No doubt, like me, you have sometimes watched “the film of the book” after reading and really enjoying “the book”. It works the other way too — acquiring “the book” after delighting in “the movie”. At the risk of dropping a spoiler on you... whichever came first is almost always the best!

Here's a little tip for something you might do when you have enjoyed a book. It is such a simple thing that you might just shrug it off and move on to other things. Yet a little digging may lead you to unexpected treasure…

The action is simply this: if you value the work of an author, Google him or her and see what you find.

It works for authors of fiction, but I suspect it pays more dividends when applied to writers of non-fiction, especially of books on the Bible and theology.

Let’s consider a couple of examples.

I enjoy the work of Craig Keener and own many of his books. He is known especially as a New Testament scholar who majors on the cultural background to the Bible. His IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament has sold over half a million copies. Keener has also written a number of well-regarded Bible book commentaries. He writes from the perspective of an evangelical who is also a charismatic.

If you Google “craig keener”, you are immediately pointed at the Wikipedia entry for him. High up in the list of search results is a link to craigkeener.com.

This site provides personal background on him, access to his blog and information on his books. The real treasure though is found on the Free Resources page, including an 82 page document (that can be freely downloaded) on how to study the Bible in its context. Links are also provided to his YouTube playlists. And you can subscribe here to his free newsletter.

Secondly, let’s take John Walton for instance. John is Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. Like Keener, he has published many books, articles and videos.

If we Google “john walton”, we need to be careful since there are other famous John Walton’s, including a Hollywood actor and the son of Walmart founder, Sam Walton. The one we want comes up a little down the returned list of search results with a link to his bio on the Wheaton College site. A (better) search for “john walton Old Testament” displays images of his bookcovers, links to his videos on YouTube and pointers to his Wikipedia entry.

Walton doesn’t appear to have a personal website, but his Wikipedia entry lists all his books and articles and includes links to other resources that might prove useful.

In conclusion then, this technique isn’t foolproof. The results vary, but that is part of the charm of any process of serendipity. Many Christian authors have generously made resources freely available on the web. Why not invest a few minutes in searching for them?