I didn't want to hijack the recent thread on Christian Horror fiction, so I thought I'd start one on a slightly different note.

What, other than the Bible, do you read?

I'm specifically curious about political literature, such as the writings of Newt Gingrich, Dick Morris, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Bennett, Bill O'Reily, Ann Coulter, etc?

Read it? Avoid it? Censor it?

My husband is ex-Navy and fiercely patriotic. I ordered Bill Bennett's "The American Patriot's Almanac" for his birthday.

[Diligent]

When I read fiction, I read Sci Fi. Usually Military Sci Fi or Hard Sci Fi. I generally read one or two Sci Fi novels a year. I used to read it a lot more; I just don't have the time for it any more.

More often you will find me reading non-fiction. If it's not a book on Bible topics, it's usually historical and/or political.

I've read a few of Ann Coulter's (a name you mentioned) books. They are entertaining and are well-referenced. Other authors I like are Sowell, Borke, Levin, Lott, etc.

Right now I am reading The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes. It's a fascinating history of the Great Depression.

[atlas]

RT,

What, other than the Bible, do you read?

Marx, Rand, Smith, von Mises, DiLorenzo, Rothbard, Ruckman, Rice, Hayles, Pink with many others.

Mags/news Papers: Dallas Morning News, Financial Planning, The Register, Financial Advisor Magazine, Sword of the Lord, Bible Believers Bulletin, Life Insurance Selling, Wall St. Journal, Financial Services Online and other industry publications. I get most financial mags and newspapers for free!

I read a lot of history, economics and financial books and mags. Read all you can it will help you. Whatever industry you are in you must keep up to date in the industry. Your job should be very important to you.


Atlas

[Here Am I]

I enjoy non-fiction by Brothers Ruckman, Grady, Larkin and Sister Riplinger.

As far as 'Christian fiction', I've read the Left Behind series, Prophet by Frank Peretti (and another one by Peretti, the title escapes me right now), and have read some Beverly Lewis.

I like intelligent SciFi, so I read books by CJ Cherryh, Robert Heinlein (although some of them I can't read anymore due to an anti-God bias), and have recently discovered Orson Scott Card's 'Ender' series.

I recently re-read Roger Zelazny's Amber series, and enjoyed it, again. Other fantasy authors I still appreciate include Tolkien and Wendy Pini.

I like adventure books by Louis L'Amour, mysteries by Sharon Kay Penman and Stuart Kaminsky, as well as some old goodies like Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin.

And I go to the library about once a week...

[JaeByrd]

I like OLD mysteries like Sherlock Holmes or Nero Wolfe, but I've kind of read through all of those already. I read Sci-Fi on the lighter side. Some Fantasy. When I have the time. Mostly I have time for magazines for "free time" reading these days.

I'm currently reading "The politically incorrect guide to global warming and environmentalism".

In no particular order I like to read things on organizing, cleaning, homeschooling, cooking, history, health/fitness, poetry, crafts, animals, gardening, parenting, marriage, fertility, and womanhood. I read an occasional autobiography and the political book or two that Diligent has suggested as something I might enjoy.

[stephanos]

I to like to read quite a bit. The books I've read reflect the states I've gone through in my life. In regards to fiction, I've always enjoyed fantasy. I however don't allow myself to read those books anymore so I stick with nonfiction at the moment until I find something I can read and feel good about. I've read heaps of computer books, mostly pertaining to maintaining unix and linux systems. I've also read quite a few books on programming computers in C and Common Lisp. Lately, I've been reading books on homesteading. If I ever find myself in a financial situation where I can buy a chunk of land somewhere, I want to live sustainably, and frugally. I WANT CHICKENS, rofl Anywho... my current stack of book awaiting my eyes includes:

Peter Ruckman's commentary on Genesis (just came in the mail today!).
The Temple and Bible Prophesy by Randal Price
and finally the Gail Riplinger book I've not got around to yet "Understanding the King James Bible"

I've also got a few others in a pile that I haven't read yet. They're low priority at the moment as I've recently purposed to study Dispensationalism. Currently I'm nearly done with "One Book Rightly Divided" by Dr. Douglas D. Stauffer. I also plan to gorge myself on as much Ruckman as I can afford when I've had my fill of books on dispensationalism.

Much Love in Christ,
Stephen

[stephanos]

Originally Posted by JaeByrd

I like OLD mysteries like Sherlock Holmes or Nero Wolfe, but I've kind of read through all of those already. I read Sci-Fi on the lighter side. Some Fantasy. When I have the time. Mostly I have time for magazines for "free time" reading these days.

I'm currently reading "The politically incorrect guide to global warming and environmentalism".

In no particular order I like to read things on organizing, cleaning, homeschooling, cooking, history, health/fitness, poetry, crafts, animals, gardening, parenting, marriage, fertility, and womanhood. I read an occasional autobiography and the political book or two that Diligent has suggested as something I might enjoy.

Do you ever find yourself calling him Diligent outside of these forums?

Peace and Love,
Stephen

Originally Posted by Rightful_Thinking

What, other than the Bible, do you read?

