- Six Books I Recommend – December 2016 (12/27) – A list of books I recommend from books I read in December 2016.
- Listen for the Other – Five Favorites of 2016 (12/21) – We are a divided nation in more ways than we realized. The first step toward healing? Listen more.
- People We Lost in 2016 and Last Words (12/19) – We lost a lot of people in 2016. We say thank you.
- What Will You Tell? “Go Tell It on the Mountain” (12/15) – What good news do you have to share? Three ways to “Go Tell It on the Mountain” in our own lives. Guest post at Do Not Depart.
- Top 10 Books of 2016 (12/13) – Books have the power to change us. Here are 10 of my favorite books from 2016 that changed me.
- Is There a Better Way to Be Christian? (12/12) – Following Jesus means changing when our Christian ways aren’t so Christian after all. Review of Brian McLaren’s The Great Spiritual Migration.
- Did Your 2016 Problems Go Away? (12/7) – What problems did you start the year with? Did they go away? Have you encountered grace along the way?
- Do You Have a Word and An Audience? (12/5) – I check the pockets before I put my shorts in the washer. I find words. Everybody has a word. Speak one. Hear one. Be a witness.
- Links, Books, and Other Things I Love – December 2016 (12/1) – Links and pictures of articles, books, and things I love for December 2016.
Six Books I Recommend – December 2016
Every month we share what we’ve been reading at Jennifer’s.
This month I also shared my Top 10 Nonfiction (and Fiction) Books of 2016.
I didn’t complete my 2016 Reading Challenges this year, but I got close enough. I stopped reading some picks out of boredom, I couldn’t find others at the library, and I discovered many more books that I did want to read instead, especially books published in 2016.
For 2017? I’ll likely skip a year of reading challenges and instead read books off my Kindle and interesting library finds.
For December, here are six books that I recommend and why.
Nonfiction
1. Tribe
On Homecoming and Belonging
by Sebastian Junger
We all need to belong. Junger looks at soldiers returning from war and others who have known, then not known community, and the effects it has on us.
“Humans don’t mind hardship, in fact they thrive on it; what they mind is not feeling necessary. Modern society has perfected the art of making people not feel necessary. It’s time for that to end.”
2. The Great Spiritual Migration
How the World’s Largest Religion Is Seeking a Better Way to Be Christian
by Brian D. McLaren
McLaren wants to see the church continue to move forward, not grow stagnant. He presents some encouraging challenges for the church in this book.
“Repeating sixth grade six more times won’t teach you what you’ll learn in seventh through twelfth grades, so it’s time now to grow up and move on in liberation.”
3. 7 Days of Soul Care
A Guide to Letting God Do the Extraordinary with Your Ordinary
by Dolly M. Lee
Who doesn’t need to take better care of their soul? Dolly walks us through a seven-day journey of personal stories, scriptures, journal questions, and prayers to help us better connect with God.
“Every act you do with our extraordinary God isn’t ordinary— it’s exceptional because it is infused with his holy presence.”
Fiction
4. A Man Called Ove
by Fredrik Backman
I almost stopped reading this book after 50 pages because it was slow. I’m glad I didn’t. Although it appears to be a simple story of a grumpy old man and his interactions, you realize it’s much more as Backman unveils the backstory of Ove’s life.
5. The Sparrow
by Mary Doria Russell
This novel was written in 1997 and set in 2019 and beyond (which made it interesting to see what they incorrectly predicted for us). In a very mysterious plot, the story unfolds about a Jesuit priest and his companions who travel to a newly-discovered inhabited planet. There is a sequel, Children of God, that I hope to read in 2017.
6. The Prophet
by Kahlil Gibran
This re-read of Gibran’s poetry was equally as good as the first time I read it. Originally published in 1923, this is a series of spiritual musings by a fictional prophet who discusses life with a group of people before he sails home.
“You have been told that, even like a chain, you are as weak as your weakest link. This is but half the truth. You are also as strong as your strongest link.”
Reading Now
- Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing
by Jamie Holmes - Wherever You Go, There You Are
by Jon Kabat-Zinn - The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload
by Daniel J. Levitin - The Search for Significance: Seeing Your True Worth through God’s Eyes
by Robert S. McGee
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What are you reading this month? Please share here.
My books on Goodreads
Previous reading lists
Listen for the Other – 5 Favorites of 2016
Regardless of who you voted for in November for President, the victory of Donald Trump took most of us by surprise. Many now suggest it’s because we weren’t listening well enough. Underlying anxieties were going unheard.
We are a divided nation in more ways than we realized.
When wounds go undetected and untreated, healing is much harder.
I can’t vouch for the nation’s ears, but I know I personally don’t listen as well as I could.
The first step toward health seems obvious enough, although not easy:
Listen more.
Open our ears to hear. Then other steps will fall into place.
- Open our hearts to feel.
- Open our minds to change.
- Open our hands to love.
When we realize we really don’t know it all, we can learn more. When we understand each other better, we can love more. And when we give attention to the brokenness in others, we can all become more whole.
Looking back through stories I experienced in 2016, here are my favorite five posts about listening for the other. It’s a lesson I need to hear—and more importantly, practice—over and over.
1. God Sends No One Alone
The kindergarteners were enjoying their parents’ attention. Except for this little boy.
He was crying because “My mama didn’t come.”
2. Do You Believe What They’re Saying? Blacks and Whites in America
What do the statistics tell us? That white Christians need to be listening much closer to their black brothers and sisters. And believing what they say.
Let’s do better at hearing each others’ stories and believing what we hear.
Do you believe what they’re saying? Blacks and whites in America
3. Who will be your divine encounter?
Whether it’s one encounter in a lifetime or three times in one day, God places the right people in our paths for his purposes.
