Would you like a book with that?

I know! I did promise to include book reviews!

However, between studying for the CPA exams, planning my trip to Europe (and blogging about my last trip), working full time, and just plain existing I kind of let it slip through the cracks.  Honestly, the hardest part of studying for my CPA license is not having enough time to read. I try to get in a chapter or two every night but, sadly, the majority of my reading is spent in my textbooks. I am seriously considering having a bonfire when I'm finished and burning all of them.

Bonfire. Music. Food. Friends.  And Smores. Can't forget the smores!

So below is a sampling of what I am reading now and what my waiting list looks like. I won't do a full review of each book but I will offer you a taste...

 

 I'll start from the top down:

1) Practical Religion by J.C. Ryle. 

How did I come upon J.C. Ryle? Simple. I kept noticing how he kept being quoted by so many of the theologians that I regularly read and listened to (RC Sproul, Piper, Packer, MacArthur, etc). I loved all of the quotes so I had to get my hands on the original works. I found a collection of 3 of Ryle's books on eBay for a great price and purchased them. The other two books are "The Upper Room" and "Old Paths". I started with "Practical Religion" however, as the title caught my eye. This I will say - you will take your time reading his works and you will have the urge to highlight everything. He writes with such clarity, depth and conviction! He will cut you to the heart and challenge you in your walk with Christ.  

Here is an excerpt from the book: "Do we desire to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ? Do we wish to make progress in our religion, and become strong Christians, and not mere babes in spiritual things? Then let us pray daily for more faith, and watch our faith with most jealous watchfulness. Here is the corner-stone of our religion. A flaw or weakness here will affect the whole condition of our inner man. According to our faith will be the degree of our peace, our hope, our joy, our decision in Christ’s service, our boldness in confession, our strength in work, our patience in trial, our resignation in trouble, our sensible comfort in prayer. All will hinge on the proportion of our faith. Happy are they who know how to rest their whole weight continually on a covenant God, and to walk by faith, not by sight."

2) Sinners in the Hands of a Good God by David Clotfelter

I am currently re-reading this book. I think, in total, I have read it at least a dozen times. The binding is broken and pealing. Its highlighted, marked up, and in some places stained by coffee. When as a teenager I was first exposed to the "Doctrines of Grace" I came upon this book. I had a lot of difficult questions that I needed answered about reconciling divine judgment and mercy and this book was a God send! This small work is well written, organized, and Scripture saturated. However, the most appealing aspect of the book was that it was written by someone struggled through understanding these things themselves and is now able to offer guidance to others.

3) Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges

I must admit the title caught me as I was walking by at the Resolved Conference bookstore. Respectable Sins? Whatever could he mean? I am almost done with this book and while it may not be a long piece of work it definitely gets its point across. Bridges confronts us "Christians" where it hurts the most - sins that no longer cause us grief. We're ready to go up in arms over sins such as adultery, drunkenness, homosexuality, etc. but sins such as envy, anger, and discontentment no longer show up on our radar screen. I recommend this book to anyone as a type of spiritual exam - which sins have you made "respectable"? Upon closer examination we will find, to our shame, there are quite a few.

4) Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Nothing like Russian drama. Scandal. Deceit. Politics. Religion. Philosophy. This book has it all. I wasn't planning on reading this book any time soon (not since I read it back in high school) but since the movie is coming out this November a few people from my church thought it would be great if we all read and discussed the book before we went to see the movie. I'll be honest - I've only gotten through the first chapter. I don't think I'll finish before we go see the movie (unless I read it on my trip). But, for those of you looking for a good novel this is a great place to start - feel free to read it in English - I did :)

Lastly, my waiting list! Below are just a few of the books on my list to be read. 

 

Hopefully, most of these will be knocked off the list by the end of the year. The problem lies in the fact that I continue to add more and more books to this list. Just this week one of my pastors, Jeremy, recommended a few books on Covenant Theology and Baptism. And I will want to re-read Greg Nichols book on Covenant Theology from a Reformed and Baptistic perspective and revisit Jonathan Edwards (Iain Murry's biography on Edwards is really good!). There are also the two remaining books by J.C. Ryle and several volumes of Spuregeon's sermons. Not to mention the vast amount of novels and volumes of poetry to consume. 

An ever present dilemma...

So much to read so little time!