|
Dear Reader,
When was the last time you read a book with others? I suspect most of your reading, like mine, is solitary: you read a book quietly by yourself, or you listen to an audiobook during a commute. I have a colleague who reads to her husband every night while he does the dishes after dinner (#MarriageGoals). I have a few artsy friends who like to get together and read poetry aloud. But I like efficiency in my reading. After all, my list only grows the longer I live, and this job as TGC’s book editor sure doesn’t help, to my wife’s perpetual dismay. And as an introvert, I tend to internally process my thoughts.
But as I reflect on my reading life, some of the highlights have come from reading books with others. Before the pandemic, I hosted a weekly (at times bi-weekly) gathering for men to read Richard Sibbes’s The Bruised Reed. It did my soul good to reflect on Christ’s promise that a “bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench” (Matt. 12:20). But it was even more beneficial to hear how other men reflected on how this reality applied to their work, marriages, parenting, and ministries.
If you need more encouragement to read with others, consider Cassie Watson’s reflections and her list of four TGC books with discussion guides.
One final word on efficiency in reading comes from a Puritan, Thomas Brooks: “Remember that it is not hasty reading, but serious meditation on holy and heavenly truths, that makes them prove sweet and profitable to the soul. It is not the mere touching of the flower by the bee that gathers honey, but her abiding for a time on the flower that draws out the sweet. It is not he that reads most, but he that meditates most, that will prove to be the choicest, sweetest, wisest and strongest Christian.”
Happy reading!
Ivan Mesa
Editorial Director
|
|
‘You Are Not Your Own’ is an ambitious project, tying together diverse and neglected Christian thinkers. . . . Those who persevere will be rewarded with a refreshing critique of modernity and its underlying assumptions. In a time of immense cultural shifts in America over issues of race, gender, sexuality, and politics, there has never been a better time for Christians to proclaim a more human way to live and to belong. Read the review.
|
| 1. |
Cassie Watson, Read Good Books—But Not (Only) Alone (The Gospel Coalition)
“Today we have access to countless books that enrich our faith and strengthen us for obedience. Through centuries of church history, the riches of the Scriptures have been expounded and rejoiced in many times over. These treasures are ours for the taking. Let’s help each other mine them—let’s read good books together.”
|
| 2. |
Two of our recent titles—Rebecca McLaughlin’s The Secular Creed and Trevin Wax’s The Multi-Directional Leader—are now available on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes.
|
| 3. |
Ian Bogost, Ebooks Are an Abomination (The Atlantic)
Contrary to what you may think, I’m not against ebooks, but I have a special place in my heart for bookish curmudgeons.
|
| 4. |
Kyle Chayka, Essay: The digital death of collecting
“My lostness comes from the sense that our cultural collections are not wholly our own anymore. In the era of algorithmic feeds, it’s as if the bookshelves have started changing shape on their own in real time, shuffling some material to the front and downplaying the rest like a sleight-of-hand magician trying to make you pick a specific card—even as they let you believe it’s your own choice. And this lack of agency is undermining our connections to the culture that we love.”
|
| 5. |
Daniel Silliman, What’s True About Christian Fiction (Christianity Today)
Books can tell the story of evangelicalism.
|
|
