Fire and Knowledge

Part of the The Reading Interviews series.

Could you tell us a little about yourself?

I am a happily married father of three young children and live in the outskirts of Toronto, Ontario where I’ve lived most of my life. Presbyterian by upbringing, I now attend a small Reformed Baptist church nearby. I am a web designer by trade but find that my real passion lies with writing. I have been blogging at my web site since 2003 and have blogged daily since November 1 of that year. I’ve established a pattern of posting links to other sites early in the morning and following that with a more substantial article a little later on. I’ve also just completed the manuscript for my first book. It deals with spiritual discernment and is scheduled to be published by Crossway in January of 2008. Finally, I own and maintain the site Discerning Reader where I post reviews of books that are of interest to Christians.

What are your favorite books? What do you like about them and how have they influenced you?

I really only began reading Christian books five or six years ago. In fact, beginning to read these books and feeling the desire to write reviews of them is part of what motivated me to begin a blog. While many people are able to provide a list of the great Christian classics (Augustine, Edwards, Calvin, and so on), I am still playing catch-up, trying to make my way through the classics while reading and reviewing many of the books that are published today. Having said all of that, here are a few personal favorites:

1. Putting Amazing Back into Grace by Michael Horton. I read this book a few years ago and found it an interesting and exciting introduction to the doctrines of grace. Horton does what I consider a masterful job of explaining these doctrines and making them accessible to any Christian.
2. Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace? by James Boice. When I stumbled across this book (and it must have been the only good book in the sad little Christian bookstore I found it in) I had never heard of James Boice. Though I had been drifting from my Reformed roots, this book was instrumental in helping me see the beauty of Reformation theology. The unofficial sequel to this book, The Doctrines of Grace, was no less important to me.
3. Ashamed of the Gospel by John MacArthur. This is another book that I found at just the right moment in my life. It set before me the beauty and value of the gospel and made me think seriously about the church I was worshiping in at the time.
4. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. Calvin and Hobbes just never gets old. This, the heaviest and most expensive book to ever be on the New York Times list of bestsellers, is a must-have for any fan of the strip. It’s a great choice for those evenings when you’re just too tired to read anything else. It’s definitely not the kind of book you read in the bathtub or take with you to read while waiting for a doctor’s appointment.

Who are your favorite writers?

I have a lot of favorites. I’ll read just about every new book published by John MacArthur (assuming they are his “idea” books and not his books based on sermon series), John Piper, R.C. Sproul and the other usual Reformed suspects. I love the work of Iain Murray and Arnold Dallimore in writing biographies of some of the great Christians of days past.

Moving outside of the Christian industry, I enjoy the books of Malcolm Gladwell, who has the amazing ability to make the complex seem so simple. I wish I could write more like him. There are a lot of fantastic authors outside the Christian circles and a person who never reads any of these books will be impoverished. David McCullough is another worthy favorite.

What is the best non-fiction and fiction book you have read recently?

Non-fiction: I was a little bit late to the party with reading George Marsden’s biography of Jonathan Edwards, titled simply Jonathan Edwards: A Life. It is a marvelous book and a must-read for any Christian. I can’t think of many books that I’ve enjoyed reading more than that one.

Fiction: Sadly, I do not read a whole lot of fiction – only what shows up in the mail, and much of that is not worth reading. I hope to read more in the coming years in an attempt to bring greater balance to my reading diet.

Why do you think reading is important? What has led you to make it a priority in your life?

I regard reading as a critical component of my spiritual life. I read many books devotionally, finding in them important explanations and applications of portions of the Bible. While I sometimes have to guard myself against treating books as Scripture, I do find that they can do a wonderful job of supplementing and enhancing my reading of Scripture. Of course books can also be destructive when they are not chosen carefully and read with discernment and this is one of the motivating forces behind Discerning Reader.

Reading also keeps me in touch with the wider world. Because I work from home I find that I can easily live a life isolated from the real world. Reading is a window into the hearts and minds of Christians and non-Christians alike and it allows me to keep abreast of what others are thinking and writing.

Are there any other books you would like to recommend?

Just visit either of my web sites and you can find long lists of books I recommend. I typically add a couple of reviews a week.

How many books do you normally read at a time?

I usually have four or five on the go at once. Because I review books I receive endless amounts of new books in the mail and try to read as many as I can. I’m always skimming at least one and reading a couple of others. I’ll often read three or four books with light content while making my way more slowly through a heavier read. And I’ll often forget about one of them and have to begin it again a couple of months later when I find it lying in a corner somewhere.

Do you mark and take notes while you read? If so, how?

I have only recently begun to mark up my books. It used to be that the thought of writing in a book caused me to cringe. But a while back I received two copies of the same book and thought I’d try marking one up to see if I enjoyed it, figuring that I could simply throw away the marked up book later on. I found that the marking was helpful to me and since then I’ve done that with almost all of the books I read. I have no real system other than underlining key passages and jotting words in the margin like “Gospel” or “Thesis” or “NO!” I also write notes at the front of the book. I do this all with cheap Bic retractable pencils, which I buy by the box since anything more expensive tends to disappear or get eaten by my baby girl.

When you finish a book, how do you decide which book to read next?

I have almost a whole bookcase filled with books that have come to me recently and which I have not yet read. So I typically look for something that is different from what I’ve read recently and read that one. While I often get in moods for a certain genre and will read, for example, several biographies in a row, I do try to maintain a varied diet, moving through Christian living, theology, biographies, commentaries, and the like. I also try to read as many of the New York Times bestsellers as I can, getting ahold of any that seem as if they would be of interest to Christians.

Do you have any advice about reading that others might find helpful?

I do. I receive quite a few questions from people asking “How do you read so much?” My answer is always the same: I make the time. I use small bits of time when I have them (sitting in the barber shop, waiting for doctor’s appointments, and so on) and am deliberate about making time almost every day. I consider reading an invaluable part of my life and faith and encourage others to make time for it as well. Anyone can find time to read even just a couple of books a year. Choose your books wisely, make the time to read them, and you will see what a blessing reading can be.

I’ve mentioned this already, but I also encourage people to read widely. Read a variety of genres and read books from outside the Christian publishing industry.

Would you like to add anything else?

Yes I would. A couple of years ago I took to posting my reviews on Amazon.com. I would encourage other Christians to do the same. It seems likely that more people will read reviews at Amazon than at any other site and Christians have a valuable opportunity to help promote good books by posting reviews there. So if you read and enjoy a book, take the time to write up a quick review and post it at Amazon. It’s where the world shops.