‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only’. – Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.

Best books

Theology

• Atonement: The Person and Work of Christ by T.F. Torrance (2009).
• The Theology of Food: Eating and the Eucharist by Angel F. Mendez Montoya (2009).
• Thomas F. Torrance: Theologian of the Trinity by Paul D. Molnar (2009).
• Christ the Key by Kathryn Tanner.
• The Difference Heaven Makes: Rehearing the Gospel As News by Christopher Morse.
• On Being a Disciple of the Crucified Nazarene: Unpublished Lectures and Sermons by Ernst Käsemann.
• An Alien in a Strange Land: Theology in the Life of William Stringfellow by Anthony Dancer.

Biography

• Hannah’s Child: A Theologian’s Memoir by Stanley Hauerwas.
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906–1945: Martyr, Thinker, Man of Resistance by Ferdinand Schlingensiepen. (For the record, I thought that Eric Metaxas’ ‘Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy was one of the most over-rated and poorly-reviewed books of the year. Clifford Green’s review, ‘Hijacking Bonhoeffer’, published in the Christian Century, 19 October 2010, pp. 34–9, is the review to read).

Ministry

• Accompany Them with Singing: The Christian Funeral by Thomas Long (2009).
• Concerning The True Care of Souls by Martin Bucer (2009).
• The Promise of Despair: The Way of the Cross as the Way of the Church by Andrew Root.
• The Resurrection of Ministry: Serving in the Hope of the Risen Lord by Andrew Purves.
• George Herbert’s Pastoral: New Essays on the Poet and Priest of Bemerton edited by Christopher Hodgkins.

History

• Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch.
• A People Betrayed: The Role of the West in Rwanda’s Genocide by Linda Melvern.
• Encircled Lands: Te Urewera, 1820–1921 by Judith Binney.

Cooking

• A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes by David Tanis (2008).
• Harvest to Heat: Cooking with America’s Best Chefs, Farmers, and Artisans by Darryl Estrine.
• In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite: 150 Recipes and Stories About the Food You Love by Melissa Clark.
• Anjum’s New Indian by Anjum Anand.
• Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine by René Redzepi.

Poetry

• Angina Days: Selected Poems by Günter Eich.

Best albums

1. Officium Novum by Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble.
2. The Age of Miracles by Mary-Chapin Carpenter.
3. Foundling by David Gray.
4. Scratch My Back by Peter Gabriel.
5. Sacrificium by Cecilia Bartoli.
6. Women and Country by Jakob Dylan.
7. 100 Miles From Memphis by Sheryl Crow.
8. Great and Small by Butterflyfish.
9. Downtown Church by Patty Griffin.
10. No Better Than This by John Mellencamp.

Honorable mentions: All Delighted People by Sufjan Stevens; The Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens; Leave Your Sleep by Natalie Merchant; Go by Jónsi; April Uprising by The John Butler Trio; The Promise by Bruce Springsteen; The Astounding Eyes of Rita by Anouar Brahem; American VI: Aint No Grave by Johnny Cash; San Patricio by The Chieftains & Ry Cooder; In Person & On Stage by John Prine; How I Learned to See in the Dark by Chris Pureka.

Best films

1. How I Ended This Summer
2. Winter’s Bone
3. Abandoned
4. The Infidel
5. Shutter Island
6. Boy

Overrated films

• Inception
• The Social Network
• Edge of Darkness
• The Wolfman
• Shelter
• Alice in Wonderland
• Salt
• Robin Hood
• My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?.

Worst films

• The Lovely Bones
• The American
• After Life

Best TV shows

1. An Idiot Abroad (Series 1)
2. Rev

Some Personal Highlights

• Samuel arrived.
• Found (what we hope is) a great school for Sinead.
• Made some great friends.
• Defended my PhD.
• Participated in the historic first meeting of the United General Council of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, in Grand Rapids.
• I went to my first, and possibly last, Leonard Cohen concert.
• I began journalling … again.
• I stopped wearing a watch.