Let me explain. In 2003, I moved to China with my possessions (I call this true love - my boyfriend had accepted a job there and even though China is just above, say, Iraq in desirable places to live, I was raring to go join him). 'Possessions' means no books, as my clothes and shoes alone weighed a lot.

And I didn't know that Xiamen, the city we moved to, did not sell English language books or magazines, except trashy ones in the 'cultural' bookstore in one of the malls. After a couple of weeks I was ready to tear my hair out. I had a friend who offered to send me a book (he would surprise me).

The book was Life of Pi. When I received it, I DEVOURED it. Three times in the first week upon getting it in the mail. I LOVE Piscine Molitor Patel. I love Richard Parker. I love the Japanese guys. I love the old man who told Pi's story. I was so close to the edge of insanity without any books that I desperately wanted to believe this was a piece of non-fiction!

The parts that struck me the most were Pi's accepting that he had to stop being a Hindu vegetarian when he was starving and how he learned to hunt, and the carnivorous green island. They have stuck in my head all these years.

I came across this book in a second hand book store and was pleasantly surprised. Having not heard of Anita Shreve before I am pleased to say that I have since read one of her other books on the basis of how much I enjoyed 'Light on Snow'. Although I can't comment on many of her other books it seems that Anita Shreve writes in a simple but powerful way.

This book is written through the eyes of 12 year old Nicky. She and her father have lived alone since the death of her mother and baby sister, Clara in a horrific car accident. Since the death of his wife and baby, Robert Dillon has almost lived like a hermit with Nicky being his only real access to the world around him. He gave up his job in the city to move away; away from the memories of the past.

Each evening they take a stroll through the woods near their home. However one evening the walk changes their lives forever; they come across an abandoned baby, who will survive purely because they walked past.

When the mother of the baby turns up at their home, with her own distressing tale, it ultimately provides an opportunity for Nicky and her father to review their lives, grieve and move on from the tragedy that took their family.

Brennan Manning is one of my favorite authors. When I was in high school, I read The Ragamuffin Gospel for the first time. It changed my life. I re-read it every once in a while, teach from it, recommend it, and occasionally give it to people. It's an amazing book. Since then, I have been amazed by this man's words and thoughts.

Over the holiday, I was able to read Ruthless Trust, which was also written by Brennan Manning. I was lent the book some time ago, and had been unable to find the time to read it for a while.

Sometimes, when it takes me a long time to read a book it is just me being lazy. Maybe most of the time. But sometimes, I think there might be a purpose in it. This was one of those times. I needed a book like this. Right when I read it. It is another life-changing book, and it's one that I will need to read again to really grasp the impact that its message can and should have on my life.

In essence, its message is about how a life can develop raw, authentic trust in Jesus. I was spoken to by a lot of things in this book, but I'll provide this excerpt that especially grabbed me:

Alas, another form of tainted trust is dishonesty with Jesus. Sometimes we harbor an unexpressed suspicion that he cannot handle all that goes on in our minds and hearts. We doubt that he can accept our hateful thoughts, cruel fantasies, and bizarre dreams. We wonder how he would deal with our primitive urges, our inflated illusions, and our exotic mental castles. The deep resistance to making ourselves so vulnerable, so naked, so totally unprotected is our implicit way of saying, "Jesus, I trust you, but there are limits."

I find it difficult to make myself vulnerable. I tend to be skeptical and cynical to a fault, and at times this extends itself to my relationship with Jesus. Things like this remind me of how important it is that I do not hide. That I examine myself, and honestly question whether I'm wearing a mask when I approach Jesus.

It's also incredibly important that I evaluate whether I'm wearing a mask when I approach others. When followers of Jesus hide their struggles behind a mask of self-righteousness, or of hiding what is really happening, we are treating each other, and especially those who have not yet met Jesus, in a terrible way: denying them the freedom that is available to them, to become unprotected before the heart of God. We make it our message that it is not acceptable to be messed up when we come to the crucified God. That God is not interested in us unless we can wear the smiles and quote the slogans of institutional religion.

When we come to believe this, we are building walls between us and God, between us and ourselves, and between us and everyone else. Brennan Manning remains, in every book of his that I've read, one of the best at tearing down these walls and healing the wounds that they cause.

We are never told what has destroyed the world, but there's not a lot left, just ash, blackened stumps, charred remains and derelict towns - oh, and a few human beings. The man and his son are two of them, making their way along the road towards the south and the sea, where they hope it will be warmer. They are carrying something important i.e. the fire of morality and humanity in the face of open warfare, cruelty and cannibalism. This, of course, is what most humans have descended to in order to survive.

The book is well-written. Its sparse language matches the emptiness of the landscape, and of the people trying to survive the horror. Incredibly, McCarthy makes the reader feel numb, in tune with the characters, rather than horrified, as you might expect. The relationship between the boy and his father is warm and wonderful, in contrast to everything that surrounds them.

Many reviewers regard this book as a warning, and so it seems to be. I was glad it was relatively short, as it took an effort to pick it up again each day, and read about a horror which is fictional at present, but which may become a future reality.