Steer Clear of Literary Fast Food

Jon Bloom:

People don’t really care how many books we’ve read. So it’s a waste of time to read kinds of books or numbers of books to impress others.

And it’s also a waste if we spend most of our reading time escaping into a fantasy. I don’t mean fantasy as a genre. I’ve seen glorious realities while sojourning in Middle Earth. I’m talking about literary fast food that tastes good but doesn’t nourish — the kind of stuff that leaves you spiritually sluggish.

Your reading time is precious. So read to see more of what’s real. Read to understand more of what’s true. Ransack books hunting for joy. Read to get glimpses of glory. Read to steer out of your perspective ruts. Read to stir your affections — to feel and feel deeply! Read to make your heart burn.

And you want to know how to burn hotter? Explore really good books with others. The more wood you add to a fire, the bigger and hotter the fire gets. Reading with others makes you linger over things longer. Others see things you miss. They may have insights and applications that ignite a new fire in you. And what you savor together increases and intensifies your joy. You burn hotter when you burn with others.

Read the rest.