"Books I Read in 2017"

I didn’t set out to read a minimum number of books last year. But, I remember wanting to read more than I did in 2016. Part of the motivation came from something Matt Perman writes in his book, What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done: “Books are for insight, articles are for awareness. Give preference to books (70 percent) without neglecting articles (30 percent)” (p. 187). By the end of 2016, I knew I had been heavy on the articles and light on the books.

    To my surprise, I ended up reading a dozen books in 2017. All of them were worthy of my time. A couple or three are what we sometimes call “life changing.” So, here they are:

Fiction:

• The Three Hostages by John Buchan
• The Island of Sheep by John Buchan
• Sick Heart River by John Buchan
• Wabash: A Novel of the American Frontier by Collin Higginbotham

Non-Fiction:

• Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
• How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels by N.T. Wright
• The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited by Scot McKnight
• Living Jesus: Doing What Jesus Says in the Sermon on the Mount by Randy Harris
• To End All Wars by Ernest Gordon
• A Year with C.S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works edited by Patricia S. Klein
• For the Glory: Eric Liddell’s Journey from Olympic Champion to Modern Martyr by Duncan Hamilton
• Some Writer: The Story of E.B. White by Melissa Sweet

    So, how was your 2017 reading year? You are invited to share in the comments section.

 Grace and peace to you!

Journaling: Books to Read

"The most important part of the reading journal is this: When I start reading a book, I write the title and the author at the top of the page, and begin taking notes. It doesn’t matter if it’s a business book or a novel, I’m always making notes. Quotes, ideas that pop into my head, insights, everything. It’s not simply a book of lists. It’s a memoir of experiences in reading.

If you like reading and you like journaling, you'll appreciate this post by Berin Kinsman.

For Bookworms Interested in Bookworms

George Grant's Grantian Florilegium Sep 30 blog posting, "Spurgeon & Books," is a fascinating bit of history regarding C.H. Spurgeon's love of books and his view of them.

Spurgeon's reading of six books a week and remembering what he read years later reminds me of Teddy Roosevelt's reading and remembering of at least five books a week, even during the most hectic times of his career.

Readings in Progress