Books??? What are these “book” things you speak of?Seems only a handful of folks were interested in the couple of posts on books this week. So after this post, I’ll move on to other topics.
Al Mohler is president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. He is an author, speaker, and host of his own radio show. Like all of us, he has his own flaws, but by most accounts he is a brilliant man. In an article last year, he described his reading habits, which are impressive. Then he offered some suggestions for improving reading habits. I appreciated them and thought they were worthy of posting here:
1. Maintain regular reading projects. I strategize my reading in six main categories: Theology, Biblical Studies, Church Life, History, Cultural Studies, and Literature. I have some project from each of these categories going at all times. I collect and gather books for each project, and read them over a determined period of time. This helps to discipline my reading, and also keeps me working across several disciplines.
2. Work through major sections of Scripture. I am just completing an expository series, preaching verse by verse through the book of Romans. I have preached and taught several books of the Bible in recent years, and I plan my reading to stay ahead. I am turning next to Matthew, so I am gathering and reading ahead -- not yet planning specific messages, but reading to gain as much as possible from worthy works on the first gospel. I am constantly reading works in biblical theology as well as exegetical studies.
3. Read all the titles written by some authors. Choose carefully here, but identify some authors whose books demand your attention. Read all they have written and watch their minds at work and their thought in development. No author can complete his thoughts in one book, no matter how large.
4. Get some big sets and read them through. Yes, invest in the works of Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, and others. Set a project for yourself to read through the entire set, and give yourself time. You will be surprised how far you will get in less time than you think.
5. Allow yourself some fun reading, and learn how to enjoy reading by reading enjoyable books. I like books across the fields of literature, but I really love to read historical biographies and historical works in general. In addition, I really enjoy quality fiction and worthy works of literature. As a boy, I probably discovered my love for reading in these categories of books. I allow some time each day, when possible, to such reading. It doesn't have to be much. Stay in touch with the thrill.
6. Write in your books; mark them up and make them yours. Books are to be read and used, not collected and coddled. [Make an exception here for those rare antiquarian books that are treasured for their antiquity. Mark not thy pen on the ancient page, and highlight not upon the manuscript.] Invent your own system or borrow from another, but learn to have a conversation with the book, pen in hand.
I would write more for this post, but I must go read. More later. For now: Tolle! Lege
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5 comments:
3. Read all the titles written by some authors.
CS Lewis
Alvin Plantinga
Chuck Swindoll
Gasp! He advocates marking in books!!!???? For shame! I shudder to think about it -- which may seem a bit odd considering I'm a librarian and we do all sorts of horrible things to books -- but I would NEVER do such a thing to my own books! If a book is necessary for study purposes then I would have to buy two: one for marking and one to look pretty on my bookshelf. I collect books like a hypochondriac collects diseases and I love nothing better than rows and rows of crowded bookshelfs. But I wouldn't mark in them! What are post-its for?
Yeah...I need a life.
I love to read....but since I am not disciplined about it, it has gone by the wayside since having children. I am the "don't put it down, put life on hold while I finish this book" kind of reader...and you can't really do that with a 2-year-old. But I do need to indulge myself sometimes after the little one is in bed...instead of turning on the TV like I usually do.
Writing in books is a must... Reading is the most fruitful when you retain what you've read. I like to highlight something that sticks out to me, write down the page number on the first page, then when I'm finished go back and write down those thoughts on a computer. You can put massive amounts of info like this on a SD card which many cell phones use now and you can read over the info from your latest books wherever you are, whenever you want. This isn't original thoughts of my own, but of someone else that passed them on to me.
-Eric Hudson
Personally, I highlight.
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