reading list

I am finally able return to a reading list that doesn’t involve anything directed towards teaching a class. It is always really nice to jump into some new books after studying a topic indepth for an extended period of time. The question that then pops up is what to read.

I have sadly been ignoring the wonderful world of literature as of late. I am thinking I should take some time to read some really good twenty century American literature. I some how never studied any American literature throughout any of my education, k-12 or college. Does anyone have any good suggestions?

I have come across a really nice blog, jesus under plastic, which discusses issues of media, technology, communications, & culture in relation to Christianity. I am really fascinated by this topic, and would really like to study it more in depth. I’ll have to look into a good primer on this topic.

Also as far as philosophy goes, I have been wanting to read Derrida for a while now. His book Of Grammatology has been on my list for a while. I should probably just take the dive into it.

Right now I am reading through a couple of books I received from friends/family that have been sitting on my desk since the beginning of the year.

My mom bought me a copy of The Shack for Christmas, because it was so good for her personally. I’m not really into reading pop-chris lit usually, but I’ll read it so I can at least conversate with her about it. Ashamedly I read Purpose Driven Life for the same reason.

Also I got a book from a friend about how to be a better father, Point Man. I am reading through it right now. It is a pretty easy read, though it is rather dated in places (originally published in 1990), also very promise keepers-esqe. That same basic message, “be committed, don’t mess with other women, love God, read your Bible, pray, etc…” It uses a lot of military and sports analogies which probably relate for my buddy who loves that stuff, but for me it is a big disconnect. He jokes about real men not liking quiche or throwing frisbees, two things that strike me out for real manhood—I did just go for a weekend canoe/camping trip where I looked like the bad-a, so I’m not too worried.