Beloved Disrepair

My bedroom threshold. It is the great divide between the acceptable and the forbidden.

Let me explain.

On my side of the threshold stand my bookshelves. They are loaded with fictional classics from Dickens, Bronte, Tolkien, Orczy,and Hugo, as well as non-fiction gems from Piper, Mohler, and DeYoung. Want to borrow a book? Pull up a chair and have at it.

But cross the threshold holding one of my books without my permission, and I become the Balrog.

I love my kids...and I love my books.

When I ask for a book for birthday or Christmas, I mean I want a book that doesn't have the cover ripped off

or the corners bent

or the the dust jacket missing.

I want it to be there when I want to read it

and re-read it.

When I pick up The Hobbit--my Hobbit--and find that the front cover is gone,

I start to rumble.

And it ain't pretty.

When I find that one of my books has mysteriously found its way to a living room end table,

I start to grumble.

And I look around at the downstairs bookshelves packed double deep from floor to ceiling,

and I wonder why the kids can't find something interesting on their bookshelves.

The kids can see the red glow of my indignation coming down the hall.

And just like Gandalf and company, wisely, they run.

Fly, you fools!

I love my books...and I love my kids.

So my indignation subsides.

I turn a blind eye to my curled pages...

("Just where exactly were you when my book and your water were trying to occupy the same space?!?!?!)

and I am thankful that my books are in disrepair.

Beloved disrepair--

for a book that is not worth reading

is simply not worth owning.

--------

Below, you will find my 2011 reading list: 72 books in all.

And I must draw your attention to a couple of them.

As for non-fiction, the most important book I read this year was Elias Chacour's Blood Brothers. It changed me. Told from the viewpoint of a Palestinian Christian during Israel's fight for statehood, this autobiography documents the unacceptable treatment of Palestinians--who were there first--at the hands of , not so much the indigenous Jews, as the European Jews who moved in and staked their claim on already occupied land. I cried. Today, Chacour still fights for peace in this war-torn region.

The Wingfeather Saga, by Andrew Peterson, was a sleeper hit, in my opinion. I had inadvertently stumbled across this little gem while shopping for a good book for my then 10-year-old son. He plowed through the first two books (On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darknessand North or Be Eaten), and then we read them aloud. Don't be fooled by the offbeat humor. This is a powerful tale, and I couldn't finish North or Be Eaten without crying. Jake already finished Monster in the Hollows, which is up next in the Saga, and the rest of us can't wait. It's a beautiful story.

Give Me This Mountain by Dr. Helen Rosaveare

Generous Justice by Tim Keller

The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson

Fire Breathing Christians by Scott Alan Buss

Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce by John Piper

Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle

Out of the Depths by John Newton

Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray

Marks of the Messenger by J. Mack Stiles

The Hawk and the Dove by Penelope Wilcock

Apothecary's Daughter by Julie Klassen

Scandalous by D.A. Carson

Hawk That Dare Not Hunt by Day by Scott O'Dell

Five Thousand Year Leap by Cleon Skoussen

Prayer of the Lord by R.C. Sproul

Divorce Dilemma by John MacArthur

Jonathan Edwards: Lover of God by Owen Strachan and Doug Sweeney

Thirty One Days to a Better Understanding of Prophets and Prophecy by Mark Weaver

Magna Carta by James Daugherty

The Great Turkey Walk by Kathleen Karr

Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

The Jesus You Can't Ignore by John MacArthur

Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg

Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J.I. Packer

Ink on His Fingers by Louise Vernon

It is Well by Mark Dever

Think by John Piper

Common Sense by Glenn Beck

I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino

Willing to Believe by R.C. Sproul

Priority of Preaching by Christopher Ash

Lord Foulgrin's Letters by Randy Alcorn

Lady Molly of Scotland Yard by Baroness Orczy

Hind's Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard

Mr. Pipes and the Songs of the Reformation by Douglas Bond

The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse

Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin

The Big Three by Dr. Henry Morris

A Palestinian Cry for Reconciliation by Naim Stifan Ateek

Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien

Word-Filled Families by John Barnett

Book of Dragons by E. Nesbitt

The Stone and the Glory by Greg Harris

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

The Legend of the Monk and the Merchant by Terry Felber

Appointment in Jerusalem by Lydia Prince

The Chestnut King by N.D. Wilson

Genesis in Time and Space by Francis Schaeffer

Dragons of Lonely Island by Rebecca Rupp

End of the Law by Jason C. Meyer

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? by Richard Maybury

Blame it on the Brain by Edward Welch

The Ministry of Intercession by Andrew Murray

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson

Just Jane by Nancy Moser

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Latham

Aunt Dimity: Snowbound by Nancy Atherton

Expository Listening by Ken Ramey

On Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck

North or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

Lumby Lines by Gail Fraser

Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Give Me Liberty: the Uncompromising Statesmanship of Patrick Henry by David J. Vaughn

Ashamed of the Gospel by John MacArthur

Get Out of Our House: Revolution by Tim Cox

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier