The four, no five books I am reading

I am currently reading four different books and at least three of them are making an impact on me.

I mentioned “The case for faith” by Lee Strobel in my previous post as well. It discusses, one can even say wrestles with some of the “evidence” against believing in a loving, just, omnipotent, omnipresent, good God. Lee is a journalist and handles these topics like investigations to get behind the truth. He interviews (almost interrogates) prominent authors who have written books on the questions he wishes to get clarity on.  I finished the first subject which is how God can allow the amount of pain that is prevalent in this world. The conclusion is surprising.

I could never myself believe in God if it were not for the cross… In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?

“The cat of Bubastes” (a tale of ancient Egypt) by G.A. Henty is a historical novel for young readers. We have many award-winning books for “young” readers in our house since we believe our children should be surrounded by quality books. Every now and then, I take one myself and thoroughly enjoy it. This one starts off with the conquering Egyptian armies taking a young prince from the Rebu to serve in the house of an Egyptian priest and his son. A friendship grows between them and then the priest’s son accidentally kills a cat which is considered to be holy in Egypt. The boys have to flee from the ensuing riots. The author displays a keen insight into ancient Egypt customs and culture which in itself makes this a rewarding read.

Creops was one of them. My father has been telling me that he ground down the people to huild this wonderful tomb for himself. But he had his reward, for at his funeral he had to be judged by the public voice, and the public condemned him… Therefore he was not allowed to be buried in the great tomb that he had built for himself.

“Getting things done” (or just GTD) the art of stress-free productivity – by Allen David is a new revision of a book that was first published in 2001 and was wildly popular. I can see why. He really has a grip on what it takes to get a grip on your list of tasks. The main benefit from his system is that everything that is causing you to worry because it is just in your mind, gets captured elsewhere. And then you THINK about it. Even though I already followed many things that he teaches, I do not do it consistently. I made a start on transforming my system and habits to be more productive and identify what really matters. Some of that “stress-free” productivity he is talking about, is already showing through.

People think a lot, but most of that thinking is of a problem, project, or situation – not about it.

The fourth one is “Disciplined Entrepreneurship” by Bill Aulet. I forayed into entrepreneurship once with my friend, Corne. We did well for a couple of years, just doing projects for other companies. Then we tried and failed miserably to launch our own product. This is the story of most small businesses. They don’t last very long because the owner jumps too fast into building something before even understanding what the market is looking for. This book contains 24 steps which leads you to think about your market, your customers, the competition, the way to go to market, your competitive advantage, etc. to make sure you fail fast. Failing fast is much better than failing after you have already spent all the money, time and effort. I think reading this may drastically improve the chances of success.

The process can help you succeed, or it can help you fail faster if failure was inevitable for the path you were on.

And then lastly, I have been reading the Bible as is my habit. This, I believe, is the greatest book with the most intriguing stories as well as life-changing power. Look at this verse. Do you believe it?

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

You may notice that there aren’t any books about running included at this time. If you are reading something, please tell me about it!

Keep running

Stephan

P.S. I am going to try to last for 24 hours next Saturday night and Sunday during the Tuffman stadium run. I had an almost effortless 25k today which makes me think that I am ready. But it is not going to be just 25k…