The Uncommon Reader

I have just finished reading a short book by the playwright Alan Bennett, called The Uncommon Reader.

It’s a fictional story of a mobile library arriving at Buckingham Palace and the Queen rediscovering her love for books. Walking her corgis one day the Queen stumbles upon the mobile library. Not wanting to seem rude she borrows a book, and then another. Soon she has been bitten by the bug and finds herself reading whenever she gets a moment. She becomes adroit at reading in the car while waving with her free hand and seems to be neglecting her once impeccably performed duties….

It’s very clever- anyone who genuinely loves books will be smiling on every page! It’s a kick at ‘the establishment’ too, but mostly it’s about the love of books… so if you know me, you know why I loved it!

Chariots of Fire?

One of the funnier moments at the conference last week was when I decided to go out running. I ran from the centre of Brighton up to the Marina and back. It was a lovely afternoon, the sun was shining- and I felt good! In fact I felt strong and healthy.

I noticed that I seemed to be running faster than usual. There was a spring in my step. I complimented myself on my fitness. The theme tune from ‘Chariots of Fire’ was running in my head….

Having stopped to look around the Marina, I started to run back. I could hardly move forward! The strength of the wind was such that it was all I could do to walk into it.

I had totally missed the fact that the wind was pushing me along on the first leg. My feeling fit was nothing more than a wind assisted run. The Chariots of Fire theme tune has been relegated to the back of the mind again!

Honouring the founder and the future

I’m just back from a Newfrontiers Christian conference down in Brighton. The keynote speaker, Mark Driscoll said something that I think has such a wisdom about it, not just for Newfrontiers, but for any organisation.

Mark spoke of the need to honour both the founder and the future. Too much honouring of the founder means the future gets forgotten. Too much honouring of the future means the founder gets shipwrecked. The two need to be in balance. In any organisation, there has to be recognition of what has been achieved and the pioneers who managed it. But there always needs to be a looking forward to the future. If there is not, the organisation will be short-lived.

The best leaders allow for succession- honouring the past, looking to the future.

God-life

The book is out....

Having been writing it for the last 2 years or so, in airport lounges, hotel rooms and many a weekend, it's great to get the book published.

I'm not exactly a prolific writer- this is only my second book and the first was nearly 15 years ago!

It's called 'God-life' and it helps those with a Christian faith go deeper. I've filled it with stories, quotes and illustrations which I hope will help make it both readable and memorable. And more importantly, life-changing.

If you want a copy, email me at

ralphcturner@gmail.com

The recommended retail price is £6.99, but I can sell for £5.70 including post and packaging. Hope you enjoy it!

Murray's mountain

Josh and I settled down to watch Andrew Murray take on Roger Gasquet on TV last night, at Wimbledon. Some hours later, still playing through to about 9.30pm, we felt as if we had played the match, it was so exhausting.

Having been two sets down and with the Frenchman serving for the match, Murray managed to break back. He then won the tie break and followed it by winning the final two sets. What a comeback. One of the best matches I’ve seen in a long time.

Quite a mountain to climb, but Murray did it.