Saturday, April 18, 2009

What are the best books? Consult the lists

There are many reasons I like book or reading lists. One reason is that lists sometimes introduce people to books they may not have otherwise known about. Another reason is that sometimes people making the lists spend a lot of effort boiling the limitless possibilities down to several books they think are essential reading for particular readers. That means, readers may consider the list makers' opinions as they rethink their own reading priorities.

The list could go on and on about why I like lists, but I'll just provide links below to several lists or articles worth reviewing and sharing. Note that the book recommendations have been made for specific readers or topics (e.g., children, young adults, students, pastors, scholars, most influential in evangelicalism, etc.).

There are several good lists out there. What makes a good list? The same thing that makes a good book; one that points the heart and mind to God and his glory, to Christ and his cross, to the Wonderful Counselor and his Word. What lists do you recommend?

Why read the best books?

It is not the reading of many books which is necessary to make one wise, but the well-reading of a few, could they be sure to be the best. —Richard Baxter

Few are sufficiently sensible of the importance of that economy in reading which selects, almost exclusively, the very first order of books. Why should a man, except for some special reason, read an inferior book at the very time he might be reading one of the highest order? —John Foster

We should accustom the mind to keep the best company by introducing it only to the best books. —Sydney Smith

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them. —Mark Twain

Read the great books! That is worth repeating: Read the great books! . . . You should bear in mind why they were written: great books were written to show a great God and a great Christ to the people of God. You must never be tricked into reading lesser books about great subjects when you are perfectly capable of reading great books about great subjects! —Sinclair Ferguson

(HT: Justin Taylor and Discerning Reader)
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