Any day with FREE books is an even better day!
Our local newspaper holds an annual book sale with books donated by the citizens of our fair city. They do it for some charity or other. The day after the sale, they have local non-profit organizations in to pick through the leftovers for free!
This was the first year I have had the time to go by and check the leftovers. I found myself standing in a line of 100 or so others at 9am. I saw one fellow with one of those rolling trash bins, apparently to take his haul home with him. Others arrived with many boxes. A whole team of scavengers was just ahead of me with five people and boxes.
Inside, there were literally thousands of books left. I can’t imagine what they will do with all of them, I am sure the non-profits couldn’t carry them all away. I ended up with 13 books – I am picky, and our city doesn’t tend to give away books that are of real interest to someone as conservative as me.
Nevertheless, here is my list of treasures…
The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
I realize who Strobel is, and I am not entirely happy with all the individuals he interviews in this book, but I think this is a useful one to give away to people looking for answers. I prefer Josh McDowell’s More than a Carpenter for most people, but if someone is a little more educated, Strobel makes some good arguments.
Who’s Driving the Purpose Driven Church? by James Sundquist
I was a little surprised to find this one. I had not heard of it before, but it is a critique of Warren and his movement. Might be good, might not, but worth every penny I didn’t pay!
THE GAME – A Reflective and Thought Provoking Look at a Life in Hockey by Ken Dryden
Well, now, who would be getting rid of this? Are they really Canadians? I saw most of the TV version of this book. Dryden is currently a Liberal Member of Parliament in Canada but was once the star goalie of the Montreal Canadiens. My dad used to say his politics made him play bad against the Russians! He is a thoughtful man, especially about hockey, which is so much a part of what we are up here.
Gilbert: The Man Who Was G.K. Chesterton by Michael Coren
A biography of G. K. Chesterton. I always like bios, even of unknown and relatively dull people. Chesterton wasn’t dull, from what I understand. He was a Catholic, so who knows about his spiritual life, but he was a prolific writer. A lot of people quote him, so we’ll see what he is about.
E.B. White: A Biography by Scott Elledge
A biography of the author of Charlotte’s Web, and many others. Apparently a significant literary man. I am interested in finding out more.
The Christians: Their First Two Thousand Years: The Veil Is Torn, A.D. 30 to A.D. 70; Pentecost to the Destruction of Jerusalem by Ted Byfield (Editor)
This is the first of a series of books put out by Ted Byfield, a Canadian journalist and magazine publisher. Byfield is an Orthodox Christian, I believe – I think he converted to Orthodoxy later in life. I am not sure what church he belonged to before that. He set out to publish a series on Church history. I found six volumes on Amazon, don’t know if the others were ever published. This is sort of like a coffee table book. The copy I found was in pristine condition. It looks interesting.
The Education of Henry Adams, Vol. 1 & 2 by Henry Adams
The autobiography of the grandson and great-grandson of two presidents. The Amazon review starts: “Many great artists have had at least intermittent doubts about their own abilities. But The Education of Henry Adams is surely one of the few masterpieces to issue directly from a raging inferiority complex.” Adams wrote the book in secret, distributed it among friends asking their critique, and soon found himself with a great success on his hands. I read a biography of four generations of Adamses by Richard Brookhiser a few years ago. This looks to be an interesting look into an interesting man.
Nave’s Topical Bible, Condensed Edition
A good little resource I thought somebody in our church might like.
The Battle for the Bible, by Harold Lindsell
A book famous since my youth, yet I have never read it. Now it can sit on my shelf and wait, but at least it is in reach.
The Dead Sea Scrolls by Millar Burrows
A book by a man who was “on the scene at the beginning”, one of the earliest studies on the scrolls. I think this is worth having.
Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Times of Jim Elliot
by Elisabeth Elliot
The link is to a paperback edition, but I found a hardback in mint condition. I was delighted to come upon this, we had given away a copy we had earlier. A remarkable story every Christian should read.
Egermeier’s Bible Story Book
The best children’s Bible story book. I am partial to this book for many reasons, but first among them is that this book is what the Lord used to bring me to salvation. My parents used to read me Bible stories three times a day. At one point, I kept asking my dad to read to me about the crucifixion. I remember weeping at the picture of the crucifixion which shows the centurion and the soldiers looking up at the cross (the cross is not in view). My mother used to ask my dad why he kept reading the story since it caused me to carry on so. He read them because I kept asking about them. After a few weeks, I understood the gospel enough that I knew I was a sinner and only Jesus Christ could save me. Thank God he did. I was five.
So there you have it, my haul. I saved the best for last. I put it on our church book table. Maybe the Lord will use it in some other life.
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