What is on your Kindle (Nook, iPod, etc.)? Isn’t it surprising how we accumulate books – books read, sampled, referenced, unfinished? What does the array of titles tell us about who we are? You don’t need to be an analyst to see patterns.
I took a chance… I inventoried my Kindle and, while I was not surprised, I was a taken back a bit. I have 62 books on my device and 70 more I have archived. Where did I find time for all that? The 62 on my Kindle are probably more telling than all those I archived. Of the 62, I keep 26 available as reference works, for meditation, works that fit into my spiritual mind-set, those I wish to re-read and those I wish to keep for “blog-spiritation” (is that a word?). The others I simply have not gotten around to reading. The top ten of those on my “Kindle-top”, not in any order, are:
- Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know by Hamilton Wright Mabie (When you have grand-kids, this is a must!)
- Wicked River by Lee Sandlin (Mississippi River, back in the good old days. Did you know there was a time when it flowed backwards!)
- Disappointment with God: Three Questions by Philip Yancey (Enjoyed this in a somewhat painful way. Yancey is a wonderful writer.)
- The Reason I Jump:The Inner Voice…of Autism by Naoki Higashida (Read this and you will get such a clear picture of autism.)
- My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers (I have been using this as my daily read since 1983! Never grows old.)
- Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Doris Kearns Goodwin’s take on Lincoln is second to none. Such a good book.)
- The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer (I have reread portions of this many times. It is a good “stretch” for a Christian.
- The Devil in The White City by Erik Larson (Chicago World’s Fare about 1900. Fact and mystery, well written.)
- Zealot by Reza Aslan (This was a hard read, but also hard to put down. Lots of material for discussion.)
- Bible Commentary New Testament by Warren Wiersbe (One of two key commentaries that I use. The other, not on my Kindle, is New Testament for Everyone by Tom Wright – Bishop of Durham, England.)
I am currently reading Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Spy, by Eric Metaxas. This is a daunting undertaking, but “fits” with another project I am working on, so I will perserve.
Now for the confessional…my “fun reading”. I am a “thriller” nut. I have probably read more thrillers by James Lee Burke, Lee Child, Elizabeth George, Michael Connelly and Robert Crais, than all the remaining authors on my Kindle, combined. What I like about these five authors is the thoroughness of their research and the fact that in reading, you learn something new and interesting; detail about life, equipment, culture, etc. I like the descriptions and the smoothness and maturity of their writing. The dialogs flow and often stretch me with words that force me to reach for Webster.
I am a sucker for novels that are set in areas where I have spent time and can relate to locations, such as in Elizabeth George’s stories cast in England, or James Burke’s stories that are set in the New Orleans area. I wish Dan Brown would write more stories set in Italy — Tuscany, Venus, Assissi! I did so enjoy Frances Mayes book Under The Tuscan Sun, primarily because of the time we spent in the Cortona area of Tuscany.
Finally, most of those I archived, or parked off my Kindle, I have read and just a few, based on poor writing or weird plot lines, I judged not worth my time to finish!. There is a clear pattern…nearly all of these are thrillers! 15 different authors, all in the same genre, most of which are cited above.
I do not tend to archive serious books which have reference or revisiting qualities. These I have referred to over and over, such as books by Chambers and Wiersbe. I am still struggling through the Zealot, but this book has added great discussion material for my men’s group.
So, what does that tell you about who I am? Not much, but you know one thing — I like my Kindle!
For What It’s Worth.
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