Reading and some books to recommend

The books on my table are piling up and despite my efforts to read them, this trajectory appears to be unstoppable. This is despite the fact that my pace of reading has picked up considerably and I've similarly become more attentive to absorbing as much as I can from my readings. I call it the Malthusian book dilemma - The number of books will grow in a geometric progression but the pace of reading can only grow in an arithmetic progression. :P With it my mum gets miffed at the mess the in my room, and i get miffed because my mum is miffed and I don't think i can finish my books to make my mum less miffed.

Of course, the situation is not as bad as it seems and really, my book collection has not become a librarian's dream come true... yet. But over the past few years, especially during my time in university, I've made a few observations about reading that I wish to share here.

1) its not how many books we read that matters, its how much we absorb from the reading.

2) choose our books wisely, whatever that is reflected on the pages often affects our thoughts and is played out in our lives. The books become a huge part of us. There is no clear segregation between narrative and living as some of us would wish to believe. that's why reading the bible is so fruitful and reading lousy books is so damaging.

3) Thus we must never read good books, we must read only the best! Just think about it this way, an average man reads 10 books cover to cover a year (I'm proposing a wildly optimistic statistic here since most chaps in the 21st century just simply do not read that many books), and he begins to read this much from say 20 years old. So for approximately 60 years, he would have read 600 books only. How many of them are comics, trashy novels .. etc. How many of them are the best and most meaningful literature that actually make a difference in our lives?

4) Contemporary books are not necessarily the best books available. we must search for books that stand the test of time and not those with nice flashy covers. A good way to find the best books is to ask for advice from friends we trust or to look at the bibliography of authors we know are worth reading ( see who inspires them and most certainly, they'll inspire us) . I'm pretty careful with modern books. For example, i will never buy a book that has a title like "How China will rule the world in 20 years" or " Church growth strategies for the 21st century". The china book will be part comedy in less than 10 years and the church growth book is probably a passing fad.

5) Know thy author. The book is a reflection of its author. Find out about the author before we commit to his book. This really helps in understanding if the book is good, and if it is, knowing the author makes the reading so much more meaningful.

6) Lastly, read them with prayer. No book should be read without putting them within the context of the wider plan of God. Every book I read, whether history, politics, economics and of course theological become deeply revealing when placed under prayer and the knowledge of a God who is sovereign and mankind who is deeply in need of a Saviour.

These are some of my thoughts on reading. Other than that, I would like to recommend some great books on the cross. Do read them if you have time. There is great joy and fruit in this endeavour :)

1) Living a Cross Centered Life by C J Mahaney
Its easy to read and really, its beautiful. For me the past week was dominated by the stuff this book discussed. It opened the bible for me again and thus I recommend this highly.

2) The cross of Christ by John Stott
its Stott's magnum opus because its discussion on the cross is deep and wide ranging. lots of referencing to be done.

3) The discipline of grace by Jerry bridges
I agree that the first 3 chapters of the book are worth re-reading for the rest of our lives

4) In my place, condemned He stood by J I Packer and Mark Dever
J I Packer's essay on atonement is fantastic and precise. Its Christ magnifying and I learnt a great deal indeed. The 1st and 2nd essay in particular are excellent.

Hope this blesses anyone who happens to pop by.