The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs. Oxford University Press, US, June, 2011. Mr. Jacobs is a professor of English at Wheaton College. I’ve heard him speak on Mars Hill Audio, and he’s an expert on C.S. Lewis, among other English/theology/literary topics. I expect to enjoy this book on the joys of my favorite pastime.

The Opposite of Art by Athol Dickson. Spring or fall, 2011. “A poor woman in a shabby Los Angeles apartment receives an original oil painting by one of modern art’s great masters, easily worth half a million dollars. Although the artist has been dead for a quarter century, the painting appears to have been recently completed. When the world’s foremost authority on the artist’s work pronounces it authentic, three lives are destined to collide: the sketch artist and roustabout at a traveling Mexican circus who longs to paint the face of God, the daughter the sketch artist does not know he has, and the man who plans to kill them both.”

The Coffeehouse Chronicles by Josh McDowell and Dave Sterrett. January, 2011. This title is actually a series of novelettes (?) addressing Christian apologetics for college students. I already read the first in the series, Is the Bible True, Really?, in a very poorly formatted PDF on my new Kindle, and I still thought it was great, despite the lack of capital letters and the funky page breaks and paragraphing. The other two books in the series are: Did the Resurrection Happen, Really? and Who Is Jesus, Really? I’m looking forward to reading the entire set in a properly formatted book.

The Chasm by Randy Alcorn. February, 2011. “Along his journey, the traveler meets two other characters, a crusty old mentor and a very appealing figure who offers advice and leadership (but proves to be a deceiving shape shifter).”

Strings Attached by Judy Blundell. Scholastic, March 1, 2011. “From National Book Award winner Judy Blundell, the tale of a sixteen-year-old girl caught in a mix of love, mystery, Broadway glamour, and Mob retribution in 1950 New York.”

Ashtown by N.D. Wilson. First book in a new series, Ashtown Burials. Random House, August 2011.

Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter. Sequel to Heist Society. June 21, 2011.

Gospel Wakefulness by Jared Wilson Crossway, October 2011. We may know the gospel. We may believe it—even proclaim it. But we also may assume the gospel and become lethargic. In this book Jared Wilson seeks to answer the central question, how do we experience and present the gospel in a fresh, non-routine way in order to prevent ourselves and others from becoming numb? His answer may be surprising: “by routinely presenting the unchanging gospel in a way that does justice to its earth-shaking announcement.” We don’t excite and awaken people to the glorious truths of the gospel by spicing up our worship services or through cutting-edge, dramatic rhetoric, but by passionately and faithfully proclaiming the same truths we have already been given in Scripture.

Small Town Sinners by Melissa Walker. July 19, 2011. Lacey Anne Byer is a perennial good girl and lifelong member of the House of Enlightenment, the Evangelical church in her small town. With her driver’s license in hand and the chance to try out for a lead role in Hell House, her church’s annual haunted house of sin, Lacey’s junior year is looking promising. But when a cute new stranger comes to town, something begins to stir inside her. Ty Davis doesn’t know the sweet, shy Lacey Anne Byer everyone else does. With Ty, Lacey could reinvent herself. As her feelings for Ty make Lacey test her boundaries, events surrounding Hell House make her question her religion.

Doc by Mary Doria Russell, Random House (chronicles of the lives of Doc Holliday and his girlfriend Kate in Dodge City, Kansas, during one memorable summer), May 2011. Ms. Russell’s The Sparrow was one of the very best books I read in 2009, so I’m willing to try out anything she writes, even a novel with a western setting.

The Attenbury Emeralds By Jill Paton Walsh. Minotaur, January 2011. New Dorothy Sayers-inspired mystery, which revisits Lord Peter Wimsey’s first case; set in 1951. I’ve read at least one of Jill Paton Walsh’s Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, the first called Thrones, Dominations, and I thought she did a good job of following in the footsteps of a master mystery writer, Dorothy Sayers.

Paradise Valley by Dale Cramer, Bethany House, January 2011. In 1921, a new Ohio law forces the Amish to attend public schools. I’ve read several other novels by Mr. Cramer, and I think he’s quite a good writer.
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