Join us for LJC Book Club as we explore, grow in and discuss spirituality through novels, biographies, and accounts of personal spiritual journeys.
The LJC Book Club meets every second and fourth Thursday of the month (except August). It is open to anyone who is interested in widening their spirituality through a variety of novels, biographies and accounts.
The LJC Book Club has been running for over five years and people come and go depending on their commitments and whether the selected book appeals to them.
The books are intended to represent a range of spiritual approaches and are generally chosen by the participants with a view to availability and the feasibility of being read in the time planned although it is not essential to finish the book and other resources on the subject can be used such as YouTube if it helps. The list is planned in advance and available on the LJC website so copies can be found in plenty of time. This is a faith sharing discussion group and for those interested the LJC Book Club also runs study days led by experts in the field.
In-person |
Online |
September 28, 2023
19:15
One of the best known novels of the Soviet era this is the book to read for the time we are in. Too risky to publish in his lifetime, Bulgakov created a surreal blend of mysticism, satire and historical fiction to carry us.
In-person |
October 12, 2023
18:45
Online |
October 26, 2023
19:15
This is a readable and extraordinarily well documented history of the complex role Christianity played in the formation of modern Western culture and values.
In-person |
November 9, 2023
18:45
Online |
November 23, 2023
19:15
The King and the Catholics is a gripping, character-driven example of narrative history at its best. It is also a distant mirror of our own times, reflecting the dire consequences of state-sanctioned intolerance and showing how collective action and the political process can triumph over wrongheaded legislation. -- Good Reads.
In-person |
December 14, 2023
18:45
Online |
December 28, 2023
19:15
First published in 1944 and now a spiritual classic for Catholics across the globe, The Reed of God contains meditations on the humanity of Mary, Mother of God. British Catholic writer and artist Caryll Houselander lovingly explores Mary’s intimately human side, depicting Our Lady as a musical instrument who makes divine love known to the world. -- Good Reads
In-person |
January 11, 2024
18:45
Online |
January 25, 2024
19:15
'This beautiful and wise meditation centred around Mark Oakley's anthology of the 'soul language' of poetry opens new windows in the shared house of both poetry and belief.' -- Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate. 'A very moving book, opening all kinds of doors into a more compassionate, more truthful understanding.' -- Rowan Williams
In-person |
February 8, 2024
18:45
Online |
February 22, 2024
19:15
“A distinctive and distinguished novel of unusual power and purity” Sunday Times reviewed in The Tablet, March 2023.
In-person |
March 14, 2024
18:45
Online |
March 28, 2024
19:15
Gawande discusses two kinds of courage that all of us (not just physicians) should consider. While this is not a book written specifically for the church, Christian scholars, pastors, and lay people will be enriched by reading it and challenged to think about how to live well even at life’s end and how to think theologically about the human condition of being mortal. -- Theology Today
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In-person |
April 11, 2024
18:45
Online |
April 25, 2024
19:15
Establishing Jesus as the West’s great teacher on the nature of being, this radical reinterpretation identifies the philosophical and cultural significance of the gospels in the modern world, based on the life and actions— rather than the word— of Jesus Christ. -- Good Reads
In-person |
May 9, 2024
18:15
Online |
May 23, 2024
19:15
This clever sensitive beautifully written book explores the silent, self-interested complicity of a whole community. -- Booker prize 2022.
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In-person |
June 13, 2024
18:45
Online |
June 27, 2024
19:15
This book represents the summation of [Vermes's] thinking about the early history of Christianity. It is a challenging and engaging book that sets out to retrace the route by which a Jewish preacher in 1st-century Israel came to be declared as consubstantial and co-equal with the omnipotent, omniscient only God. -- Stuart Kelly, Scotsman
In-person |
July 11, 2024
18:45
Online |
July 25, 2024
19:15
One of those "where have you been all my life?" books. Deep but readable, perceptive, challenging. - Please contact if unable to find copy. Also available on Internet Archive, Kindle and Audiobooks.
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