Righteously Relevant Reading Previews

If you did not notice, there is a section on the side of this page that says "reading" and has a list of books beneath it. This lists the books that I am currently reading. As I start a new book I will put up a post describing why I was attracted to that book and, if I have read any of it, what I think so far. When I am finished with a book I will also post my thoughts on the book.

I am currently reading three books:

Surprised by Grace by Tullian Tchividjian 

This is a book both about the story of Jonah and the cross of Christ. It could be subtitled "Jesus in the book of Jonah" I have read about a quarter of the book and so far it is phenomenal. I was attracted to this book because I received Jesus + Nothing = Everything by the same author as a gift and found it to be a tremendous book on how Jesus, and His gospel, is all we need, and that if we add anything to that formula we actually lose the "everything" that the gospel supplies.

Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana Jr.

This is a autobiographical work about a young man's journey aboard a sailing vessel traveling from the east cost of the United States around Cape Horn and up the coast of California before it was a possession of the United States. I picked up this book because I found it on a list of suggested free e-books, and I am very glad that I picked it up. This book is a riveting story of his travels, and gives an interesting picture of life at sea and life in California at the time. This book can be downloaded for free! If you decide to read this book it may be helpful to have a resource at hand that can define some of the nautical terms that the author uses. (Reader beware: The author has some racist tendencies, but that does not mean that this book is without value.)
90 Days of God's Goodness by Randy Alcorn
I was given this book by my in-laws and we have been using it for family devotions. We are about 20 days into the book and we have found the book to be very encouraging. Each devotion is rather short and contains a passage of scripture and a page or two of commentary by Randy Alcorn. Each day's reading only takes a few minutes which is helpful due to the attention span of young children. This book is not targeted towards young children, so we are using it primarily for our own spiritual growth and to allow our children to get into the habit of listening quietly during the time set aside for family devotions. If you are looking for a new devotional book I would whole heartedly recommend this one.

What are you currently reading?