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Writing about my Reading, 2008

I love to read.  I keep a book at my desk at work, in my car, on my nightstand, and any number of other places (including on my computer, of course).  If I think there's a chance I'll be standing in line somewhere, I bring a book.  If I go out with my wife, and I think there's a chance of stopping at a fabric store or somesuch (high probability), I'm packin'.  I read while walking in from my car at work.  I read on the elevator.  I read at breakfast, and I read at lunch.  It's what I do.  And I read fairly quickly (although my little sis is faster, and by rather a lot).  So, I end up reading about a book per week.  In fact, I plan on reading at least fifty books every year.  I always feel really good when I pass the thirty mark, and I like to do it before April just to make sure I'm ahead of schedule.

My policy is that when I get a new book from the Library, I have to read at least the introduction and maybe even a chapter, to decide if it's more interesting than what I'm currently reading. It usually is. So I tend to overlap several books at once. Thus, when I say that I read one book in three weeks, another in five days, and another in ten days, that doesn't mean I took thirty-six days to finish all three. In all likelihood, I finished them all in the three weeks it took me to finish the first one.

I ordered my list by start date, and there were a few I started in 2007 but finished this year.  It all equals out when you consider that I started a dozen or so this year that I'll finish next year (or maybe the year after).

As you'll see in the list, I read pretty much anything that falls into my hands.  So, without further ado, here's what I spent most of my spare time on this year:

(Oh, and if this list is too cumbersome, I have another list that might be easier to navigate here.)