My favorite fiction authors are Arthur Conan Doyle (hence my avatar), Joyce Carol Oates, Harry Turtledove, and William F. Buckley Jr: not Buckley's spy novels, although they're very good, but his other fiction. If you can imagine this, he wrote a novel about Elvis Presley's hitch in the Army, and his fictional friendship with a young German boy, that was excellent: "Elvis in the Morning."

Harry Turtledove writes fantasy, for which I have a very low tolerance; but he's also the outstanding author of "alternative history," which fascinates me. His books in this area deal with such topics as, What if Robert E. Lee's army had been mysteriously supplied with AK-47 rifles? What if the earth had been invaded by hostile aliens at the height of WWII? What if the Spanish Armada didn't sink, but conquered England - - - and William Shakespeare led a revolt against them? He does his homework, and makes historical figures fascinating by putting them into unexpected situations. This stuff is like catnip to me. If I were a cat, I mean.

But I haven't read much modern Christian fiction that appeals to me. Ted Dekker is good, if your brain is tired and you need "mental chewing gum;" but the "Christian horror" genre irritates me by its very nature. I don't have anything against horror movies, if they're not occultic or dirty; but I've never read a "Christian horror" book that didn't involve preposterous theology. I appreciated the strong anti-abortion message of Frank Peretti's "Prophet," but his theology is all over the place.

I'm specifically curious about political literature, such as the writings of Newt Gingrich, Dick Morris, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Bennett, Bill O'Reily, Ann Coulter, etc?

William F. Buckley Jr. was the absolute best, although his son, Christopher, has gone left, and supported Obama. (However, some of his books are very funny.) Then there are the "conservative classics" that have already been mentioned, which helped form my thinking as a teenager: Edmund Burke, Ludwig Von Mises, Henry Hazlitt, Russell Kirk, and, greatest of all, Whittaker Chambers' "Witness," which is one of the most well-written books I've ever read.

The problem you run into with conservative authors is that they tend to be Catholic, like Buckley. But then, there's a huge Catholic strain running through American conservatism in general, probably due to the abortion issue. (Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingram, etc.) That's why I don't recommend Buckley's non-fiction to young people: he was so good, and so smart, that his Catholicism might lead them astray.

I am, obviously, a very "traditional" conservative: my heroes are Goldwater and Reagan, not Bush or Gingrich.

As for the authors you named, I have very little use for them, although they've done good, patriotic work. Ann Coulter irritates me because she wastes her intelligence and insight by being intentionally provocative. I don't regard Rush Limbaugh as a true conservative at all, but merely a spokesman for the Republican Party. I think Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity are arrogant, egotistical popinjays. None of these people are serious writers. They're entertainers. That has a place, and is not unimportant; but they're not literary people. Dick Morris is simply a disgruntled Democrat who has a personal grudge against the Clintons. Bill Bennett is the closest thing to a real writer in your list; but he, too, is a Catholic. Sigh......

Read it? Avoid it? Censor it?

I'm not in favor of censoring anything, even pornography. (I'm in favor of driving it out of production by prosecuting it under the existing prostitution laws. Sex for money is prostitution, whether it happens in a motel room or on a movie set). I wouldn't recommend the "commentators" you mentioned; if it weren't for the public library, I wouldn't even read their books. Stick with the classics. With one exception: the "Politically Incorrect Guide to...." series is excellent.

That's what irritates me about Rush and Ann and Sean: they've dumbed down conservatism so horribly. If he were still alive, Edmund Burke would roll over in his grave.

Wait a minute......

[atlas]

VR,

Whittaker Chambers "Witness," which is one of the most well-written books I've ever read.

I will have to agree with you on Witness. It was a wonderful book that everyone should read.

I have always wondered why Whittaker Chambers gave Atlas Shrugged such a bad book review.

Von Mises and Rand seemed to respect each other. Yet Chambers seemed to really hate Rand for some reason.

I am somewhat amazed that other than you and I nobody seems to read Von Mises, Rothbard, Hazlitt and others.




Atlas

[stephanos]

Originally Posted by atlas

VR,



I will have to agree with you on Witness. It was a wonderful book that everyone should read.

I have always wondered why Whittaker Chambers gave Atlas Shrugged such a bad book review.

Von Mises and Rand seemed to respect each other. Yet Chambers seemed to really hated Rand for some reason.

I am somewhat amazed that other than you and I nobody seems to read Von Mises, Rothbard, Hazlitt and others.




Atlas

Did you find Ayn Rand's books healthy? What I mean by that is that in my experience, books about philosophy and culture tend to leave a lasting effect on any discerning mind. Do you find it hard to distinguish between her philosphy and that found in God's Word? I used to read philosophy, and would be aprehensive in doing so now. I did love the stuff when I wasn't saved, but am not sure how I'd feel about it now. Here is an example. Fahrenheit 451 is a book that deals with issues of culture and philosophy. I'm sure you all have read it so I won't deal with what it was about. My point I'm making is that I still feel like this book left an impact on the way I view the world. It forever left a looming shadow over my outlook on the future of mankind. I knew when I read that book, that the peachy little world I lived in before was not real, and that I forever was going to view the culture I lived in as a struggle between those that want to censor the truth, and those that want to liberate it. So you see, this secular books most certainly can leave a mark on us. Did you notice this with Ayn Rand?

Peace and Love,
Stephen