58% Have Never Read a Book?  What is your favorite?

Posted on Wednesday, June 6th, 2007 at 9:18 am

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A newsletter that I subscribe to (Church Leader’s Intelligence Report) recently had this statistic in its column: 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.

I find that very hard to believe.  First, I cannot believe that it is possible to get through life without reading a book; secondly I cannot imagine the incredible blessings that anyone who does not read regularly is missing.  This led me to another question, if I were forced to name my five favorite books of all time what would they be? We will leave the Bible out, believing that it is beyond compare.  Now you have some time to think, what would be your favorite five books?  I will give you one today and perhaps one each day or so as we go along.

REGULAR BOOKS

I think that I should divide the books into categories (best fiction, best theology, etc.) but that would allow me more than five so I will stick with only the five books that I would like to study again and again.  I will however add another part to the list, the five favorite “strange books” that I have loved.  I’ll give you one of each today.

A book that helped me greatly in my thinking about the aims of Jesus, the background of the NT and understanding the Gospels will be one of my five favorites.  It is that rarest of theological books that is both wonderfully informative and a great read.  I should warn you that there are some significant points at which I disagree with the author, but this is a great book.

STRANGE BOOKS

This is a book that has really touched me in a particular way.  It is the story of a writer who is called upon to cover the murder trial of a snake-handling preacher near Birmingham, Alabama.  As he does background work on the story he becomes involved in the church and ends up taking up serpents himself.  A strange book but wonderful in many ways.

There you have a couple of books that have challenged me and my thinking, now let me hear from you. What are those books you would want to take with you if you were stranded on an island (besides a book on shipbuilding of course)?

Read On, its summertime!  58% indeed . . .