Bibliography and Bookstore

An asterisk indicates a recommended book, which I have found useful in my own growth and becoming.

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Publication data in brackets is for the book's original publication, where this is different from the edition I have. The abbreviation "np" indicates that the (usually British) edition of the book which I have does not indicate the original (usually US) publisher.

The editions I have are not necessarily the editions available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

*Berne, Eric Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1984 (USA: np, 1964).
The first bestseller on "transactional analysis", a tool for understanding ourselves and others, by a wise and large-souled psychiatrist. See also Thomas Harris
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*Cytowic, Richard The Man Who Tasted Shapes A rather fascinating book by a neurologist, reminiscent of Oliver Sacks but not quite as warm, and more theoretical. He advances theories of emotions, reasoning and consciousness which make a lot of intuitive sense to me, based on his research into synaesthesia (where one sense crosses over into another). Click to buy this book from Amazon
Duncan, Bruce Pray Your Way: Your Personality and God London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1993. Applies Jungian (Myers-Briggs/Kiersey-Bates) personality theory to prayer, with great insight and good sense.
Eddison, E.R. Mistress of Mistresses New York: Ballantine, 1978 (E.P. Dutton & Co, 1935). An odd tale of political manoeverings in a magical world, with so many purple passages it's almost ultraviolet. Compelling in a strange way, though.
*Edwards, Betty Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: How to Unlock Your Hidden Artistic Talent London: HarperCollins, 1993 (USA: np, 1979).
A practical guide to learning to draw - or rather, learning to see in order to draw.
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*Goleman, Daniel Emotional Intelligence, New York: Bantam, 1996 (1995).
Looks at wisdom in terms of "emotional intelligence", key competencies which matter more in life than intellectual ability (as the author illustrates by reference to numerous scientific studies).
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*Harris, Thomas I'm OK - You're OK, London: Pan, 1973 (USA: np, 1967).
A classic of "pop" psychology which nevertheless gives a useful tool for understanding oneself and others. See also Eric Berne.
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*Jung, C.G. Modern Man in Search of a Soul, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1973 (1933).

_ (ed) Man and His Symbols, London: Pan, 1978 (Aldus, 1964).

*Lawrence, Brother The Practice of the Presence of God, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1981, trans. E.M. Blaiklock (Paris: np, 1693).
A small but wonderful book based on the conversations and letters of a French monk who had a very simple and practical approach to the enjoyment of God in everyday life.
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*Lewis, C.S. A Grief Observed, London: Faber and Faber, 1964 (1961). Originally published under a pseudonym, and reissued under Lewis's name after his death, this is a kind of journal of Lewis's crisis of faith after the death of his wife from cancer - with all of his usual insight and uncompromising honesty married to intense emotional reality.

The Great Divorce, Glasgow: Collins, 1972 (Geoffrey Bles, 1946). A fascinating and powerful vision of Heaven and Hell.

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*Moore, Thomas Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life, New York: HarperPerennial, 1994 (HarperCollins, 1992).
*Peck, M. Scott The Road Less Travelled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth, London: Random Century, 1992 (USA: np, 1978).
A deeply wise book by a psychologist of great insight.
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Peter, Dr Laurence J. Peter's Quotations: Ideas for Our Time, New York: Bantam, 1979 (Morrow, 1977).
Quotations from a wide range of times that the compiler feels are relevant to our own.
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*Piper, John Desiring God, Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1989 (Portland: Multnomah Press, 1986).
A gem of a book which sets out what Piper calls, controversially, "Christian hedonism": the idea that "The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever".
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Reps, Paul Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1975 (Charles E. Tuttle, 1957).
A collection of Zen texts, namely (translated with Nyogen Senzaki) 101 Zen Stories, The Gateless Gate, 10 Bulls, and (translated with Lakshmanjoo) the Zen-like Hindu work Centreing. Yields some useful insights, but I wouldn't endorse the whole of it.
Riso, Don Richard Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery, London: HarperCollins, 1988 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987). See discussion in Awareness of the Soul's Shape and accompanying digression. Click to buy this book from Amazon
*Sacks, Oliver Awakenings, London: Pan, 1991 (New York: HarperCollins, 1990; original edition London: Gerald Duckworth, 1973, revised 1976, 1983, 1990).
A fascinating story of the "awakening" of patients with a profound neurological illness which had lasted for decades, through the use of a new drug. Dr Sacks, the wise and compassionate physician involved, documents their lives and awakenings, and reflects on the nature of "cure", mind, perception and the medical establishment.

He also has several other fascinating books about human perception as observed through neurological disorder, including The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars.

See also Richard Cytowic.

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Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1982 (1937).
An adventure story for children which is also a precursor to his larger work The Lord of the Rings.

There are a number of Tolkien websites.

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*Tomlinson, Dave The Post-Evangelical, London: Triangle, 1995.
A book which, for me as for many, felt like coming home to my own place after a trip away, staying in motels. It examines how the postmodern consciousness has brought about a reassessment of the evangelical Christian culture by many people within it, and traces this to the evangelical culture's roots in philosophical modernism. If that sounds daunting, it looks at how and why many people are dissatisfied with the black-and-white answers of evangelical Christianity, and how and why they are moving to a new form of Christian faith which keeps the key evangelical strengths but rejects some of the culture that has built up around them. I disagree with some of his detailed conclusions, but I doubt he would have a problem with that.

He has a website for his weekly "Holy Joes" group, which meets above a pub in London.

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Williams, Charles The Place of the Lion An odd book (all his books were) about the coming of the Platonic archetypes to 20th-century England. Click to buy this book from Amazon
Wolters, Clifton (translator) The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works (anonymous, c 1370), Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1980 (1961); Revelations of Divine Love (Julian of Norwich, 1393), Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1986 (1966);  The Fire of Love (Richard Rolle, 1343), Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972. Three excellent translations (in the sense that they are easy to read) of fourteenth-century mystical classics.

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