Category: Books

I read a couple of great books last month.  Check them out…

It was really hard to put this book down!  If you’re unfamiliar, this is the autobiography of the son of a Hamas founder.  He shares about his upbringing, conversion to Christianity and defection to the West.  The insider perspective on Palestine and Hamas in particular was fascinating, particularly in light of what is going on in Israel and Palestine right now.  It’s definitely worth the read.

I found Freakonomics to be entertaining and insightful.  This, the authors’ second book follows in the same vein.  They spent a lot of time applying economic principles to the phenomenon of prostitution which was enlightening but also probably not for everyone.  My favorite section of the book was on global warming and how to reduce the power of hurricanes.  Genius.

I loved this book and the entire series.  Peterson is incredibly creative with his creatures, settings and characters.  I was also impressed with how he wove in biblical themes without sounding cheesy or like a Jesus-juke.  Like always, I got completely wrapped up in the narrative and didn’t see the ending coming.  It hit me like a freight train.  It happens every time.

I thought the book was excellent.  You should probably get the entire series right now.

This is the best book I’ve read in a long time. I could go on and on about it’s sheer awesomeness. I’ve been annoying my friends for weeks with stories about Pixar’s organizational culture. As a creative thinker who leads a team of creatives this book was right up my alley.

Because I’m a big fan of Pixar’s movies, I thoroughly enjoyed the back story on Pixar’s origins, where the ideas for their movies come from and also a different perspective on Steve Jobs. I can’t recommend this book enough for leaders and creatives.

My friend Matt is a big fan of Scot McKnight–his books and theological approach, and that’s how this book found it’s way to my reading list. To be fair, Matt told me I chose the wrong McKnight book but oh well, I enjoyed the book. For one thing, it helped me survive a 15 hour flight to South Africa.

I appreciated McKnight’s argument about how we are to interpret the Bible today.  The story of God doesn’t end with the pages of the New Testament.  We, as followers of a Jesus have been granted the privilege and responsibility on carrying the story forward.  This is a vision that draws out my most passionate and driven self.

On a side note, to my discredit, I have continuously ignored the “women in ministry” debate because, well, it’s difficult–not a very compelling reason, I know.  You see, I hail from very theologically conservative roots.  I was raised in a group of churches called the IFCA, Independent Fundamental Churches of America–the name sort of speaks for itself.  Anyway, the good news is that I’m finally beginning to think deeply about the subject and engage in the debate.  As I think things through, I found McKnight’s arguments to be very helpful.

If you read my blog regularly, you know I’m a huge fan of reThink. I love the Orange philosophy of ministry. This book is a fantastic blueprint for how to build a lead small culture–that is, a culture in which small groups are the primary mode of discipleship and small group leaders are empowered to be the spiritual mentors of students. I deeply believe in this philosophy.

As always, reThink books are fantastic–elegant, strategic and artistic. If you’re involved in children’s or student ministry, this book is simply a must read.

This book wrecked me. I read it while living in a creepy hospital room in Malawi, Africa, perhaps that had something to do with the level of emotion in which I engaged the story.  I was terrified!

The story is deeply moving. I hesitate to inform you that I cried like a sissy. It’s the kind of story that motivates you to live a more meaningful ife.  You should probably just read the book.

Here’s what I read in May…

This book was incredibly fascinating.  It will blow your mind in so many ways.  The main premise of the book is that all of us are driven by habits.  Understanding how we form habits can be incredibly useful for individuals and organizations.  The simple formula is:   cue, routine and reward.  There is something here for spiritual development as well.  I wonder how this plays into the formation of spiritual disciplines.  This book is definitely worth reading but be warned that you will be scared of Target by the end of it.

Wow…did I love this book!  The theme of the book is this:  Why do evangelicals talk like they are horrible and that the Christian faith is dying when, for the most part, evangelicalism in America is thriving–in fact, growing?  The author, who is a sociologist,  presents what he feels is much more sound research than, for example, Barna’s and shows how evangelicals aren’t walking away from the faith in droves, don’t have the same divorce rate as the rest of the population, and tend to be more generous than most people.  And, he delivers his data in a wickedly funny style.

