What books are on your reading list?

:smile: I was just wondering if my 11 year old might like that sort of thing!

That one looks very interesting ā€“ itā€™s on my virtual to-read list but I havenā€™t gotten a copy yet.

Whoa, just found out Andrew Peterson has a nonfiction book coming out soon. Guess Iā€™m adding that to my reading list too!

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Hello! Iā€™m new here but I would like to recommend you a book: City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert. Itā€™s really worth to read it.
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I think I will read it. So often on these forums a book recommendation is motivated by a spiritual angle. I wonder if that is true for you in this case. I read this in the Goodreads write up:

Now ninety-five years old and telling her story at last, Vivian recalls how the events of those years altered the course of her life - and the gusto and autonomy with which she approached it. At some point in a womanā€™s life, she just gets tired of being ashamed all the time, she muses. After that, she is free to become whoever she truly is.

I think that does present some potential grist for spiritual growth. But it would at least be grist for my own ongoing search to better understand a womanā€™s perspective.

Wow, it is available in larger print and Iā€™m only the fourth in line for it even though it is a new book. Woo hoo!

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It definitely will. Also, Iā€™ll be glad to hear your feedback on this book.

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Gunning For God, John Lennox

Holy Longing by Ronald Rolhesier

Last Superstition, Edward Feser

Language of Science and Faith, Francis Collins and Karl Giberson

Surprised by Hope, N.T Wright

Paul, N.T Wright (Audiobook)

Coming to Peace with Science,Darrel Falk(Audiobook)

The Case for Christ (Movie Edition), Lee Strobel

Mere Christianity and Miracles, C.S Lewis

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Just ordered ā€˜Atheist Delusionsā€™ by David Bentley Hart

Just got The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt and Thank God for Evolution by Micheal Dowd

My wife and I have been going back through Agatha Christieā€™s first mysteriesā€“from 1918 and so onā€“such as the Tommy and Tuppence Beresford mysteries. We enjoy their good natured teasing of each other, as a married couple, in our bedtime readings.

In addition, I listen to Audible ā€œWrinkle In Timeā€ currently. Itā€™s relaxing.

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Just ordered ā€œA Worldview Approach to Science and Scriptureā€ by Carol Hill after reading the interview with her on the BioLogos blog recently.

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I still have my copy of Jonathan Haidtā€™s book from the library but it has been getting some stiff competition from a good run of novels. First there was the fanciful historical novels of the Ibis trilogy set around the opium wars of the early 1820ā€™s which was just plain good story telling. Now Iā€™m really liking The Overstory by Richard Powers that won a Pulitzer last year. Took a half a year to get my turn with it from the library and so far worth the wait. It reads like a series of thought provoking short stories but is described as a nature novel centering around trees. As someone not raised on Bible stories I need to take good stories where I find them.

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Just got the Hill book in, easy reading and looks like something good to share with friends puzzled with the subject. Beautifully illustrated.

I always have a half dozen books on the go:

  • I still need to finish Gijsbert van den Brinkā€™s Reformed Theology and Evolutionary Theory, which I highly recommend regardless of where you stand on Reformed Theology.

  • Iā€™m about halfway through Marianne Taylorā€™s The Pocket Book of Insect Anatomy, which at 224 pages is not all that pocket-sized. But it is a fantastically readable and fascinating introduction to the topic.

  • As well as the equally fascinating Spider Behaviour: Flexibility and Versatility edited by Marie Elisabeth Herberstein. Though it is a lot more technical than Taylorā€™s book above.

  • Finally, Iā€™m also reading Jerry Coyneā€™s Why Evolution Is True. Despite the title, I probably wouldnā€™t recommend it to a Christian wanting to explore (or who is wrestling with) the evidence for evolution. The opening chapters have been a little preachy in their anti-creator rhetoric and I found a it a little too ā€˜Behold the manifold wisdom of St. Darwinā€™ - if you know what I mean :wink:. Although, having seen an interview with Coyne about the book, and it seems like it is geared (in part) towards an American audience where ~40% deny evolution outright, so that might explain some of the language. That said, it is very, very readable and Coyne does a great job of drawing the reader into topics which could otherwise be a bit dry and technical for the non-science minded person. This is also the only book in this list that I didnā€™t really choose. Rather it is part of the recommended reading for a Coursera on Evolution and Genetics Iā€™m taking so thought Iā€™d try and read a chapter a week in line with the lessons. So far so good.

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I am looking for good books that lay out compelling evidence for evolution, and explain it all logically and clearly. Dawkins TBW was good, although I am finding it hard to confirm his claims. Sounds like Coyne is a step down. Iā€™ve read through Vennemaā€™s articles, which are pretty good. Anyone else have recommendations in this vein? Preferably considered up to date so if I find something that doesnā€™t turn out to be correct the response is not just ā€œoh, everyone knows that, the book is out of date.ā€

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Have you read Ernst Mayrā€™s What Evolution Is? It was updated and released in 2014 - Iā€™m not sure if that is new enough for you but I found it helpful. Certainly, more technical than - in fact I forgot I had it until I read your reply so I might return Coyne and reread Mayr.

Yeah, I have heard that he is very, very good. I just find his religiophobia and huuuuggggeeeee ego such a high barrier to entry. He may well be a brilliant scientist, but he doesnā€™t have to be a prat about it. Perhaps, his more scientific books are less like that, and if so, maybe Iā€™ll give them a go. Any suggestions on where to start with Dawkins?

Does he not provide references/footnotes/endnotes?

The Blind Watchmaker is all Iā€™ve read, and it is well articulated and lays out a logically consistent theory of Darwinian evolution. It is the most coherent evolution book Iā€™ve read, not that I have read many. I just ignore his religious jabs.

The specific, and seemingly significant claim that I cannot reproduce is the molecular clock hypothesis. I tested it on some mammal mtDNA, and almost half of my dataset violates the hypothesis. I will be testing it on other data to see if something else produces the clock.

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I really benefited from reading Dawkinsā€™ ā€œClimbing Mount Improbableā€ and would recommend that to anybody. I donā€™t even remember him being all that preachy in it, though to be fair, I pretty easily tune that out from him now, due to practice. I also remember enjoying ā€œRiver Out of Edenā€, but the ā€œClimbingā€¦ā€ title I think was my favorite.

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Thanks Mervin, Iā€™ll check it out.

Hahaā€¦ Iā€™m trying to do the same but donā€™t always succeed - as my long-suffering wife will tell you - clearly I need more immersion therapy to build up my tolerance.

I also recommend reading Dembskiā€™s Design Inference afterwards, which shows the relationship between Darwinism and ID. The ID arguments make a lot more sense in context of Dawkinsā€™ TBW.