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Daniel Nelms

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Daniel’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (742)
currently-reading‎ (4)
read‎ (589)
did-not-finish‎ (2)
christian-devotional‎ (83)
children-s-literature‎ (72)
fiction-novels-etc‎ (62)
classical-reading‎ (38)
biography‎ (24)
systematic-theology‎ (22)

ecclesiology‎ (18)
cultural-issues-apologetics‎ (16)
philosophy‎ (16)
church-history‎ (13)
hermeneutics‎ (13)
pastoral-theology‎ (13)
historical‎ (12)
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biblical-theology‎ (11)
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christology‎ (10)
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Daniel is Currently Reading

Daniel Nelms is currently reading

The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)

by J.R.R. Tolkien

bookshelves: fiction-novels-etc, currently-reading

Reading for the 4th time

read in July 2016

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Daniel Nelms said: " Always better the more you read it. Tolkien is the master. "

progress:

(20%)
— 4 hours, 24 min ago

Nov 01, 2026 11:38AM · see review

Daniel Nelms is currently reading

Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood: The Rise and Fall of Byzantium, 955 AD to the First Crusade

by Anthony Kaldellis

bookshelves: currently-reading

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(20%)
— Sep 25, 2026 02:52AM

Sep 04, 2026 11:00AM

Daniel Nelms is currently reading

Anna Karenina

by Leo Tolstoy

bookshelves: fiction-novels-etc, currently-reading

Reading for the 3rd time

read in January 2018

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Daniel Nelms said: " A few times I told my wife that I lost interest in finishing this book when I was Deep into its story. I started this book in the summer of 2017, and read a few dozen other books and finished two grad classes before I finally finished the novel today A few times I told my wife that I lost interest in finishing this book when I was Deep into its story. I started this book in the summer of 2017, and read a few dozen other books and finished two grad classes before I finally finished the novel today in January of 2018.

It was a book that carried with it enormous pressure to enjoy. Some say it is the “best” novel ever written, and surely is one of the most famous works of literature in history. I wanted to like it.

I’m still young in my reading, so I recognize potential immaturity in me. It was a book that is work to read. You’d read a few hundred pages, and then within a few pages find yourself with tears, being so moved by what you are reading. Only then to plow through another few hundred pages with the plot line seemingly moving very little, for the cycle to repeat. The last section dealing with the conclusion of Levin’s story was astonishing in depth, and I found myself pushing back the wet eyes again (ha!).

Today I finally finished the book. I’m thoroughly glad I did. It’s juxtaposition between Anna and Levin is incredibly moving. I’ll never forget the story, and its argument is surprisingly relevant to our modern times.

The four stars is only for the many, many pages within its over 250+ chapters that describe a scene with incredible detail that, well, I’m not sure if it was entirely necessary. Again, I’m immature in my reading and young. Maybe later I’ll learn to appreciate it.

Will I read it again? With an average reading time of 19-20 hours, maybe not. Nevertheless, it was influential enough that I’ll never forget the characters and the story.

I didn’t care too much for Anna’s story. She’s seemed so shallow and cheap, a woman who completely threw away her life in whims. Levin, on the other hand, I could relate with. Maybe it’s because I am a man, and if I were a woman, Anna’s story would be more relatable. Vronsky seemed just as shallow and driven by passion as Anna. Levin, though, was complex, thoughtful, and never seemed to quite fit in the world he found himself in. He also was a wanna-be intellectual who few understood. That’s a man I can relate with.

All in all, it’s a must read at least once for everyone breathing. Pick it up. It took me seven months of off and on reading to finish it. You won’t regret it. ...more "

progress:

(page 45 of 963)
— Jun 23, 2026 03:06AM

Jun 23, 2026 03:06AM · see review

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Daniel’s Quotes

“Hope is the last thing that dies in man; and though it be exceedingly deceitful, yet it is of this good use to us, that while we are traveling through life it conducts us in an easier and more pleasant way to our journey's end.”
― François de La Rochefoucauld

31 likes

“It is not great talents God blesses so much as likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.”
― Charles H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students

5 likes

“I don't believe in God, but I miss him.
”
― Julian Barnes

111 likes

“Forgiveness is the only way to reverse the irreversible flow of history.”
― Hannah Arendt

tags: forgiveness, history

179 likes

“God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

225 likes

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