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In January I received a Kindle (3G + WiFi) as a birthday present. I was very excited about this gift since I love to read and already owned several Kindle books (the Kindle software for PC and iPhone substituted for an actual device). I immediately downloaded a number of free classic books and dove in. Now that I’ve used the Kindle for close to two months I feel like I can speak to what I enjoy about it and what I don’t.

What I enjoy about the Kindle

1. Free books – There are many public domain works available in the Kindle store. In addition, you can find more free Kindle format ebooks at websites like Archive.org and Project Gutenberg. I rarely read fiction that is younger than I am so the availability of classic works is a big selling point for me.

2. Highlights and notes – I mark up my physical books quite a bit. The Kindle allows me to highlight passages and add notes. I can then access my highlights and notes via the Kindle website.

3. Synchronization – With the Kindle software for PC and iPhone I have access to my ebooks from virtually anywhere. The ebooks, last location, highlights, and notes are synced across the various devices.

4. Easy on the eyes – The thought of staring at the screen of an electronic device for more than a few minutes isn’t too appealing to me. However, the Kindle display is very easy on the eyes. It isn’t backlit like a computer screen so my eyes don’t tire the way they would if I were reading something on my laptop.

What I don’t enjoy about the Kindle

1. Ebooks are ebooks – Obvious, I know. There’s something about holding a book in my hand that I really enjoy. In my opinion, the reading experience on a Kindle just can’t compare with reading a physical book.

2. Can’t export highlights – I use the highlighting feature a lot. The Kindle website enables me to copy and paste those highlights into a word processor, but I’d really like to see a simple 1-click export feature.

Overall I really enjoy the Kindle. It’s a device I plan to use for years to come. If you’re a reader I recommend you give the Kindle a try.

I’m really enjoying A Praying Life by Paul Miller. In a chapter titled Learning to Be Helpless Miller connects the gospel to our prayer life.

Prayer mirrors the gospel. In the gospel, the Father takes us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of salvation. In prayer, the Father receives us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of help. We look at the inadequacy of our praying and give up, thinking something is wrong with us. God looks at the adequacy of his Son and delights in our sloppy, meandering prayers.

Great stuff!

2000 Years of Christ’s Power: Part One: The Age of the Early Church Fathers by Nick Needham is a 400 page overview of the early centuries of the Church. Needham’s writing is engaging and I enjoyed how he dealt with the development of doctrines such as the Trinity and the deity/humanity of Christ. The end of each chapter contains selections of primary source material from the period and people that were discussed.

This volume is the first of a planned 4 or 5 part series covering the early centuries of the Church up through the modern era (Part Two on the Middle Ages and Part Three on the Renaissance and Reformation are also available). If you want to get a better grasp on the history of the Church after the time of the New Testament this book is a great place to start.

I enjoy reading biography. Biography is perhaps my favorite genre because it deals with two subjects I’m very much interested in: history and people.

As I reviewed the list of books I read in 2010 I was surprised to learn that I didn’t read as many biographies as I would’ve liked. However, those I did get around to reading were enjoyable. Below is the list of biographies I read in 2010 along with a few comments.

Update: I finished another biography after writing this post. It’s last on the list.

• Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage – My wife is a bit of a John Adams fanatic. I gave this to her for Christmas 2009, but I decided to read it before she had a chance! Much of the book deals with John and Abigail’s correspondence during the long separations necessitated by John’s role in the founding of a new nation.
• T.C. Hammond: His Life and Legacy in Ireland and Australia – Hammond was an evangelist, pastor, and scholar who labored in Ireland and Australia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners – John Bunyan’s autobiography.
• Augustine of Hippo: A Biography – an engaging and insightful biography of one of the most important figures in church history. **My favorite of 2010**
• St. Patrick of Ireland – Philip Freeman does a good job of introducing Patrick and the world in which he lived.
• James Petigru Boyce: A Southern Baptist Statesman – I started this one on December 28 so I won’t finish it in 2010, but I can tell already that it’s outstanding. I’m not a Southern Baptist and you don’t need to be in order to enjoy this biography.
• George Whitefield: The Life and Time of the Great Evangelist of the 18th Century Revival, Vol. 2 – I read the first volume in 2008 and have only just begun volume 2 this week.
• A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards – I listened to the audiobook version of this biography. The publisher’s description describes it well: “…a concise, fresh retelling of the Edwards story, rich in scholarship yet compelling and readable for a much wider audience, including students.”