I have told students (see Reviewing Books) that the essence of a good book review is to do justice to what the writer was trying to say, evaluate the writing in its own terms before you evaluate it in your own, and discuss fairly the issues raised by what they have and have not done.
Whether or not I have succeeded in taking my own advice others had better be the judge. I have sometimes struggled to know whether my difficulties with some particular books were due (a) to the profundity of the writing, or (b) to the inability of the authors to express themselves clearly, or (c) my intellectual limitations.
Of these (c) is a real factor, but (a) and (b) can be easily confused and it can be hard to know whether one is struggling with a labour of love rather than of wisdom. Nevertheless, it is usually worth the effort to seek to uncover people's better intentions.
David Devadas, Ecumenism and Youth, Risk Book Series, WCC Publications, Geneva, 1995, 98pp.
Linn, Gerhard, ed., Hear What The Spirit Says To The Churches. Towards Missionary Congregations in Europe, WCC, Geneva, 1994.
Lochhead, David, Shifting Realities. Information Technology and the Church, WCC Publications (Risk Book Series), Geneva, 1997
McKenzie, Douglas G. (In association with Bishop I Wayan Mastra), The Mango Tree Church, Melbourne, JBCE, 1988 and 1997.
Miskotte, H. H. God’s Own Green Paradise. New Zealand Churches and the Environment,: Shaker Publishing B.V. St. Maartenlaan 26 6221 AX Maastricht 1997 (Exchange, 1999)
Pearson, J D., comp., A guide to manuscripts and documents in the British Isles relating to South and South-East Asia, 2 vols, London, Mansell, 1989, 1990. (Archives from afar, BABTAPL)
Rae, Simon. Breath becomes the wind. Old and new in Karo religion, Otago University Press, 1994. email university.press@stonebow.otago.co.nz
Reuver, Marc. Faith and Law : Juridical Perspectives for the Ecumenical Movement. Geneva, Switzerland: WCC Publications, 2000. (Touchstone, 2002)
Sampson, Philip, Vinay Samuel and Chris Sugden, eds. Faith and Modernity. Oxford: Regnum Books International, 1994. Pp. 352. (Mission Studies)
VanElderen, Marlin. Finding a Voice : Communicating the Ecumenical Movement, Risk Book Series; No. 91. Geneva ; Great Britain: WCC Publications, 2000. (Touchstone)