Read Any Good Books Lately?

I once read that 90% of all Christian books sold in America were sold to women. Certainly, many of those books find themselves in the hands of their husbands, fathers, sons, and other men in their lives; but, it may be safe to assume that women typically read more than the average man.

When I read that, it motivated me to build an on-campus bookstore, and to challenge the men of our church to do more reading. In the bookstore, we have one section labeled, “Top 25 in the Nation”. We stock the top twenty-five bestsellers in our nation’s Christian bookstores. We have a Marriage & Family section, Christian Living section, Children’s section, and more. There is one section with “Pastor’s Top Ten”, where I offer my top ten recommended books; and a “Staff’s Top Picks”, where the rest of the staff offers two or three books each. We have about twenty-five books in that section. On Father’s Day, our staff always presents a gift to the men – often the gift is a book. Each year, we’ll sell more than 100 “Through the Year” bibles at the bookstore, and we encourage our members to read their bibles with the staff each year. (By the way, you can view these lists at http://www.getnewhope.net/).

A good friend (he pastors in Colorado) hired John Maxwell’s reading coach about 20 years ago. She provides him with a list of 50 books to read each year. He reads one book per week. This year, I’m motivated to become more intentional about reading. I’m committed to reading at least two books each month. I need your help! Read any good books lately? Please give me your “Top Five” suggested books.