Appendix A: Books I'm Trying to Finish

As 2008 winds down, I'm desperately trying to complete the following books, though time will probably only allow 2 of the 3 to be finished.

1. The Shack is least likely to be finished. It's still an event book, so I need to (finally) find out what it's all about, as it appears to offer Christian counsel in a fresh manner (surely its strongest point). It's more storytelling, than writing, but I'm only 100+ pages into it. Doctrinally, it doesn't hold up, but I can spew out those parts to get his gist. (Though that's likely to be in 2009.)


2. Shepherding a Child's Heart is the best book on parenting I've ever read, so I read it about every other year to keep it's principles--everything funnels through a child's heart, so that's where the fixing must take place--fresh in my mind and heart. Lovely biblical truths are shared in a practical manner that make sense to mind and soul.

I can't tell you how few books I've reread since I was a teen (Anna Karenina, strangely enough due to its length, is one of the very few--probably less than 10? 5?), but this is a regular.


3. Break, Blow Burn: Camille Paglia Reads 43 of the World's Best Poems--This is my "why am I reading this book" book, so I'm most likely to complete it of the three. Purchased on my Florida vacation in October, I love how this iconoclast breaks down classics by Dickinson and Donne, Wordsworth and Williams (among others) into accessible Eureka! moments.

Her lively style and enlightening insights into the creative process, history, art movements, Scripture (she was raised a devout Catholic), rhythm, and form have made this my December must read.

Are there any titles you must complete before 2009 begins?