Non-fiction When reading a non-fiction book read it in a linear fashion. Do not examine the author’s conclusions beforehand. Do not scan the table of contents for the general outline of the book. Do not scan the index to find out what world the author operates in or what the main sources of information, if…

Generate your own dummies cover

I’m not sure how many books I read a year. Once I read 16 books in a month. Some years I only read 16 books, period. This year, seeing as how I’m blogging about books, I’ll probably have a better idea. What I do know is that, for now, I read more than the average…

Theologian C.H. Dodd with his best analogy for what reading The Bible should do for you: It’s place as a whole is rather with the masterpieces of poetry, drama and philosophy, that is, the literature which does not so much impart information but stirs the deeper levels of personality. “Tragedy”, said Aristotle, “effects through pity…

Have Spacesuit Will Travel by Robert Heinlein This is one of the first chapter books I read as a kid, when I was in grade one or two. I read a lot of books about dogs back then. You know, where the dog is the hero None of the classics in that genre, if you’re…