Summer is often a time when those who love to read look forward to getting in an extra book or two while the pace of life is a little slower.
If that’s you and you’re looking for some ideas, Al Mohler recently published his always ambitious summer reading list and Steven Altrogge of The Blazing Center his list of 30 books every Christian should read.
Here are a couple (on neither of their lists) that I hope to read before the fall:
Lost to the West by Lars Brownworth. This has been on my wish list for a while and now that it’s in paperback I may go ahead and get it to read at the beach in a few weeks. Brownworth covers the often neglected history of the Eastern Roman empire, which, unlike the West, didn’t fall in 476 A.D. but remained a political force for another eleven hundred years. He does so by walking through the reigns of it’s twelve most important rulers. If you’re interested in this period of history, which has lots of appeal for those interested in church history as well, Brownworth’s podcast 12 Byzantine Rulers is worth a listen also.
Christless Christianity by Michael Horton which analyzes what Horton calls the American church’s captivity to American cultural ideals such as consumerism, pragmatism, positive thinking, etc. This captivity has essentially led to an alternative gospel being preached in many American churches – a gospel of moralism, personal comfort, self-help, and self-improvement. This one’s also been on my list for a while (pretty much anything by Horton is worth reading) and since I was able to pick it up cheap at the recent T4G conference, it’s moved up a few places.
What are some books you’re hoping to read this summer?
I’d love to hear what sort of fiction people are reading (and for us commuters, I count listening to audiobooks as “reading”).
For my part, I’ve been reading the Harry Potter books. I know that there’s no shortage of controversy about whether Christians should enjoy that stuff, but after reading 5 of them I have definitely formed an opinion about that. My take is that saying Harry Potter will lead people into witchcraft and sorcery is like saying Joel Osteen is going to lead people deep into the Gospel. 🙂 (How reading the books affects your conscience is a much bigger issue however, so if your conscience isn’t clear, stay away.)
By the way, if you’re a bookworm, check out Goodreads. My profile there is at http://www.goodreads.com/hughbiquitous if you want to connect that way.
I second Hugh’s recommendation of Goodreads. It’s a great way to keep up with your reading and see what others are reading as well.
As far as fiction, I’m a sucker for John Mortimer’s Rumpole so I have “Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders” on my list of fiction items to read but am not currently reading any fiction – unless coverage of the upcoming election counts. 🙂
Stumbled on this today… Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books by Tony Reinke.
Really looking forward to this one.
It’s excellent Hugh. I posted a review of it back in December:
http://forgodsfame.org/2011/12/09/lit-a-christian-guide-to-reading-books-review/
Definitely worth reading!
I knew it sounded familiar… 🙂