Minimal Book Collection

Here is my entire minimal book collection right now. As I read these I will be decluttering some of them. I try to only keep the ones that I fully intend to keep referencing and reading again. I will be listing them below, and I will give more of a brief description if I have already read it. The ones I have not read I will just say what they are.

All My Current Books

• 1. Shadow of The Almighty-By Elisabeth Elliot-This one is an excellent book that I fully intend to read again when I want some inspiration. It is about Jim Elliot who was married to Elisabeth Elliot. He was a missionary to Ecuador, and was killed by Indians who speared him to death. His story is pretty famous, and there are movies about the 5 missionaries who were killed in Ecuador by spears.
• 2. Treatise on Earthly Mindedness-By Jeremiah Burroughs- This is an excellent book for any Christian person looking to be more heavenly minded. To also realize that possessions, and things are just here for our enjoyment for a short time. Our lives should not be centered around physical possessions. I highly recommend this one.
• 3. Let Me Be a Woman- By Elisabeth Elliot- This book is incredible for any woman to read. Elisabeth talks about the role of a woman according to the Bible. It has so much richness to it that I have never read before from any other author prior to this.
• 4. Biblical Minimalism- By Cheryl Smith- This book was a pivotal book for me in my journey to living more simply. I had never connected the Biblical verses talking about how we as Christians should not acquire tons of possessions prior to this book. It was a lightbulb moment for me, and it will always be a book I come back to.
• 5. Practicing His Presence- By Brother Lawrence and Laubach- This book is one I will reread over and over again. It is so short you can read it quickly, but the content is so profound. It just blew me away with the example of how we should live as Christians.
• 6. My ESV Study Bible- This is the Bible I am reading through the year in. It is huge, but has plenty of room for note taking.
• 7. The Valley of Vision- Written By Puritans- This book is a collection of prayers written by puritans. It is an excellent devotional to go along with your scripture reading from the Bible.
• 8. Morning and Evening- Charles Spurgeon- This is a daily devotional book that I have yet to read, but I cannot wait to go through it.
• 9. Rare Jewel Of Christian Contentment- Jeremiah Burroughs- This book I have yet to read, but I have found lots of quotes from this book I have used that are incredible for learning to live with contentment.
• 10. The Poor Man’s Morning and Evening Portions- By Robert Hawker- This is also a daily devotional book that I cannot wait to dive into later on.
• 11. Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century- By Broomhall- This one I found used after reading Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret I was really wanting to read more books about Hudson Taylor. This one is definitely one I cannot wait to read. Hudson Taylor was a missionary in China who is famous for his complete devotion to God.
• 12. AW Tozer’s Knowledge of the Holy- The Pursuit Of God- God’s Pursuit of Man– These are A.W. Tozer’s most popular books in one. Cannot wait to read this. I read one of his other books recently, and loved it on my kindle.
• 13. The Pursuit of Holiness- By Jerry Bridges– I don’t know a ton about this book, but it was recommended to me. I am excited to read this one as well.
• 14. John Flavel Book 1- This was a recommendation from Paul Washer. I love watching his youtube Bible teaching series. He loves to read puritan works, and I got into reading puritan works because of him.
• 15. Simply Living Well- Julia Watkins- This is an excellent book with all kinds of recipes on herbal remedies, making your own soaps, and tips on living simply. The photographer is also Julia, and her photos are gorgeous.
• 16. Be Your Child’s Pediatrician- By Rachel Weaver- This book is a reference book for home remedies for when your child is sick.
• 17. Becoming Elisabeth Elliot- By Vaughn- This one was recommended to me, and so many people have read this and love it. I cannot wait to read this one, as I am obviously a huge fan of Elisabeth Elliot.
• 18. A Chance to Die- By Elisabeth Elliot- This book is about Amy Carmichael. She is a famous missionary whom Elisabeth Elliot loved. She was very influenced by her, and chose to write a book about her life.
• 19. The Glory of Christ- John Owen- Owen is a Puritan, and this is one of the many books he has written. Cannot wait to read this one.
• 20. Pilgram’s Progress- John Bunyan- This is a famous book that is recommended by most Christians as a classic Christian book every Christian should read. I am thrilled to get to read it soon with our kids.
• 21. Devotedly- By Valerie Elliot Shepherd- This is a book put to together by Elisabeth Elliot’s only daughter. She put her parents letters back and forth to each other in one book.
• 22. Mere Christianity- C.S. Lewis- I am so excited to pick this book up again. I read this one in high school. I remember it being a very hard, but excellent read.
• 23. The Journals Of Jim Elliot- By Elisabeth Elliot– Jim Elliot’s writings are profound. He is the most inspirational person I have ever had the pleasure of reading his writings. I cannot wait to read this one.
• 24. Home Education- By Charlotte Mason- We are doing the Charlotte Mason method for homeschooling this coming year. This is Charlotte Mason’s first book about her homeschooling methods.
• 25. Anthology of George Macdonald- By C.S. Lewis- This is devotional type of book. It is so good. George Macdonald greatly influenced Lewis, and so he put together some of his works in this book.
• 26. Holy Bible King James Version– I grew up reading this version of the Bible, and so I enjoy having this version in my library to refer to.
• 27. Stepping Heavenward- By Elisabeth Prentiss- I am a few chapters into this book, but so far it is so good. It is a fiction book written about a girl.
• 28. The Modern Herbal Dispensatory- By Easley Horn- I got this one to learn about Herbalism. My goal is to grow lots of herbs on our property in the coming years.
• 29. Growing Vegetables- By Jessica Sowers- This a beginners gardening book.
• 30. Art of Divine Contentment- By Thomas Watson- This one I am currently reading. It is so good, and Thomas Watson has such excellent words. He is also a puritan.
• 31. Holy Bible- ESV- This is my Bible I take places, because the journaling one is way to big.

Thats all of them! Every Book I Own! My entire Minimal Book Collection

My best advice for keeping your books really minimal is to be super honest with yourself about what you will actually read again. A book can be excellent, but if you know you simply do not have time to reread a book again when you have lots of other books to read then you should let someone else enjoy it.

I had a couple books recently I loved and enjoyed, but my brother in law had not read them and wanted to so I gave them to him to read. This is so much better than him having to buy the books again, when I would have just let them sit on my shelf. I may not have even read them again, and now he is enjoying them. The world is full of books, and if you ever get rid of a book that you miss and want to read I am sure you can get it again.

My goal is to not purchase anymore books until l have read all the current ones I have. This is kind of a hard task for any book reader. I have a kindle that I got for my birthday that has a few books on it. I intend to start purchasing digital books or even borrowing them from the digital library instead of physical books. This is better for the environment, and also keeps me from cycling so many books in and out. I still want to always have a few physical books on hand, but I don’t need tons of them. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this peak into my books currently.