, Faith, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 22 June, 2012| 3 Comments »

So, having analysed what sold well last year, and what appeals to 11-14 year olds on a Pathfinder Venture, I also have a list of new books to stock this year. Having bent publisher Jonathan Carswell’s ear off about this (and I guess someone’s been doing the same to Tim Thornborough), both 10ofThose and The Good Book Company have published books for teenagers this year. It’s great to see some new Christian books for young people published in the UK. And some of them are particularly suited to the younger end of the spectrum, where the selection seems weakest.

I’ve just discovered that The Good Book Company’s camp page has lists of suggested books for camp, many of which I already knew about, but which also has some new ideas for me. You may find it helpful if planning your own bookstall!

So this year, I shall be supplementing last year’s favourite books with the following – and others if you have any good suggestions…

Lost by Jonty Allcock (£3-4) – A retelling of the Prodigal Son suitable for young people, challenging them to meet Jesus.

 

True by Sarah Bradley (£4.50-5.50) – A book encouraging girls in their Christian lives

Genuine by Cassie Martin – a series of studies of young people in the Bible aimed at older Pathfinders

Bibles – This year we’ll be stocking pricier ones (I rather like the patriotic Union Jack one) but also More Than Gold’s On Your Marks edition of Mark’s gospel, which is only 60p.

No Girls Allowed/Friends Forever – Undated gendered devotionals (different from last year’s) from Scripture Union which may appeal to some.

Puzzle Book – this seems like a fun way to get younger or reluctant readers to grapple with some systematic theology!

Bible from Scratch by Simon Jenkins – this fun cartoon bible overview was a favourite of mine when I was a teenager and hasn’t dated – great to see it available again.

YP’s Guide to Starting Secondary School – We’ll have a good few Year 6s with us on camp this year, so I thought it might be worth stocking a few of these.

The Back Leg of a Goat by Penny Reeve – The Queen enjoyed reading this a while back and I’d forgotten about it when I was planning last year’s bookstall. Penny Reeve has written a couple of other books for this age group which I thought I’d try out too this year.

I am also going to read through a few more of Kathy Lee’s books to work out which would be good to stock to ensure we have a good fiction range, alongside some Patricia St John and any other Christian fiction that I can find and think might work for lovers of stories.

Any suggestions and ideas will be gratefully received. I will be ordering our bookstall over the next couple of weeks and will blog the final order so you can see what I’ve ended up with. I am also starting to think about advertising the bookstall. As we’ve an Olympics theme this year (suspect this will be the case for every activity for young people this summer) I am planning on promoting ‘Training Manuals’ and using the Joker and the Engineer as Fit and Flabby who train with contrasting equipment eg Nintendo DS vs Bible etc.

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Books for Camp: Planning a Good Range for 11-14s

Posted in Books, Church, Faith, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 21 June, 2012| 1 Comment »

Now it’s June, we’re into the preparing-for-camp season. My Facebook timeline is strewn with appeals for helpers for various ventures around the country, Rocky and Bee are busy confirming exactly who is coming from our youth group and making sure we have the funds, the Vicar has booked the minibus and now my thoughts are turning to the bookstall that I’ll be running again this year.

Last year I had lots of fun planning the stall and reviewed a few books in the process. We had 50 or so 11-14 year olds from a range of booky and non-booky backgrounds. That younger secondary school end covers a wide range of abilities and maturity. Some kids were from Christian homes, some didn’t come to church at all. So the bookstall aimed to cover a pretty wide base.

We got our bookstall from the always-obliging 10 of Those, who have just launched a special camp bookstall service which I’ll be using this year. If they don’t have the book you want on their website, they will get it for you.

Bibles – we had great value NIVs costing about £5 which went like hot cakes, but these will be more expensive this year because there’s a new translation out. So I’m not sure how many we’ll sell. This year we’ll be studying Mark’s gospel at camp so I’m going to stock them – and they will be affordable, even if whole bibles are too pricey.

Bible reading notes – I stocked XTB (for 7-11s0, Discover (11s-14s) and Engage (14s-18s). They didn’t sell all that well.

Bible guide – We sold a good few copies of the YP’s Guide to the Bible – it only cost £2.50 and was affordable and interesting to look at.

Boring Bible series and 50 Weirdest/Goriest/Wildest Bible Stories (and similar by Andy Robb) – these cost £4.50 and are undated bible devotions. They were very popular and I’ll be stocking up this year.

For Girls Only & No Girls Allowed – These gendered devotional books sold well – I stocked a couple of each, but could have sold more. These are a little more expensive – around £8.

Grill a Christian – We sold this book at £2 – it’s packed with apologetics. Very popular with older Pathfinders (and with folk at church where I sold off some spare copies after camp).

The Case for Christ (Youth Edition), Case for Faith for Kids, Case for Christ for Kids – these sold well too.

Deadly Emily by Kathy Lee – I was very encouraged to sell this book to a couple of girls who aren’t great readers. I will be stocking more fiction for those who find non-fiction (even biographies) a bit heavy going. I am increasingly convinced that teenagers and preteens who love to read stories (like the Queen) should be reading stories with a Christian worldview. You can tell the truth in fiction.

