What’s on Your Kindle?

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:

  1.     Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know by Hamilton Wright Mabie  (When you have grand-kids, this is a must!)
  2.    Wicked River by Lee Sandlin  (Mississippi River, back in the good old days.  Did you know there was a time when it flowed backwards!)
  3.    Disappointment with God:  Three Questions by Philip Yancey  (Enjoyed this in a somewhat painful way.  Yancey is a wonderful writer.)
  4.    The Reason I Jump:The Inner Voice…of Autism by Naoki Higashida  (Read this and you will get such a clear picture of autism.)
  5.    My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers  (I have been using this as my daily read since 1983!  Never grows old.)
  6.    Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Doris Kearns Goodwin’s take on Lincoln is second to none.  Such a good book.)
  7.    The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer (I have reread portions of this many times.  It is a good “stretch” for a Christian.
  8.    The Devil in The White City by Erik Larson (Chicago World’s Fare about 1900.  Fact and mystery, well written.)
  9.    Zealot by Reza Aslan  (This was a hard read, but also hard to put down.  Lots of material for discussion.)
  10.    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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