The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life: How to Get More Books in Your Life and More Life from Your Books


Steve Leveen - 2005
    It not only urges us to indulge deeply and often, it shows us how."-Myra Hart, professor, Harvard Business School "Readers and want-to-be readers will be encouraged by the advice to read more, more widely and more systematically."-Michael Keller, university librarian, Stanford University "An ideal gift for both sporadic and relentless readers."-James Mustich Jr., publisher of A Common Reader "A worthy addition to even the most well-stocked personal library."-Ross King, author of Michelangelo & The Pope's Ceiling Do not set out to live a well-read life but rather your well-read life. No one can be well-read using someone else's reading list. Unless a book is good for you, you won't connect with it and gain from it. Just as no one can tell you how to lead your life, no one can tell you what to read for your life. How do readers find more time to read? In The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life, Steve Leveen offers both inspiration and practical advice for bibliophiles on how to get more books in their life and more life from their books. His recommendations are disarmingly refreshing, as when he advises when not to read a book and why not to feel guilty if you missed reading all those classics in school. He helps readers reorganize their bookshelves into a Library of Candidates that they actively build and a Living Library of books read with enthusiasm, and he emphasizes the value of creating a Bookography, or annotated list of your reading life. Separate chapters are devoted to the power of audio books and the merits of reading groups. The author himself admits he came "late to the bookshelf," making this charming little guide all the more convincing.

Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn't Enough


Kay Warren - 2012
    In this inspiring book, Kay Warren teaches women what joy really is, where to find it, and how to choose it in the good times and the bad. With compassion and wisdom, she shows readers--even those who live with the constant companions of discouragement and depression--that true joy is deeper, richer, and more accessible than they might think. Perfect for small groups or individual reading, "Choose Joy" will empower women who feel like their emotions and well-being are at the mercy of others by helping them understand the life-giving truth that joy is within their grasp--every day.

Finding God in All Things


William A. Barry - 1991
    Barry, S.J., shares his unique understanding of the Spiritual Exercises and demonstrates how they can benefit the ordinary persons relationship with God. "Finding God in All Things" gives new life to the spirituality of St. Ignatius and illuminates the transforming power of the Exercises. With over 50,000 copies sold of the first edition, this timely new edition offers todays readers a clear presentation of the themes and contemporary practice of this classic spiritual retreat.

All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular Age


Hubert L. Dreyfus - 2010
    This predicament seems inevitable, but in fact it's quite new. In medieval Europe, God's calling was a grounding force. In ancient Greece, a whole pantheon of shining gods stood ready to draw an appropriate action out of you. Like an athlete in “the zone,” you were called to a harmonious attunement with the world, so absorbed in it that you couldn’t make a “wrong” choice. If our culture no longer takes for granted a belief in God, can we nevertheless get in touch with the Homeric moods of wonder and gratitude, and be guided by the meanings they reveal?All Things Shining says we can. Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly illuminate some of the greatest works of the West to reveal how we have lost our passionate engagement with and responsiveness to the world. Their journey takes us from the wonder and openness of Homer’s polytheism to the monotheism of Dante; from the autonomy of Kant to the multiple worlds of Melville; and, finally, to the spiritual difficulties evoked by modern authors such as David Foster Wallace and Elizabeth Gilbert.Dreyfus, a philosopher at the University of California, Berkeley, for forty years, is an original thinker who finds in the classic texts of our culture a new relevance for people’s everyday lives. His lively, thought-provoking lectures have earned him a podcast audience that often reaches the iTunesU Top 40. Kelly, chair of the philosophy department at Harvard University, is an eloquent new voice whose sensitivity to the sadness of the culture— and to what remains of the wonder and gratitude that could chase it away—captures a generation adrift.Re-envisioning modern spiritual life through their examination of literature, philosophy, and religious testimony, Dreyfus and Kelly unearth ancient sources of meaning, and teach us how to rediscover the sacred, shining things that surround us every day. This book will change the way we understand our culture, our history, our sacred practices, and ourselves. It offers a new—and very old—way to celebrate and be grateful for our existence in the modern world.

The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?


Rick Warren - 2002
    Rick Warren will guide you through a personal forty-day spiritual journey that will transform your answer to life's most important question: What on earth am I here for? Knowing God's purpose for creating you will reduce your stress, focus your energy, simplify your decisions, give meaning to your life, and most important, prepare you for eternity. Movie stars and political leaders aren't the only ones turning to Rick Warren for spiritual guidance. Millions of people from NBA and LPGA players to corporate executives to high school students to prison inmates meet regularly to discuss The Purpose Driven Life.

How to Study Your Bible


Kay Arthur - 1976
    Now this dynamic guide has been updated to reflect the most recent edition of the NASB and sports a fresh new cover. "How to Study Your Bible "helps people cultivate the skills of observation, interpretation, and application--and encourages them to become active participants in God's Word!In 15 easy-to-understand chapters, bestselling author Kay Arthur presents a systematic approach that includes key words, context studies, comparisons and contrasts, topical studies, word meanings, and more. Interacting with God's Word helps readers absorb more of its messages and gives God greater access to engrave His truth on their hearts and minds.

