2012 will be the year of re-reading, starting with the Lord of the Rings and probably continuing to at least War & Peace and probably Atlas Shrugged… and from there, who knows. Anyone want to join me?

Image by shutterhacks

I’ve told some people about this and several have asked for the list (which I’ve been keeping all along), so here you go…

1) Believing God by R.C. Sproul, Jr.
2) A Chance to Die (Amy Carmichael) by Elisabeth Elliot
3) Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot*
4) The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman
5) The Testament by John Grisham
6) Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Rigler
7) Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond
8 ) The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien*
9) The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
10) In the Company of Others by Jan Karon
11) A. L. T. by Andre Leon Talley
12) Chocolate & Vicodin by Jennette Fulda
13) Born Round by Frank Bruni
14) Poke the Box by Seth Godin
15) Emily Post by Laura Claridge
16) The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis*
17) Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon
18) Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
19) Live Alone and Like It by Marjorie Hillis
20) The King’s Speech by Mark Logue
21) Keep A Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot
22) The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk
23) The Narnian (C.S. Lewis) by Alan Jacobs
24) Millionaire Women Next Door by Thomas Stanley
25) Common As Air by Lewis Hyde
26) Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis*
27) The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis*
28) The Silver Chair  by C.S. Lewis*
29) At Home by Bill Bryson
30) The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis*
31) Assured by God by Burk Parsons
32) God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew*
33) The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis*
34) All By My Selves by Jeff Dunham
35) Bossypants by Tina Fey
36) Do the Work by Steven Pressfield
37) The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis*
38) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle*
39) When Sparrows Fall by Meg Moseley
40) Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery*
41) The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul
42) Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriett Reisen
43) Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery*
44) This is A Book by Dimitri Martin
45) Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery*
46) The Recipe Club by Andrea Israel
47) Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery*
48) Familyhood by Paul Reiser
49) Anne’s House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery*
50) If You Ask Me by Betty White
51) Anne of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery*
52) Made to Crave by Lisa TerKeurst
53) Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery*
54) Snobs by Julian Fellowes
55) A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens*
56) Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery*
57) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows
58) Mavericks at Work by William Taylor
59) Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes
60) Christianity & Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen
61) A Praying Life by Paul Miller
62) Addicted to Mediocrity by Franky Schaeffer
63) Half Assed by Jennette Fulda*
64) Chronicles of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery*
65) The Story of Charlotte’s Web by Michael Sims
66) Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery
67) Young, Restless & Reformed by Collin Hansen
68) Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery
69) Good Stuff by Jennifer Grant
70) Emily’s Quest by L.M. Montgomery
71) My Lucky Life in and out of Show Business by Dick Van Dyke
72) Further Chronicles of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
73) Eat Mor Chikin by S. Truett Cathy
74) Radical by David Platt
75) A Wind in the Door by Madeline L’Engle*
76) A House Like A Lotus by Madeline L’Engle*
77) A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeline L’Engle*
78) In Christ Alone by Sinclair Ferguson
79) Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
80) The King of Madison Avenue by Kenneth Roman
81) Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
82) Surprised by Oxford by Carolyn Weber
83) Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic
84) Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
85) Chore Whore by Heather Howard
86) Be My Guest by Conrad Hilton
87) Suck Your Stomach in and Put Some Color On by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson
88) Einstein in Love by Dennis Overbye
89) Mistress of the Monarchy by Alison Weir
90) Confessions of a Carb Queen by Susan Blech*
91) Diary of a Player by Brad Paisley
92) Seriously… I’m Kidding by Ellen Degeneres
93) Many Waters by Madeline L’Engle*
94) Growing Up Amish by Ira Wagler
95) The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure
96) Treasuring God in our Traditions by Noel Piper
97) The Flinch by Julian Smith
98) The Organized Heart by Staci Easton
99) Christmastide: Prayers for Advent through the Epiphany for the Divine Hours by Phyllis Tickle
100) The Bible *

*Re-read

The biggest thing on my bucket list is travel!

• England
• Scotland
• Ireland
• Paris
• Prague
• Salzburg
• Italy
• Germany
• Photograph spectacular state and national parks
• Sing a choral masterwork in a major concert hall
• Take voice lessons
• Become more proficient on piano
• Own another horse
• Own a beach house/condo
• Work full-time supporting a ministry I believe in
• Freelance full-time
• Live in New York City for a while

Image by magnusfranklin

Okay, are you ready? There’s little fluff and much substance in this week’s batch of links. I’d love to have some great conversation, in the comments or in person, about these topics…

• Life has a photo gallery called “Taboo then, typical now” that will make you miss the good ol’ days (or not, in some cases).

 

• Feminists, who I’d almost forgotten are still an organized group, are now holding events called Slutwalk, where women march barely clothed in order to reclaim the word ‘slut’. Makes me wish they weren’t still an organized group.

 

• USA Today pokes at media coverage lately, asking when college became just a way to land a fat job. Whatever happened to learning? (I actually think the higher education system happened to learning, but that’s another story.)

 

• Along those lines, on Front Porch Republic Jason Peters writes about a Trojan Horse in “Higher” Education.

 

• Seth Godin writes about the game theory of discovery and the birth of free-gap. He argues that using free products and services as a discovery tool will soon be less viable, and speculates on what model could come next.

 

• A recent McKinsey Quarterly survey has found that 30% of employers will stop offering health care coverage to their employees when the full provisions of the “health care reform bill” (aka Obamacare) kick in. That is, of course, just the tip of the iceberg; it’s hard to measure how many employers, especially small businesses, are holding off hiring because they don’t know what it will cost them to do so.

