a serious thinker is a serious, disciplined reader of books. i know of no exceptions in the modern world. (christian reconstructionist and austrian economist gary north)i remember a time when it would have been hard to imagine not reading books on a regular basis. i love to read and think, and books have been a tremendous blessing to me over the years. but with the explosion of the internet, i find it easy to do a lot of reading at a certain depth -- a web page length analysis can only be so deep -- and to fall into the trap of wanting to know a little about everything to the point of not thinking deeply about anything. it's a bad habit i hope to break.
the list of books that i've finished recently is a bit random, but gives some insight into the kinds of questions i've been asking these days.
- the hole in our gospel (richard stearns)
- recarving rushmore (ivan eland)
- not for sale (david batstone)
- the tipping point (malcolm gladwell)
- just courage (gary haugen)
to those of you who are willing to respond, i'd love to know what you're reading as well, especially if it's something you highly recommend!
7 comments:
I am in the middle of a contraband (reviewer's edition) of Chang Rae Lee's latest novel, The Surrendered, which will come out in March. Alice Munro's latest, Too Much Happiness, just came in for me at the library, so I'll read that. I do have two Christan books on the my list: Culture Making by Andy Crouch and Not the Religous Type by Dave Schmelzer.
If you want a fun, fast fiction read that has some interesting riffs on faith, try Big Machine by Victor LaValle (it will be out in paperback in the spring). It's a quirky, inventive book that is also a kind of ode to Oakland.
i was looking forward to alice munro's book (just returned it to good'ole bpl - guess you were next in line after me, bora) - but found it v. depressing. am finishing "a happy marriage" by rafael yglesias (a largely autobiographical novel about a wife dying of cancer), "eating:a memoir" by jason epstein (food editor) with lots of interesting recipes, and "the first four years" by laura ingalls wilder (with gemma). wonder what it means that i have no Christian books on my list . . .
b: nice balance on your list (no surprise there!), though this concept of a "fun, fast fiction read" is foreign to me...
m: thanks for the head's up on _too much happiness_ (really don't need any nudging toward depression). do you make the recipes from _eating_ or is it just fun to contemplate them? as for the observation about having no christian books, i am assuming that a) the bible is hiding somewhere on all of our lists, and that certainly qualifies; or b) you are so far out in front christianity-wise that it's important to bring up other areas of you don't get too lopsided!
On the nightstand:
"Don't Make Me Count to Three": A mom's look at heart-oriented discipline by Ginger Plowman, I am guessing you don't need this as much as I do right now :)
"The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost our Future and What it will take to win it back" by Jeff Faux. I haven't gotten to the part where we can win it back, just so far, how we lost it :(
Urbana 93 Bible with notes from P. Dana's Fall conference talk on Friendship written on the inside cover.
I recently read Oliver Sacks "Musicophilia" a very interesting read on the brain and music and what we understand about their relationship when the brain malfunctions.
Then I wondered, where is all the fiction? Then I realized my fiction reading has been various graphic novels.
dy: nice list. _the global class war_ and _musicophilia_ sound especially interesting. i'd love to know how faux's book ends (though i find his name a bit unfortunate, given his subject matter!). as for _don't make me count to three_, you're probably right, but every so often, we'd benefit more than you might guess... (-:
Hi B,
Thanks for sharing what you're reading now...I'm always interested in what folks are reading. I'm just getting back into Christian nonfiction after a couple of years of reading lots of fiction (realized the power of narrative several years ago after snobbishly eliminating story from my reading diet during college). I'm re-reading "In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership" by Henri Nouwen. He's one of the writers I keep coming back to, worth listening to again.
I'm also reading a manhwa (Korean manga) for teens, Game Change (about Clinton, Obama, and McCain presidential race), Official Book Club Selection (memoir of comedian Kathy Griffin), and Life in the Aquarium (by a kindergarten teacher).
I'd love to follow what you're reading on Goodreads.com if you're a member. m
PS B, If you're ever in a reading rut, I'd love to try to suggest some books for you if you'd tell me about five or so books you've enjoyed and why (including fiction).
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