It will only takes one book, the right book, to spark me off into a reading frenzy. The last time it happened was back in 2003 when my good friend Noel gave me Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ that spearheaded me to plow into these books:
2003
1. Case for Christ by Lee Strobel (Apr)
2. Who Needs Theology? by Stanley J. Grenz and Roger E. Olson (May)
3. What about other faiths? by Martin Goldsmith (May)
4. Scaling the Secular City by JP Moreland (May)
5. The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel (June)
6. The Trinity, by Christopher A. Hall and Roger E. Olson (June)
7. Surprised by Joy by CS Lewis (June)
8. Jesus and the Logic of History by Paul Barnett (June)
9. The Complete Worship Leader by Kevin J. Navarro (June)
10. The Problem of Pain by CS Lewis (July)
11. Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias (July)
12. The New Worship by Barry Liesch (Aug)
13. Mere Christianity by CS Lewis (Sept)
14. When Skeptics Ask by Norman L. Geisler and Ronald M. Brooks (Dec)
2004
15. Love in the Hard Places by DA Carson (Jan)
16. The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by DA Carson (Jan)
In 2004, the frenzy fizzled off because by then, my focus was diverted to pursuing my Masters in Christian Studies. And I have not had any such reading spree until May this year: My 50-Book Challenge 2011/12
My blog is a good indicator of my reading behaviour. The last time I reviewed a book was back in July 2009 - which means I have not been reading any for the past 2 years! Wow... Yes, I bought books, I skimmed books (for the purpose of my assignments), I referred to books, but I never read (meaning read and finished) any since July 2009. The reason is as mentioned: my master's degree. I completed the last marathon of submission of papers on Mar 26, and now I am back into a reading frenzy.
However, the choice of books this round are very different. My 2003/4 spree were all theological books, more or less. But this time, my choices of books are anything that strikes my fancy. I think it has to do with the book that sparked me of. Back in 2003, I found Case for Christ such an excellent read and with it came a list of recommended reading chapter by chapter - I went hunting for those books. But this round, the spark was Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth, a medieval historical novel. After reading it I began looking for recommendations based on that book and the chain goes on, interspersed with more solid books here and there.
I did 16 in 10 months in 2003/4 and currently 8 so far in 2 months. I do not want to stop - it's a 50-book challenge - but I still have two Introduction to New Testament assignments to hand up...
pearlie
Hi Pearlie - How did you like Pillars of the Earth?
ReplyDeleteHi Julia,
ReplyDeleteI like it, but found certain portions too graphic. Have you read it?
I know you will keep us informed on the books you are reading. I don't read in a frenzie but I do read on a constant basis. Usually averaging about one book a month. I have mine listed for last year and this on my sidebar. Love reading and have broaden my views so much by doing so.
ReplyDeleteHi Susan,
ReplyDeleteIt is good to read constantly, which I don't - I go in sprees :) My bad habit is that I usually start several books but finish none. So far for this round, I am still good - I make sure I finish one before I start on another. I took a look at your list - impressive - and I have yet to read Pursuit of God, a book I keep wanting to read AND FINISH. I started on it and I see so many things I need to meditate on and to instill in my life that I just stopped at the first chapter!