It's somewhat of a joke in my home that I never finish a book. While for the most part, that has me pegged, it's not entirely true. I can read fiction books like nobody's business. But I struggle when it comes to non-fiction. This year I want to do something about that.
Fiction
The thing with fiction is that, to me, it's almost like watching TV. I can burn through lots of pages in no time when it comes to fiction. For example, last holiday season, I read the Circle trilogy (Black, Red, and White) by Ted Dekker. Combined, the total length of that story is over 1,000 pages. A few weeks ago, I picked up C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy. I'm nearly finished with the third book, That Hideous Strength. While Lewis's books are more mentally challenging, they're still a quick read, because even the deep philosophical passages have an intriguing story to carry them along. It's that story that keeps me going. I just gotta know what happens in the end.
Non-Fiction
When it comes to non-fiction, however, I rarely finish a book. In fact, the last non-fiction book I finished was 9 Marks of a Healthy Church, by Mark Dever. That was in December of 2005! In the last 2 years, I've started all of these books but never finished a single one:
- The Discipline of Grace, by Jerry Bridges
- What Is Reformed Theology, by R.C. Sproul
- Shepherding a Child's Heart, by Ted Tripp
- Twelve Ordinary Men, by John MacArthur
- Teach Them Diligently, by Louis Priolo
- Business By the Book, by Larry Burkett
- Pro WPF, by Matthew MacDonald
- First Love, by John MacArthur
- Software Requirements, by Karl Weigers
There are probably lots more. We have shelves full of books that are only half-read. I want to change this. I shudder to think of the benefits I've been missing in my spiritual life and professional life because I'm too lazy to stick with these non-fiction books.
My First Attempt
So, my first attempt at a non-fiction book this year is going to be The Four Pillars of Investing, by William Bernstein. My father-in-law recommended it to me after I asked him (for probably the 5th time) about how to allocate my 401(k). He says it's the best investing book he's ever read, that he put its principles into practice, and saw immediate improvement in his investment performance.
We've been thinking a lot lately about all the things we need to save for (vehicles, Audrey's college education, home repairs, etc), and we're realizing that we need to be a bit smarter about how we invest our money. So, I'm going to start reading this book and attempting to put its principles into practice. We'll see if it can help us out!