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Review: Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools, by Tyler Staton

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Book cover. Hand-drawn illustration of hands clasped in prayer. Title: Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools, by Tyler Staton.

Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools: An Invitation to the Wonder and Mystery of Prayer, by Tyler Staton

Do you love to pray? Avoid it? Flat-out think it’s pointless? Wherever you are on the spectrum, this book’s for you.

I love this invitation in the introduction:

Most of us get about knee-deep in the Christian life, discover that the water feels fine, and stop there. We never swim in the depths of the divine intimacy Jesus won for us. This book is an invitation to swim. [Kobo version, introduction, page 5 of 7]

In an accessible, nonthreatening (and non-judging) manner, author and pastor Tyler Staton acknowledges the many questions we have about prayer and shares stories of both victory and disappointment.

Drawing from the Bible and from a wealth of diverse sources past and present and across denominations, chapters explore ten basic aspects of prayer, inviting readers to begin where we are and to grow from there. Each chapter closes with a simple and practical application exercise, making it clear that there’s no fast track to mature prayer. It’s very much a process and well worth working through the exercises.

Readers are encouraged to learn stillness before God, leading to adoration and worship and confession. We’re challenged to grow in intercession and petition, and to persist in what can seem like a long silence. (A note on stillness: Chapter 2 does an incisive job of unmasking the cost of the hurried lifestyle that has a hold on so many of us.)

Burned by past experiences that have left scars? Chapter 9 invites us to “Hold your deep question before God, inviting him to bring healing. …It is through this process that you will discover the faith to ask again…” [Kobo version, page 26 of 26]

Ultimately, the book invites us to make prayer a daily part of our lives, both our own spontaneous prayers and also the prayers of the psalms, the Lord’s Prayer, and more. The intent is to use the words and phrases to shape and direct our prayers rather than simple repetition. (See also my review of Praying the Bible, by Donald S. Whitney, which expands on this method. Note, I think Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools is the richer of these two resources, yet both are valuable.)

My only negative with this book comes in the epilogue with the description of King David entering Jerusalem as king, bringing the Ark of the Covenant in the procession on a cart. In 2 Samuel 5:6 – 6:19, we read a different story. The takeaway from the illustration still applies.

I highly recommend Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools for anyone with even a passing interest in prayer. If you can, get a print copy so you can mark it up. I have the ebook (highlighted in many places) and have also listened to the audiobook (read by the author himself, which is always a plus). Although it reads like a letter, it has the depth of a textbook and one pass wasn’t enough. I expect to read it again.

For more about author/pastor Tyler Staton and his ministry, visit tylerstaton.com. If you’re curious about the book, check out the Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools Podcast (introduction + 7 episodes). I see there’s also a short video series, Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools: One Year Later, and a video study guide.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

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Review: Abiding in Christ, by Andrew Murray

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Book cover: Grapevine, leaves, grapes. Abiding in Christ, a classic devotional for today's reader, by Andrew Murray.

Abiding in Christ, by Andrew Murray (Updated edition. Bethany House, 2003)

This year, when I sensed God’s nudge to focus on the word “abide,” I searched out resources on the topic. This straightforward devotional classic from Andrew Murray has been a liberating source of hope.

What can I say in a review without trying to summarize all of Andrew Murray’s teaching?

First: He takes the pressure off. Yes, believers need to do our part and keep turning to God and choosing to abide in Christ. Yet despite our limitations we can believe it’s possible—not through human strength but because it’s God’s invitation – instruction – command in the first place. It’s the Father who metaphorically “grafts us into the Vine” who is Jesus, with the Holy Spirit as our nourishment.

So, whether I feel it or not in a given moment doesn’t change the fact that on God’s end it’s a done deal. I can rest in that and keep turning back to Him.

The other key point I remember is the challenge to abide fully in Christ—which means not also abiding in self.

Beyond that, I recommend you go read the book! A digital version is available through the Hoopla app, if your public library has that service. But a print copy is inexpensive and a valuable resource for any Christian.

I like the updated language, although I’m surprised the revisions didn’t convert the original use of “he” for “the believer” to something more inclusive. The book was published in 1895, at which point “he” was the catch-all for male/female/unknown. I hope this won’t be a barrier for younger readers.

Andrew Murray (Wikipedia link) was a South African pastor, teacher, and writer. His books are considered classics by many Christians and are often quoted in more current works on Christian living.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

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Review: A Quiet Life in the Country, by T. E. Kinsey

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Book cover. A stately British manor house, silhouettes of Lady Hardcastle and her maid. Title: A Quiet Life in the Country, a Lady Hardcastle mystery, by T. E. Kinsey.

