#OctTBR2022 Day 0: What Is It?

Hey friends!

Just a quick explanatory note for my posts in the month of October 2022: starting tomorrow, I’ll be posting every day about books that are currently sitting on my physical to-be-read shelf in my office. While the total number of unread physical books in my stacks is well over 150-200, I’m zeroing on about 35-40 that I’m really looking to read over the next year-plus.

The books I’ll feature here will come back around later at some point, as I read, digest, review, critique, and/or promote them on the blog. So think of these posts this month as sneak previews of upcoming attractions.

I’d love to get your feedback throughout the month. If you have read any of these books, please comment with your review (spoiler-free, in the case of the novels I list, please!) and other insights or feedback you got from them. If the review sounds interesting and you are considering checking the book out after reading the post, I’d love to receive that feedback as well.

And if you are so inclined, I’d also invite you to use the hashtag #OctTBR2022 on your own website or social media and share what you’ll be reading for the rest of this year and during 2023.

Let me know if you have any other ideas of how to make this series more fun. I’d love to hear from you. Thanks!

–Dave

#Septemblog Day 30: What comes next?

Hey there, reader.

First, I wanted to say thank you for hanging with me for the last 30 days. If you’re one of my beloved email subscribers, you were probably pulling your hair out by the end of this month because you weren’t expecting daily babble from me. But if you’re still subscribed after all that, I have to believe you derive some benefit from what I’m doing here, and for that, I say again: thank you.

So what comes next? Well, I’ve been thinking about this for a few weeks (truth be told, I’m writing this post several days in advance because I’m just so excited about this!). Here’s what you can (actually, seriously, not just blowing smoke) expect over the next few months:

Starting tomorrow, over the month of October I’m going to share books on my TBR bookshelf that I want to read over the next 12-14 months. I’m calling the series #OcTBR2022. I’ll post a pic of the book, a blurb about why I want to read it, and invite your opinions and pre-reviews. And you can expect that, as I read through that stack over the next year-plus, I’ll be reviewing, responding, quoting, or critiquing them on the blog, so that we can engage the ideas together.
In November, I’d like to go back to something I did a few years ago: a Thankful List. Each day, I’ll write about a person, thing, or situation for which I’m thankful. I’ll talk more about that as we get closer, and I’d love for your to join me and do the same, either in the comments or on your own social media or blog platforms.
In December, I have a couple of ideas that I’ll keep in my pocket until we’re a week or so away, and we’ll see how I’m feeling once we get there. The goal is the same, however: I want to try to keep posting every day, at least through the end of the year, and then in 2023, I would like to continue with regular daily or weekly posts. I think that’s good for me. I hope that’s beneficial to you too.

If you’re still on board, I’ll see you tomorrow and we’ll talk about some books I’m excited to read over the next year!

WFH Day 34: A Pretty Bad Case of RADD

If you had told me, “Dave, you’re going to be working from home for at least 2 months straight, and you’re not going to leave your house much during that time,” one of my first thoughts (after checking our stock of coffee and immediately settling into my comfiest pair of sweatpants) would be “I’m going to read SO MUCH!”

As it happens, that has not been the case.

It’s not like I have been binging Netflix, either. (Though I did watch The Mandolorian finally, which was *chef kiss*.) Rather, this time at home only confirmed what I already suspected:

I have a severe case of RADD–Reading Attention Deficit Disorder.

I keep jumping to new books, like hopping from rock to rock, after getting about 50 pages into several others. I was already reading 2-3 books at the same time when the stay-at-home order was given, and this was just exacerbated by being at home.

Complicating factors for RADD include:

Overwhelming TBR shelves (both physical and digital);
Easy access to new digital reading material (blogs, newsletters, online library catalog);
Continued use of social media; and
Being a parent of children under 3.

As a result, I’m about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way through several books at the same time, with a desire to start new books almost every day.

While I was able to push through and finish 3 books over the last 2 months (State of the Union, a novella by Nick Hornby; Susie, Ray Rhodes’ outstanding biography of Susannah Spurgeon; and The Final Days of Jesus, Dr. Andreas Kostenberger’s examination of Holy Week), the stack of partially-read books has grown rapidly.

So what has turned my head these days? Here’s a quick look at my “current” reads:

The Man in the High Castle, by Phillip K. Dick
The Man Who Knew Too Much, by G.K. Chesterton
Five Minutes in Church History, by Steven Nichols
We Cannot Be Silent, by Al Mohler
On the Incarnation, by Athanasius
Holiness, by J.C. Ryle
Church Elders, by Jeramie Rennie
A Dream about Lightning Bugs, by Ben Folds
The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon, by Steven Lawson
Church History in Plain Language, by Bruce Shelley

I’m not sure that’s everything, but that’s all that comes to mind at the moment.

On top of that, I just got a shipment of 4-5 books I’m eager to dive into that I purchased from T4G’s Online Store. (Note: This sale is still available today only, but it’s the last day of this sale so if you want to take advantage of deep discounts on great theology texts, jump on it right now. Not sponsored–I just hate for people to miss these deals!)

I’m convinced that RADD is a life-long affliction I’ll just have to manage better in the future.

Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated, as I struggle through this difficult period.

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Your Turn: What books are you reading right now? And if you’re a fellow RADD sufferer, let us know so we can encourage each other to try to finish a book this weekend!

I have a severe case of RADD–Reading Attention Deficit Disorder.

Your Turn: What books are you reading right now? And if you’re a fellow RADD sufferer, let us know so we can encourage each other to try to *finish* a book this weekend!

Your Turn: What books are you reading right now? And if you’re a fellow RADD sufferer, let us know so we can encourage each other to try to finish a book this weekend!