Recovering the Lost Art of Reading

“No one more than Christians should appreciate and cultivate the reading of well-written words. Yet, with so much else vying for our attention, many today have forgotten—or perhaps never really learned—how to read with care and skill the words that have shaped human history for thousands of years. Whether you are a student, teacher, parent, or pastor, Recovering the Lost Art of Reading will instruct and delight you in God’s wonderful gift of language and literature.”

—Karen Swallow Prior, Research Professor of English and Christianity and Culture, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; author, On Reading Well

“In this literate but accessible book, Leland Ryken and Glenda Faye Mathes first rescue true literature from the trash heap of ‘text’ to which it has been confined for the last half century and then provide their readers with tools for engaging fully with the goodness, truth, and beauty of the imaginative poetry and prose of the past and present.”

—Louis Markos, Professor of English and Scholar in Residence, Houston Baptist University; author, From Achilles to Christ and Literature: A Student’s Guide

“Both practical and inspirational, Recovering the Lost Art of Reading deserves a wide audience. May it spur us, as ‘people of the book,’ to slow down and savor the riches of literature and the great gift of literacy.”

—Janie Cheaney, Senior Writer, WORLD magazine

“Thoughtful, challenging, and even harrowing, Recovering the Lost Art of Reading persuasively exhorts us to recover the serenity, joy, and wonder of serious reading. Those who seriously engage this book will find themselves blessedly refreshed, educated, and motivated to pursue the good, the true, and the beautiful.”

—David V. Urban, Professor of English, Calvin University; author, Milton and the Parables of Jesus