Booklist 2012
As we close 2012, I give you the 21 books I read this year (along with my rating of each out of ten). Here's to 2013 being a year of reading and big ideas for all. Happy New Year!
January (2)
The Third Conversion: A Novelette by R. Scott Rodin – A small book on relational fundraising as told through a set of conversations between development officers. Meh. (4)
The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity by Russell D. Roberts – Really liked this book and its narrative approach to understanding economics. (8)
February (2)
Samson and the Pirate Monks by Nate Larkin – I’ve read several of these “men and porn” books and this is the best of the lot. (7)
Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis by Lauren Winner – A quiet book that brought me up to speed on some sadness of my friend’s last few years. Lauren always writes well; I just didn’t know what to do, say, or how to help after reading it. (6)
March (1)
Mark: The Beginning of the Gospel by Michael Card – The second of a four-book layman’s commentary on the Gospels. No one makes Jesus and the disciples come alive for me like Mike does. (7)
April (1)
The Enemy Within: Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin by Kris Lundgaard – Liked this book’s distillation of John Owens’ books, Indwelling Sin and The Mortification of Sin. Helpful. (8)
May (3)
American Government: Brief Edition by James Q. Wilson – A succinct and helpful summary of all aspects of our American form of government. Now if it would just work… (7)
A Patriot's History of the United States by Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen – Enjoyable history text that leans way right at times. (7)
A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn– Enjoyable history text that leans way left at times. (7)
June (1)
I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe – Loved Wolfe’s writing and story of a small town girl who goes to a big-time college and learns some hard (and sad) lessons. I want my girls to read this before they leave home…and I don’t. (9)
July (2)
Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation by James K.A. Smith – Best book I read all year. Smith is a very good scholarly writer with even better ideas about education. Thesis: “What if education wasn't first and foremost about what we know, but about what we love?” Yes. (10)
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson – Listened to this with Megan and the girls in the van on vacation this summer. A classic. (9)
August (0)
September (1)
Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics by Ross Douthat – my other favorite read of the year, Douthat’s book about the state of American Christianity (and how and why it is what it is) blew me away in its historical, cultural, and theological analysis. Wow. (10)
October (2)
Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life by David Allen – Listened to this on a road trip and was glad to do so – best stuff I know of for getting better at getting things done. (8)
New Sales. Simplified.: The Essential Handbook for Prospecting and New Business Development by Mike Weinberg – Dynamic debut from my friend on the meat and potatoes of making the sale. Applied much to my marketing and fundraising plans for Veritas. (8)
November (2)
The Baylor Project: Taking Christian Higher Education to the Next Level edited by Barry G. Hankins and Donald D. Schmeltekopf – Can a Protestant university be a first-class research institution and preserve its soul? Engaging collection of essays on how Baylor is attempting to do just that. (7)
Community: Taking Your Small Group Off Life Support by Brad House – Seemed almost too co-dependent and used way too much Christian-ese to make the argument for why and how life should be lived in small groups. (5)
December (4)
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens – Wanted to like this one more than I did. Let’s just say it all makes sense when you realize Dickens got paid by the word. (6)
The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined by Salman Khan – Great analysis of the limitations of traditional public education; good ideas about teaching true mastery; bad ideas about what a complete education can and should be. (5)
Redemption: Freed by Jesus from the Idols We Worship and the Wounds We Carry by Mike Wilkerson – Liked this one a lot as a primer on how sin works and how the Gospel calls us to respond. Best part: Exodus is the key text considered. (8)
King Alfred’s English: A History of the Language We Speak and Why We Should Be Glad We Do by Laurie J. White and Marika Mullen – Really liked this book and its engaging convergence of literary, historical, and philological studies of English. (8)
(Peruse booklists from previous years here: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006.)