1. God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics, by C.S. Lewis: From my home library. This one sat around for several years before I finally got around to it. It works well as a bedtime book because the chapters are relatively short and the topics vary widely. If you've only read Lewis' fiction, and Mere Christianity seems too deep, jump in with this or another collection of Lewis' work. According to my tracking database, it took me five months to read. In reality it was probably a few weeks' of nights.
2. Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank: As I started it in December and finished it on the first of January, this was my first book of the year, and my first Library pick of the year. It's a good one. If you've seen "Jericho," you'd probably really enjoy this book, which chronicles the aftermath of nuclear war in the 50s in a small town in Florida. Great characterizations, and just a very engrossing read. On the recommendation of The Fair Elaine, BTW. Ten days to read it.
3. From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible, by Eric Cline: A gift from one Mr. Kuskie. A very informative read about the archaeological background to many of the famous stories of the Bible. It's fairly even-handed, not too liberal but not afraid to question the written accounts. Apparently I read it in about a month.
4. The Foundling: And Other Tales of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander: From my private collection. Some of the earliest books I read for pleasure were Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles. They're truly wonderful books, and I even wrote a blog post about them. This work is a collection of short stories that provide some extra information about some of the colorful characters in the Chronicles. I'd recommend reading this after the main series. Read in a day.
5. The Magician's Nephew, by C.S. Lewis: One of my well-worn home library picks. Funny that I just pimped the other Chronicles. Nothing can replace the Chronicles of Narnia, and I love reading these to Ethan. The creation scene here is wonderful, as is the garden temptation. Took about two weeks to read aloud.
6. The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander: And back to the other Chronicles again (from the same volume that contains the short stories and the five Chronicles)! As this is the first book in the series, I can't be too hard on it, but it's nothing like as good as the second book, The Black Cauldron. Still, it sets up the series and introduces the key characters, and that's a good thing. Two weeks to read.
7. Thoughts For Young Men, by John Charles Ryle: An Amazon purchase. This is a truly wonderful book for any man to read, and should be required for anyone working with young men. And at 68 pages, it's not exactly tedious. Two days to read.
8. The Cheater's Guide to Baseball: Learn How to Hurl a Spitball, Cork a Bat, Steal Signs, Throw a World Series, and More, by Derek Zumsteg: From the same Amazon order as the Ryle book. As a big fan of USS Mariner, this was almost an obligatory read (the author is one of the founders of that blog of all blogs for Mariners fans). It's an interesting survey of the shady side of baseball. Read it in about a week.
9. Satan: An Authorized Autobiography, by John Anderson: Another from the same Amazon order. The first truly disappointing read of the year. When I heard about this guy, who claims that Satan does not exist, I had to read his book, which I expected to be a hard-hitting exegetical work on the evidences for/against the Enemy in Scripture. Alas, it's an extremely amateurish novel, filled with mistakes an eighth-grader wouldn't make (not mistakes of exegesis, but of punctuation and/or grammar). Why, exactly, did this need to take the form of a novel? Granted, some of the arguments made (between a pastor and his parishioner) seemed to me to have some merit. But not being presented in a logical progression, they lost much of their force. I wish he'd write an orderly, scriptural case for his view. I'd read it. Three very frustrating days to read.
10. Why There's Antifreeze in Your Toothpaste: The Chemistry of Household Ingredients, by Simon Quellen Field: Library (saw it on the New Materials RSS feed). Probably not a book most would find even remotely interesting. Still interesting, though. Five days to read.
11. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis: Home, of course. Still awesome after all these readings. Two weeks.
12. An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems, by Glenn Beck: Library. I enjoy his program, and the book was okay, but I'd go with the TV show instead. Five days to read.
13. Star Wars: Republic Commando: Hard Contact, by Karen Traviss: Library. Ethan and I thorougly enjoyed the Star Wars: Republic Commando PC game, and the book made a nice tie-in with it. Nice to read something purely for the fun of it now and then. About a week to read.
14. Depraved English, Peter Novobatzky: Library. Worth it even if only for my new favorite words: "crapulent" and "fustigate." Look them up if you must. Or check my blog entry about this book. Five days.
15. The Horse and His Boy, by C.S. Lewis: Home collection. Ethan found this one rather tedious this time. Favorite line: "If I wasn't a Talking Horse what a lovely kick in the face I could give you!" Fifteen days.
16. Roaring Lambs: A Gentle Plan to Radically Change Your World, by Bob Briner: Amazon, I believe. This is a very challenging book, encouraging Christians to engage the culture by actually participating in it. Buy art, write books/movies/music. After reading this, I've decided I couldn't ever write "Christian" fiction. Instead, I'd write for the general public but allow my faith to inform my writing. Two weeks or so.
17. Six Arguments for a Greener Diet: How a More Plant-Based Diet Could Save Your Health and the Environment, by Michael F. Jacobson: Library RSS again. Preaching to the choir a bit here, but it'd be good for someone who didn't already know most of this. Two weeks to read.
18. Prince Caspian, by C.S. Lewis: Home. Again, Ethan wasn't really into it, even though I really love this one. Three weeks.
