Today I found a really nice interview with author Robin Lee Hatcher. She discusses her new books, why she writes, shares her testimony and reveals some very personal thoughts about her experiences.

If you have about 20 minutes I’d encourage you to listen to the interview and also check out Robin’s awesome blog.

Marilyn Griffith did the interview with her on her blog Word Praize - check it out.

One of my favorite ministries in the whole world is Stand to Reason because not only is Greg Koukl very articulate, but he is also very knowledgable about how to study the Word of God.

A few years ago he wrote an awesome article called Why Settle for Merely Reading a Book When You Can Master It? How to Read Less More, and Twice as Fast that I thought all of you might really enjoy.

Here are some highlights:

Overview

Get a sense of the book in 5-10 minutes.
Read jacket copy, contents, skim preface & introduction, read conclusion (last 3 pages) and skim the index. Note publisher and date of publication.
Quickly page through the entire book at the rate of 2-3 seconds per page.
Determine if you want to read the book more thoroughly, give it away, or file it for future reference.

Preview
Skim entire book at a slower rate (4-10 seconds per page), breaking the book in as you go.
Look for structure, outline, key facts and concepts.
Write a quick summary for the book in pencil on title page.

Read
Preview each chapter again before you read it to get the structure (4-10 seconds per page).
Read every word at fastest comfortable speed using a pointer so you won’t wander, hesitate, regress, or lose your place. Mark the margin, but don’t underline the text.
Write a 1-4 sentence summary in pencil at the beginning of the chapter.
Sketch a quick outline or recall pattern.

Postview Immediately
Re-read the chapter quickly, focusing on marked sections, interacting with the text.
Refine your 1-4 sentence summary at the beginning of the chapter.
Review at regular intervals, looking over recall patterns and summary material.

* Eccl. 12:12.

Congratulations to Catez Stevens of New Zealand for being this weeks Exclusive Reviewer of the Week

Catez’ weblog Allthings2all reflects her diverse interests in literature, apologetics, culture, and evangelism. She began blogging after realizing the internet is a global highway, and was inspired by the Apostle Paul’s words “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some”. She has always been an avid reader and is very much enjoying the opportunity to review cutting edge Christian literature for Mind and Media.

Here are the latest best selling books from Publisher’s Weekly

I think it’s amazing in a culture where literacy rates have fallen in our schools that so many people enjoy reading. This is a great thing!

Today she did and I’m so thankful! I’ve heard from many of her readers and added more great reviewers as a result. So if you don’t know who La Shawn is, check out her site today, and why not begin with the post she wrote about Mind & Media.