Trailblazer biographies – we sold a bunch of these shortish books at £3. They are biographies and we stocked a variety, including ones of John Newton, Joni Eareckson Tada, Mary Slessor, Amy Carmichael etc. There are lots of these, including a new Eric Liddell one, which will be on our stall for our Olympic theme this year.

Lightkeepers (Ten Girls/Ten Boys series) – these are also short biography books. They also sold well at £3.

Sneaking Suspicion, If I were God I’d… (by John Dickson) – We sold these to some of the older teenage boys.

School Survival – An excellent book on school life.

Peril and Peace – we sold this book of church history to an older Pathfinder who was looking for something stretching. This is one of a series of 5 Chronicles of the Ancient Church.

We sold a few booklets like: Why did Jesus Die? Why did Jesus Come? Why did Jesus Rise? How do I know I’m a Christian? How do I show I’m a Christian? These were only 20p so a few kids picked them up.

I also bunged a few books on the stall for leaders – including the excellent Enough by Helen Roseveare.

 Later I’ll post a list of some new books I’m planning to stock this year. Both 10ofthose and The Good Book Company have published books for younger teens this year.

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Wriggly Reading Kids

Posted in Books, tagged , , , , , , on 1 March, 2012| 6 Comments »

Kids find it hard to sit still at the best of times, but as I read with children at our church school I’ve noticed a few who just can’t keep themselves in a single place when they’re reading aloud, let alone doing it whilst listening to others read or reading to themselves. I liked this illustration of the phenomenon I found recently:[HT: Abraham Piper]

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Books for Camp: School Survival

Posted in Books, Church, Faith, Teenagers, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 13 June, 2011| Leave a Comment »

In my quest for suitable books for the young people on our Pathfinder venture this summer, I picked up School Survival by Catherine and Louise House. Louise is Catherine’s school age daughter and some of this book is based on the experiences she had when she moved school. And although it’s called School Survival, it’s particularly about friendship and working that through, with a single chapter about starting in a new school. It is very suitable for the Pathfinder age group (11-14) as it covers many issues faced as young people move on to secondary school.

The book is a combination of stories, quizzes, activities and bible study and is split into 14 chapters, including ones on making friends, bullying, gossip, prayer and church. It might be suitable for a Year Six primary school leaver to study over the summer holidays, or for family devotions or even as an outline for a church Pathfinder group to study over a few weeks (the chapters are uneven in size, so some could be combined). I’ll be ordering a few copies for our camp bookstall.

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Books for Camp: YP’s Guide to the Bible

Posted in Books, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 26 May, 2011| 4 Comments »

I’ve had another little spurt of book reviewing for our summer camp for Pathfinders (ages 11-14) as I’m trying to work out which books to order for the bookstall I’m going to be running. YP’s Guide to the Bible is a great little 32 page booklet, costing less than £3. It’s a reference guide for dipping into and includes flow charts, basic bible facts, bible help for young people, key people and topics, a time line, outlines of bible books and maps.

This guide would be great for every Christian (even grown-ups!) to have on their shelf and I’ll be pushing for every Pathfinder on our camp to take one home. It’s good value and an excellent little starter for anyone who wants to understand how the bible fits together, what it’s all about and why Christians read it. As the quote from Vaughan Roberts on p4 of the booklet reminds us ‘It is just one book written by one author with one main subject’. That main subject being Jesus Christ.

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Books for Camp: Afterwards I Knew

Posted in Books, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 28 February, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Another book from the pile I picked up from CLC to review for our Pathfinder venture is Afterwards I Knew, which contains eight short stories, mostly set in Holland during the Second World War. The stories are fictional but are movingly told, recollecting hardships and difficult choices made by Christians in times of hunger and oppression.

The stories are peppered with lyrical language, scripture and poetry. They tell of families reunited, people finding faith and standing up for Christ.  There is rich theology here too – God’s grace in difficult times and despite our weaknesses and assurance of God’s love and the hope of the resurrection when we feel the weight of our sin.

Christian Focus recommend ‘Afterwards I Knew’ for children over 13 years old and I think 11 year olds with good comprehension skills (and knowledge of the Second World War) would be fine with it. The only rider I would place on this book is to ensure that those reading it know it is fiction. The stories are so uplifting and moving, it would be tempting to believe that they actually happened.

Who for: Boys and girls ages 11 and up (and grown-ups)
Genre: Short stories, historical fiction
Recommended for Pathfinder camp: Yes (for older Pathfinders)

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The Book Group – Best Foot Forward

Posted in Books, Faith, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 5 October, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Last week I blogged enthusiastically about John Chapman’s book ‘A Foot in Two Worlds’ and mentioned how I’d be discussing it that evening with a new group. But as is the way of things, two out of the three group members couldn’t make it, so we cancelled. So we’ll be trying again tonight , and I’ve managed to recruit one more member and although one person still can’t make it, I’m hoping that we’ll at least have a go. There should be four of us. I’ll report again afterwards.

The Vicar is keen to start more small groups in the church, as even in a small church like ours it is hard to get to know people well. Our community is tightknit and some people have known each other for many years, some even from school days. So when newcomers join us, it can be very difficult for them to get close to the church family. Small groups are a great place for that to happen, and for young believers to be nurtured and discipled. I’m praying that this group proves to be a productive engine room of growth.

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