Paperback Round-up

Seeds of Change: Five Plants that Transformed Mankind by Henry Hobhouse (Papermac.
£9.99). An imaginative interpretation of how history has been shaped by five plants. Hobhouse argues that sugar, tea. cotton, potatoes and quinine have had a more crucial impact on the world than wars, battles and revolutions. Contains a fascinating chapter on how Ireland was shaped by the potato famine, and how the growth of the United States was formed as a result.
Prayers from the Heart for Everyday Things selected by
Joanna Bogle (Grac,cwing, £4.95). In a quiet moment before a meal, when a son or daughter is far away. on accepting new responsibilities or when thinking about death... for these and a host of other situations, Joanna Bogle has found a prayer. This slim volume. arranged in seven thematic sections, overflows with the beautiful, thoughtful and heartfelt words of St Francis de Sales, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Christina Rossetti, Charles Wesley and many others.
Albania Who Cares? by Bill Hamilton (Autumn House, £3.95). BBC TV news correspondent Bill Hamilton tells the behind-theheadlines story of the people of an isolated nation. From a country in which religion was outlawed, he emerges with a tale of extraordinary courage and faith. 50p from the price of each copy sold goes to aid for Albania.
Never to he a Mother: A Guide for All Women who Didn't or Couldn't by Linda Hunt Anton (Harper Collins, £7.99). Anton grew up in a Mormon community, where the over-riding role model for women was motherhood. When she tried to have children herself, she was devastated to discover she was infertile. Based on her own experience of coming to terms with the ensuing grief, anger, guilt and envy. Anton has interviewed hundreds of childless women and her book guides others like her through a process to enable acknowledgement of their loss.
Life with Billy by Maurice Rowlandson (Hodder and
Stoughton, £7.99). An autobiography of Billy Graham who still, at 73, regularly draws crowds of 250,000 to hear his preaching. Rowlandson, a life-long aide, draws on half a century of diary entries to recount many unusual, and often humorous, experiences on the road with Billy.
Swallow's Nest: A Feminine Reading of the Psalms by Marchiene Vroon Riensta (Gracewing, 12.95). A rich and thoughtful volume which will prove helpful to many who find difficulties with the traditional "patriarchal" approach to Scripture, and may offer fresh insights and inspiration to many who are brave enough to read it with an open heart and mind. The author, a Presbyterian, attributes much of her re-reading of the Psalms to her friendship with a community of Catholic Dominican sisters.
The Voice from the Cross by Donald Coggan (Triangle, £3.99). A series of meditations on Jesus's last words from the Cross by a former Archbishop of Canterbury, challenging us to look more deeply into the central events of the Christian faith.
Joanna Moorhead