I read a lot, at least a hundred books each year. I don’t just read one book at a time; I read from half a dozen books on any given day. My reading is eclectic. And, I read grammar/usage books, gardening books, and cookbooks right through as you would a novel.
Since I am a rather slow reader, how do I manage this? You might not like the answer: I check e-mail once in the morning and that’s it, I do not do Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or Pinterest, I do not hang out at Google or Yahoo Groups, I do not watch television shows, I do not follow the news, and I spend little time on the Internet. In fact, on Friday’s I’m a Luddite and eschew all technology. By rejecting all these I have an extra four to six hours per day. You can, too.
(How do I keep up on the news? Each day when I get some exercise by walking or riding a bicycle to Starbucks, I walk over to the newspaper rack and scan the headlines on the top copy of the New York Times.)
Books I am currently reading from my nightstand:
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
The Riddle of Gravitation by Peter G. Bergmann
Impact by Douglas Preston
Living in Freefall by Ben Patterson
Cosmology by Peter Coles
Magazines I read:
Gospel Advocate
MacLife
Cook’s Illustrated
The Christian Standard
Analog
American Archaeology
Mission Frontiers
Scientific American
Asimov’s Science Fiction
Christianity Today
Amazing Stories
Model Railroader
Mother Jones
Astronomy
Fantasy and Science Fiction
Garden Railways
Archaeology
American Archaeology
Books completed recently:
The Dog Whisperer by Jan Fennell
Perelandra by C.S. Lewis
Heaven by Myk Habets
Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
On Talking Terms with Dogs by Turid Rugaas
Christian Horror: On the Compatibility of a Biblical Worldview and the Horror Genre
Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke
The Hard SF Renaissance by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
The Space Opera Renaissance by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
Forgotten Skills of Cooking by Darina Allen
How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card
The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz
Preserving the Japanese Way by Nancy Singleton Hachisu
Elizabeth the Queen by Sally Bedell Smith
Artemis by Andy Weir
Terminal Freeze by Lincoln Child
Narnia, Middle Earth, and the Kingdom of God by Mark Worthing
Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words by Bill Bryson
The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras by J. Michael Orenduff
Smith of Wooton Major by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lost World of the Flood by Tremper Longman III and John H. Walton
The Not-So-Intelligent Designer by Abby Hafer
Saving the Bible from Ourselves by Glenn R. Paauw
Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Nature of Mathematics by Philip E. B. Jourdain
Misreading Scripture With Western Eyes by E. Randolph Richards
The Tolkien Reader (Ballantine Books)
The Place of the Lion by Charles Williams
Blasphemy by Douglas Preston
Summer of the Gods by Edward J. Larson (the Scopes Trial)
The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
Poetic Diction by Owen Barfield
Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Death Match by Lincoln Child
The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Temptation of Dragons by Chrys Cymri (Christian Fantasy)
Darwin’s Radio by Greg Bear
The Myth of a Christian Nation by Greg Boyd
Readings for Meditation and Reflection from C.S. Lewis
Lost Horizon by James Hilton
Life Nomadic by Tynan
Something Startling Happens by Todd Klick
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine by Stephen Braun
Shadows in Stone by Diane Lynn McGyver
The Kings James Only Controversy by James White
Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding
The Unofficial MacGyver How-To Handbook by Bret Terrill
Rock With Wings by Anne Hillerman
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson
Midnight Crossroads by Charlaine Harris
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Hemingway Didn’t Say That by Garson O’Toole
Lost Continent by Bill Bryson
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Night Shift by Charlaine Harris
There Will Be Stars by Billy Coffey
A Brief History of Sunday by Justo L. González
Deep Storm by Lincoln Child
Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert A. Heinlein
Tony Hillerman’s Navajoland by Laurence Linford
Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
Day Shift by Charlaine Harris
Perennial Seller by Ryan Holiday
Seven Fires by Francis Mallmann
Superhuman by Habit by Tynan
Faerie Faith in Celtic Countries by W.Y. Evans-Wentz
Nutritionism by Gyorgy Scrinis
Their Noble Lordships by Simon Winchester
The Diet Myth by Tim Spector
The Drama of Scripture by Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen
The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (Mystery)
(There were a few not listed that I started and threw across the room, following the recommendation of Sid Ziff long ago in the Los Angeles Mirror-News: “It is not a book to be lightly thrown aside. It should be thrown with great force.”
