One of the difficulties that can arise when you read a lot is you sometimes forget to re-read the really great books you’ve enjoyed from years past. This has been my problem for the last couple of years—I’ve been reading so many new books that I’ve been missing out on the really great books I read years ago and actually want to read again.
So, this year, I’m doing something about it by sharing with a plan I’m calling “the re-reading project.”
(Super clever, I know. Can you tell I’m a writer and stuff?)
Here’s how it works: every month, I’ll be re-reading one book from my library and sharing a few thoughts on each here. These books will almost certainly be pretty broad—there will be a mix of books by Christians and non-Christians, as well as (I hope!) a bit of variety in terms of genre. Here are some of the first books I’ll be re-reading as part of this project:
- Preaching and Preachers by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
- The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
- The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
- The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul
So far, there’s nothing on the list less than 20 years, old, although that could change. The point of the whole project isn’t simply to read “more,” or to read older books instead of newer ones—it’s just to read (and re-read) better. When all we take in is first-time reading, we miss out on what we can discover about a book that we might’ve missed the first time around.
I’m pretty excited about this little project—wanna join me?
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I had also decided to re-read some books in 2013! Only a few currently on the list: Knowing God by Packer, The Cross of Christ by Stott, and Mere Christianity by Lewis.
It looks like I unknowingly started this project late in 2013! I re-read Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson in November, and I’m in the middle of re-reading Piper’s God is the Gospel.
I agree with you. If there are books we know are excellent and transformative, it’s useful to revisit them (especially weighed against books whose merits we don’t know yet).
Good idea, Aaron!
Look forward to reading Preaching and Preachers 🙂
I have plans to re-read some books, too. I’m re-reading No Place for Truth, by David Wells, In Christ Alone by Sinclair Ferguson, and Knowing God by Packer.