Overall, the author seemed to be saying, “Don’t listen to Barna and other Christians research organizations who continually deliver doomsday statistics.  They have an agenda and their research is faulty.”  Specifically, he repeatedly went after Barna.  I haven’t exactly sorted out where I land with all of this but it was refreshing to hear a counter argument to the bleak data I’ve been reading for the past few years.  To be honest, his data fits my student ministry experience far better than Barna’s.  Most of our students do very well with their faith beyond high school and I’ve always been baffled by the numbers Barna and others give concerning the number of college students walking away from faith.

I know that my more conservative friends may not appreciate this author but when he talks of kingdom or “life after life after death,” my heart sings.  I still remember when I finally understood that following Jesus means more than saving people for heaven and that heaven is actually a restored earth and God among us.  Sadly, I didn’t see the light on this until after Bible college…let that one sink.  It was this book that opened my eyes:

Back to N.T. Wright, regardless of where you fall in the justification debate (nerdy theology alarm!), N.T. Wright has helped to bring balance to our understanding of what it means to follow Jesus here and now.  This book is heady but I appreciated it, especially the latter half.

I hit the books hard this month.  I guess my mind needed a break because I did a lot of light reading.

Yes. I got sucked into the series.  I admit, I’m no better than your 7th grade daughter.  STOP JUDGING ME!

OK, but for real, I could not put down the first two books, but this last one was a snoozer for me.  I totally hit the wall on the steamy romance too.  I get it.  You like to snuggle.  Do I have to read about it…over and over?  And, aren’t you only 16?  Stop!

As much as I was bored in third book, the ending was fantastic.  I suppose it was worth the 50 shades of Tris and Four to get to the ending.

I’ll read anything by Bryson.  I wanted to learn a little more about Bill Shakespeare because I feel terribly uncultured and slightly barbaric.  I still don’t know anything about his plays but I did learn a thing or two about the man.  In the end, this was not my favorite Bryson book but you might enjoy it if you’re a Shakespeare fan.

Overall this was a great book.  My student ministry team and I read it together.  It only took us about 4 months.  Hey, we were busy.  Anyway, I didn’t always love the author’s tone but the content was great for leaders and organizations aspiring toward greatness.  I highly recommend it as a leadership book for a team.

I will review both of these books together because they are by the same author and also because they evoked the same reaction in me.  I’ll be honest, I felt a little like a creeper with his ear pressed to the door of some women’s club.  These books were written for women and I’m not a woman.  The truth is that I read these books because everyone kept telling me how good of a storyteller Shauna is.  I want to become a great writer and storyteller so I went ahead and pressed my ear up to the women’s club and listened in.  She does tell good stories.  Bittersweet, in particular was great because it is raw and emotional.  In my opinion, this is what makes for great books.  Sadly, Shauna and her husband have been through a few difficult years.  I deeply appreciated her willingness to delve into the darkness and tell much needed stories.

On a side note, I loved that many of the stories took place in Grand Rapids, even if she sort of hates the place.  I can’t say I blame her for all she went through in our town.  I’ll admit, I did get a bit defensive about my beloved city, but I’m over it.

This book is extremely short but it still counts because I want to reach my reading goal for this year and because it propelled me forward.  This book is powerfully motivating.  The central message is this:  “Get up early and do stuff you care about.”  It’s an incredibly simple concept, almost like, “duh.”  Mornings are when you can focus.  Mornings are when you won’t be interrupted.  Mornings are when your willpower is the strongest.  So basically, get up and start working on your dreams!  For me, it’s writing.  I wake up early, grab a cup of coffee and write.  Unless I’m tired, then I grab a cup of coffee and play Clash of Clans.  Maybe I should reread the book.