the good city

(Jon) My first New Year’s resolution is:

Stop buying books.

I have enough books on church, culture, cities and community on my shelves to last me at least through December. And they all came highly recommended by those who have a love for the city. Take a look:

• Home From Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler
• Suburban Nation by Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck
• The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg
• Celebrating the Good Place, Ray Oldenburg, editor
• Lectures on Calvinism by Abraham Kuyper
• Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• Face to Face by Steve Wilkins
• The Meaning of the City by Jacques Ellul
• The Calvinistic Concept of Culture by Henry Van Til
• The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs
• The Christian Imagination: G.K. Chesterton on the Arts by Thomas Peters

Here’s what I’ve read in 2007 or earlier but hope to restudy in 2008:

• Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith by Eric Jacobsen
• City Comforts by David Sucher
• The Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler
• Heaven Is Not My Home by Paul Marshall
• The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida
• Angels in the Architecture by Douglas Wilson and Douglas Jones
• Mother Kirk by Douglas Wilson
• Plowing in Hope by David Bruce Hegeman
• all 22 books by Francis Schaeffer

And beyond actually reading them and understanding them, I intend on commenting on them here at The Good City. Good grief!

I’ve just begun Life Together because I felt I needed some more spiritual sustenance. But do you have any suggestions on what I should pick up next? Any books on my bookshelf that you’ve already read and would recommend?

– Jon Swerens · photo by austinevan on Flickr