It seems over the last several years I have read less each year. Not by choice, but simply due to lack of time. If I hadn’t knocked out a few in the last month, I probably would have read fewer books this year than I had in probably 10 years. But it was still far fewer than I would have liked. So, when I looked at what I’ve read in 2008 I realized the pool from which to choose my favorites was not particularly large.
After taking so long to rank my favorite albums this year, I chose not to even bother with my book list. Besides, if I’d had more time for reading, some of these wouldn’t even be on the list anyway, or certainly not in the top ten. I hope to carve out more time in 2009 and have a much longer list from which to choose next year. Until then, here’s my very short list of books I read this year that I enjoyed the most and would recommend.
Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy
Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt & David L. Weaver-Zercher
The Amish community at Nickel Mines, PA, was devastated in late 2006 when a gunman entered a small schoolhouse and killed 5 girls before taking his own life. What does forgiveness look like? This community has shown us in their reaction to this senseless tragedy. Their display of love and forgiveness to the killer’s family was especially baffling to many who saw this story play out on a national stage. Outstanding story of grace, forgiveness and reconciliation.
The Evangelical Universalist
Gregory MacDonald
One evangelical’s case for Christian Universalism. Certainly this is not the interpretation of scripture I grew up with, but it is nonetheless a very intriguing book. The discussions on the traditional view of hell were of particular interest to me. However, I hope to read it again, in part because I read it in pieces over a long period of time and therefore don’t know that fully grasped the entirety of MacDonald’s views this first time.
God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question – Why We Suffer
Bart D. Ehrman
I wrote about this back when I read it, but I chose to read this book because I have many of the same questions Ehrman raises here regarding suffering and injustice. His is obviously not an attempt to answer them but rather declare why he believes the Bible doesn’t. Nevertheless, I found his take on them thought-provoking at times.
Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals
Shane Claiborne & Chris Haw
A timely book for 2008 (considering the now-historic election) about our relationship as Christians with governments and politics. You may not agree with everything herein, but considering some of the things seen from Christians this past year or two in the arena of politics (on both sides of the aisle), I think all would benefit from reading this book.
The New Blue Media: How Michael Moore, MoveOn.org, Jon Stewart and Company Are Transforming Progressive Politics
Theodore Hamm
This is a very interesting and entertaining look at the popular “blue” media, their growing popularity, and how they have come to power over the last decade or so. As one who enjoys such media sources as The Daily Show and The Onion, and appreciates (to some degree) the work of people like Michael Moore, I really enjoyed this book.
Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together
Ron Hall & Denver Moore
This is the true story of Denver Moore, who grew up a sharecropper in Louisiana, and Ron Hall, who made his fortune buying and selling art all over the world. This book tells the story of how they met, via Ron’s wife Debbie and her work in a homeless shelter, and how they changed each others lives. A great story.
True Blue: A Tribute to Mike Krzyzewski’s Career at Duke
Dick Weiss
Of course, this is not for everyone, and I considered leaving this book out of the list simply because it’s one of the worst editing jobs I’ve ever seen. I suspect it was thrown together rather quickly. But as a Duke basketball fan, it was entertaining and informative to hear from former players, coaches and others associated with Duke or Coach K about the best coach in the game right now and their experiences and relationships with him.
unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity… and Why It Matters
David Kinnaman & Gabe Lyons
This book is the result of several years of research into how a lot of young non-Christians (from teens to early 30-somethings) see those of us who claim to be disciples of Jesus. The news is not good. It is a somewhat alarming look at ourselves and should provide much food for thought regarding how we wear the name of Christ.
Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case
Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson
Last year’s list contained Don Yeager’s book on the Duke Lax case, and I thought this one by Taylor & Johnson was even better. They provide even more information about the case, the aftermath and the gross injustice experienced by those involved, despite their eventual exhonneration. An excellent read.
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
A.J. Jacobs
Jacobs – an agnostic of Jewish heritage – chronicles his year of attempting to follow scripture literally in every facet of his life. His writing is often humorous, and some of his accounts will make you laugh out loud. But it is also thought-provoking, and will force you to ask yourself how seriously you take the Bible. It could have been trimmed down and been a bit shorter without losing anything, but a very good read nonetheless.
I would also mention that I read (for the second time) Lee Camp’s Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World as a part of a book club I was in early in the year. I wrote a little about it then and would highly recommend picking this one up if you’ve never read it.
That’s it. That’s the list.
Joe and I just bought unChristian on audio – we are going to listen to it with the boys on our trip to New Orleans this week. Looking forward to it!
I just realized this morning that I forgot about a book I read back at the beginning of the year and should have included on this list. The book is Walter Wink’s Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way, which I would highly recommend as well.
From Amazon: “Wink offers a précis of his whole thinking about this issue, including the relation of Jesus and his message to politics and nonviolence, the history of nonviolent efforts, and how nonviolence can win the day when others don’t hesitate to resort to violence or terror to achieve their aims.”
I’ll have to second “Same Kind of Different as Me”…a very moving book!
Thanks for the list, Greg. Haven’t read one book on it, but will look for a few of them! Our Twickenham women’s book club is reading ‘The Shack’ for January. I saw that you read it last year but didn’t include it. Your thoughts?!
“Jesus for President” and “Same Kind of Different as Me” would make my list for ’08, too…if I had a list. I need to read more.