One of the dangers of having a lot of books is… well, having a lot of books. But a second danger is forgetting what books you actually have. Thankfully, I’ve yet to purchase a book twice in recent years. But there are some that I knew I wanted to read that I forgot about entirely. Which is a shame because I remember being really pumped about them. Today, I’m going to share with you five of those:
Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis by George Sayer. What intrigued me about this book from the get-go wasn’t the fact that it was a biography of C.S. Lewis, although that alone is enough for me to want to read it. What got my attention is that Sayer was a contemporary of Lewis, a friend who went on many walks with him and still never got to the bottom of him. This is one that’s going back into the pile of travel reads. Should be fun!
How to Write Short by Roy Peter Clark. I’m always on the hunt for useful books to help hone my craft. This is one a friend recommended a long time ago, I picked up on my Kindle, and never got around to digging into. Given that there’s never not a need to write concisely, this is sure to be a valuable read.
Playing God by Andy Crouch. I’ve appreciated everything I’ve read from Crouch, which is why I bought this one. The problem is, I never got past purchasing it before it fell off the radar. The concept is especially intriguing—an exploration of human power and how we can use it without being corrupted by it.
What to Expect When No One’s Expecting by Jonathan V. Last. This book was all about deconstructing the overpopulation myth—a myth that still holds sway in the minds of the general population, as well as academics and politicians. What Last argues is that we actually have the opposite problem: our issue is not overpopulation, but a population deficit. (Can you tell why I wanted to read this?)
Preaching in a Post-Everything World by Zack Eswine. I bought this book largely for two reasons: one, I find Eswine helpful on many fronts; and two, because I am always on the lookout for helpful preaching books. Like everything else, the problem wasn’t the book—just that I didn’t get to it before something more urgent demanded my attention.
There are more books like these, of course, but this is a good starting point for me to begin exploring what’s languishing in my Kindle and on my bookshelves. What’s one book like this on your shelf? Let me know on Twitter or Facebook.
