As I write this, there are still more than four and half hours left in 2021 in the time zone where I am sitting, and two hours more than that at my usual residence, so it is entirely possible at least one more volume will be added to my 2021 Reading Log before the new year commences. But I am content to draft the fourth quarter review and yearly summary now. It is entirely possible I will have more to say next year about the volume that remains incomplete at the moment, but it is unnecessary to say anymore about it here.
I previously posted reviews of my reading in the first quarter, second quarter, and third quarter of the year, as well as a description of my plan for reading in 2021 and the way in which I have recorded the books I read. The plan for 2022 has already been written, but its description will be posted in a separate note.
I completed 36 books during the fourth quarter after finishing 25 titles in quarter one, 21 in quarter two, and 33 in quarter three. The total volumes finished for 2021 stands at 115. While I expected a drop-off in my total volumes read in the fourth quarter, the opposite occurred. My reading pace increased during the second half of the year, a trend that I hope bodes well for 2022 when I anticipate several new challenges to my regular reading.
My fourth quarter reading included ten works of theology (8 in December alone), one volume of philosophy, four classics, one work on current events, and three biographies. I finished the year with 32 works of theology, 4 of philosophy, 4 of history, 18 classics, 4 on current events, 1 on ministry, 9 biographies, 8 on personal development, and 17 which I re-read yearly. None of the volumes are listed in multiple categories which creates one of the challenges in logging reading as I have in 2021. Many volumes could fit under multiple headings--the distinction between theology and philosophy or current events and ministry are not always easy to identify. I decided to list each volume once under the most representative category.
I am content with the distribution of my reading in 2021. My only disappointment is in the area of philosophy and history; however, several of the works I categorized as Theology could also be placed under Philosophy, and I more than doubled the number of Biographies I originally planned to read, all of which could also fit under the heading of History. I realized early in the year that Current Events and Ministry are not useful categories for much of my regular reading. Some attention to each of these areas is necessary, but my soul (to say nothing of my work) is better served by feeding on Theology, History, Philosophy, and Classics. I continue to urge and encourage those who wish to read more and more profitably to adopt a strategy and plan for reading. My specific plan is adjusted every year, but I have found that simply having a plan and recording my yearly reading for the last several years has been immensely helpful.
Here are three highlights from the fourth quarter that deserve special mention.
First, Neil Postman’s The Disappearance of Childhood is the third book by the philosopher of technology I have read, and while Technopoly remains my favorite, this one also gave me a lot to think about. Postman is writing as a secularist, yet his insights are profound. There are a number of ideas in this volume worth developing, and I expect I will revisit it at some point in the near future. Postman postulates that popularization of the written word largely created what we think of as childhood and that the pervasiveness of digital media is causing childhood to disappear. His thesis is fascinating, compelling, and useful.
Second, Iain Murray’s The Puritan Hope has been on my shelf for a couple of years, but I never got around to reading it. I only regret waiting so long to do so. It is certainly one of my favorites of this year. A work of historical theology, Murray discusses the eschatological optimism of the Puritans. While disagreeing among themselves on certain points of exegesis and expectations for the future, the volume manifests the consistent hopefulness and confidence our Puritan fathers had in the power of Christ and the outworking of gospel ministry.
Third, C. H. Spurgeon’s John Ploughman’s Talk was witty, winsome, and wise. I laughed out loud repeatedly while reading it and sent many excerpts to elders, deacons, and friends. Spurgeon steps into the character of John Ploughman, a plain-spoken Christian with a gift for discernment and description. Though I would quibble with a couple of minor jabs he takes at Presbyterians, the work is thoroughly delightful, entertaining, and useful. I highly recommend it.
As I look back over the master list of books I read in 2021, I see many that I enjoyed and profited from that have gone unmentioned in these reviews. Some are not ones I would recommend to a general audience, being more specific in their target readers or content. Others were enjoyable or helpful for more personal reasons. But I am thankful for (almost) all of them. Those I profited from the most will probably be reread in the next few years, and those that are not might not have been worth reading at all. Every year the list of books I reread grows and the number of new volumes I read diminishes. This is by design. I am reading today to find the handful of books I want to reread in my final days. But life is only a vapor, and it is more likely that I will continue to reread books without realizing that I am doing so during my final days. I cannot know how many volumes I have left to read in my life, so I aspire to choose wisely and to spend what minutes and hours I have left reading the books that have been my best teachers and have most inspired me. I hope in some way these brief reflections will help and inspire you as well in pursuing a more disciplined and satisfying reading life. --JME