A Quiet Life in the Country, by T. E. Kinsey (Thomas & Mercer, 2016)

From the back cover:

Lady Emily Hardcastle is an eccentric widow with a secret past. Florence Armstrong, her maid and confidante, is an expert in martial arts. The year is 1908 and they’ve just moved from London to the country, hoping for a quiet life.

With the subtitle, “A Lady Hardcastle Mystery,” we know the quiet life won’t materialize as intended. Emily and Flo quickly find a body and insert themselves into the investigation.

They’re a fun pair of protagonists (the narration is from Flo’s point of view) with some definitely atypical behaviours and conventions. Although they try to maintain proper employer-employee conventions in public, in private they eat together and banter like the good, long-term friends they are. And this may have been intended as retirement, but we learn near the end of the book that Lady H is only around 40. Flo is likely a little younger.

This is a gently-paced, light-hearted look at historical British country life of the period, with the refreshing take that these two characters bring it.

It’s always a treat to discover a new series to follow, and I expect to read one of the Lady Hardcastle mysteries every so often until I catch up. I think they’re on book 11 now (plus there’s a bonus book 3.5).

T. E. Kinsey is the British author of two series of historical mysteries, the Lady Hardcastle Mysteries (1908) and the Dizzy Heights Mysteries (1925). For more about him and his work, visit tekinsey.uk. And if you visit this page on his site, tekinsey.uk/about.html, you’ll find brief bios not only of the author himself but of Lady Hardcastle and Flo. Well worth the read—then go pick up book 1 in the series 😊

[Review copy from the public library.]

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Review: The Bad Reputations, by Karen V. Robichaud

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Book cover: Three young women in 1920s clothing, a fishing village, and the title: The Bad Reputations, by Karen V. Robichaud.

The Bad Reputations, by Karen V. Robichaud (Word Alive Press, 2023)

In 1929, desperate to provide for themselves in a small town that’s turned against them, three young women choose to become rum-runners. They know it’s illegal and dangerous, and it doesn’t sit well with their faith, but they see no other way.

Local superstition blames Duska for the accidental death of her fisherman husband—because she’d been helping him on his boat and superstition marks a woman on board as bad luck. Larkin’s rum-running father has been killed by the mob, leaving her to care for her young brother. And Jolene is fleeing an abusive relationship when everyone tells her to stay and be a submissive wife.

The Bad Reputations is a compelling tale of courage, loyalty, and friendship in a fictional Nova Scotian town during Prohibition, when women’s options were limited. It takes an honest look at how people of integrity, including Christians, can find themselves making the wrong choices out of fear. The results we see are characters whose guilt makes them feel separated from God, avoiding Him instead of drawing close.

A different type of turmoil honestly addressed is Duska’s unexpected attraction to one of the police officers when she’s still grieving for her husband.

As well as strongly-defined characters, there’s some evocative description. Here’s one of my favourite samples:

The moon is hidden behind clouds in a charcoal sky. Darkness falls like a blanket over the ocean. Far out, green buoy lights flash, but nothing else. The vast blackness makes me uneasy. …I drive through the quiet streets of town. Yellowish-white fog slithers over the road like long, fat pythons. [paperback, pages 62-63]

The Bad Reputations is award-winning author Karen V. Robichaud’s seventh novel. Previous works include Tears in the Desert and The Unforgiving Sea. For more about the author and her books, visit her Author Page on Facebook.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

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Review: Praying the Bible, by Donald S. Whitney

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Praying the Bible, by Donald S. Whitney (Crossway, 2015 – Audiobook from christianaudio, 2015)

This book could revolutionize your prayer life—if you don’t just read it but actually take time to try the principles yourself at the end of chapter 7. Chapter 8 assumes you’ve done that, and you’ll miss some of the value if you haven’t.

I’m familiar with taking a portion of text and praying it for people or situations, usually one of Paul’s prayers in his letters or of course the Lord’s Prayer. The premise of Praying the Bible extends beyond that. Essentially, it’s reading one verse and responding to it in prayer, then reading the second verse, etc. It’s like a conversation where God leads and we respond.

Praying this way brings us to the “same old” requests with a fresh approach as we allow the text to shape our expression of need. It also focuses us more on God and less on ourselves, while opening us to hear from God as the Holy Spirit applies the text to our hearts.

My recommendation of this book comes with a couple of caveats: first, the author’s one-line dismissal of the idea of prayerfully hearing from God in our spirits. As one who is learning to discern God’s “voice” in my spirit, I respectfully disagree. Jesus did say His sheep would hear and recognize His voice. (John 10:27) I also sensed a dismissal of published prayers such as are found in prayer books. Obviously, any prayer offered without sincerity is empty. Yet faithful believers have found great value in repeating beloved prayers over the centuries.

