By Elizabeth Prata
Yesterday I posted about the value of reading challenges. For me, there were at least 5 benefits to doing one last year, even though I felt I’d failed. They push you to read books you’ve always wanted to read, to read books that are already on your shelf, you read books you might not have otherwise read, you absorb good material into your heart and mind, you track your reading and objectively see that you’re not so much of a reading failure after all!
If I relied on my memory I’d have thought I’d read barely anything, but discovered I’d read 24 books. I did see my pattern, though, and why I thought I’d not been reading much. Months went by with no tracked reading of note, but during school breaks, I see I went ahead with much reading. If that’s my pattern, then oh well, OK.
Here are a few links to some good essays about reading and links to some booksellers.
Do you ever feel guilty reading a classic or even a secular novel? Do you feel like you’re ‘wasting time’? I mean, if I’m reading, shouldn’t I be reading Christian, edifying material? Spurgeon certainly read widely, and if it was good enough for him.. lol, here’s an essay about Spurgeon’s reading habits: Follow Spurgeon’s example in reading good books
I like dystopian fiction. Dystopian is the opposite of utopian. Instead of everything being perfect (utopia) it’s gone really, really wrong. I wrote about why reading dystopian literature might be useful-
100 Great Works of Dystopian Fiction: Tales about a world gone wrong. I’ve read 13 of these on this particular list. Stephen King’s The Stand is hands down THE best dystopian novel ever. I found Ender’s Game at the thrift store yesterday and scooped it up for 50 cents, I was thrilled. I started reading it.
Open Book is a podcast from Stephen Nichols at Ligonier, interviewing theologians on what books influenced them, what books are on their nightstand, and generally about their favorite books! Season 1 featured RC Sproul speaking about books he enjoyed, season 2 was interviews with John MacArthur, season 3 features Joel Beeke.
I never forgot Sproul’s passion for the Herman Melville book Redburn. He also loved Moby-Dick, in fact, wrote his thesis on “The Existential Implications of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick,” an essay I wish I could read (I cannot find it online). Sproul loved Melville, and in his interview went on about the most monumental chapter on holiness, “The Whiteness of the Whale”
From Banner of Truth we read Why Christians Must Be Readers, when Paul called for Timothy to ‘bring the books’, “Even as the shadow of eternity fell upon him, he was anxious that his dying days should be also learning days and days of progression. Evidently there were still things he had to learn, and he was humble enough to indicate his readiness to learn from books.”
Booksellers:
Laus Deo Books buys pastors’ libraries and resells for cheap. FYI.
website: https://lausdeobooks.com ; ebay store: https://ebay.com/str/lausdeobooks
Ligonier store (look for their $5 Friday sales, too!)
What’s on your bookshelf?
the-end-time.org 
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