2015 was a good
year. My goal for 2014 was to read 52 books. My goal for 2015 was to read 60
books. I’m happy to say I accomplished my goal and read 65 books this year. I’ve
been tracking the number of pages I read as well, which totals to somewhere
around 22,000 on the year (just a little more than last year which was around
20,000). Here is the list of books read this year (in no particular order):
1.
Cultural Shift – Albert Mohler
2.
The Apostle – John Pollock
3.
Martyn Llyod-Jones – Iain Murray
4.
Martin Luther: Here I Stand - Ronald Bainton
5.
Jesus Christ Our Lord – John
Walvoord
6.
Is Jesus the Only Way? – Ronald
Nash
7.
Western Civilization Volume I –
Marvin Perry
8.
The Glory of Heaven – John
MacArthur
9.
From God to Us – Norman Geisler
10.
Confederacy of Dunces – John Toole
11.
Counter Culture – David Platt
12.
The Darkness and the Glory – Greg
Harris
13.
Genghis Khan and the Making of the
Modern World – Jack Weatherford
14.
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott
Fitzgerald
15.
A Shepherd Looks at Pslam 23 –
Phillip Keller
16.
The Bible (English Standard
Version)
17.
The Cross of Christ – John Stott
18.
The Daring Mission of William
Tyndall – Steve Lawson
19.
Miracle at Belleau Wood – Alan
Axelrod
20.
Sith Lords – Paul Kemps
21.
The Road – Cormac McCarthy
22.
Proof – Daniel Montgomery and
Timothy Paul Jones
23.
God in the Wasteland – David Wells
24.
No Place for Truth – David Wells
25.
The Wright Brothers – David
McCullough
26.
Life By Design – Charles Detwiler
27.
Alexander Hamilton - Ron Chernow
28.
The Fall of the Ottomans – Eugene
Rogan
29.
Losing our Virtue – David Wells
30.
The Greatest Knight – Thomas
Abridge
31.
Above all earthly P'wrs – David
Wells
32.
Dangerous Calling – Paul Tripp
33.
How Should We Then Live – Francis
Schaeffer
34.
An American Soldier in WWI – George
Browne
35.
Just Do Something – Kevin DeYoung
36.
Out of the Silent Planet – C.S.
Lewis
37.
Gifted Hands – Ben Carson
38.
The Courage to be Protestant –
David Wells
39.
Gulag – Anne Applebaum
40.
In the Kingdom of Ice – Hampton
Sides
41.
Dead Wake – Erik Larson
42.
The Reformed Doctrine of
Predestination – Loraine Boettner
43.
Unlikely Warrior – Michael Dingman
44.
Desiring God – John Piper
45.
The Unseen Realm – Michael Heiser
46.
In the Garden of Beasts – Erik
Larson
47.
Ready Player One – Ernest Cline
48.
A Great and Holy War – Philip
Jenkins
49.
The Devil in the White City – Erik
Larson
50.
Missoula – Jon Krakauer
51.
The Consequences of Ideas – R.C.
Sproul
52.
Four views on the Spectrum of
Evangelicalism - Various
53.
This Momentary Marriage – John
Piper
54.
Man (Dis)connected – Philip
Zimbardo
55.
The Gagging of God – D.A. Carson
56.
The Attributes of God vol 2 – A.W.
Tozer
57.
Radical – David Platt
58.
Catch Me If You Can – Frank
Abagnale Jr.
59.
Killers of the King – Charles Spencer
60.
Follow Me – David Platt
61.
Bad Religion – Ross Douthat
62.
Supernatural – Michael Heiser
63.
A Brief History of Indonesia – Tim
Hannigan
64.
Finding Truth – Nancy Pearcey
65.
The Conviction to Lead – Albert
Mohler
Some have encouraged me to speak about my most favorite
books of the year, so the following are some highlights of the best books I’ve
read in different genres:
Best Book of the Year: It would have to be “The UnseenRealm.” Michael Heiser’s ability to capture the imagination with solid biblical
doctrine will change the way you see the Bible and the spiritual realm. I
devoured this book in just under 4 days and I hope to read it again soon.
Runner-Ups: In the Kingdom Of Ice; Above All Earthly P’wrs.
Best Non-Fiction: I thought Philip Zimbardo’s “Man(Dis)Connected” was one of the most important books I’ve read in a long time.
His ability, from a secular perspective, to engage in a conversation to
encourage men to be men is an important topic for discussion and will continue
to be in an ever-connected world. Runner-Ups: Missoula; How Should We ThenLive.
Best Fiction: Many of you know I’m not a huge fiction
reader, but if I had to pick, “A Confederacy of Dunces” is an incredible book
that engages the imagination but also has an underlying theological message.
Runner-Ups: Ready Player One; Out of the Silent Planet.
