Diplomacy At Its Finest

Summer Reading

Below is my summer reading list for 2013. My goal is to read every book on this list cover to cover, with the only exceptions being the Bible and Quran, of which I will be reading selected passages from. Many of these books reflect my current interests, many are ones I’ve simply never gotten around to, and a few are purely ironic (see: Glenn Beck, Control). Quick confession: I’ve always been wildly entertained by Glenn Beck and his antics, although I swear I don’t genuinely agree with many his views and I’m definitely not a gun-slinging conservative. 

Apart from the laughs that are sure to ensue from Beck’s Control,  I’m particularly looking forward to reading Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion. The book was a New York Times Bestseller in 2006, sparked widespread commentary when it was published, and prompted many books to be written in response. One of those books was Timothy Keller’s The Reason for God, published in 2007. I remember the summer going into my freshman year of high school, when walked into a quaint, small town bookstore called the ‘Book Nook’ in Montague, Michigan. I saw both the The God Delusion and The Reason for God propped up side by side on the bestsellers table. Not only did I see this as a wonderful, balanced, physical presentation of the books within the store, but I said to myself: “I would want to read both of these, one after another, to get a balanced view of this ‘god debate’ thing”. Six years later and I’m finally getting around to it. Honestly, it’s probably better that I’m reading both of these now—although both of these books could be considered ‘pop cosmology’ or ‘pop philosophy’ and are meant to be widely understood— I still have a much better grasp on the basic ideas discussed within these books than my high school self did. 

In that same vein, I’m also greatly looking forward to re-reading Camus’ The Fall, and Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilych, both of which I read in highschool.Now that I have some philosophy under my belt, and in the case of Camus, actually understand what existentialism is, I feel like I will glean so much more from both works.

I’m also excited to read some books on the history of Evangelicalism. Reformation History and Protestant Church History have been budding interests of mine, and I hope that my reading and expanding knowledge this summer can lead to some new opportunities once I return to Wheaton in the fall.

As I’m writing this in a near empty McDonalds in Eagle River, three employees (one cleaning up, two behind the registers)  are discussing what “agnosticism” means, whether or not they are “religious”, and what “churches are doing wrong”.  

#relevant.

The List:

1. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
2. The Reason for God by Timothy Keller
3. The Bible (NIV,ESV,KJV,& NKJV)
4. The Quran (Syed Vickar Ahmed Translation)
5. History of the Church by D. Jeffrey Bingham
6. The Fall by Albert Camus
7. Against Happiness by Eric G. Wilson
8. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
9. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
10. Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver
11. The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
12. Love Wins by Rob Bell
13. What We Talk About When We Talk About God by Rob Bell
14. Protestantism: A Very Short Introduction by Mark A. Noll
15. The Rise of Evangelicalism by Mark A. Noll
16. Separated Brethren by William J. Whalen
17. Control by Glenn Beck
18. Round River by Aldo Leopold
19. Small Is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher
20. The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy
21. Discovering an Evangelical Heritage by Donald W. Dayton

By Category

Abrahamic Scripture:

The Bible

The Quran

Christian Church History:

History of the Church by D. Jeffrey Bingham

Protestantism: A Very Short Introduction by Mark A. Noll

The Rise of Evangelicalism by Mark A. Noll

Separated Brethren by William J. Whalen

Discovering an Evangelical Heritage by Donald W. Dayton

Abrahamic Scripture Historicity:

The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel

The Question of Theism:

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

The Reason for God by Timothy Keller

Pop Theology:

Love Wins by Rob Bell

What We Talk About When We Talk About God by Rob Bell

Environmental/Sustainability Literature:

Small Is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher

Round River by Aldo Leopold

Philosophy:

The Fall by Albert Camus

The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy

Spy/Detective Fiction:

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver

Current Events:

Control by Glenn Beck

Against Happiness by Eric G. Wilson

E.I. Recap

I’m writing this from a laundromat in the northwoods. I’ve taken a job at my college’s northern wisconsin campus, so I’ll be up here all summer. The campus has internet access only in a small computer lab, and they block tumblr, so that’s why I’m writing this here, and that’s why this recap of the last 6 (ish) months of my life is going to be very short. 

Before I start, I should say that I’m not overly saddened my limited internet access this summer. One of the many things my initiative has taught me, is that the internet, especially the social aspect, can be a colossal waste of time. At this point in my life, I see it as a much better use of my limited thought-space for my daily readings and musings to center around ideas and texts that are timeless and substantive, as opposed to keeping up with the banal pursuits of (*the majority*) my peers. Aloof as that statement sounds, try being away from all forms of social media for 5 months, then coming back on and scrolling through your twitter or facebook feed… I think you will find it to be effectively true. 

I deleted my twitter a couple weeks ago for this reason. I also deleted my LinkedIn because I don’t use it and it’s filled with a bunch of pseudo-strivers who do nothing but make fools of themselves. Making “connections”, putting up #professional prof pics, thinking all that dumb shit is going to make them #successful and lead them to the #luxelife. I love it. College undergrads are the biggest fucking joke.

I kept tumblr because i feel like out of all social media platforms, tumblr is the only one that has actually made my life better (read: SuitSupply penthouse).

With the E.I. I also ate a lot of new foods and formed new eating habits, learned that it can be pretty liberating when you don’t give as many fucks about copping jawnz, looking vry #menswear, and getting bitches etc. 

Finally, in the bit about me finding “truth”, I was fooling myself.  With the reading I’ve done, I’m only more confused. Tis the nature of the beast I suppose.