I’m a pretty aggressive reader, regularly making my way through over 100 books a year. But even though I’ve been reading fairly broadly, it’s still pretty easy to get into a rut when you read that much.
Maybe you have the same struggle—you read regularly, but it’s hard to know what to read next.
For the last couple of months, I’ve been sharing what I’ve been reading in each month. Ive been doing this in part because it’s impossible to review everything I read in detail, and because I hope there’s something on the list that you might like to read. In March, I read 12 different books, including three graphic novels, two volumes in the Chronicles of Narnia series, and several books related to the Christian life, church leadership, apologetics, and theology:
- Understanding the Congregation’s Authority by Jonathan Leeman
- Star Wars: Chewbacca by Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto
- The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
- Passion Cry by Robbie Symons
- The Things of Earth: Treasuring God by Enjoying His Gifts by Joe Rigney
- The New Calvinism Considered: A Personal and Pastoral Assessment by Jeremy Walker
- Batman by Ed Brubaker Vol. 1 by Ed Brubaker
- Teach Us to Want: Longing, Ambition & the Life of Faith by Jen Pollock Michel
- The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
- Gaining by Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches that Send by J.D. Greear
- Batman & Robin Eternal Vol. 1 by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Tony S. Daniel, et. al.
- Fool’s Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion by Os Guinness
Wandering through Narnia
Shockingly, my daughter and I managed to get through two books of The Chronicles of Narnia series, The Horse and His Boy and The Magician’s Nephew. The former had a lot of fun moments for us, but we definitely both enjoyed the latter more. (I also shared a few thoughts on this a couple weeks back.) We’re almost done The Last Battle now, and choosing what we’re going to read next.
The graphic novels
Clearly I don’t have a problem reading comic books, but I do try to limit how many I read in a give month (moderation: it’s a good thing). This month’s were a lot of fun: one was an off-beat miniseries for a character who only growls (although I liked it, it’s among the weaker of Marvel’s Star Wars books so far); another was the first collection of stories by Ed Brubaker, an acclaimed comic book writer, from his run on Batman in the late 90s/early 2000s; and the third is the first collection of a surprisingly compelling weekly series starring Dick Grayson (formerly Robin) in both the past and present of the current timeline.
Enjoyment, desires, and ministry (oh my!)
The Things of Earth and Teach Me to Want complemented one another very nicely, with offering a reminder that the things God has created are good, but we also need to learn to conform our desires. It’s okay to want something (or not want something), but we should be continually submitting those desires to the will of God, even as our enjoyment of what God has created should stem from our gratitude for all he has done for us. Gaining by Losing, surprisingly, worked well with these books, too, with its challenge to reconsider our understanding of success and influence in ministry.
The New Calvinism Considered was interesting to read because it feels really dated, in part because some of the individuals associated with what was once called the “New Calvinism” wouldn’t be recognized by people in the movement as being Reformed (ish)[1. And in at least one case there are questions about whether or not an individual is, in fact, a Christian at all.] Passion Cry is written by a really great guy who leads a church within our fellowship, and is his attempt to offer a corrective to spiritual apathy. Understanding the Congregation’s Authority is a tiny book but one on which I have a fair bit to say (positively, so look for a review very soon). And finally, Fool’s Talk was probably one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read this year, with its challenge to consider how we seek to share the gospel with others and the lost art of persuasion. Definitely a book I’ll be returning to in the future.
Have a suggestion for a book for me or someone else to read or want to share what you’ve read? Connect with me on Twitter or Facebook and let me know!
Here’s a look at what I read in:
