Book Recommendation: My Ideal Bookshelf

— Saturday, December 8th, 2012 —

One of the things I miss most about bookstores, as they close down one by one all over the country, is the experience of coming across a surprise volume that Amazon would never know I’d want. Thankfully, there are still some good independent bookstores fighting it out across the land, and one of the best is Carmichael’s here in Louisville, KY. I am in there at least two or three times a week (sometimes more), and there’s almost always something new that gains my attention. That happened yesterday with a book that’s proven to be a lot of fun.

The book is called My Ideal Bookshelf. The volume asks notable people in a variety of fields, from Malcolm Gladwell to Judd Apatow to Rosanne Cash, to imagine a bookshelf with the books that made a mark on their lives. With each page-long essay, there’s a drawing by artist Jane Mount of the bookshelf.

I’m not even a third of the way through the book, but it was worth the price by the third or fourth page. The essays and the drawings give a little window of insight into the lives of each of the contributors. The book made me wonder what the ideal bookshelves would look like of lots of people who matter to me, but who aren’t in this volume.

It also made me think about the books that have been important to me along the way. And it made me remember what one of my favorite writers said to me just a couple of years ago, “Isn’t it funny how you meet just the right people at just the right time, have just the right conversations at just the right time, and happen upon just the right books at just the right time?”

That is an amazing thing, and it’s what we in the Body of Christ call “providence.”

If you like books and people, and how the two interact, pick up a copy of this little book.

And, in the meantime, what books would be on your ideal bookshelf?

(Image Credit)

10 Responses to “Book Recommendation: My Ideal Bookshelf”

  1. John Botkin

    Sounds like an interesting book!

    My ideal bookshelf (in chronological order of my first reading the book) would include: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; The Boy Scout Handbook; Little Pilgrim’s Progress; To Kill a Mockingbird; The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; Hamlet; Knowing God; The Screwtape Letters; Playing by the Rules; Systematic Theology (Berkhof); Between Two Worlds; God’s Passion for His Glory; The Gagging of God; and standing above them all, of course, would be the Bible.

  2. Robert Palculict

    My ideal bookshelf: complete works of William Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, and Jane Austin. The complete works of GK Chesterton and Malcolm Muggeridge. The complete works of Charles Dickens and Alexander Dumas. The works of Tolkein and CS Lewis. The complete set of Puritan classics and Church Fathers. The complete works of Edwards, Owen, Calvin, Wesley, Luther and Spurgeon. The complete works of Piper, Keller, Carson, Sproul, Anyabwile, Dever, Jim Hamilton, V. Baucham, ML Jones, and S. Ferguson. For counseling I would take the works of Jay Adams and Powlison. For children I would take Tedd Tripp. Oh… And the best theologian on the planet… All the works of Schreiners. I think that would just about do it for me. Now I must go repent for coveting.

  3. Javanut

    Besides the bible of course, in no particular order…
    The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee
    Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words
    Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin
    Things to Come by Dwight Pentecost
    Our Father Abraham by Marvin Wilson

  4. Richard C

    The New Testament - Good News for Modern Man edition. God used it to bring me to Jesus…

    The Bible, ESV - daily bread!

    The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Taught me the joy of reading at age 10.

    Knowing God - Is there a finer introduction to theology?

    Desiring God - The idea that God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in him continues to rock my world 25 years after I first read it.

    Hallowed Be this House (now re-titled something like Splendor of the Ordinary, by Thomas Howard) - The recurring phrase “My life for yours” seems to me to be a perfect way to describe the Christian life.

    Working the Angles (Eugene Peterson) - I keep going back to it. The Word, prayer, spiritual direction. This is pastoral ministry.

    The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

    Any good book about Baseball

  5. Stephanie Brown

    I recently read several of your articles on The Christian Post and was very impressed. Stumbled over here, and what a delightful recommendation! Just up my alley. And because I’m the type to have just such a list on hand, I thought I’d go ahead and share. Admittedly, I trimmed the list slightly in the interest of brevity. Moreover, I can already see how important that one-page essay would be, as these books make the list for different reasons and are certainly not ones which, at a glance, add up to a coherent life philosophy. But they were each deeply impactful in their own way.

    Civil Disobedience and Walden by Henry James Thoreau
    Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond
    Contact by Carl Sagan
    Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner
    Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism by Benedict Anderson
    Inclusion and Democracy by Iris Marian Young
    Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
    Love is an Orientation by Andrew Marin
    Nudge by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein
    Tempting Faith by David Kuo
    The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends on It by Os Guinness
    The Democratic Paradox by Chantel Mouffe
    The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad by Fareed Zakaria
    The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer
    The Quest for Community by Robert Nisbet
    The Rage of a Privileged Class by Ellis Cose
    The Story We Find Ourselves In by Brian McLaren
    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
    There Goes the ‘Good by Lance Freeman

    And I believe you owe us a list as well, Dr. Moore.

  6. Stephanie Brown

    Eh-hem. Freeman’s book is There Goes the ‘Hood. Ah, typos.

  7. Tara Wagner

    1. Pride and Prejudice: Jane Austen
    2. To Kill a Mockingbird: Harper Lee
    3. Bonhoeffer: Eric Metaxes
    4. Mere Christianity: C.S. Lewis
    5. Jane Eyre: Charlotte Bronte
    6. King’s Cross: Timothy Keller
    7. Anne of Green Gables: L.M. Montgomery
    8. The Pursuit of God: A.W. Tozer

    I love reading what books people enjoy!

  8. Richard Williamson

    Dr. Moore,

    I would be interested to know what books would be on your bookshelf.

  9. Jeremy Mathis

    Anybody ever read Indelible Ink? It made me feel much the same way. I made it a point to read through the top 10 from that book. http://www.amazon.com/Indelible-Ink-Prominent-Christian-Leaders/dp/1578565545

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