Before my computer crashed last month, I had developed a pretty lengthy reading list over the past year or so. It was filled with a lot of texts recommended by my professors and other ministers. With graduation looming in May, I hope I’ll have more time for “non-required” reading. First up will be some Dallas Willard and Shane Claiborne’s The Irresistible Revolution. As I try to build up my reading list again, I ask you: What are you reading? What are some of the better books you’ve read in the last year or so? I tend to read non-fiction almost exclusively, but if you’ve read any good fiction lately, lay it on me.
What are you reading?
already & not yet 
Claiborne’s book is great. I’m reading Francis Collins’ The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief at the moment.
I don’t read very much nonfiction. I usually can’t concentrate that long on anything. I have lately been reading more of what would be considered “classic” literature. I just finished Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocense and several other books of that genre. On a more guy-friendly reading note. I just read Black order by James Rollins and The Eight by Katherine Neville. If you look on my facebook page you can see a bigger list of everything I’ve read lately. I read a lot.
I’ve been reading “A Fawn in the Grass”, “I Spy a Lion”, “Out of the Ballpark” and “Elmo Says”. If you’re interested in any of these, they’ll be available in the Juvenile section of the Madison Library in about another week!! 🙂 Ha ha…just kidding…but really..that’s all I read these days. Reading anything else results in my ‘sleeping state’ in about 4 minutes! :)And if you really WERE interested…the Out of the Ballpark was written by ARod in an ‘non-autobiographical but inspired by his life’ way. Lawson loves it…Joshua might like it too.
I don’t get to read as much as I want either. When we went on vacation, Kelly gave me 4 of Beverly Lewis’ books to read. She was raised in the Amish community and writes fictional stories about the Amish. I read all 4 books in 4 days, and purhcased 2 more, THE POSTCARD and THE CROSSROAD which I also finished before we got back home. I haven’t had a chance to ready anything but my “EXLORING CREATION WITH GENERAL SCIENCE” by Dr Wile for my class I teach at school. So would a gift certificate to BARNES and NOBLE be on your Xmas wish list??? You know there’s only like 60+ shopping days left 🙂 : ) 🙂
Greg, everyone I know who has read Claiborne say the same thing. I may read that one during my semester break. Laura, the older I get, I find myself drawn to nonfiction more and more. The last piece of fiction I read was probably Walter Wangerin’s Jesus, his novelization of the life of Christ. I read a lot of Grisham and Nick Hornby back in the day. Maybe I’ll try out a few of your suggestions.
Stacy, I’d heard about ARod’s book. It’s good to know it’s at the library. I’m sure Joshua will love it. Tara, Barnes & Noble, Amazon…I’m not picky!
“The Prayer Of Jesus” by Hank Hanegraaff, Wayne Grudem’s “Systematic Theology”, and C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy (consisting of “Out Of The Silent Planet”, “Perelandra”, and “That Hideous Strength”). The Lewis books are fiction, and I’m enjoying all.
I recently read, “Setting Limits With Your Strong Willed Child”. I recommend it to all parents and teachers. Next on my list is the new Nicholas Sparks book, “The Choice”. He’s my all-time favorite.When I have the time, I would love to finish the 6th Harry Potter book.
Hey! I’m reading Irresistible Revolution right now–as in, finished a “chapter” 5 minutes ago. And ppl may stone me for saying this–but it’s “Ok”. The IDEAS are great and VERY important to the ch_ch right now–I LOVE his story…but it hasn’t proven to be the redefining bk of my life. Sorry. Maybe it’s b/c I’m in China…we’ll let that be my excuse.Barbara Brown Taylor’s “Leaving Ch_ch” left words that keep echoing in my head as I move through the day. I highly recommend it.”On Writing Well” by William Zinsser is becoming my non-religious bible. Seriously, if you EVER write ANYTHING–read this bk. It’s actually a really enjoyable read in its own right.And uhhhh….duh, Jason…”Chronicles of Narnia” PERIOD. I have the 1st two bks in Chinese now.
Books I’ve read over the last year which I would recommend:1) Einstein by Walter Isaacson. Probably the best biography of Albert Einstein still in print.2) The Lost: A Search for Six in Six Million by Daniel Mendelsson. This is a non-fiction story of a man’s search for his relatives killed by Hitler in World War II.3) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I’m reading this now, but really like it so far. One of the cool things about daughters growing up is that we can read many of the same books now. Emma, who is 13 and a voracious reader, recommended this book to me.4) I re-read all of the Harry Potter books in preparation for the release of the 7th book, and now I’ve read the 7th book 3 times.5) The Fracture Zone by Simon Winchester. I wanted to understand more about the Balkans and why it continues to be such a volatile place. This is a really well-written and personal account of another man’s journey to discover answers to the same questions.6) The Secret Man by Bob Woodward. I’ve always been fascinated by Watergate and Deep Throat. This book is Woodward’s re-telling of the story of his interaction with Deep Throat (Mark Feldt), now that Feldt has died and he can talk about the identity of Deep Throat. It was a much more personal story than I had anticipated. Matt and I listened to this book on CD as we were driving up to the Baseball Hall of Fame in September.
Jason,I don’t know if you’ve read “Baseball Between the Numbers” but it’s a pretty interesting book. It examines stuff like “Do players perform better in contract years?”, “Is David Ortiz a clutch hitter?”, and “What happened to Todd Van Poppel?”. It’s a very interesting perspective on baseball from a statistical standpoint. They emphasize stuff like EqA and VORP and devalue stats like RBIs. If you haven’t read it, I’d give it a look.
Jake,I have a copy of Baseball By the Numbers in my office at home. It’s good stuff. Since you liked it, you should grab Bill James’ Historical Baseball Abstract. It’s the same kind of analytic take on baseball. I think you’d like it.
Allen, a buddy of mine has Grudem’s Systematic and he says it’s quality stuff. For my Systematic Class this year, I re-read Stanley Grenz’s Theology for the Community of God. Grenz is a relational theologian, but I found his analysis to be really helpful. Sunny, all I can say is I’m surprised you find time to read at all! SuperMom!Lucy, I have a copy of the Barbara Brown Taylor book you referenced. I have to read it for a major project later in the semester. I’m really considering Columbia for my MDiv because she’s there now. And I was kinda expecting you to tell me about Narnia! I haven’t forgotten, I promise! It’s on the reading list!
Eric,I really want to read more biography during my grad school reprieve. I might start with some Lincoln; he’s a figure that fascinates me. The Mendellson text sounds good, too.
Jason, I already mentioned it earlier but the book Quiet Strength Tony Dungy was fantastic. We have it if you would like to borrow. It is a very quick read but so much information. I saw a devo. guide that goes with this book the other day at the book store. (It was for men so I did not look long) I think of this book when Gary is preaching about Integrity. Should be a lot of young mens hero has great integrity. P.S. Can you tell I like it?
Jason, I hate to plug my blog on yours, but you have a billion readers, so I think you can direct a few this way from time to time, Mr. Popular. The reason I’m doing this is because I just posted something on my blog, and I want the opinion of anyone who calls themselves a college football fan. Check it out and post a comment if you don’t mind. Thanks again, bro bro.