Several years ago, I started tracking the books I read during the course of a year. I use goodreads.com to do this.  Last year, I read a personal record of 64 books.  I read a lot more fiction last year than  I usually do.  Most of it was my typical spy novels.  However, there was novel that stood out: “Gods and Kings” by Lynn Austin.  This is the first book in a series that I plan to read that gives a fictional account of the lives of Kings in the Old Testament.  Austin did an amazing job of pairing Biblical accounts to create a life story of sorts.  Through her novel, she succeeded where no one else has in getting me interested in this part of the Old Testament.  I look forward to reading the other books in this series.

The other two books that I favored during 2011 were “Rest of God” by Mark Buchanan and “Margin” by Richard Swenson.  I was reading these books at the same time and found that though they are very different books, they are similar in topic.  Margin is more of a self help book and covers emotional, physical and spiritual health.  His basic premise is that we are overloaded and need to have margin in our lives so that when those super busy times come, we don’t collapse.  It is a great book for anyone who is stressed out and doesn’t know what to do next.

Rest of God is more of an inspirational book and deals more specifically with the spiritual although he does cover the need for physical rest.  He reminds us that God created us to need rest and rest is good.  Rest gives God the opportunity to restore our soul as well as our body.

These cover my faves from 2011.  I don’t think I’ll break my record this year, but I am looking forward to reading more great books.

Complete list of books read in 2011.

Last year, I read a total of 45 books, almost double the number I read in the previous year. It was a good year for reading. Here are some of my faves.

I don’t know that I had a favorite in the fiction category. It was a year of reading new authors. Francine Rivers is now a favorite of mine. I love her style. Her novellas were particularly enjoyable. They gave me a different perspective on characters from the Bible and made me want to go back and study.

There are two books that stick out in the no-fiction category. The first is “Shattered Dreams” by Larry Crabb. I don’t necessarily agree with everything he writes, but God used the book to teach me some lessons at a crossroads in my life.
The second, is “Seeing in the Dark” by Gary Kinnaman. Gary is a pastor and collaborated with a doctor to talk about the spiritual and medical aspects of depression. It is a short book that is very helpful for understanding depression.

Complete list of books read in 2008.

I recently started a new position as Prayer Ministry Coordinator at my church. One of my goals in this position is to read various books and other materials on prayer (my best friend would say this is a thinly veiled excuse to read yet another book). I picked up Philip Yancey’s book Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference. I have wanted to read it for a while and it was the first one on the shelf.

In Chapter four, Yancey writes, “If I had to answer the question ‘Why pray?’ in one sentence, it would be, “Because Jesus did.” I have heard this particular question many times. I was, however, struck by the simplicity of Yancey’s answer. It is easy to get lost in a long drawn out theological answer. The simple answer is that Jesus did.

I have mentioned before that I am an avid reader. Last year, I started keeping a record of the books I read. I thought it would be interesting to review. I didn’t start keeping track until mid-spring, so it is conceivable that I left something off the list, but the total I came out with was twenty-eight books. I am not the fastest reader in the world, so I think this is a pretty good accomplishment.

Sometime in the next couple of weeks, I hope to review that list and give you what were my favorites for the year. This posting is devoted to books other than the Bible that have impacted my life. This idea is the result of a book I picked up at work last week by Scott Larsen called Indelible Ink: 22 Prominent Christian Leaders Discuss the Books That Shape Their Faith. It was in the Bargain Bin at work. I looked interesting and has proved very much so. I think I like it so much because it combines three loves of mine: reading, discussion of theology and related topics, and personal testimonies.

Larsen’s book limits the contributors to the top three books. There are four that came to mind immediately when I thought about my own life. The first two are Embracing the Love of God: The Path and Promise of Christian Life by James Bryan Smith and Richard Foster, and The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out by Brennan Manning.

I read these two in September of 1997 after graduating from College. I was in Colorado at the time. I had gone out there in the hopes that being in the area would give me a better shot at getting a job with a particular organization. As it turned out, I did not find a job, but while I looked for one, I spent three incredible weeks in awe of God’s creation. I remember walking outside every morning and having my breath taking away by the majesty of Pike’s Peak. Sometime in those three weeks, I read these books and cried. I cried because, for the first time in my life, I understood and believed that God loved me.

