Best of 2010: Favorite Books
To those of you who actually still check my blog - or who subscribe to it in some form or another!
I thought I'd close out the year with a few posts highlighting my "best of" lists from 2010. Nothing fancy - just a few closing thoughts on what overall ended up being a pretty good year! To get us started - I'll share some of my favorite books from 2010.
In no particular order . . .
1) White Tiger - by Aravind Adiga
A novel set in modern India, told from the perspective of a taxi-cab driver from a rural-poor area trying to make his way in the big city. It's a fascinating, engaging, horrifying tale all in one. One of those books where the character (more significantly their voice) becomes so engaging you feel a loss when you finish the story and have to move on.
2) REWORK - by Jason Fried and David Hansson of 37 Signals
I'm not a huge fan of what tends to make it to the management/leadership/business market, but this book is an exception. Imminently readable, lighthearted but surefooted, these guys know how to get you think about how you work (and why you work) from a whole new angle. It's already left me with a list of over a dozen "I need to think more about this" tasks . . . and I'm not even their primary audience. Trust me, even if you work in the non-profit sector, if you can reinterpret the business language for your own context this book is of tremendous value, namely for the paradigms it shatters and replaces with wry sensibility for the modern worker.
3) Movements That Change The World - by Steve Addison
Addison has a way of simultaneously analyzing, defining and inspiring action that leads to influencing movements. This is a short, easy to read book full of simple principles illustrated with current and historical examples of movements which propelled the story of God with white-hot fervor. If you ever wondered whether you were part of something bigger than yourself - or wanted to be but didn't know how to get there - this one's for you.
4) Manhood for Amateurs - by Michael Chabon
When I found out one of my favorite writers had completed a compilation of essays on what it means to be a man (father, brother, son, friend, lover, husband) I had to pick it up. In short, I laughed, I wept, I read large portions of it out loud to my wife. Chabon has a way of capturing the ache of lost childhood, the confusion of fatherhood, and the messiness of marriage in a way that is refreshing, uplifting and, well just plain fun to read. I'll warn you now - Chabon is a great writer, but some of it is stronger than a PG rating, and a few of his stories make you realize how different life is without Christ as a moral anchor. Totally worth the read though. Best laugh-out loud book of the year.
5) Collaboration - by Morten T. Hansen
A great recommendation by a friend and colleague that came at just the right time for me personally and professionally. Hansen digs into the benefits of disciplined collaboration across organizational units, and also offers helpful tools for discerning when collaboration is worth the costs (and more importantly, when it isn't). One of my biggest take-aways involved thinking through in a more intentional way who it is I network with internally and externally. Again, there's some technical language here that will need to be reapplied to many people's workflows, but the research is sound and the recommendations are solid and wise.
Other Notable Books I Read And Feel Like Sharing:
- The Unquenchable Flame - entertaining and at times sobering recounting of the Reformation as it unfolded in Europe.
- Portrait of Calvin - a very readable thematic biography of an oft-understood Reformer. Turns out Calvin wasn't that bad of a guy after all.
- The Mission of God - this thing is a hefty volume and a huge undertaking (I'm still not finished!) but well worth it. In it you'll find an argument for establishing a missional basis for the entire Bible (rather than just a biblical basis for mission.)
BONUS: After the rather disappointing and enigmatic finale of LOST this year I was motivated to re-read C.S. Lewis' fictional (allegorical?) treatment of heaven and hell. If you haven't read The Great Divorce, it is seriously a good book.
BONUS BONUS: A couple fun tips on the tech side. This year I started tracking the pace of my reading with ReadMore - an iOS app by Navel Labs. I also got into www.goodreads.com - a social way to share what you're reading with friends, rank books, and get some sweet reading recommendations. Lastly, you will think I'm a total nerd, but I really appreciated Michael Hyatt's suggested book summarization process on his blog (post is linked here) - and I tried it out for a few of the books listed above!