The time in which we live gives us far more accessibility to truly great writing. It also gives us access to truly bad writing as well.
Yesterday I was reflecting on life in the 1800s in the United States and thinking of how few books there were. Abraham Lincoln had limited access to books growing up, but he read deeply.
There are only a handful of books I’ve ever taken the time to read again.
So my thought for the next year is this: If I had my Bible and ten other books, what would those books be?
There are certainly others I want to read, and that might be another project for another year. (For instance, I have not read Mandela’s autobiography, but just purchased it. Not having read it, I wouldn’t put it on my top ten list yet.)
I have 6-7 books listed that I know off the top of my head I HAVE to have if I had to give up everything else. Now it’s fitting those last 3-4 in.
My new year resolution might be to ONLY read those 10 books again… and again… for the year and see if I can capture a little more depth.
If you had a “TOP TEN” book list, and you got the automatic for the Bible or your main religious text, what would be on that list?
Karl Barth – Evangelical Theology: An Introduction, Dogmatics in Outline
Dietrich Bonhoeffer – Life Together, Ethics, Discipleship
Henri Nouwen – In the Name of Jesus
While this is not a list of ten, they are the books I find myself returning to again and again. And every time I find new treasures and old.
Thanks for the reminder on Nouwen!
Two more that came to mind last night:
Thomas a Kempis – Imitation of Christ
J. Hudson Taylor – Spiritual Secret