Donna Tartt's The Secret History: A Reader's Guide


Tracy Hargreaves - 2001
    A team of contemporary fiction scholars from both sides of the Atlantic has been assembled to provide a thorough and readable analysis of each of the novels in question. The books in the series will all follow the same structure:a biography of the novelist, including other works, influences, and, in some cases, an interview; a full-length study of the novel, drawing out the most important themes and ideas; a summary of how the novel was received upon publication; a summary of how the novel has performed since publication, including film or TV adaptations, literary prizes, etc.; a wide range of suggestions for further reading, including websites and discussion forums; and a list of questions for reading groups to discuss.

Love Heals


Becca Stevens - 2017
    Becca Stevens, founder and president of Thistle Farms, shares true stories of healing and joy where brokenness is transformed into compassion. In each chapter, Stevens provides encouragement and practical steps for anyone going through a difficult season or searching for a deeper faith. Love Heals is:A gorgeous gift book with beautiful photography and inspirational calloutsFor women of any age seeking healing and hopeA gift of hope for a friend or self-purchaseAfter reading, readers will learn:Love heals by the mercy of God.Love heals with compassion.Love heals during the act of forgiving.Love heals past our fears.Love heals across the world.In Love Heals, you'll find principles that have transformed lives. Stevens has been featured in the New York Times, on ABC World News, NPR, the TODAY show, and PBS, and named a 2016 CNN Hero. In 2011, the White House named Becca a "Champion of Change."

The Power of a Praying Parent


Stormie Omartian - 1995
    In these easy-to-read chapters, Stormie shares from personal experience as to how parents can pray for their kids':* safety * character development * adolescence * peer pressure * school experiences * friends * relationship with GodThis resource will help you to be an amazing praying parent whether your kids are three or thirty-three.

A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-18


Joseph Loconte - 2015
    R. R. Tolkien and C. S. LewisThe First World War laid waste to a continent and permanently altered the political and religious landscape of the West. For a generation of men and women, it brought the end of innocence—and the end of faith. Yet for J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, the Great War deepened their spiritual quest. Both men served as soldiers on the Western Front, survived the trenches, and used the experience of that conflict to ignite their Christian imagination. Had there been no Great War, there would have been no Hobbit, no Lord of the Rings, no Narnia, and perhaps no conversion to Christianity by C. S. Lewis.Unlike a generation of young writers who lost faith in the God of the Bible, Tolkien and Lewis produced epic stories infused with the themes of guilt and grace, sorrow and consolation. Giving an unabashedly Christian vision of hope in a world tortured by doubt and disillusionment, the two writers created works that changed the course of literature and shaped the faith of millions. This is the first book to explore their work in light of the spiritual crisis sparked by the conflict.

Time for God: A Guide to Mental Prayer


Jacques Philippe - 2005
    If we make time for God through prayer, He multiplies our time and makes it fruitful and productive in all areas of our life. But have you ever felt unsure about how to pray? For that matter, what exactly is prayer and who is it for? And where, when and how should you pray? These questions find an answer in this latest book from Scepter, Time for God. Written in a simple and modern style, author Jacques Philippe draws on years of experience as a spiritual guide to illuminate the fundamental principles of true prayer and describes some common mistakes and misconceptions that can lead it astray. This book is a must-read for anyone wanting to make better use of their time with God.

George Macdonald


George MacDonald - 1947
    MacDonald was a major Christian writer of the late nineteenth, early twentieth centuries. He influenced nearly everyone who was a major twentieth century writer (including Lewis Carroll, WH Auden, J.R.R. Tolkien, Walter de la Mare, and CS Lewis. Not only was he a pioneer in the fantasy fiction genre, laying the path for people like Tolkien to write Lord of the Rings, but also a major Christian thinker, which influenced Lewis profoundly. Lewis, in fact, wrote that MacDonald was his 'master', and said 'I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself.' These words will challenge and uplift you, and illuminate the faith which underpins all of CS Lewis's popular and enduring writing.

The Way to God and How to Find It


Dwight L. Moody - 1983
    I have embodied in the little book a considerable part of several addresses which have been delivered in different cities, both of Great Britain and my own country. God has graciously owned them when spoken from the pulpit, and I trust will none the less add his blessing now they have been put into the printed page with additional matter. I have called attention first to the Love of God, the source of all Gifts of Grace; have then endeavored to present truths to meet the special needs of representative classes, answering the question, “How man can be just with God,” hoping thereby to lead souls to Him who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life.” The last chapter is specially addressed to Backsliders—a class, alas, far too numerous amongst us. With the earnest prayer and hope that by the blessing of God on these pages the reader may be strengthened, established and settled in the faith of Christ, CONTENTS. Chapter I. “Love that passeth Knowledge” Chapter II. The Gateway into the Kingdom Chapter III. The Two Classes Chapter IV. Words of Counsel Chapter V. A Divine Saviour Chapter VI. Repentance and Restitution Chapter VII. Assurance of Salvation Chapter VIII. Christ All and in All Chapter IX. Backsliding Illustrated Hyperlinked Chapters

Be Skillful (Proverbs): God's Guidebook to Wise Living


Warren W. Wiersbe - 1995
    Beyond successful goal-setting and intelligent advice, acquiring and applying godly wisdom can guide the believer to a life of unbelievable fulfillment, as is shown in this powerful commentary on the book of Proverbs.

A Tale of Three Kings


Gene Edwards - 1980
    Christian leaders and directors of religious movements throughout the world have recommended this simple, powerful, and beautiful story to their members and staff. You will want to join the thousands who have been profoundly touched by this incomparable story.