Booklist 2007
After hitting 59 in 2006 , my reading goal this year was 60 books, which I made (barely). September and October were hard because of school, but between the rugged required reading in June and some catch-up time in December, things worked out in the end. I'm shooting for 6 per month for a total of 72 in 2008, so we'll see what happens.
I've ranked each of the books on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) and added a comment of explanation, so pick yourself up a good book or two for the New Year.
January (5)
The Professor and the Madman by Stephen Winchester - psycho prisoner contributes entries to the Oxford Dictionary; a little slow (6)
The Shangri-La Diet by Seth Roberts - drink saffron oil, lose weight; whatever (1)
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - powerful novel about everyday life in Afghanistan; now in theaters (8)
Handbook on the Prophets by Robert Chisholm, Jr. - good reference book on Old Testament prophets; helpful (7)
Cell by Stephen King - cell phones turn people into zombies; how is this fiction? (4)
February (5)
Beyond Identity by Dick Keyes - well-written book on who (and whose) we are; Keyes is a favorite (8)
Connecting by Paul Stanley and Bobby Clinton - book on mentoring from one of my mentors (Paul); a re-read (8)
William the Baptist by James M. Chaney - old-school book(let) advocating infant baptism; I'm still not convinced (6)
Maximizing Your Effectiveness by Aubrey Malphurs - leadership book with emphasis on gifts, personality; pretty basic (7)
Witness to the Gospel: The Theology of Acts edited by I.M. Marshall - good text covering the acts of the apostles; Marshall is a stud (8)
March (5)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - re-read for Wash U's The Big Read; a classic (7)
The Pastor’s Guide to Psychological Disorders and Treatments by Brad Johnson and William Johnson - not the most fun read; helpful as a resource, though (8)
The Running Man by Stephen King - reads like a bad early 80's movie - oh, wait a minute...; there's a reason there's not been a re-release (3)
The Healing Path by Dan Allender - great content, but can't stand Allender's over-writing; syrupy goodness (6)
The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job & Ecclesiastes by Derek Kidner - small commentary on Wisdom literature; accessible and concise (8)
April (5)
Perfecting Ourselves to Death by Richard Winter - more comprehensive than revolutionary in its analysis; nice to categorize my issues, though (7)
Intentional Disciplemaking by Ron Bennett - another friend's book on leadership; good stuff on spiritual parenting (7)
Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free by F.F. Bruce - hard to beat the Brucester on matters of the New Testament; love the succinctness of this British scholar (8)
Strategic Pastoral Counseling by David Benner - not the most interesting, but really good for what it is; should be on every pastor's bookshelf (8)
Reformation of Church and Dogma (1300-1700) by Jaroslav Pelikan - analysis of original source material; hard to follow, but has its moments (6)
May (4)
The Story of Christianity, part 2 by Justo Gonzalez - good stuff on church history; Gonzalez is so readable (9)
On Being Presbyterian by Sean Michael Lucas - more information than you might want on the history of Presbyterianism (7)
Readings in Christian Thought edited by Hugh T. Kerr - great compilation of original source excerpts from church fathers; some really powerful passages from the past (9)
Dreamcatcher by Stephen Kinging - friends fight aliens; see the movie to make the bi-polar alien thing work (5)
June (9)
The Person of Christ by Donald Macleod - best book I've read on the subject of Christology; probably my book of the year, theologically speaking (10)
Calvin and The Atonement by Robert Peterson - my professor's published dissertation highlights Calvin on Christ; good to have on the shelf (8)
The Human Factor by Graham Greene - very 1970's espionage novel; not bad (6)
The Cross of Christ by John Stott - if only Stott could be the face people think of when they think about evangelicalism; solid (8)
Why I Am Not a Calvinist by Jerry Walls and Joseph Dongell - philosophy reigns surpreme (but is not convincing); nice try, though (7)
Why I Am Not an Arminian by Robert Peterson and Michael Williams - not as philosophically sexy, but more biblically-based; clear and concise (8)
Saved by Grace by Anthony Hoekema - hard to beat Hoekema (on anything); good Reformed Dutch guy on the atonement (8)
Adopted by God by Robert Peterson - okay book on biblical adoption (7)
The Brothers K by David James Duncan - powerful novel about baseball, family, and redemption; reads true on all accounts (9)
July (5)
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt - McCourt's memoir of 30 years of teaching in New York; great writing about teaching high schoolers (9)
Moral Choices by Scott B. Rae - good basic primer/text on the history and systems of philosophy; makes sense of a lot of history you never knew you didn't know (8)
The Ishbane Conspiracy by Randy Alcorn - teenage (melo)drama; yuck (2)
The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel - evidentialist apologetics written in interview form; credible because of who he interviews (7)
The Princess and the Goblin by George McDonald - fantasy story from C.S. Lewis' hero/inspiration; old school fairy tale (8)
August (6)
Doing Right by David Gill - the main text for my Biblical Ethics classes; practical look at the Ten Commandments and their implications (9)
The Roads That Built America by Dan McNichol - I've always been fascinated by our interstate system; some good retro pics of the process of getting it built (7)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling - my second time around trying to get through Rowling's books; the first one's a good start (7)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling - more of the same; okay, I guess (7)
Uncommon Decency by Richard J. Mouw - helpful book on relating to the world in a Christ-honoring way; civility = public politeness (7)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling - number three is where I got bogged down the first time; felt the same sluggishness this time around (6)
September (0)
October (3)
Creed or Chaos? by Dorothy Sayers - holding nothing back, Sayers' little book is a sassy dose of reality regarding the exclusivity of Christianity; she would never have made it in our politically correct age (9)
Losing Moses on the Freeway by Chris Hedges - an agnostic's take on the Ten Commandments; some interesting ideas and stories that challenge the usual oversimplications (7)
Sex and the Supremacy of Christ edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor - for a grace-filled handling of the topic, this is the one; a beautiful summary of biblical sexuality (9)
November (4)
Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell - Bell's first book about rethinking church; chew the meat, spit out the bones (7)
J-Pod by Douglas Coupland - his characters are all the same and his plot lines go nowhere, but when it comes to cultural observation, Coupland's the daddy; fun (8)
Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches edited by Robert Webber - the writing from the five contributors is really uneven, but Webber's summary and perspective at the end is worth the cost of the book (7)
The Mist by Stephen King - first read this novella back in 1985 as part of King's Skeleton Crew short story collection, but had to re-read it in light of the movie; such a scary story (8)
December (9)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling - Harry and company battle Voldemort; (long) variation on a familiar theme (7)
Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney - hadn't read this since high school; had I had this translation then, I might have remembered more of it (8)
Living Legacy by Jim Downing - I so wanted to like this book about the founding of The Navigators, but the personalities got in the way; a tough read (4)
Teaching for Reconciliation by Ronald T. Habermas - a Reformed perspective on Christian education; really good stuff (9)
Christian Education edited by Michael J. Anthony - an amazing compendium of research-laden writing on educating from a biblical perspective; ran out of highlighters on this one (9)
A Dark, Oval Stone by Marsena Konkle - a woman's husband dies at age 39, but life goes on for her; small first novel with some thoughtful marriage moments (8)
The Death of the Grown-Up by Diana West - profound (and prolific) cultural analysis of an America that refuses to grow up; the implications are real, folks (10)
The Pearl by John Steinbeck - a classic fable of finding a pearl of great price; you just can't go wrong with Steinbeck (8)
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman - 370 pages of good story before Pullman's bizarre Bible revision takes us down a strange path; guessing books 2 and 3 pour on the heresy (8 for good writing)
Post your own pick(s) in the comments. What were your favorites of 2007 and why?