Best Biography: If you’ve been following my blogs for
awhile, you know that I am a huge Ron Chernow fan. His biography on Alexander Hamilton took me awhile to get through, but was one of the most thorough and
interesting biographies I’ve read in a long while. Runner-Ups: MartynLlyod-Jones; Martin Luther: Here I Stand.
Best History Book: I know this falls under non-fiction,
but Hampton Sides “In the Kingdom of Ice” is too good to not be on this list. His
book is almost like a fictional account that at times, you don’t know if you’re
reading something made up or something that actually happened. Runner-ups: In the Garden of Beasts; The Mongols and the Making of the Modern World; Fall ofthe Ottomans.
Best Theological Book: This is a hard one. I’ve already
mentioned Unseen Realm but it could easily take the cake here. I think that
Greg Harris’ book “The Darkness and the Glory” was one of the most impactful
books I read this year. For that reason, I think it gets the go ahead here.
Runner-ups: Above All Earthly P’wrs; Is Jesus the Only Way?; No Place forTruth.
Reflecting on this year, many people asked me how I read
so much. So what I thought I’d do is give some suggestions as to how to be a
better reader in 2016. These are some things that I have learned as I have
become a more mature reader:
1) Take
a book wherever you go. To the doctor, to the grocery store, to a meeting, when
seeing friends: I always carry a book with me (either on my person or in my
car) so that if I ever have any down time, I can squeeze in a few pages. These
will add up: a page standing in line here, a page or two while waiting for your
coffee partner and soon your book will be finished.
2) Do everything you can to FINISH your
book. When I first started reading, I tended to get really bored 100 pages in
and I’d shelve it. What I have learned is that reading takes time and it’s ok
if a 250 page book loses your attention half way through. I would recommend
pushing through that chapter that you seem to be stuck on because I bet that
next chapter will re-engage your attention. Don’t get discouraged: take your
time and don’t give up too soon.
3) Maximize your time by listening to
audiobooks. I do so much driving in Southern California (for example: church is
just about an hour drive for me) that I decided to get an Audible account when
I moved here. 2 hours round trip is about 1/8th of an audiobook.
This way, I can maximize my time while I’m in the car. Some complain that they
can’t focus while listening to an audiobook and I agree that sometimes I find
my mind wandering. More often than not however, I think that’s a cleverly
disguised excuse.
4) Mix up what you read. I already said I
don’t read much fiction, but sometimes it’s nice to break up the monotony of
non-fiction to slip in a fun read every once and awhile. I also find topics
that interest me and try to read those books. Not every book is worth reading, which
leads me to number 5…
5) If a book isn’t worth reading, shelve it.
I know this kind of goes against my earlier advice to finish a book, but if you
read 50 pages and hate the book, there’s no reason to finish it. Shelve it and
move on. At any given time, I have probably 10-15 books that I’ve started but
haven’t completed. For some of
these books, I’ll come back to it at a later time and find that I am refreshed
and ready to give it another go. This helps keep things interesting and I don’t
get so discouraged when I don’t finish one (also starting 100 pages in is a
real psychological advantage).
6) Set aside a time to read. I did this a
lot my first year reading. Reading is like anything else where it takes time to
grow into it. That first year, it took me forever to get through a 250 page
book. But what I did was set aside an hour for reading every night before I
went to bed. That sustained reading helped me mature in my reading to the point
this year where I read some 3 and 400 page books in about 8 hours. After
working on being a better reader, you will find that you are: faster, you can
retain more, and you enjoy it more. If your attention span is short, try for a
less ambitious goal: 15 minutes a day for a month and then slowly increase how
long you spend reading. This combined with a good book will help you to sustain
long periods of reading.
7) Minimize distractions while you read.
Sometimes I find that putting on soft classical music helps me read better.
Anything with words will probably not be good however. Put your phone away and
stay off the computer for the best results. You want to get into a flow of uninterrupted
reading and text messages and facebook will just distract you.
8) Books are meant to be written in! I just
began practicing this this year. Find a system that is helpful to you and do
it. Don’t just underline things arbitrarily. Think of it this way: if you were
to read this book again or wanted to reference something in it, you want what
you wrote in it to be helpful and not a hindrance. If you want some other tips
for what I do, message me!
9) Like anything, reading is a priority. If
it’s important to you, you will do it!
Statistics show
that Americans are reading less and less every year. If you are a high school
graduate, studies show that you will finish somewhere around 5-8 books a year!
College graduates are not much better with the number being somewhere around
10-15. Reading to me has become an important pastime and I hope to get even
better at it next year. Here is my goal: 100 books in 2016! Looking at my
output these past few months, I know it is possible. Here’s to 2015 and looking
forward to 2016: if you are not a reader, start today!
