A book a month

[Notthemama1984]

I had a chaplain tell me once that he believed in having 12 books that you read every year. Basically one a month. Knowing the best book on a certain subject through and through is better than reading through 100 books on that same subject and only having a basic knowledge of each of them (or so goes his logic).

So what would be your 12 books and why?

 

[Dragoon]

I have so many books and trying to narrow them down to the twelve most useful is blowing my mind. O well I can at lest give three that will be on the list.
Holiness: J.C. Ryle
Living for Gods Glory: Beeke
The Godly Mans Picture: Thomas Watson

 

[ValiantforTruth]

Top 12

Theology: Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion
Theology: Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics (Counts as one?)
Law: Douma, The Ten Commandments
Sin: Luther, Bondage of the Will
Salvation: Owen, Death of Death in the Death of Christ
Apologetics: Bahnsen, Van Til's Apologetic: Readings & Analysis
Christian Living: Ryle, Holiness
Christian Living: Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Christian Philosophy: Schlossberg, Idols for Destruction
Revelation: Bavinck, Philosophy of Revelation
Christianity and Modernism: Machen, Christianity and Liberalism
Politics: Hayek, The Road to Serfdom

 

[Christoffer]

I agree somewhat to that principle. Making an effort at reading quality material and understanding it seems helfpul.

Do I even own 12 books?

The Institutes for theology
Knowing God for more practical theology
A christian view of men and things for worldview and refutation of atheism
Reformed doctrine of predestination for a defense of calvinism and a refutation of arminianism

 

[Wayne]

Do I understand that the idea was to read the same twelve year after year? Or just to select twelve particularly good books and read them carefully, then another twelve the next year and so on?

This is of course reminiscent of the Puritan Reading Challenge of just a few years back, where a lot of folks signed on to read twelve of the Banner of Truth Puritan paperbacks.

 

[Notthemama1984]

The idea is the same books year after year. That is not to say that you won't read more than these 12, just that you make an effort to read this 12.

Ben, I am doubtful that one could/would read the Institues in one month and Bavinck's 4 volumes the next. Bahnsen is a stretch as well. Those are honkers of a book. If one was able to accomplish it though year after year, I think they would be alot better off.

 

[ValiantforTruth]

I'm not sure what you're talking about. I read the Reformed Dogmatics this past Sunday afternoon between morning and evening worship.

No, if you had to finish one per month that's too much. If you didn't read anything else though, you could probably get through those twelve in one year.

This discussion reminds me of Thomas' quote to "beware the man of one book." That in turn reminds me of Jeff Cooper's quote to "beware the man of one gun."

 

[CharlieJ]

I had a chaplain tell me once that he believed in having 12 books that you read every year. Basically one a month. Knowing the best book on a certain subject through and through is better than reading through 100 books on that same subject and only having a basic knowledge of each of them (or so goes his logic).

The problem with this approach is that the reader has no way of knowing whether his 12 books are indeed quality books. The way a person cultivates a discerning taste is intentionality combined with repeated exposure to a variety of species within a genus. The 12 book approach is stifling, in that a person will never be able to reflect critically upon his mini-corpus. Also, he will have little ability to converse with others who haven't read his 12 books.

I believe a certain kind of intellectual introspectiveness is a danger for all minority subgroups, Reformed included. A preoccupation with a very narrow segment of the available material will hamper one in one's task to speak seasonably to a wide range of different groups, Christian and non-Christian. I certainly agree with the idea that one ought to read quality books, but I disagree entirely that one ought to restrict oneself intentionally to such a small corpus. I suspect that this idea arose not from conscientious planning, but from the reality that in the past, one generally had access to few books and had to make do.

 

[Andres]

I think some of you are missing the point. Maybe I am too, but if I understand correctly, the point was to find 12 books that are deemed excellent in quality and really minister to you. Then every year, re-read those same 12 books once throughout the year. And you don't just read those 12; certainly read more books and new books, but no matter what else is read, always make time to read your select 12 once a year. The point is that you are still reading new works and being exposed to new ideas, but the select 12 are so good and have proven the test of time, that by re-reading you continually soak in it's author's wisdom. Based on this premise, I don't see a problem with it, and it certainly could be beneficial. In a few years, one would certainly know their select 12 books well!

 

[CharlieJ]

Ah, I see. You're not reading only 12 books a year. OK, major objections withdrawn, though I would expect that as one matures, the list will change. I wonder how many of us would list the same (or any of the same?) books that we would have 10 years ago.

 

[Notthemama1984]

Andrew nailed it.

 

[Jesus is my friend]

I dont know if I could come up with 12 but,

A.W Pink "The Sovereignty of God"
R.C Sproul "Chosen By God"
Steven Lawson "Foundations of Faith"
Steven Lawson "The unwavering resolve of Jonathan Edwards"
The Works of Jonathan Edwards Vols. 1-2 (It's good to have dreams)
Noah Webster "American Dictionary of the English Language-1828
James M. Boice "Foundations of the Christian Faith"
Thomas Boston "The Crook in The Lot"
1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith"
John Piper-Desiring God
John Piper "A God Entranced Vision of All Things"
King James Bible

 

[py3ak]

The question is, then, what books would stand up to that frequent and constant rereading.

 

[VilnaGaon]

I remember reading somewhere that Jonathan Edwards did not read that many books like some of his peers did, but the ones he read, he read them well!

 

[Notthemama1984]

I remember reading somewhere that Jonathan Edwards did not read that many books like some of his peers did, but the ones he read, he read them well!

That is actually where my chaplain got the idea.

 

[nnatew24]

I think this is a great idea, with some qualifications such as:

-Each year you re-evaluate your list with some considerable input given by others. Be willing to drop/add if necessary, even though the goal is to re-read them again and again. That is, in a few years, when you have grown more in maturity and in the Lord, by His grace, you don't want to be stuck only with what fed you in years' past when you were more of a babe.

-You don't let those twelve consume your reading so that you get nothing else read. For example, if on average you read 20 books a year, then 12 is too much and you should consider just reading 3 or 4 several times over. If however, you read an average of 50-60 books a year, then maybe 12 is a good goal to start with.

-You don't limit your 12 to one particular time-period only, within one specific culture of thought. Don't get me wrong, I love the Puritans and think that at least 6 or more of those books should be from their time-period, but every generation of the church had their erroneous tendencies and so keeping the list a bit diverse would profit you well.

-Consider what books other great men of faith have done this with. I know Fred Malone reads 'The True Bounds of Christian Freedom' every year. Spurgeon used to read Pilgrims Progress and the Reformed Pastor every year (or more). etc. I think you could get some great insight into what books profited the great men of old when read time and again.

Hope that helps!