This may sound strange coming from a Missionary Kid who made a profession of faith at age 8 and was baptized at age 11 or 12. I believed in God and believed He had saved me. I firmly believed in His love for everyone else, but for some reason I had never fully come to terms with His love for me. I still remember those days when I began to understand and receive His love for me. It was a profound time. I believe that God took me out to Colorado so that I would be in a place of retreat…a place where I would hear Him speak. Nestled in the majesty of His mountains, I could do little but listen.

The last two books are devotionals: Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman and My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. I don’t remember when I was first introduced to My Utmost for His Highest, but ever since then, it has been the devotional that I return to again and again. It has been a constant source of encouragement and insight.

I think my mom first introduced me to Streams in the Desert. It was her favorite devotional, and quickly became mine. It has been a stream in the desert times of my life offering me hope and encouragement and pointing me back to God when I wasn’t sure I still wanted to walk His path.

I am sure other books will come to mind as I reflect on this particular blog, but for now, I offer you these four as the ones (apart from the Bible) that have left indelible marks on my life. God may not use them in your life as He has mine, but you never know.

I love books and I love to read. This year, I’m even keeping track of what I’m reading. You can check it out on my website at Reading Corner. This makes working at a bookstore both a lot of fun and very dangerous. One of my jobs is to make sure the MAP (all the sales, end caps, best sellers etc.) are set correctly. This means, each month, I am the first to read through the new sales information. This often becomes an exercise in discipline. I argue back and forth with myself over buying something because it is a great deal and not buying because it is something I want rather than need. Most of the time I do pretty well. Lately, I have put it in terms of buying something or having the extra money to go out with friends. This makes it much easier. I have, however, started a wish list at Amazon.com. I figure if I keep track of things, I already have my Christmas list when my family starts asking. The bad thing is that I don’t forget about all the “stuff” I want. This can be dangerous. I am really not in “need” of anything. I am in want of many things. This is my confession for the week.

Being the book buff that I am, I subscribe to a weekly email from Borders. Mostly, it’s good for the coupons. This week’s subject heading is “The Biggest Book Ever.” The book they are speaking of is the newest book in the Harry Potter series. If you are at all aware of the hype surrounding the release, you know the craziness of it.

Harry Potter is a touchy subject for some and I’m not looking for a fight today. Instead, I have another thought to ponder. The first thing that occurred to me is that the Bible is really “The Biggest Book Ever.” On thinking that, I wondered what kind of hype the Bible gets and what it should get. What would happen if we had the same enthusiasm about the Bible as we do about the newest Harry Potter book, or, if you prefer, the latest best seller in Christian books? This question came with a great deal of conviction. I’m not sure how often my life even reflects that the Bible is the Biggest book ever. I am managing to stay on track with a Bible reading plan this year, but I confess that when it comes to Chronicles, I find it laborious. Even the New Testament, which we tend to find easier to take in, is often read without pausing to allow the Holy Spirit to speak and encourage and convict. Ouch! Something to think about.

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:23-25 (NASB)

I love to read and I love books. I seem to collect them faster than I can read them. Last night, I needed something to read to wind down. Both my current books were in my car, so I scanned a shelf for something new. A book by Angela Thomas titled Do You Think I’m Beautiful caught my eye. Perhaps because that is a question I have asked often lately (not out loud).

I like Angela Thomas. I would go so far as to call her one of my favorite authors though I have only read one other book by her. I think maybe it’s because I think she gets me and she doesn’t have a clue that I even exist.

Do You Think I’m Beautiful, at least thus far is similar to Captivating by John & Stasi Eldredge. Angela writes about the desire of every woman to be pursued, to be told she is beautiful. It didn’t take long for me to be hooked into what she was saying. Angela writes about her journey to discovering God’s answer to that question every day.

As I read, it occurred to me that this is God-confidence. I don’t know where the importance of self-confidence crept into our lives even in Christian circles. I’m not saying self-confidence is a bad thing, but what if we were more concerned about having God-confidence. What if we viewed ourselves, our lives, and our circumstances with God-confidence?

I thought about my own life. God-confidence means I don’t have to be afraid or anxious about not having the job I want. It means I can trust God completely and rest in Him. It means I can walk with my head held high because my worth IS priceless to the only One who matters. It means that I can learn from my failures and move forward because they are not held against me or over me. It means I can lay everything at His feet. It means freedom, freedom to love and be loved, freedom to be all that God has purposed for me.