Donald S. Whitney is a seminary professor who also teaches praying the Bible at seminars. As such, the tone is instructional with perhaps a little more authoritarian tone rather than a coaching approach. I also found the first chapter a bit repetitive. Nonetheless, this is a book well worth investing the time to read or to listen to.

It’s a brief read, packed with examples of how to apply the principles. The paperback is just over 100 pages. The audiobook is two hours long and narrated by the author, which I always think is a plus.

For more about the author, his books, and other aspects of his ministry, visit the Center for Biblical Spirituality. I know nothing more of his theology than this one book (with which I have the above-noted disagreements). This review speaks only to the book in question and is not meant to reflect positively or negatively on the broader ministry.

[Audiobook review copy from the public library via Hoopla Digital.]

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Review: The Scent of Water, by Elizabeth Goudge

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Book cover with a home's windows and door visible among pink flowers.

The Scent of Water, by Elizabeth Goudge (ebook version: Hendrickson Publishing Marketing, 2011; original print edition copyright 1963)

Why would practical, sensible Mary Lindsay leave a satisfying job in London and move to a country village to live in a house she inherited from a relative she’d met only once as a child? She doesn’t know, but it feels like the right decision.

The inheritance brings back memories: of that one meeting with her father’s cousin, also named Mary Lindsay. Of the instant connection with the house and then with the unusual Cousin Mary. Of the lady’s treasured collection of “little things” – miniatures that delighted them both.

The move triggers other memories: of her fiancé John who died before their wedding. In some unknown way, she hopes to understand him better now – and also to get to know Cousin Mary through the journals she finds in the house.

The characters, both living in the village and as found in the journals, are portrayed with an honest compassion, not glossing over their flaws or hiding their emotional struggles. Cousin Mary endured bouts of mental illness. A prayer, shared with her by a fellow sufferer, is the one thing that stuck with me through the probably 40 years since I first read the story:

“My dear,” he said, “love, your God, is a trinity. There are three necessary prayers and they have three words each. They are these, ‘Lord have mercy. Thee I adore. Into Thy hands.’ ” [chapter 5]

That covers most things, doesn’t it?

Two other favourite lines, one evocative and one amusing:

“…what I seek is the goodness of God that waters the dry places.” [chapter 5, Cousin Mary in her journal]

“He has a two-track mind, which is more than most of us have, but the tracks are narrow.” [chapter 10]

One caution: this book was originally published in the early 1960s and refers (positively) to North American First Nations and Romany peoples using terms that are now considered offensive.  

Causing offence would never be the author’s intent. This is a novel that embraces readers, drawing us in like the welcoming door that invited the child Mary into the house. It offers charming descriptions of settings both in nature and in the houses, gentle conversation, and people allowed to make the wrong choices in the hope they’ll find some good in themselves.

Elizabeth Goudge was a beloved British writer. I appreciated her books many years ago and am delighted to find some of them now in digital form when I’d assumed they’d be out of print and gone. The Scent of Water was the one I remembered most fondly by title, due to the prayer which strengthened me through some difficult days.

For more about the author, visit the Elizabeth Goudge Society website.

[Review copy from the public library via the Hoopla Digital app.]

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Review: The Camera Never Lies, by David Rawlings

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The Camera Never Lies, by David Rawlings (Thomas Nelson, 2019)

A successful marriage counselor whose own relationships are in turmoil—and who can’t write the sequel to his bestselling self-help book. His wife, trapped in a job selling questionable pharmaceuticals to help pay their hefty mortgage. Their 14-year-old daughter, withdrawing and exhibiting warning signs.

And an old camera that takes pictures of what’s unseen.

Inheriting his grandfather’s prized camera leads Daniel into experiences where truth becomes visible. He meets Simon, the unusual proprietor of the camera shop that suddenly opened near Daniel’s work. And he has to hide the photos Simon develops for him… because if anyone saw some of those images, his career—and his family—would be shattered.

The Camera Never Lies is a clean, heartwarming story with supernatural overtones, perfect for readers who love Davis Bunn’s Miramar Bay series (although without the new-romance plot thread). With its human drama and themes of trust and truth, I think it’d make an engaging movie.

Favourite lines:

…you’re thinking you had a good reason for doing what you did. At the time, you probably did, but the consequences of today don’t always respect the actions of yesterday. [hardcover pages 197-198, Simon speaking to Daniel]

Daniel held fate in his hands. It deserved to be tempted. [hardcover page 211]

This is Australian author David Rawlings’ second novel. Here’s a link to my review of his debut, The Baggage Handler. For more about the author and his work, visit davidrawlings.com.au.

