I post a lot of reading lists. Only in the last couple of months, I have posted
a Christian discipleship reading list, a
Eugene Peterson reading list and a
nonviolence reading list.
Now, I would like your input. It's your turn.
Please leave a comment on this post recommending a book you don't think I've read. Let me know whether this was an important book to you, or whether it's a book you think I specifically need to read. Give a brief argument why that book, and not some other, should be at the top of my reading list. Feel free to list more than one, but don't feel compelled to.
Thanks in advance.
<edit> I don't really ask for recs, but to get a wider range of answers, I wouldn't mind seeing this rec'd. </edit>
-Nicholas Stanton Roark
Comments (9)
Consider yourself rec'd, Sir.
I recommend The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald (really, you can't go wrong with MacDonald, can you?). They are fairy tales/fantasies for children, but like many other children's books by great authors, they contain truth and can excite wonder in people of any age who possess imagination and passion.
A couple of memorable things:
The books are a bit (though not excessively) allegorical, and MacDonald's god-like character is highly unusual and compelling. (teaser: It's a grandmother)
In the second book, one of the characters has the ability to shake hands with people and tell what they are turning into (some people are turning into animals).
It's been a long time since I read these, but they were instant favorites. I highly recommend them, and they won't take long to read (maybe I should have said that first in order to convince you to put them at the top of your list
).
Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne - I just recently read it. It changed my life. It showed me that I need to take Jesus' more seriously. When he said to go and make fishers of the world, he really meant it. I'm kind of working on raising money to build a well somewhere, because of it...
and Really any Donald Miller book...
The DNA of Relationships by Gary Smalley. Great book, and really helped me to understand what a healthy relationship can do. Not just the romantic ones, but any relationship.
Ruthless Trust by Brennan Mannning has a lot of mind munch and honestly in it. I really like this author's stuff a lot since I read his Ragamuffin Gospel many years ago.
I'd be very interested in seeing a review of your take of Tender Warrior by Stu Weber, too.
well, I am of the mind that a man needs adventure in his life, and if one s going to have his nose in books perpetually (like me), then he might as well get some adventure from it. Therefore I suggest
Sacketts Land by Louis L'Amour.
it is the begining of the Sacketts series, L'Amour's most famous, and it s not a Western book. L'Amour is a deep thinker, and he not only gives adventure through artful fiction, but he lays out great things to think on and talk about too! my post tomorrow, for example, is to be some of the things that I think about.
And who knows...you might like it, and follow the Sackett Family, as I have decided to do, through two centuries of generations!
Cowboy
Um...I really loved:
1. Gold Fears No Fire, by Ralph Toliver...it's a fictional work (novel) that compiles several true stories of Chinese believers during the cultural revolution in China. It is just a compelling look at the persecuted church in transition. The book is out of print, so you'll have to search libraries, ebay, or B & N used books. But if you have trouble finding it, I'd send you my copy to read. Yeah, I liked it that much.
2. Eternity in their Hearts...Don Richardson. I just love the explanation of how redemptive analogies exist in every culture. It just affirms God's intense love for every people group!
3. Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman: This is a remarkable auto-biography about a woman who went to China at a time when it was very difficult to go. She went as a single woman and made a huge impact. Since I am likely to go to China, as a single, female missionary, she is an inspiration to me!
Oh and Fahrenheit 451...my favorite book ever! I just love the imagery.
@cowboy_christian@xanga - I love Louis L'Amour!
@Pickwick12@xanga - me too. such an artful writer!
The trouble with reading lists is that people are always editing them for your consumption. For instance, I recommended " Waking the Dead" by John Eldredge only to have a learned scholar rant about the author's belief in " open theology." I recommended " Heaven " by Randy Alcorn only to see it panned by another "scholar."
I could go on....and on. I read these books, not to learn theology, but for entertainment. When I seek wisdom, I begin with the Bible. When I don't understand everything I read in the Bible ( which is much of the time ), I ask God to help me to learn. I read books with the same interest and attentiveness as I do in all of my observations of creation, looking for applications of the things I am learning from my sincere quest for more of God. I would that every sincere Christian could explore the treasures within prose and poetry with their heart tuned to hear and see God's love . I automatically throw down every book that is obviously vulgar and/or antagonistic toward my Lord just because, even if there might be some tidbit of good somewhere within, I cannot digest it for the poison it is wrapped in.
Maybe I am not wise in everything I choose, but I trust the Lord to guide me so that I will always be drawn to Him and not be deceived by error. ( What author does not have some preconceived notion that prevents him from always being objective?)