Real men read

Australians, especially young men, are reading less than ever before. The data shows that the population cohort that reads the least is males aged 15-24, with only 10.1% reading on any given day. The trend is reinforced from a young age, with parents more likely to read to their daughters than sons. The book industry initiative Australia Reads is calling for a national strategy to remind people of the benefits of reading, such as improved mental health, empathy, and focus.

I see that libraries are involved in this campaign. I support this, unlike some other initiatives that libraries are involved in. 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-14/australians-especially-men-are-reading-less-than-ever-before/105422070

https://australiareads.org.au/

Just the thing to get kids reading

A Hardy Boys reboot series is about to premiere. Unfortunately, in this version, they won't be in a pop group. 

https://nerdist.com/article/the-hardy-boys-trailer-hulu/

Visual assault

This is a novel, Where Have All the Mothers Gone? by David Olson. I have no idea what it's about. In order to find that out I'll need to actually read it. In any event, the cover artwork is really bad. A toddler raises his arm towards an evil looking man who bares an almost uncanny resemblance to the late actor John Colicos (1928-2000). Among his many credits, Colicos appeared as the villainous Baltar in the original 1978 series of Battlestar Galactica. Were it still possible, the only thing this book needs is an audio version read by Lorne Greene, sadly also now deceased. Patrick Macnee, who guest starred as Count Iblis in this series, is still alive, however.

Running in slow motion

The contents are probably good, if a little dated by now. Even if you heed the old proverb of not judging a book by its cover, you've got to dig the groovy Six Million Dollar Man inspired cover design. C Peter Wagner is a prominent figure in the Christian world, being variously a theologian, missiologist, writer, teacher, and church growth specialist. If I get around to reading this, I might some nuggets of wisdom in this tome.

Read something, dummy

The facts speak for themselves. Reliable research from reputable sources shows that literacy in the United States is in a parlous state. There's no reason to believe that the situation in Australia would be any better. 

Garamond

Shaun Micallef as Billy Connolly.

Once again Shaun Micallef is putting quill pen to parchment with the impending release of his first novel, Preincarnate. Reading the description on the publisher's website, it involves murder, reincarnation (which incidentally I don't believe in; cf Hebrews 9:27 and correlating verses) and time travel, which physicists tell us is theoretically possible. I have tickets to the launch at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne in November, so check back then for a follow up post about the event, and if I get to meet him again. Several reads later, his first book, Smithereens, published in 2004, is still entertaining and very amusing. Hopefully he'll be able to come up with the goods again.

Reasons to read

Volumes of academic success | The Australian

Who'd have thought?

This story is perhaps a slap in the face to those library purists who believe that video games have no place in a library. Read on.

Of specks and logs

I've spent the last few days reading The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience by Ronald J. Sider, founder of the organisation Evangelicals for Social Action, and a member of the faculty of Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. While not the sort of book I'd normally choose for light holiday reading, I wanted to explore the issue of hypocrisy in the church, but from the point of view of a concerned Christian thinker who understands this issue and how to address it.

Some atheists point to this hypocrisy as part of their argument that the Christian faith has no credibility. If, as Sider is to be believed, Western Christianity is in a crisis of credibility, it is taking things too far to say that the Christian faith as a whole has been rendered useless. Empirical research shows that amongst those who consider themselves to be Christians, neglect of the poor, consumerism, sexual promiscuity, sexual abuse in marriage, racism, divorce, and so on are rife. Indeed, their lives have become almost indistinguishable church has become almost indistinguishable from the community at large. This represents a disobedience of the clear Biblical moral demands on people who describe themselves as Christians.

For Sider, rediscovering these demands and a Biblical worldview is the solution. In response to the holiness of God, the early Christians understood that they were called to costly obedience and radical discipleship. They lived profoundly transformed lives; the astonishing quality of which attracted people to Christ, as Scripture shows. Furthermore, we have a deficient understanding of the Gospel and its implications. It doesn't stop at believing in Christ, and salvation is more than receiving forgiveness for one's sins. It means living a transformed life that impacts social and economic relationships that stand in stark contrast to the rampant individualism and consumerism afflicting Western culture. Christians need to reminded that they are part of a community of believers, not isolated individuals separated from each other. They are accountable to a Holy God as well as each other.

This is essential reading for any Christian troubled by the poor witness hypocrisy in the church is to those outside the church, or for that matter, any open minded atheist or agnostic who thinks that Christian hypocrisy undermines the credibility of Christianity. Sider took no pleasure in writing this book, and is at pains to point out that his purpose is not to condemn, but to lovingly confront and offer a corrective for this problem.

Ecclesiastes 12:12

With the plethora of Christian books available in Christian bookstores, some of which find their way to the stacks in theological libraries, the reader or borrower can often be left overwhelmed by the vast choice on offer. How many of them are actually worth reading? As a librarian, I often see patrons borrow books of questionable quality and scholarship, and certainly unsuitable for assignment research. Occasionally if a borrower asks me for recommendations, I steer them away from certain authors. This might sound harsh or judgmental, but in an academic setting students need to be careful about their choice of references, and it would be unprofessional of me to not help my patrons find suitable resources.

The other day I stumbled across Discerning Reader, a new website designed to, as the name implies, help Christian readers make good reading choices. Site features either available now or in development include reviews, summaries, author interviews, reading lists, and church resources. From a Christian viewpoint, reading can be very valuable to spiritual growth, but only if you choose your books wisely. You need to sort the wheat from the chaff. If you can get past its slight American focus, the developers of this website are to be commended for their work.

To be sure

With Guinness beer, Irish dancing, Dave Allen, the shamrock, the potato, linen, and three quarters of The Corrs, Ireland has contributed much to the world. To this list can be added the enduring art form of the Limerick. Retired Anglican priest Christopher Goodwins has produced a Bible paraphrase entitled The Bible in Limerick Verse. Having spent a lot of time reading the Book of Job recently for my Wisdom Literature class at Kingsley, I particularly liked the Limerick version of Job 2.

Job came out in boils everywhere
The thing that might make a man swear!
But sitting in ashes
Job scraped at his rashes,
And spent a week pulling his hair.

I don't know if it's available in Australia, but it will be available for loan from the Tabor library shortly. Thanks are due to one of my work colleagues for bringing this splendid tome to my attention.

I know nothing

It was Dr. Seuss who said," The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."

This recent article from CNN highlights a disturbing trend; people are reading less.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/28/book.burning.ap/index.html

I don't know what to make of this. I'm not saying that a book is necessarily always a better quality source of information than a television screen or a web page, but I've always considering reading to be more conducive to personal development than watching television or spending time on the internet.

Here's where I get philosophical. In contemporary society, we have unprecedented access to information and knowledge. Wisdom, which is applied knowledge, is another matter. We have more knowledge at our fingertips then ever before, but we don't necessarily have more wisdom. Intelligence and wisdom aren't the same thing.