I have a problem.
It’s more than a problem; it’s an addiction. There I said it. The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem, right? Of course, I’m not sure I want to recover from this problem. That’s probably another problem.
I have a book addiction.
But it gets worse. My wife has the same addiction. So do my three daughters.
We are doomed.
When we moved from Montana to Texas several years ago, our moving van was half filled with books…over 100 boxes. While in seminary, I easily added another 30 boxes. I have probably added a 5 boxes every year since then.
In my study, I have ten bookshelves crammed with books, and on top of every shelf is a pile of books almost to the ceiling. Out in the garage, there are 20-30 boxes of books that I was not able to unpack because there wasn’t room in my study.
And I am not just a “book collector.” There is not a single book I own that I don’t want to read. The ones I don’t want to read, I give away, throw out, or sell on Amazon.
The Books I Read
Here’s why I am posting this. I counted today, and in my pile of books that I absolutely MUST read as soon as possible, there were 191 books. With a lot of pain and heart-wrenching agony, I was able to narrow it down to just 40. As I looked over these 40 books, I realized that they fell into three categories: Bible backgrounds, church planting/leadership, and missional living.
That tells me a lot about what I want to do with my life and where I am headed. I want to understand the Bible so that I can take what it says and lead a church to reach out into this world with the love of Jesus Christ. Even as I think about this, it gets me excited.
To see some of my favorite books, check out my list of Top Books Every Christian Should Read, and my lists of books that I am reading.
So what’s on your reading list, and what does it tell you about who you are?
Hey another book junkie! Glad to know there are others out there!
Jim
Hello, my name is David & I am an addict as well. So is my wife. We just moved into our first house (Thank You, Lord!) & as we were puttinig up bookshelves (7 large ones in the “Study”) some neighbor boys were here & one said, “Are y’all building a library or something?” Could be worse addictions I suppose!
Ha ha!
I was down at Southern Methodist University doing some research last week (on one of my seven “heretical” ideas), and they have the most amazing theological journal stacks. It’s this huge room, and all the bookshelves on these electronic mechanical rolling tracks, so you can get twice the books in the same amount of room. There are no real isles, so to get to a book, you press a button, and a shelf rolls away from all the others, and voila! an isle. I drooled.
Ha! yeah, we need a Books Anonymous group.
Hello. My name is Greg and I too am addicted to books.
Jeremy that is hilarious! I’m the same way, but I’ve made one important change – I now stockpile books on my iPad! Much easier when it comes to physical storage, plus I like being able to highlight and take notes right on the pages of the book via the iBooks app. Also you can read in the dark and not strain your eyes – love it.
That’s a lot of books man! And my wife thinks I read a lot when I read 2 books per month. Definitely an addict though.
I was thinking about that lately as well – what you read says a lot about your interests and what you would like to be doing with your time. I read a lot about grace and resting in the finished work of Christ. Incidentlly I like to write about it as well.
Dan,
Yes, I find that my reading goes in cycles. I read many books about one topic, which often leads me read several books about a different topic, and sometimes, I circle back around to read more about the first topic.
LOL, the same thing happens to me, I was on an economics kick for quite awhile, which eventually lead to a blog about the same topic, now I’m back to more grace books.
That’s not a bad addiction, I am with you on that one..perhaps we need a support group? 🙂
I have to say dito, I like what a book might offer so I buy it, my list of books to read keep growing.. grrrr.. but I love the idea I will get to it some day.
There could be worse addictions, right? I am all for a support group… would we buy books for each other?
How about we read the books we already have that are gathering dust during the support session? That would help us to read what is outstanding 🙂
I am currently re-reading two books I read in high school for literature class: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.