Even though I read a lot, I don’t read just to read.  I’m very intentional and strategic about my reading.  If I’m reading a book, there is a reason behind it.  And today I just want to give you a couple of thoughts on the kinds of books that I read.

I don’t read a lot of fiction, unless I’m on vacation or unless the book is making too much of an impact for me to ignore.  For instance, I read “The DaVinci Code” a couple of years ago because it was causing a lot of commotion in Christian circles.  I wanted to be able to join the conversation people were having about this book, so I cranked it out in a couple of days.  I’m not saying that I would encourage anyone else to read a controversial book like Dan Brown’s bestseller, but for me, I felt compelled to, so that I could address the historical inaccuracies and outlandish claims found within it for myself, and not have to depend on what somebody else had said about the book.   

Other genres of books that I rarely read, but enjoy on vacation or on a day off, are those kinds of books that you’ll likely find in the history section of  the bookstore.  Books in this category I’ve recently enjoyed are”1776” and “Manhunt: The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer”, both of which are beautifully written.

I typically will also read three or four biographies a year.  Sometimes I’ll read “Christian” biographies (I recently read “Me, Myself, and Bob” by Phil Vischer, the creator of Veggie Tales).  Sometimes I’ll just read about people who have influenced culture in some way  (I’m in the middle of a Walt Disney biography right now).  Biographies help me learn from the experiences of other people, especially helping me to avoid making some of the same mistakes those people have made.

I mostly read books that are extremely practical in nature.  I’m not talking about books that are written in more of a devotional manner, but books that give me practical insight in areas where I need all the help I can get.  Specifically, I love books about leadership, preaching/teaching, and ministry in general.   These kinds of books make up probably 80-90% of my reading. 

I’ll say it again.  I don’t read just to read.  I’m very intentional and strategic about my reading.  I’d suggest that you be intentional and strategic with your reading as well.

Next week, I’ll be sharing my reading list for the year so you can get an even better idea of the kinds of book I read. 

This entry was posted on Friday, February 1st, 2008 at 12:16 pm and is filed under Reading. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.