A few notes on the book:

I’m now 18 days away from submitting my manuscript to the greatest publisher in the world. That leaves one day to finalize each of the chapters and two days to dust off The Chicago Manual of Style and edit footnotes.

The publisher and I settled on a final title: Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books. I hope to explain more about the meaning behind the title in the near future.

By this point in the writing process I predicted that I would be sick of this project: sick of reading, sick of late night writing, sick of early morning editing, and tired of feedback and edits and changes, basically ready to kill the monster and throw its carcass to the public (Churchill). But as the book process winds down, I’m actually a bit bummed that it’s nearly over. This book has been a delight.

For the past few weeks the feedback from readers/editors has been positive, and at times overwhelmingly encouraging. I am more convinced that the book will benefit young Christians who don’t read books, especially male college students. So that’s exciting. Added to the excitement I received my first endorsement. I won’t post all the endorsements on the blog, but the first one is exciting:

I read many books, but seldom do I enjoy one more than I did Tony Reinke’s Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books. Many of my greatest childhood adventures, and much of my growth after I was converted as a teenager, came through reading imagination-expanding and life-changing books. Tony’s writing is thoughtful, perceptive, concise, and God-honoring. He upholds biblical authority, and offers helpful guidance, while allowing for a range of tastes. Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books rings true to my own lifetime of reading experience. As a reader and writer of both nonfiction and fiction, I appreciate the breadth of Tony’s treatment, which includes a variety of genres. For book lovers, this is a treasure and delight. For those who aren’t book lovers, it makes a great case for becoming one.

—Randy Alcorn

I am humbled, Randy. Thank you!

And thanks to everyone for your prayers as I finish up.

Tony