Thursday, April 10, 2008

Concerning Books and Travel

I have an almost neurotic need to make sure I have enough books when I travel. Which means that I always have too many books with me, which I lug around in my backpack. When I'm packing I know I have too many books, but I can't help it. I want to have all the books along just in case I'm in the mood for one over the other.

Here's what I took with me to San Francisco:

1) The Bible. Pretty much a given here, folks, but thought I'd mention it. It is, after all, a book.

2) John Scalzi's The Ghost Brigades. Basic plot: in the far flung future, humans fight every race of aliens they come across.

3) P.D. James' Death of An Expert Witness. Basic plot: Adam Dalgliesh solves a mystery. James consistently catches the truth of human nature in her mysteries, and she's an excellent writer, as well. I'm looking forward to reading this.

4) D.A. Carson's A Call to Spiritual Reformation. Carson uses the prayers of Paul to make conclusions about prayer and theology. I thought there were some valuable insights in this book, though I honestly disliked several of the later chapters. I had to read this for our seminary class, so it was homework, really.

5) Evelyn Underhill's Mystics of the Church. I snagged this from Carolyn's house. This book is basically a history course, taking you through the differnt mystic traditions within the Christian church. It's great reading, actually, and the introduction clearly expressed and described some things from my own experience that I felt encouraged to see others have also experienced in the past.

All in all, too many books for such a short trip. Now I have to go unpack them into the monstrous pile of books beside my bed....

2 comments:

  1. And I thought I was the only one that brought too many books on trips! You are in heady company, my friend...I suppose it's a sign of intelligence, but also a sign of unbridled expectation and hope about the trip ahead. Hope you were able to get some good reading in there!

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  2. hmmm... I have to find a happy medium... I either pack too many books, or too few books. and lately I am realizing that some of the books I want to pack are still in boxes in the Great Northwest... not on my shelves here in Europe. Sigh.

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