I have made a habit of recording the books I read for a number of years, and for several years I have set targets for reading in specific genres. I do not publish my reading logs or share many details, but I have written about this habit before in hopes of encouraging others to be more disciplined and diligent in their reading. I usually complete a little over one hundred books each year. I do not log pages read or books that I only read sections of rather than the entire work. If I ever found a way to catalog that reading, it would easily triple my yearly totals, but I have never found a practical means of doing so. I use one hundred books per year as an general goal then target a specific number of titles in various categories.
At the end of 2020, I summarized my reading plan for 2021:
… in 2021 I plan to be even more aggressive with my targeted reading. I plan to read 90 books in 10 specific categories with the remaining 10+ books being free electives. The plan is to read 12 works of theology, philosophy, history, and classics, one from each category every month for a total of 48 in the year; 8 works on current events; 4 on ministry, 4 biographies, 4 related to personal development (including linguistics), and 4 foreign language titles; and at least 18 of those I re-read every year or two.
I thought it might be helpful to post a quarterly review and highlight a few titles I found helpful in the last three months.
In the first three months of 2021 I finished twenty-five books: six works of theology, two works of philosophy, one volume on history, three works of classic literature, one on current events, three biographies, three which I classified as personal development, one of my yearly re-reads, and the remaining five fitting into the category of free electives. If you do the math, you will see I am ahead in some categories, behind in others, but ontrack for the overall yearly goals. I am reasonably satisfied with the balance of the first quarter’s reading, and I have enjoyed several titles very much, three of which I will highlight here.
First, Arnold Dallimore’s biography of George Whitefield is exceptional. Dallimore wrote a two volume work published by Banner of Truth but later produced a one volume version, and it was this latter, condensed edition that I read. It made me eager to read the larger work. This was the first biography of Whitefield I have read, but I hope it will not be the last. I found the story of his life humbling, convicting, and encouraging.
Second, Kevin Belmonte’s biography of G. K. Chesterton was a joy to read. GKC has been one of my heroes for a long time, and his writing remains one of the most significant influences on my life. I reread Orthodoxy every year and regard it as a very important work of Christian literature. Belmonte did a good job telling the story of Chesterton’s life and highlighting the significant works he produced along the way.
Third, Neil Postman’s Technopoly is excellent in helping to assess our present culture, even if it was written almost thirty years ago. I have not forgiven Postman for dying before he had the opportunity to witness and critique the rise of social media, the phenomenon of Donald Trump, and our current state of politics, but his voice is almost prophetic in anticipating the trajectories that led us where we are today. I only began reading Postman last year at the urging of a friend, though I had been aware of his work for a long time. He is someone I hope to learn more from in the years to come.
I should give an honorable mention to Carl Trueman’s The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self which I also read during the first quarter. Trueman fans may be surprised, and dismayed, that his latest was beaten out of the top three slots by biographies of a rogue Anglican revivalist, a cranky, anti-Calvinistic Roman Catholic, and a dated work on the philosophy of technology by a non-practicing Jew. This is not because Trueman’s work is disappointing. It is exceptional, and I benefited from it in a number of ways. It is an important book for understanding how western civilization came to be where we are on matters of gender and sexuality. It is not a book for the average layman but can certainly be read by laymen who are prepared to think hard and acquaint themselves with philosophers and history of which they may have previously been unaware. It is a piece of academic historical and philosophical analysis, insightful and thorough, but not at all tactical. It felt more important as I was reading it than it did after I finished and let the book cool. I expect I will read it again, and I look forward to following Trueman’s continuing efforts in this area. I expect it will be a blessing to the Church in analyzing and understanding where we are at this stage of human history. --JME
