I didn’t read as much this year as last, but when I look down the list, I’m surprised I read as much as I did. If this is what a slacker can do, imagine what could be done with a little ambition!
- Completed in 2010:
- Greg Gilbert, What Is the Gospel— This is a great little book, accurately and concisely answering our most fundamental question. 121 pages.
- Iain Murray, Evangelicalism Divided— A sad book. While I am very glad to have read it, and hope you will too, I can’t say I enjoyed it. Read it if you value truth above your heroes. If you hold certain men to be untouchable, it will only make you mad. 342 pages.
- Iain Murray, Wesley and Men Who Followed— This is the second Iain Murray book I read last year. Murray is among my favorite authors, certainly my favorite historical author, but I didn’t enjoy this one, either. It seemed he was laboring to write a charitable biography of a man with too many flaws to defend. 270 pages.
- J. Stephen Yuille, Ed., Trading and Thriving in Godliness: The Piety of George Swinnock— 235 pages. This and the two that follow are volumes in the Profiles in Reformed Spirituality series from Reformation Heritage Books. These little books provide excellent devotional reading, as well as windows into the lives and characters of their subjects. Each is prefaced with a brief biography of.
- Michael A. G. Haykin, Ed., A Sweet Flame: Piety in the Letters of Jonathan Edwards— 169 pages.
- Thabiti Anyabwile, Ed., May We Meet in the Heavenly World: The Piety of Lemuel Haynes— 128 pages.
- John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress— This was a new edition from Crossway with updated language and filled with nice illustrations. I enjoyed it myself, and recommend reading this to young children. Still, I prefer an original version for adult and mature teen reading. 240 pages.
- John Piper, Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ: The Cost of Bringing the Gospel to the Nations in the Lives of William Tyndale, Adoniram Judson, and John Paton— The fifth of Piper’s The Swans Are Not Silent biographical/theological series. Highly recommended. 128 pages.
- Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day— I didn’t finish this book. I enjoyed it quite a lot as far as I went, which was right up to the point at which I realized that I despised Stevens. He is a very entertaining character until one notices that he has no character. 245 pages.
- Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom— Obama violates every principle in this book. I love it (the book, that is, not Obama’s policies). 230 pages.
- Robert Bork, Coercing virtue: The Worldwide Rule of Judges— Short and easy reading (especially for Bork!). An important book; the title says it all. 192 pages.
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet/The Hound of the Baskervilles— Hey, we all need a little entertainment now and then. I had read The Hound as a young lad. Study in Scarlett was a first. Great story! This 1933 film (watch it on Hulu if you must) is so far off the original as to be unrecognizable. Read the book. 301 pages.
- Sir Martin Gilbert, The First World War— Martin Gilbert, Churchill’s official biographer, is becoming one of my favorite historians. Like his Second World War, this is probably as thorough an account as can — or, at least, should — be squeezed into one volume. 615 pages.
- Together for the Gospel, Preaching the Cross— These are the lectures from the first (2006) Together for the Gospel conference. The mp3s are all available online, but there is something about having the words in front of you that can’t be gotten from an audio file. The reverse is also true. With these, you can do both. I recommend it. 176 pages.
- William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich— You might recognize this from last year’s list. Well, give me a break! It’s 1245 pages of small print, and it was my going to bed reading. As I commented last year, If you want to understand the why of WWII, you really need to read this book.
- Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin— I read this one as a kid, after having read the excellent Classics Illustrated version (I miss those!). I liked it then, but it means more to me now. 536 pages.
- J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels [Westminster (PB) | Amazon (HC)] Volume Four— Should wind up John’s Gospel this year. I can’t recommend this highly enough.
- John Calvin, Commentary on The Gospel According to John
- John Piper, What Jesus Demands from the World— You’ve seen a few excerpts on this site. More to come, but you’ll have to buy it to get the whole, rich load. 400 pages.
- Kevin Leeman, The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline— I’m barely into this one; it’s serious stuff! It’s incredibly challenging and, I think, just what the church needs right now. 384 pages.
- William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour— Reading this book has become my life’s work. I’m not sure why it’s taking me so long (besides the 1244 pages of small print). It’s not overly difficult, and it’s thoroughly enjoyable, yet I read it in spurts. I will finish it one day, and I suspect that, when I do, I’ll start all over again.
Begun, not completed:
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3 Comments:
#1 || 11·01·03··05:55 || Kim Shay
I feel very much the same about Evangelicalism Divided. Interested to hear your reaction to The Remains of the Day. I have only ever seen the movie, and I found the Stevens character really irritating.
#2 || 11·01·03··07:36 || David
Most people I’ve heard comment on Evangelicalism Divided talk about their disillusionment with Graham. I’ve long disagreed with Graham’s theology and methods, so that didn’t hit me very hard. I was only disappointed in his apparent lack of integrity, of which I had not been aware. The chapters on Packer were more disconcerting to me.
Regarding The Remains of the Day, as I saw it, the very foibles I found entertaining in Stevens — his neurotic obsession and insecurity — were eventually exposed as symptoms of his moral vacancy and cowardice. The movie (which I saw first) had its moments, but it couldn’t flesh out his personality as well as prose. Hence, I didn’t grow as attached, so the disillusionment was not as crushing.
#3 || 11·01·04··07:58 || Jared Moore
Great list! Thanks for the brief reviews as well.