At the beginning of 2008 I read Alissa Wilkinson’s terrific blog on the subject of loving books, and was quite taken with her idea of  recording all of the books one has read for the whole calendar year.  So here’s my list for 2008, with some accompanying commentary.  One thing I noticed while looking over my list is that they all have human relationships at their center.  

1 - The Merchant of Venice – William Shakespeare.  This play always gets me thinking about the eternal problem of how difficult it is for diverse people groups to get along.  Shylock always reminds me that even the most difficult and annoying people deserve empathy.  If other people cannot provide it, there is the assurance that God has provided difficult people with the empathy they need, in the person of Jesus Christ.  

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