19. The Story of Measurement, by Andrew Robinson: Library RSS again. This one worked well as a bedtime book. Thus, the long read-time. Six weeks (online renewal is awesome).
20. The Appeal, by John Grisham: Library. For a time, I had read all of Grisham's published novels. Even now I've read all his legal thrillers. This one was mildly entertaining, although not nearly the match of his previous non-fiction work, The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town. Plus his immature (IMO) theme of "Big Business BAD, lawyers GOOD" got really tired. Three weeks.
21. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C.S. Lewis: Home. This is still probably my favorite of the series, and Ethan was more into this one. Three weeks.
22. The Elements of Style: The Original Edition, by William Strunk: Picked it up in the bargain bin at Borders. For an aspiring author, it's good to learn the rules, even if they're a bit dated. Six months (most of the time it sat on my desk).
23. The Hand of God: A Journey from Death to Life by the Abortion Doctor Who Changed His Mind, Bernard N. Nathanson: Library (InterLibrary Loan). Fascinating and chilling (he aborted his own child!) retelling of the conversion of an abortionist to non-abortionist, then to Christian. Well worth the read. Eighteen days.
24. The Silver Chair, by C.S. Lewis: Home. I have a man-crush on Puddleglum. Three weeks.
25. Dave Barry is Not Taking This Sitting Down!, by Dave Barry: Library. I'll admit, I picked this up because on the cover, Mr. Barry is sitting on a toilet. Sue me. Six days.
26. The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis: Home. This one is frustrating, but it's so realistic about how quickly religious tides can change. The depiction of Aslan's Country is what I hope Heaven will be. Three weeks.
27. Sissy Nation: How America Became a Culture of Wimps & Stoopits, John Strausbaugh: Library. Honestly I don't remember much about this book, but I think the summary is, "Quit whining and take responsibility for your own life!" Nine days.
28. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, by A.J. Jacobs: Library. I saw this one on the New Books rack and thought it would probably be disrespectful. Not so. He was totally respectful, and he's an excellent, witty writer. How many Christians consciously try to live by the Bible? Highly recommended. Two weeks.
29. The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments, by George Johnson: Library. Short science books are just awesome. This takes a different look at science than you usually get (experiments instead of theories). Good stuff. Two weeks (bedtime book).
30. Change Up: An Oral History of 8 Key Events That Shaped Modern Baseball, by Larry Burke: Library RSS. Yes, I'm a baseball geek. Two weeks.
31. Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan's Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks, by Zack Hample: Library. Did I mention the baseball geek thing?
32. Odd Hours, by Dean Koontz: Library. Mr. Koontz is good for three books every two years. Me likee. Nine days.
33. Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies: A Guide to Language For Fun & Spite, by June Casagrande: Library RSS. How many baseball geeks are also Word Nerds? Fun stuff. Fifteen days.
34. Battlestar Galactica, by Jeffrey Carver: eBook. The series is awesome, and this novelization of the pilot was pretty good. Five days.
35. The Great Planet Robbery, by Craig DiLouie: Library RSS. Some books I get purely because of the title. This was one. And since I'd like to write some Sci-Fi, I try to read some, too. Two weeks.
36. Killing Monsters: Why Children NEED Fantasy, Super Heroes, and Make-Believe Violence, by Gerard Jones: Library. I already knew I'd agree with him, but I didn't know just how many good arguments there are for allowing violent play. Makes me glad Ethan's favorite game is "whup." Four weeks.
37. Saving Darwin: How to Be a Christian and Believe in Evolution, by Karl W. Giberson: Library RSS. Let me say right at the top that I am not an evolutionist. But I am also not threatened by them or by the science behind it. And I don't find most Creationist arguments to be very convincing. So, I'm left somewhere in the middle. The disappointing thing about this book was that he didn't really deliver on the promise of the title. He basically just said, "The evidence says evolution, and there it is." I was hoping he'd go into how his belief affects his view of the Fall and the Atonement. He didn't, thus the book wasn't really succesful. Twelve days.
38. Mortal Syntax: 101 Language Choices That Will Get You Clobbered by the Grammar Snobs - Even If You're Right, by June Casagrande: Library RSS. Funny and informative as her last book was, but I did tire of her constant and childish slams on conservatives. I know she's smart, but she does her best stupid impression when she stoops to that. Three weeks.
39. Christianity & The Age of the Earth, by Davis A. Young: Library (InterLibrary Loan). I picked this up on ILI after it was referenced in Saving Darwin. It's not exactly light reading, and it gets fairly scholarly in places, but it's worth it. If I'm neither a convinced evolutionist nor a convinced creationist, I am convinced that the earth is old. Apart from the scientific side of things, this book had an interesting survey of the history of the Church's thought on this subject. It's hardly been uniformly Young Earth. Three weeks.
40. Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, by Edmund R. Schubert: Library RSS. I've submitted fiction (and had it rejected) for IGMS, and it was fun to read the stuff that made it through. Makes me want to write and submit again. Twelve days.
41. Star Wars: The Clone Wars, by Karen Traviss: Library. Ethan and I are fans of the new TV show, and went to see the "movie," so I figured I'd mix in the novelization. Fun fluff. Two weeks.
42. 13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time, Michael Brooks: Library RSS. I love short science books, and this was no exception. For all the complexity of some of the issues, this was shockingly readable. Fifteen days.
43. Chasing Darkness, Robert Crais: Library. Saw it at Costco and thought, "Cool!" So I got it.  From the Library.  I'll pick up Crais again next time I see a new one out there. Five days.