[Review copy from the public library.]

Review: Crafting Deception, by Barbara Emodi

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Crafting Deception, by Barbara Emodi (C&T Publishing, 2023)

“Help me.” The words, spoken to Valerie Rankin as a man she trusts is arrested for murder, leave her wanting to help without knowing how. Circumstantial evidence and a criminal past make Rankin’s General Store employee Duck MacDonald the prime suspect in a murder.

In the small fictional town of Gasper’s Cove, on Nova Scotia’s Atlantic Coast, everybody knows everybody’s secrets… or so they think. Yet past generations’ rumrunning and other illegal acts have influenced the present. Suddenly it seems to Val that strangers and friends alike are on the search for hidden treasure. And nobody’s concerned about clearing Duck’s name.

Author Barbara Emodi has a keen sense of descriptive details that bring the town and its characters to life. As an example, chapter 12’s scene at a fundraiser with “church-basement, made-by-the-women’s auxiliary sandwiches” will have Atlantic Canadians of a certain age nodding and remembering. She also includes a fair sprinkling of humour.

Protagonist Val is a sewing instructor and an empty-nest single mother. Her way of solving a mystery is to jump to a series of wild (and wrong) conclusions, embarrass herself by insisting the police should act on what she says, be proven wrong, and try again. Until she accidentally stops the killer and solves the case. She’s persistent, determined, and she genuinely cares for the people in her community.

She’s also a character I need to take in small doses. By hyper-focusing on her current stress or idea, she misses social cues and responds inappropriately. Like the brisk brush-off to a date invitation from a man she likes. Or like dashing off to confront her son in person when he sends a text asking for a bit of space.

Book 1 in the series is Crafting for Murder. As well as her Gasper’s Cove mysteries, Barbara Emodi has written instructional books on sewing. To learn about the author and her work, visit babsemodi.com.

[Review copy from the public library.]

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Review: A Tiding of Magpies, by Steve Burrows

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Greyscale book cover featuring two black and white birds in flight.

A Tiding of Magpies, by Steve Burrows (Dundurn Press, 2018)

This time, DCI Dominic Jejeune (a Canadian working in England) and his team work to solve a local murder while he’s involved in an investigative review of the high profile case that launched his career. Jejeune is not the only one with regrets about that case… or with a suspicion all might not have been as it seemed.

I’m really enjoying the Birder Murder Mystery series. Each book has a strong sense of place, engaging characters with depth, clever turns of phrase, and complex crimes. The characters and plots keep me thinking about them when I’m not reading.

I’m not a birder (although I do like birds) but it’s interesting to see how they keep finding their way into the books. Also interesting are the environmental and social threads that appear.

A Tiding of Magpies is Book 5 in a series I’d heartily recommend you start from the beginning (A Siege of Bitterns). Or you could dive into this one and then go back to the start.

It’s rare for me to find a longer series that I feel committed to finishing, but this is one of them. Clean and not gory, brutal, or creepy. No risk of nightmares or vicarious trauma. Just good reads mostly set in the British countryside. I’m trying to ration them so I don’t finish too quickly. Thank you, Steve Burrows!

For more about the author and his work, visit steveburrows.org.

[Review copy from the public library.]

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Review: Renaissance, by Susan Fish

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book cover: huge tree, stone wall, golden grass, blue sky

Renaissance, by Susan Fish (Raven, 2023)

First things first: this cover, on the paperback held in my hand, is absolutely gorgeous. The golden light (especially on the grass), the huge tree, the stone wall and clouds. It speaks rest to me, and warmth.

The story also brings rest. Evocative prose draws us into Liz’s struggles and into the beautiful Italian setting. If you haven’t (yet) experienced any mid-life reshapings of your identity, you’ve likely felt the hurt of being left out, misunderstood, or betrayed.

This is literary women’s fiction with an almost languid feel to it… never boring, just slowly and gently inviting readers in.

It’s a story of self-discovery, family, and forgiveness, with a thread of faith—wrapped up in a virtual tour of Florence, Italy. My only caution is there are a few pages of profanity near the end, catching both Liz and the reader off-guard. I understand why Liz surprises herself by lashing out in this way, and how she finds it entirely appropriate to the situation, but it jarred my peace and could be a deal-breaker for some.

Favourite line:

His words fell into a deep place in me, like olive oil finding every hole in a piece of bread, saturating it.

[page 57; context: Italian gardener was talking about pruning olive trees, while Liz sees a meaning for her own life from his words.]

For more about Canadian author and editor Susan Fish and her other books, visit her website. You can also see my reviews of two of her other books: Seeker of Stars and Ithaca.

[Review copy from the public library.]

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