I’ve read thousands of books in my lifetime. I’ve written on this blog about why I read and about my annual reading plan. I’ve posted about how to read more. So, yeah, I read a lot. Wanna make something of it?
Where was I? Oh yeah. Over the course of my decades of reading, I’ve even kept a record of the books I’ve read. So, not only can I tell you (if not by memory at least by a quick document search) if I’ve read a particular book, I can also scan which books have had the greatest and deepest effect on me. Many have molded me. Here are twenty that have had an inestimable effect on my life and habits:
Helps to Holiness, The Renewed Mind, and The Cost of Discipleship (molded my early spiritual life)
Mere Christianity and Evidence That Demands a Verdict (molded my early thinking as a Christ- follower)
Mr. Jones, Meet the Master and Biblical Preaching (molded my preaching)
Hand Me Another Brick and Spiritual Leadership (molded my leadership)
With Christ in the School of Prayer, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, and The Divine Hours (3 vol.) (molded my praying)
Managing Your Time and Keeping the Sabbath Wholly (molded my rhythms)
User-Friendly Churches, Postmodern Pilgrims, and The Contemplative Pastor (molded my pastoring)
Bird by Bird, On Writing Well, and The Writing Life (molded my writing life)
As I look back over the list, I realize that some of those affected more than one area. And, of course, some were formative, while others were influential much later. But all, in one way or another, have had a substantive effect on me, my life, and my ministry. And, while I could easily list another twenty or more, these stand out.
How about you? Which books have molded you?
You Gotta Have Friends … and Strangers Too
There are books that molded me,
took me to where I’ve been led.
The shelf in which they lived, you see
toppled to land upon my head
to leave me buried and concussed
by Ian Fleming and The Bard,
a tome on Simeon the Just,
and a DVD, ‘Live Free, Die Hard’.
Someone had to pull me loose
from this cascade of titles,
and work The Tales Of Mother Goose
from my abuse-ed vitals,
but the Collected Poem of Yeats
had plunged within, and sealed my fate.
One hundred books a year is commendable. Your devotional, “The Bard and the Bible,” bridges the genre of Classics and God’s Word.
Many books have molded me–from past-Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, The Boxcar Children, this last few years-Unlocking the Heart of the Artist, A Practical Guide to fulfilling your creative call as an artist in the Kingdom by Matt Tommey, Awaking Wonder: Opening Your Child’s Heart to the Beauty of Learning by Sally Clarkson, there are many others, but most important as been the Bible in several versions. I teach children in our church and have a private tutoring classes for children to adults, called The Joy of Drawing from Real Life and Pictures-for over 25 years now.
Many of the books you mentioned, along with this life-changing classic:
The Perfect Love by Ruth Myers.
Several of the books you listed shaped me as well. I would add “Practicing the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence. This short-read taught me the critical need of seeking and seeing the Lord in every moment of the day.
Thanks for sharing. I’m saving this list.
Bob,
One thousand+ books read has captivated me for the past two days, and I’m still not sure what to say, or how to say it. “It.” I did it!
seriously, an amazing accomplishment 💪🙏
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Books on Romans, Joy Unspeakable, A Merciful and Faithful High Priest, and a few others of Lloyd-Jones. Robert Morris, From Dreams to Destiny, Many of CS Lewis’s books but like you, Mere Christianity I have read and reread a few times, Total Forgiveness by R. T. Kendall, Revealing Revelation by Amir Tsarfati,
Well, one could go on and on…