The topics of the readings range from 'Aquinas' to 'When the World Drama Ends.' As he always, Lewis writes with precision clarity; most Latin scholars do.
As far as merely a readings text, it is hard to go wrong with Lewis: he is one of the greatest thinkers from the 20th century. However, if you purchase this text with the intention of having a devotional work, then you might be disappointed. Don't misunderstand me, Lewis' writings are quite devotional in one sense, but are quite rigorous, which runs contrary to most if not all devotional work. This would be more of a serious food for thought work.
However, if you are wanting a broad spectrum of Lewis' thought wrapped up in small 'tidbits' then you will love this work - but keep the lack of context in mind (it is always best to read the whole and not just a part to gain a full grasp of what any writer is trying to say). I would also recommend Lewis' "Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories."
The only criticism I have of this book is about its format. It's intended to be a devotional calendar with a reading for each specific date of a year with appropriate readings for special days in the church year. I don't think it succeeds very well in this format. For one thing the selections for the special days don't always seem relevant. The feast of St. Andrew, for example, on November 30 doesn't have anything to do with that particular Apostle. But the main reason it doesn't seem to work well as a devotional calendar is that long passages are often broken up into a sequence of separate sequential readings that span several days. If you stick to reading each selection one day at a time, you could easily lose the train of thought and have to pick it up again each day. There is no hint as to where one broken up passage ends and another begins unless you look at the list of sources in the back. I think the book would work much better if it were simply organized by topic into series of passages of varying lengths without trying to fit them in a daily calendar template.
After reading Kathryn Lindskoog's book "Light in the Shadowlands, Protecting the Real C.S. Lewis" (see my review on October 30, 2000), I have deep concerns about Mr. Hooper. My consequent suggestion is that you skip the introduction if you use this book.
The real attraction here is the ability to read short excerpts from C.S. Lewis' works every day. As a whole this book is great for fulfilling that purpose.
I believe that I have lamented elsewhere that Christianity suffers from a plague of superficial and shallow "devotionals." In spite of Mr. Hooper having had a hand in its creation (and the lion's share of its profits no doubt) "The Business of Heaven" suffers from neither malady.
These passages are excellent to reflect upon. Sometimes they stand alone. Sometimes several days reflect upon the same subject. They follow the Anglican Church Calendar for the year (Mr. Lewis was himself a member of the Church of England.)
As a person who is unfamiliar with the "Church Year," I found this collection an education of sorts. The book contains charts for folks like me who need to figure out where the movable feasts fall on the calendar (They have their own readings in the back.)
"The Business of Heaven" is an interesting volume. I give it my recommendation in spite of my reservations...there are clearly better devotionals out there. I would suggest Brennan Manning's "Reflections for Ragamuffins" as a more worthy first choice.