I always have several books going at any given time. Right now, I am in the middle of several really compelling works:
ETERNITY IN OUR HEARTS by R.C. Sproul Jr. is a collection of essays united around the theme of the good life. R.C. Jr. is one of my favorite writers. I’ve been listening to his “Basement Tapes” in my truck the last two days--in fact as I travel today across Tennessee and Arkansas, I have several packed away for the drive. He is witty and wise, practical and profound, incisive and insightful. In this new book from Draught Horse Press, he comments on everything from baseball to baptism. And he does it in his inimitable style. I am loving it. I am going to hate to come to the end of it.
THE CONFIDENCE MAN by Herman Melville is, besides the inevitable MOBY DICK, far and away my favorite novel from this, the great American novelist. It develops the theme of the Fall in the midst of a world where everyone, without exception, tries to ignore the consequences of the Fall. Nothing is as it seems. No one is who they say they are. It is a marvel. Set on a Mississippi river boat with a cast of characters right out of Gunsmoke or Maverick, this is a real barn burner.
WISDOM AND FOLLY by Dale Ralph Davis is an extraordinarily rich commentary on the book of First Kings. Dr. Davis, the esteemed professor of Old Testament at Reformed Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, has written several volumes in this series from Christian Focus Publications--on Joshua, Judges, First Samuel and Second Samuel. But so far, this is my favorite of them all. It is practical. It brings the narrative to life. And it is brimming over with immediate applications. Very worthwhile.
THIRTEEN PHANTASMS by James Blaylock is a collection of short stories by this master of the peculiar, the bizarre, the homely, and the profound. All of his best are collected here but there are also several I’d never heard of before. There are even two stories co-written with his good friend and co-belligerent in the war against ordinariness, Tim Powers. So far the range of the stories is wildly wonderful. If you have never read any Blaylock before, this Ace trade paperback is a great place to start.