Books in my To Be Read pile by the desk (the pile is currently a foot-and-a-half taller than I am):
the Complete Morgaine by C.J. Cherryh
The Complete English Poems of John Donne
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
Dying We Live by Edward S. Gleason
Walking on Water by Madeleine L’Engle
A Drink of Deadly Wine by Kate Charles
Death in the Shadows by Paul McCusker
Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurty
Creating Character Arcs by K.M. Weiland
Writing in Obedience by Terry Burns
Writing Deep Viewpoint by Kathy6 Tyer
Writing 21st Century Fiction by Donald Maass
The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass
Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass
Several Short Sentences about Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg
Story Engineering by Larry Brooks
Story Physics by Larry Brooks
Story Fix by Larry Brooks
Story Fix by Larry Brooks
Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swann
Dialogue by Robert McKee
The Art of Fiction by John Gardner
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
Jemez Spring by Rudolfo Anaya
The Great Book of Amber by Robert Zelazny
The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
Mr. Weston’s Good Wine by T.F. Powys
War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
The Midnight, Texas series by Charlaine Harris
The Blood books by Maria Lima
The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris
The Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher
Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs
Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
Phantastes by George MacDonald
The Grave Sight series by Chaplaine Harris
Dawn Apocalypse Rising by K. Powderly
Our Sufficiency in Christ by John MacArthur
Miracles by C.S. Lewis
The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis
Recapturing the Wonder by Mike Cosper
Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard
C.S. Lewis Goes to Heaven by David G. Clark
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
The Heart of George MacDonald
Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer by C.S. Lewis
Prayer Walking by Steve Hawthorne
Answers to Prayer by George Müller
The Face of Water by Sarah Ruden
Translating Truth by Wayne Grudem
Smoke on the Mountain by Joy Davidman
Paul Among the People by Sarah Rudin
Roman Wives, Roman Widows by Bruce W. Winter
After Paul Left Corinth by Bruce W. Winter
Possession by Antonia Susan Byatt
The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson
Honeymoon by James Patterson
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
Very Good Lives by J.K. Rowling
Cave of Bones by Anne Hillerman
Song of the Lion by Anne Hillerman
The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman
The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer
The Road to En-Dor by E.H. Jones
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
Very Good, Jeeves! by P.G. Wodehouse
Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
Wild Horses by Dick Francis
The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Writing for Young Adults by Sherry Garland
Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina L. Brooks
Wild Ink by Victoria Hanley
Writing and Selling the Young Adult Novel by K.L. Going
Small Steps by Louis Sachar
The Writer’s Guide to Crafting Stories for Children by Nancy Lamb
Freddy Goes to Florida by Walter R. Brooks
The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit
The Narnia series by C.S. Lewis
The Tolkien Reader
The Lost Road and Other Writings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Shining by Stephen King
John Constantine, Hellblazer by Jamie Delano
The Devil You Know by Mike Carey
Mencken and the Monsters by Jeff Elkins
Never the Bride by Paul Magrs
The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost-Finder by William Hope Hodgson
The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson
The Aeneid by Virgil, translated by Charles Hubert Sisson
Beowulf, translated by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Story of Sigurd the Volsung by William Morris
More to William Morris
The Maginogion by Sioned Davies
Le Mortd D’Arthur by Thomas Malory
The Tragedie of Madbeth by William Shakespeare
A Preface to Paradise Lost by C.S. Lewis
An Experiment in Criticism by C.S. Lewis
Image and Imagination by C.S. Lewis
Spencer’s Images of Life by C.S. Lewis
A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and The Journal of a Tour of the Hebrides by Samuel Johnson and James Boswell
Because my next book is going to be in Science Fiction, I am reading through the following historical classics of SciFi: (This stack is also a foot taller than I am.)
Space Opera Renaissance edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
The Hard SF Renaissance edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
Perelandra by C.S. Lewis
That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
Red Planet by Robert A. Heinlein
Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein
time for the Stars by Robert A. Heinlein
Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
Friday by Robert A. Heinlein
The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller
The Dune Series by Frank Herbert
Protector by Larry Niven
The Ringworld Series by Larry Niven
The Rama Series by Arthur C. Clarke
The 2001 Series by Arthur C. Clarke
The Heechee Series by Frederik Pohl
The Uplift Series by David Brin
The Ender books by Orson Scott Card
Midnight at the Well of Souls by Jack L. Chalker
The Vor Saga books by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
Life, the Universe, and Everything by Douglas Adams
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams
Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
The Forge of God by Greg Bear
Anvil of Stars by Greg Bear
Red, Green, and Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Reality Dysfunction series by Peter F. Hamilton
The Commonwealth series by Peter F. Hamilton
With the Lightnings by David Drake
The Revelation Space books by Alastair Reynolds
The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey
The Crown Jewels by Walter Jon Williams
The Praxis books by Walter Jon Williams
The Hidden Empire series by Kevin J. Anderson
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
The Partials series by Dan Wells
Starshine by G.S. Jennsen
Star Nomad by Lindsay Buroker
Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon
And, if you have read this far, here are some of my favorite books of all time:
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis
Red Planet by Robert A. Heinlein
The Chambers Dictionary, Catherine Schwartz, Editor
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
Lost Horizon by James Hilton
Ringworld series by Larry Niven
Any book written by Bill Bryson
Any book written by Charlaine Harris
Anything by Lewis Carroll (including the mathematics writings)
Any book written by Tony Hillerman
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
The Bible in the New American Standard Version
And, any Bible commentary written by John MacArthur
And, finally, books everyone has read except me:
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Anything by Jane Austen
The Illiad and The Odyssey by Homer (OK, I actually have read some of these two, but it was in Greek hexameter, not in English translation, a bit more like singing than reading).