A couple of years ago I shared a chart that compares the biblical canon according to the following forms: Samaritan, Hebrew/Jewish, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Syriac, Ethiopian, and Protestant (see here). If you are part of one of these groups you likely adhere to the canon as understood in that tradition. Yet practice is often a more trustworthy sign of what you believe than mere confession, so even though I am an evangelical it would be a bit disingenuous for me to act as if the canon influences me equally.
I don’t think this is something negative. If you read the writings of the Apostle Paul there are some books (e.g. the Books of Genesis, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Isaiah) that are often quoted, alluded to, or echoed and others (e.g. the Books of Joshua, Jonah, Song of Songs) that are not.
If I were honest I’d say my reading canon is as follows:
Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures:
I give the most attention to the Book of Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy; the Historical Books of 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings; the Poetic Books of Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, and Lamentations; the Prophets Hosea, Joel, Jonah, Habakkuk, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel.
I don’t give as much attention to the Books of Leviticus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Song of Songs, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Zepheniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, and Ezekiel.
New Testament/Christian Scriptures:
I give the most attention to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the Book of Acts; the Pauline Epistles to the Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon; the Catholic Epistles of Hebrews, James, and 1 John; the Book of Revelation.
I don’t give as much attention to the Pastoral Epistles, the Petrine Epistles, 2 and 3 John, and the Epistle of Jude. That being said, these receive more attention that those neglected from the other testament.
We may think of this as a canon-within-a-canon. What is you canon-within-a-canon or what books do you read the most?
the archives near Emmaus 
Lamentations*
My reading canon is much smaller:
OT: Genesis, Psalms, & Proverbs
NT: Matt., Mark, Luke, John, Romans, Galatians, & Philippians
I really need to read my Bible more 😦
Jeremy: Now that you have a year between you undergraduate program and graduate school this will be a great time to read lots of Scripture!
I enjoy all the books, but there are definitely that I enjoy more, or that I am interested in learning more about. Here’s my list:
OT: I like them all, but these are the books that I tend to read more: Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Job, Ecclesiastes, Jeremiah, The Book of the Twelve.
NT: Gospels, Corinthians, Hebrews, James, Petrine Epistles, Johannine Epistles.
Deuterocanonical: Sirach…I don’t know why but this book always holds my interest when I read it.
Ryan: I rarely find someone who would mention the Petrine Epistles yet no Romans and Galatians! What is it about the Petrine Epistles that you like?
Brian: I am mostly an OT guy, so any books in the NT that I particularly like above others is going to be more captivation than any logical, significant reasoning behind my choice. As far as the Petrine Epistles go, I like 1 Peter’s discussion of suffering and the example of Christ influencing our daily lives in our own homes and world. My fascination with Peter is pretty fresh, but for some reason I always end up reading through his epistles maybe twice a week and always experience a feeling of encouragement.
As far as Romans go, it is one of those books that I will read and enjoy, but I will let others slave over the in-depth nature of the book. I think my lack of interest in Romans stems from my thinking that many people read it with the intention of disproving or proving their view of election or theological system instead of what it is intended to be read for/as. I do not “dislike” the book, but I dislike the “focus” that people often approach the book with. As a result, I think I just turn to the other books that many people don’t particularly enjoy…hence James and the Petrine Epistles, or any book outside of Pauline authorship…I like Paul…but he’s too popular? 🙂
Ryan: I can understand that. Some day I want to give the Catholic Epistles more attention. I have been studying the Pauline corpus more than any other area of Scripture for sometime and I am a bit burned out. Not because Paul is exhausting, but because of the massive amounts of secondary literature on Paul and seems to trek old ground.
Next up, intense study of the Gospels! I know it is well trekked, but I haven’t spent enough time there.
Brian: I am in the same boat as you with the Gospels. I am really trying to branch out of what I am comfortable with in reading. I never once gave the Petrine Epistles much time, if any, prior to. Now that I have read them and am continually reading them, I find them encouraging and enjoyable. Since I enjoy the OT so much, the NT is a big weakness of mine. I know the NT from reading (much easier to read NT than OT) and corporate church gatherings, but I just have not found the time to do any in-depth study on any of the books because of my preoccupation with the OT.
I also believe a factor behind my “preferred” books is that they are less-read than others. For instance, I have chosen to study the Book of the Twelve more profoundly because it is often overlooked among the more popular OT books and topis: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Pentateuch, Creation Theology. I mean, do you know many good reads on Obadiah? Haha. I chose the Book of the Twelve because I hope to contribute something to a field of study that is not broadly explored. This is kind of why I have avoided the more popular Pauline books like Romans and Galatians. Like you said, there is already so much secondary literature that it seems like nothing new is being produced. Maybe you should take up Jude or Numbers? Haha.
Ryan: I’d like to see more done on the Book of the Twelve. I knew someone who wanted to do their doctorate on the pneumatology of the Book of the Twelve (I don’t know it well enough to know how much pneumatology is present), but he went another direction.
Brian: I would like to see more work too, which is why I am just going to try and contribute work to that area. I’m not entirely sure what I would want to write about on the Book of the Twelve, but I know that this is where I want my “concentration” to be in the OT.
I am trying to catch up on blog posts from the time of my move to Oregon, and I know you have been reading some deuterocanonical/apocryphal work…do you have a favorite book?
1 Macc has been my favorite and has received most of my attention. I’ve only dabbled in the others.
Ever taken a look into Sirach?
Not yet, it looks a bit like Proverbs.
My super condensed Reader’s Digest version of scripture:
Isaiah-there is a God
John’s gospel-God loves you
Romans-God came to save you just like He said in Isaiah, through the Blood of Jesus, His Son, as reported in John!
Yeah. I refer to it as “Proverbs on the ‘Roids.”
Nancy: I like it. If you add Genesis in there you have our creation by that God who loves us and who rescues us into New Creation!
Ryan: Nice, you should write a commentary on it. I’d like to see this title: Ryan Collins, The Book of Sirach: Proverbs on ‘Roids (Grand Rapids, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2012).