Choosing quality books provides
an active antidote to an electronic
lifestyle and modern cultural tastes.
We are not here for trivial purposes, they
tell us.”
2
It matters not so much whether a
book is fiction or nonfiction, old or new,
“classical” or not, so much as it matters
whether or not the literature is pointing
us to the eternal. George MacDonald, a
Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister, describes the influence of literature
this way: “And yet, if I do so humbly as a
child, I am free to imagine, for God gave
us our imagination as well as our wills for
his glory. . . . As I came just now through
the fields, I lost myself for a time in the
feeling that I was walking in the midst of
lovely people of God that I have known,
some in person, some by their books. . . .
For who can distinguish the many ways
in which God speaks to us by his Spirit?”
3
• Fairy Tales
Each of us has preferences in literature,
and mine run decidedly toward the
Lewis and Tolkien side of life. In an age
when fantasy was viewed as primarily a
route to escapism, these authors spoke
up in favor of the genre.
Conclusion
I love what Henry Drummond, author
of The Greatest Thing in the World, says
about what kind of books to read:
To fall in love with a good book is
one of the greatest events that can