44. The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch: Library. Elaine read this one first, so I decided to pick it up. It's extremely inspiring and edifying, but it's also deeply sad. I really enjoyed it. Two weeks.
45. Original Sin: A Cultural History, by Alan Jacobs: Library. This was another one that I got, read a chapter or two, then shelved it in favor of other books, then had to return, then requested again. I'm glad I did. It's a fascinating and very readable account of the history of thought regarding our tendency toward evil. For my full review, read my Theology Thursday post about it. Three months to read, with a return to the library mixed in.
46. 50 Physics Ideas You Really Need to Know, by Joanne Baker: Library. Short science books, I'm tellin' ya. This one was broken into nice "read before bed" chunks of about four pages each. Just enough science to be interesting but not boring. My tracking database puts this at four months to read, but it was more like eight weeks (I had to return it to the library, then didn't get it again until I finished another book).
47. Brisingr, by Christopher Paolini: Library (Best-sellers rack, which is just awesome!). This will be one of the longer books I'll read this year, but it's certainly not a difficult one. It's easy to digest (at least if you've read the other books of the cycle). Mr. Paolini's writing has definitely improved through the cycle, and I found this one fairly satisfying if a bit anticlimactic. Ten days to read.
48. The Silver Chair, by C.S. Lewis: Home. Ethan decided he was ready to do some Narnia reading again, and this is the one he picked. Two weeks.
49. Ender in Exile, by Orson Scott Card: Home. I pre-ordered this one and it came on my birthday. How awesome is that? This is the first direct sequel to Ender's Game, and it fills in some of the missing pieces (not that they really needed filling, mind you). It was very skillfully done. The only gripe I have is that OSC included one short story too many. But more on that in my mini-review. Six days.
50. Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, by Gleason Archer: Home. I bought this one several years ago on eBay for $1. Nice. It has entries on commonly asked questions through most of the books of the Bible. I don't agree with all his answers, but he has a lot of good stuff about Hebrew and Greek translation nuances that deal with a lot of common "errors" people like to pick on. Truly a must-have for any Apologetics Library. Eleven months to read, about an hour a week.
51. The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis: Home. I was struck especially this time by the dwarfs who "refused to be taken in." It's such a true portrayal of those who so pride themselves on not being fooled by anything that they can't believe in anything. Richard Dawkins comes to mind. Two weeks.
52. Happiness is a Serious Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual, by Dennis Prager: Library. I had previously taken this one in on tape, but I thought it was time I took it up in print. It was well worth the read, and at about 170 pages, it's very readable. Prager lays out a convincing case that striving for happiness is a moral obligation. Five weeks.
53. The Origin and History of the Doctrine of Endless Punishment, by Thomas B. Thayer: eBook. This one was recommended by Steve Gregg, and it was well worth the read. The author is of the Universalist (but Christian) perspective, and he quite effectively dismantles the support for the idea that Hell is Eternal Conscious Torment. He isn't laying out a positive case for Universalism (although one can be made), but rather just taking the most popular view of Hell to task. It's challenging if you go in with a traditional view and encouraging if you're starting from something not so mainstream (like Conditional Immortality, for instance). You can read my full Theology Thursday Book Review if you're interested. Highly recommended.
54. The Adventure Bible: New International Version: Home. Since I'd never read the NIV all the way through, I thought it was high time I did. It's Ethan's Bible, and I wanted to be able to tell him I'd read it. I'm glad I did, although the translation (NIV) isn't as enjoyable as the New King James. About eleven months to read.
55. Revelation and the Fall of Judea, by Maurice A. Williams: Purchased from Xlibris. I did a full review of this book for Theology Thursday.
56. Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel, by Michio Kaku: Library. For anyone who ever watches (all the time) those History Channel investigations of the Science of Star Trek or Star Wars, or even just shows about the Big Bang or Cosmology, Michio Kaku is one of the main dudes in the "smart dude to interview" rotation. I Googled him after watching one of the Star Trek shows. This book was really interesting for any sci-fi fan, although it takes some of the wind out of the future technologies we hope to see. Still, it's cool to have some genuine scientific light shone on areas normally addressed only in fiction. This was a returned-and-requested-again book from the library. On paper, it took eight months to read. In practice, it was more like two weeks.
57. The Impossible Faith: Why Christianity SUCCEEDED When it Should Have FAILED, by J.P. Holding: Purchased.  I've enjoyed Holding's online apologetics work, so I thought I'd pick up his book to support him.  Plus, the premise sounded interesting.  It's worth reading just for the chapter on whether Mormonism and Islam also meet the definition of Impossible Faiths (see my full Theology Thursday Book Review if you're so inclined).  And it's a short book.  I read it in basically four hours, but it took three days to get the hours in.

I've already got a few books started, so it shouldn't take me long to start the 2009 list again.  And I always take book recommendations.  (I don't always read recommended books, but I take the recommendations under advisement.)

Next Monday, I'll post my best/worst list for my 2008 reading.  So stay tuned.  Of course, I've already written it, but I'm still going to make you wait.  Try to contain your excitement.