Reading good books takes time and effort. It will require you to sacrifice things you might otherwise like to do, but it will reward you with a new perspective. If you commit to reading books that challenge your mind, you will find that your mind, like your muscles, grows stronger and more flexible with exercise. If you choose artistic books, like good poetry or well-crafted essays, you will find your imagination energized and your own creativity elevated. If you read books that delve into the deep things of God, his nature and works, you will be awed by and moved to worship the Lord. If you read books containing biblical truth applied to specific areas of life, you will grow in wisdom even in startling and unexpected ways.
Too Little Time
In order to receive these benefits, we must find and read good books, but we are limited by a number of factors. First, there is only so much time in a day. If you read at an average speed of ½ a page per minute, it will take you over six-and-a-half hours to read a 200-page book. A 300-page book will take ten hours, and a really long book of 500 pages will take you more than 16 hours to complete. At 30 minutes of reading per day, that 500 page book will take you more than a month to finish, while the shorter ones will take between two and three weeks. With nearly 4 million new books being published each year, you’re going to have to pick and choose. A large majority of those books are not worth reading at all, but even the ones that are worth your time exceed the number of books you can possibly read in a lifetime! And millions more will be published next year. You’re going to have to choose what books to spend your time on.
To read one book is to choose to neglect another, and time spent finishing a bad book is time taken away from reading something better. Sometimes you know a book isn’t worth reading just by looking at the cover (I know, I know, you’re not supposed to judge that way, but it’s still true). Another book may look promising, but when you begin you find it is poorly written, based on bad information or weak arguments, or that it leads you into temptation by directing your thoughts contrary to Scripture. While it may feel like throwing away what you have already invested, it is better to simply cut your losses and move on to a book that actually provides some benefit.
Some reviews make it clear that the reviewer never read the book (at least not in its entirety!), while others are either cries for attention or critiques of the book they wish was written instead.
Too Many Books
But how can you know if a book is worth precious hours of your life? This is another limiting factor: you can’t know which books will benefit you most without reading them. There are some tools that can help with this, including book reviews on websites like Amazon.com and Goodreads.com. But those reviews must be read with discernment; some reviews make it clear that the reviewer never read the book (at least not in its entirety!), while others are either cries for attention or critiques of the book they wish was written instead of the one they reviewed. It does help if you know something of the background and personality of the reviewer, especially when it comes to books on theological or devotional themes.
There are some other online sources of book reviews that are especially helpful for Christians. These include blogs like challies.com, where Tim Challies maintains a list of suggested books on various topics1, or In the Nick of Time, where seminary professor Kevin Bauder writes occasional essays for Christian students, including lists of what he considers his most interesting reading every year.2 For many years Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary has offered their Basic Library Booklist3, a good place to start when looking for conservative Bible commentaries and theology resources. YouTube offers another place to find book reviews; one helpful account is @RevReads which offers simple book reviews by Pastor Shawn Willson4. You could even check out my Goodreads.com profile to see the books I have rated.5 But even if you used all these resources, it would only give you some ideas of books to read. There is no guarantee that you will find the books as useful, or that we have reviewed the book you want to read.
A Suggested Strategy
Are you interested in reading more and better books, but not sure where to invest your time and energy (not to mention money, as this reading habit can be a bit expensive!)? Then take these resources as a starting point to give you a few good suggestions. For example, under the theme of holiness, Challies recommends Sproul’s The Holiness of God (which I read in one sitting and rate 4 out of 5 stars), The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges (another 4-star rating), and J. C. Ryle’s classic, Holiness (I gave this 5 stars). As you read these books, you may find the authors quoting or mentioning other books and writers, some of which may spark your interest. There are likely to be footnotes or endnotes which will suggest other resources. I often find books of interest this way and search online for reviews to help me decide if they are worth my time and effort. In this way, you will discover favorite authors whose works tend to be good across the board, and they may keep you well-stocked for years.
In my experience the “to-read” list quickly outpaces your ability to actually read all the books you desire, and you may despair of ever catching up. This is not a failure. It requires you to come to terms with your very human limitations and embrace the fact that you will never reach the end of learning. Still, you will be far better off for having made the effort to read and to continue reading.
In the end, you will have to use discernment with every book you choose. Finish those that are helpful, and let good authors point you to others that have something to say. Learn to ask what others are reading and don’t be ashamed to take notes. Use good books to help sharpen your thinking, fuel your imagination, and enjoy God and his abundant gifts. And above all, take pleasure in what you read. Life is too short to read boring books!
1 https://www.challies.com/book-recommendations/
2 For example, his 2023 list spans three posts beginning with https://centralseminary.edu/most-interesting-reading-of-2023-part-one/
3 https://dbts.edu/basic-library-booklist/
4 https://www.youtube.com/c/RevReads
5 https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/66782261