2010 was another successful year of reading! I read a good spattering of genres, including fiction, history, and instructional. I learned a ton, and hopefully a lot of it will make its way into my writing; I know the history books will. And that’s why writers need to read: to get ideas, to learn about how people relate to each other, and to accustom ourselves to good writing. (A case can also be made for reading the occasional bad book as well.)
I thought I’d share the list with you—not in order to say how great I am, but to inspire you to read more and give you some book ideas. I have a full-time job and life just like anyone else, but you can find time to read if you try.
So without further ado, here is my 2010 reading list:
- 1/1-1/7: Wild at Heart, by John Eldredge
- 1/7-1/15: The Horse and His Boy, by C.S. Lewis
- 1/5-1/19: In the Blink of an Eye, by Walter Murch
- 1/20-1/23: A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle
- 1/23-2/9: On Fairy-Stories, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- 2/9-2/12: The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley
- 2/13-2/24: How the Irish Saved Civilization, by Thomas Cahill
- 2/24-3/17: Byzantium, by Stephen R. Lawhead
- 3/19-3/31: The Knowledge of the Holy, by A.W. Tozer
- 3/31-4/24: Bird By Bird, by Anne Lamott
- 4/25-5/1: Epic, by John Eldredge
- 5/1-5/29: O Jerusalem!, by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre
- 5/29-5/30: Enforcing the Kingdom, by Winston Davenport
- 5/31-6/3: Black, by Ted Dekker
- 6/8-6/12: God’s Keeping Power, by Graham Cooke
- 6/12-6/14: Silver to Gold, by Jennifer A. Miskov
- 6/15-6/18: Red, by Ted Dekker
- 6/21-6/23: White, by Ted Dekker
- 6/26-7/4: The Case for A Creator, by Lee Strobel
- 7/4-7/6: Green, by Ted Dekker
- 7/7-7/20: On Stories, by C.S. Lewis
- 7/8-7/11: For Men Only, by Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn
- 7/20-8/8: Waking the Dead, by John Eldredge
- 8/9-10/9: The Road to Middle-Earth, by Tom Shippey
- 8/30-9/25: Look What God Is Doing!, by Dick Eastman
- 9/27-11/27: The Seven Longings of the Human Heart, by Mike Bickle
- 10/10-10/11: The Giver, by Lois Lowry
- 10/12-10/22: Ruthless Trust, by Brennan Manning
- 10/23-10/25: The Chosen, by Chaim Potok
- 10/26-12/17: The First World War, by John Keegan
- 12/18: The Stranger’s Message, by Paul McCusker
- 12/19-12/26: Playing the Enemy, by John Carlin
Free reading tip: You might ask, “How the heck do you know exactly what you read?” At the beginning of the year I simply grab an index card and use it as a bookmark. I write down the date I start a book and the date I finish it. I’m looking forward to looking back after several years of reading and seeing a detailed list of all that I have read.
I’ll post my recommendations out of this list in the next couple of days, so stay tuned. In the meantime, here’s to reading!
Jesse Koepke 
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