Why You Should Read All of an Author's Books

When I was in seminary, I took a class on Francis Schaeffer and C.S Lewis. We read everything that each of them wrote. The only thing that I didn't finish was Lewis' Space Trilogy. I only read the first of that series.

I included my kids in what I was learning at school so I read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe to them that semester. The morning that I read them the chapter where *spoiler* Aslan dies, I read that chapter and then left my wife with crying kids to go to work. My wife was not happy. I let the kids stay up before bed that night to finish the book. I think they cried again.

That was an amazing semester because I read and discussed so many great books and ideas. One lesson from that class was the value of reading everything that an author has written. That is a great goal for your reading. You don't have to read them all in a year. Read them all in 5 years.

I've done that with favorite authors in fiction or history. I read everything I can by Daniel Silva, Erik Larsen, David McCullough, Malcolm Gladwell, William Zinsser, James Herriott, etc. There is more value, though, in attempting this with great theologians, pastors, and Christian authors.

One benefit is that you learn how that author thinks or thought. After reading so much Schaeffer, I could easily imagine how he would think about issues he never faced or wrote about. I've read a lot of John Piper's books, and I can often think about a Bible passage and imagine what kind of details he would notice or how he would apply it.

It's only worth it if you find great authors. I suggest J.C. Ryle, John Piper (I haven't even read all of them yet after 20 years), Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Tim Keller, and D. A. Carson. Carson is the one that sounds most intriguing to me. I've read a few of his shorter books, but everyone I trust looks up to him.