 

• Finally, Tony Woodlief has a great article in Image about how bad theology leads to bad Christian art. If you’re interested in discussing Christianity and the arts on an ongoing basis, head over to Terry Yount’s new blog Kulture Kafe and jump in.

I wrote an intro post for the book over on LostBlog, if you’re interested…

Image by Axel-D

My iPhone’s browser crashed yesterday and lost some of the links I was saving for today. That’ll teach me not to bookmark ‘em

• On the Girls Gone Wise blog Mary Kassian discusses why female beauty matters for Christians.
• We were made to labor. On the Ligonier blog Richard Phillips writes about work, identity, and the effect of sin.
• Mark Bittman, the New York Times food writer, has an essay on how cooking gave him purpose. It’s how he cares for his family, and those of you who can’t cook will enjoy seeing his four stages of learning to cook.
• Do you have a Kindle yet? WHY NOT? The Kindle edition of John Piper’s latest book, Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God, is on sale for $2.99. {Amazon Affiliate link}
• Speaking of, here’s how to get free Christian Kindle books.
• Seth Godin gives helpful tips on how to be interviewed by the press.
• Challies’ Reading Classics Together has restarted, reading Gresham Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism this month. {Amazon Affiliate link} Join in!
• I’ve been wanting to re-read The Lord of the Rings for a couple years. It’s not going to be in 2011 since narratives of that magnitude don’t fit well into reading 100 books this year, but in 2012 I’m definitely going to! On Front Porch Republic Mark T. Mitchell discusses the beauty of Tolkien’s quest.
• Happy I’ve been giving my friends all the right advice over the years, here’s a great point-by-point for job hunters on how to write a resume that gets the interview.

Image by shutterhacks

Okay first yes, I really did read all these books just this month. I was trying to read 13 in order to catch up to where I should be in my goal to read 100 books this year (since I didn’t decide on that goal until late March). Turns out that when I’m trying to read (and picking short books), I can just keep going…

The Magician’s Nephew, The Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis, of course!

Assured by God: Living in the Fullness of God’s Grace by Burk Parsons (good reminders)

God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew (great Christian biography)

All By My Selves: Walter, Peanut, Achmed, and Me by Jeff Dunham (funny and informative)

Bossypants by Tina Fey (very funny)

Do the Work by Steven Pressfield (don’t bother)

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (classic for LOST Book Club)

When Sparrows Fall by Meg Moseley (surprisingly rare well done modern fiction)

Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island and Anne of Windy Poplars by L. M. Montgomery (delightful as always)

The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul (finally read this classic of the faith, and I’ll be reading it again)

Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen (a good biography)

This Is a Book by Dimitri Martin (Very funny and until I read it I was unaware the man was A GENIUS)

The Recipe Club by Andrea Israel (give this one a big ol’ pass)

Familyhood by Paul Reiser (poignant and enjoyable)

{Amazon Affiliate links}

Don’t forget to friend me on GoodReads to read my reviews and share your own books! I don’t think I’ll finish anything tonight but I’m already working on a few books that will be in next month’s list.

As He died to make men holy, so we die to make them free.

National Moment of Remembrance at 3:00pm local time today.

Image by ashoct28

• “It was too much, really. It’s one thing to titillate progressive theatergoers with scenes of physical abuse and psychological torture and lines like “You’re f—ing f—ed.” But David Mamet had at last gone too far. He’d turned into a f—ing Republican.” Read this fantastic piece on converting David Mamet in the Weekly Standard.
• I’ve often had to explain why I love LOST so much, and this post does a great job of getting at some of the reasons: The Six Year Journey to WTF?!
  
• Did you know the USDA has finally revised their cooking temperature recommendations? You now officially only have to cook whole meat to 145 degrees. Finally I can quit explaining to my non-cooking friends why yes, it really is okay to eat pink pork.
• There’s a lot of psychology in sales and marketing, and you need to stay alert, know how to bargain, when, and the real value of your finds. Here’s a great post on when a discount isn’t really a discount.
• Fabs writes a great post on when saying less is saying more with advice from the great C. S. Lewis himself, who was a succinct, excellent and very prolific writer.
• The Gospel Coalition blog had a great post on why nostalgia is no solution; in the recent batch of TV shows depicting the 50s and 60s, we must remember that while feminism has done damage, objectification of women wasn’t biblical either.
• If you’re a new freelancer, Jennette Fulda has pulled together some information and resources from her research as she’s tried to find post-COBRA coverage with a chronic health condition. It’s a good place to kick off your own search and save a little bit of time!

Parmesan Crusted Dijon Chicken… or at least a close variation

Toasted Pecan and Green Bean Salad with Dijon Dressing, which is my new favorite way to eat veggies!

And finally satisfying a craving, some peanut butter cup bars!

Image by Robb North

Tim Challies writes about date nights and devotions:

But what if we are missing the point? What if the point of devotions is less about learning about God and more about spending time with God? What if it’s less about Bible study and more about building relational intimacy? What would change about our devotions if instead of trying to learn about God, we focused instead on spending time with God, time spent hearing from him through his Word and speaking to him through prayer?

~ ~ ~

Amazon is now selling more Kindle books than print books… hardcover and paperback combined!

For all you photography lovers, here’s the history of Nikon’s first digital camera (in 1988!).

“Even Thor has grown richer through acquaintance with Jesus,” writes Lars Walker in his review of the film.

You’ve already heard the world is ending tomorrow, but have you heard Vladimir Putin is St. Paul? This has been an episode of Really?! With Seth And Amy.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides comes out today!