Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books by Tony Reinke is my first Crossway book review. What a perfect fit for the Christian, Charlotte Mason homeschooler.
One of the foundations of a CM education is living books — great literature. Reinke’s book articulates how Christians can and why they should read non-Christian books. If you’ve ever struggled with explaining this, get a copy of Lit!. He gives very sound reasons, going all the way back to our early church fathers and the Reformers.
Further, Reinke offers the very foundation for reading itself. God chose the written word to reveal Himself and made strict prohibitions against the making of images (Exodus 20:4). Today’s culture, with its emphasis on television, Internet, and video, is one of images. Reading, which has always been difficult mental work, becomes more difficult as we feed ourselves a mental diet of bits of information delivered in fast moving images.
Besides covering the abstract aspects of literature, Lit! covers these very practical issues:
- What criteria should a Christian use when choosing books?
- How can a Christian parent foster a love of great books in his children?
- How can one be a discerning reader, especially of non-Christian books?
- How can one make more time for reading?
- How does marking in books help you?
I certainly read this book with a pen in my hand, marking the meaty nuggets I found throughout. I highly recommend Lit! for any Christian and especially for a Christian homeschooling parent who is making book decisions for her children. It will validate your choice to use a literature-rich curriculum and give you words to articulate that decision to others who question it.
I was going to say a snarky comment that most Christian books are poorly written, why is that? I mean the books geared towards Christians that are written by the Creator of the universe who is infinitely creative and they’re books tend to be predictable and poorly written. ARGH!
Okay, in all seriousness this book sounds good and I’ll have to see if I can find it soon.
That does look interesting. I need all the help I can get picking books for my avid readers.
I’ve been looking forward to this book. I read Reinke’s blog and greatly respect his wise, Christ-centered approach to literature.
Oh, I’ll have to look for his blog. Sounds like something I would like. (Shoud’ve known, right? Who doesn’t have a blog?)
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