After the mind-flexing success of 2009, I am pulling back a bit this year.
Not in particular order, nor definite. I'll add more as I go:
*Completed
* The Century, for Young Readers, Brian Jennings
* Agape Leadership...from the Life of R. C. Chapman, Robert Peterson
* Marrow of Justification, Benjamin Keach
* Communion with God, John Owen
* Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer
* Two years Before the Mast, Robert Henry Dana
* Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther
* Soul Heights, Soul Depths, Octavius Winslow
* My First Summer in the Sierra, John Muir
* Walden Pond, Henry Thoreau
* Civil Disobedience, Henry Thoreau
* Alexander the Great, Jacob Abbott
* Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
* South!, Ernest Shackleton
* History of the Peloponnesian War , Thucydides
* Call of the Wild, Jack London
* Ministry of Mercy, Timothy Keller
* Welcome to a Reformed Church, Daniel Hyde
* The Truth About Public Speaking, James O'Rourke
* Jesus Loves the Little Children, Daniel Hyde
* Justified, Edited by Ryan Glomsrud and Michael Horton
* The Constitution of No Authority, Lysander Spooner
* The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
* Mortification of Sin, John Owen
* By Grace Alone, Sinclair Ferguson - Useful and fair, but forgettable alongside so many other books of the sort.
* Common Sense, Thomas Paine - Rhetorical granite and fire. Historically essential to understanding the formation of the American mindset.
* Typhoon, Joseph Conrad - Very short and very potent. I highly recommend it as a display of literary force. Sit down with something sea worthy to drink and you'll be done in just a few riveting hours.
* Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain - Hilarious, if at times a bit scandalous, in light of being "children's literature." Twain understands how to stack the plot to maintain maximum interest, although the endless superstitions grew somewhat tiresome. Further, his dislike of contemporary Christian religion is palpable, with disgusted allusions to revivalism and what he views as stoic Presbyterianism.
* The Great Conversation - Robert M. Hutchins - If I had a million dollars, I would pay $100 to each person that reads this incredibly important article. And I would be doing you a favor for which you ought to be paying me lots more, for recommending. Your life may be changed. One of the best works I've ever read, hands down. I wish I had read this ten years ago. I'm humbled, convicted, stirred to be educated and to educate others. I am convinced that it is the duty of every person, to the fullest of their abilit...y, to understand and engage the breadth of human thought so as to interact with reality and participate in community in an authentic manner. I am convinced the path to achieving this is through study and discussion of literature, and that to understand the deepest questions common to men is to better understand ourselves, and so to understand our relation to God and His world. Someone kept insisting to me that, "this book is for people who are very interested in philosophy," as if it was not for all people. They have completely missed Hutchin's point: philosophy is the study of man's relation to reality, to the real world and common issues. Philosophy is the art of existence, the study and practice of life itself.
Charles Spurgeon commented on theological reading,
Not in particular order, nor definite. I'll add more as I go:
*Completed
* The Century, for Young Readers, Brian Jennings
* Agape Leadership...from the Life of R. C. Chapman, Robert Peterson
* Marrow of Justification, Benjamin Keach
* Communion with God, John Owen
* Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer
* Two years Before the Mast, Robert Henry Dana
* Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther
* Soul Heights, Soul Depths, Octavius Winslow
* My First Summer in the Sierra, John Muir
* Walden Pond, Henry Thoreau
* Civil Disobedience, Henry Thoreau
* Alexander the Great, Jacob Abbott
* Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
* South!, Ernest Shackleton
* History of the Peloponnesian War , Thucydides
* Call of the Wild, Jack London
* Ministry of Mercy, Timothy Keller
* Welcome to a Reformed Church, Daniel Hyde
* The Truth About Public Speaking, James O'Rourke
* Jesus Loves the Little Children, Daniel Hyde
* Justified, Edited by Ryan Glomsrud and Michael Horton
* The Constitution of No Authority, Lysander Spooner
* The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
* Mortification of Sin, John Owen
* By Grace Alone, Sinclair Ferguson - Useful and fair, but forgettable alongside so many other books of the sort.
* Common Sense, Thomas Paine - Rhetorical granite and fire. Historically essential to understanding the formation of the American mindset.
* Typhoon, Joseph Conrad - Very short and very potent. I highly recommend it as a display of literary force. Sit down with something sea worthy to drink and you'll be done in just a few riveting hours.
* Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain - Hilarious, if at times a bit scandalous, in light of being "children's literature." Twain understands how to stack the plot to maintain maximum interest, although the endless superstitions grew somewhat tiresome. Further, his dislike of contemporary Christian religion is palpable, with disgusted allusions to revivalism and what he views as stoic Presbyterianism.
* The Great Conversation - Robert M. Hutchins - If I had a million dollars, I would pay $100 to each person that reads this incredibly important article. And I would be doing you a favor for which you ought to be paying me lots more, for recommending. Your life may be changed. One of the best works I've ever read, hands down. I wish I had read this ten years ago. I'm humbled, convicted, stirred to be educated and to educate others. I am convinced that it is the duty of every person, to the fullest of their abilit...y, to understand and engage the breadth of human thought so as to interact with reality and participate in community in an authentic manner. I am convinced the path to achieving this is through study and discussion of literature, and that to understand the deepest questions common to men is to better understand ourselves, and so to understand our relation to God and His world. Someone kept insisting to me that, "this book is for people who are very interested in philosophy," as if it was not for all people. They have completely missed Hutchin's point: philosophy is the study of man's relation to reality, to the real world and common issues. Philosophy is the art of existence, the study and practice of life itself.
Charles Spurgeon commented on theological reading,
As the apostle says to Timothy, so also he says to every-one, 'Give yourself to reading.' ... He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves that he has no brains of his own... You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritanic writers, and expositions of the Bible... the best way for you to spend your leisure is to be either reading or praying.
Now, let's swallow that advice and hop to it!
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