Reading Digest #2 (Dec. 1, 2008)

Thanks for all the comments on reading digest #1. And thanks for all the emails, too. Although I cannot respond to each comment and email I do read them all. I am grateful that you have taken the time to share with me the books you are reading, your current reading priorities, and even your willingness to contest my own book ratings. Keep them coming!

New to digest #2 you will see that I’ve added my devotional reading from scripture which will bring for me a level of needed accountability. And (for fun) I’ve added a list of books I will not be reading.

So here is the latest update on my reading schedule. For each book I’ve attempted to aggregate the following information: % read, rating out of 5 stars, category the book fits into in my library, and a brief summary.

DEVOTIONS …

• John 12:23-26. Because my great sin struggle is against the idol of ease.

• James 1. Reading through James slowly. This chapter has helped me see the importance of faith in perseverance and the danger of unbelief in trials.

CURRENTLY READING …

• “Unpacking Forgiveness: Biblical Answers for Complex Questions and Deep Wounds” by Chris Brauns (10%). Christian living. Too early to rate.

• “Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help For a Common Problem” by Robert D. Jones. (20%, 3.50 stars). Christian living. Very good so far. Anger may manifest itself as red-hot or ice-cold. Anger is the manifestation of sin rooted in selfish unmet desires, fears, idols, comforts, passions etc (James 4). Q: Will the book help the reader define the specifics of these idols?

• “Instructing a Child’s Heart” by Ted and Margy Tripp (20%, 4.50 stars). Parenting. The newest from Tripp and a gem. Highly recommended for all parents.

• “Gilead” by Marilynne Robinson (25%, 4.00 stars). Novel and winner of the Pulitzer. Reflections of an old pastor. The prose sip like vintage wine.

• “Outliers” by Malcom Gladwell (30%, ^3.40 stars). Talent is overrated–the “greats” flat out worked harder. The 10,000 hour rule = work for 10,000 hours at something and you will do it well. Success is not defined by IQ or natural ability alone but by situation, hard work, and street-smarts. Getting better. This is helping to inform how I should be parenting my children for success.

• “Our Reasonable Faith” by Herman Bavinck (30%, 5.00 stars). Systematic theology. Fantastic condensed theology noted for its carefulness in composition and its moments of breakout doxology.

• “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies” by Li and Bernoff (30%, 3.75 stars). Online marketing. How to interact with the inevitable web 2.0 phenomena and collective power of the online user. More technical than Godin. Reading this for a discussion group and need to get on this this week.

• “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” by Chip Heath (30%, 4.50 stars). Marketing and communication book. “Sticky” has become a new word in my daily language and a persisting challenge to rethink what I say and how I say it. Looks like I’ll be reading this in a group soon so I’m putting it off for now.

• “Getting Things Done” by David Allen (40%, 4.30 stars). Personal planning. Classic book on how to schedule well and get things done efficiently.

• “Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us” by Seth Godin (60%, ^2.80 stars). Leadership. Groups stand around together, tribes communicate and provoke one another. How do leaders harness the potential of these online tribes and lead them via Web 2.0—blogs, Facebook, Twitter. The book greatly improved at about the 30% mark.

RECENTLY COMPLETED …

• “The Back of the Napkin” by Dan Roam (100%, ^4.00 stars). Business strategy and problem-solving book. Thinking through, solving, and explaining complex problems on a napkin with a pen, icons, and stick figures. Wonderful book for visual thinkers like myself and bearing immediate fruit at work. Highly recommended.

• “Assassination Vacation” by Sarah Vowell (100%, 3.50 stars). Secular history and travel writing. Vowell’s thorough research on presidential assassinations is presented in a way that allows the reader to join her as she travels to various locations. It should be noted that in this book (and all her books) she views life through a lens of wry irritability. She is a non-Christian and this book includes a section on the Oneida sex cult. Beware of this if you decide to read.

• “Discourse on the Trinity” by Jonathan Edwards (100%, 4.00 stars). Theology. This little work helped me understand how Christ is the duplicity of the Father for God to delight in Himself. A fundamental truth to understanding the entire theology of Edwards.

• “We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry” by G. K. Beale (20%, 2 stars). Scholarly and hard to apply. Not what I expected.

• “The Wordy Shipmates” by Sarah Vowell (25%, 1 star). Vowell—a liberal—on the Puritans! Who could pass this up? Except for a few highlights, this was a let down.

ON THE DOCKET …

• “Concise Reformed Dogmatics” by J. van Genderen and W. H. Velema, translated by Gerrit Bilkes and edited by M. van der Maas. Dutch systematic theology. At first glance this book appears to be a contender for the 2008 book of the year award. More photos and review forthcoming on the blog.

WILL NOT BE READING …

• “Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices” by George Barna and Frank Viola. Argument for house churches (who knew Barna went house church?). Labels as ‘unbiblical’ the practices of preaching, tithing, meeting in a building, and really everything institutional. I love the publisher’s preface note which states (my paraphrase): “Please don’t stop buying our books just because we decided to print this nonsense.” Ben Witherington has already reviewed the Barna + Viola logic circus (and did a great job).