When God wants our paths to cross, he can make it happen.
4. Were They Really the “Good Old Days”? Depends on Who You Ask
When we talk about the “good old days,” how accurate are we? Maybe it depends on who you were in those days.
Not everyone agrees that America used to be a more moral country; book quotes from Between the World and Me.
Were They Really the “Good Old Days”? Depends on Who You Ask
5. No Pride in Giving, No Shame in Taking
The line Saturday morning was long and talkative. When we have, we give. And when we need, we receive.
There should be no pride or shame on either end.
And a few more posts that made me rethink some things during the year.
But the thing about helping others is we don’t always get to match our skills with their needs. Our perfectionism can become their roadblock.
Benefits from doing something imperfectly (including face painting) instead of saying no.
Will I ever see these kids again? I want to have hope that their lives will turn out good. But will they?
I want these Kindergarten students to make it; will I keep praying they will?
If we do all the “right” things, is it guaranteed we’ll raise godly children?
Pray for help to be a godly parent.
Who in your life needs to be shown some dignity today? No one deserves to be humiliated. How we treat others reveals who we are ourselves.
Book quotes from Writing My Wrongs.
We rarely know where we will die. Joy thought she would die in the tornado Thursday night as it ripped through her neighborhood.
Welcoming gratitude in a crisis is a choice.
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What voice did you hear in a fresh way this year? Did you have to learn some new things, too? Please share in the comments.
People We Lost in 2016 and Last Words
photo from CNN.com
We lost a lot of people this year.
- Space pioneer John Glenn (95)
- Singers David Bowie (69), Prince (57), Glenn Frey (67)
- Boxing legend Muhammad Ali (74)
- Writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel (87)
- Actors Gene Wilder (83), Florence Henderson (82), Alan Rickman (69), Alan Thicke (69)
- Former First Lady Nancy Reagan (94)
- Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (79)
- PBS Newscaster Gwen Ifill (61)
Plus many more. People you know. People I know.
Just last week, three people died where Kay and I deliver meals, one of them a dear lady to us and her little dog Tiger.
I didn’t get to say final words to any of them.
Or hear their final words.
It’s been three years since one of my favorite authors died: Dallas Willard (77).
His words weren’t to be read lightly or quickly. His words took time to sink in.
Even if you haven’t read Dallas Willard’s books yourself, you’ve likely been influenced by them through someone else who has.
His books on spiritual formation have been some of my favorites: The Divine Conspiracy, Renovation of the Heart, The Spirit of the Disciplines, The Great Omission.
Willard sent a clear and consistent message in all his writings:
- Our kingdom life has begun now.
- Be an active disciple of Jesus Christ.
- Deep soul transformation is possible, if pursued, because Christ is with us.
After a battle with cancer, Willard’s last words were reported to have been, “Thank you.”
What a testimony to a life of worship.
To all those we’ve lost this year, we say, “Thank you.” To them. To God.
“Thank you” are always beautiful words: first, last, and always.
16 Notable People Who Died in 2016, CNN
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Have you lost someone this year, too? Please share in the comments.
What Will You Tell? “Go Tell It on the Mountain”
When have you had big news to share? Who did you want to tell first?
We’re looking at popular Christmas hymns at Do Not Depart this month. In “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” the shepherds had great news to share.
What’s your current good news? How can you share it?
Read it all here
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Will you join me here? “3 Ways to Go Tell It on the Mountain”
Top 10 Books of 2016
Books—even paragraphs, sometimes even sentences—have the power to change us. To grow us. To move us.
The following books did that for me this year. They were not only enjoyable in the hours of reading, but they also stuck with me long after the last page was read.
Here are lists of my “Top 10 Nonfiction Books” and “Top 10 Novels,” plus 10 more books that are too important not to mention. Many, but not all, were published in 2016. But regardless of the copyright date, they all speak as loud and clear to our times as when they were originally written. Listed in no particular order.
Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2016
1. Warriors Don’t Cry
The Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock’s Central High
by Melba Pattilo Beals
The author and eight other teens in 1957 (the Little Rock Nine) were the first black students to integrate Little Rock’s Central High School. Hearing the stories was hard, but so important to listen to, even years later. We must learn to walk beside the oppressed, even if we also become oppressed as a result.
2. Writing My Wrongs
Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison
by Shaka Senghor
When Shaka Senghor was 19 years old, he murdered a man. This book shares what he learned while serving a prison sentence and afterwards. Another important book that can change your perspective on many things.
See more quotes here on my post, “Stop the Humiliation and Restore the Dignity”
3. I Am Malala
The Girl Who Stood Up For Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
by Malala Yousafzai
In Pakistan in 2012, 15-yr-old Malala refused to be silent about the closing doors of educational opportunities for girls. She was shot in the head by the Taliban. She survived and now tells her story. She is the youngest Nobel Prize recipient ever. And quite an inspiration, no matter your age.
4. Stumbling on Happiness
by Daniel Todd Gilbert
This engaging book describes what we think will make us happy, and what really does. Based on the latest scientific research, it’s quite eye-opening. We’re actually horrible predictors of our future happiness scenarios.
5. Without You, There Is No Us
Undercover Among the Sons of North Korea’s Elite
by Suki Kim
Suki Kim is a journalist who went undercover to teach English at a boys’ college in North Korea. Kim’s stories are haunting and sad, but also endearing. This book helps us understand more about people who we think are very different from us, but perhaps not as different as we think.
6. Between the World and Me
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Until we can move past our white privilege, everybody suffers. This is a profound book that the African-American author Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote to his teenage son about systemic racism in America.
7. The Boys in the Boat
Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
by Daniel James Brown
This wonderful book is about the U.S. rowing crew from the University of Washington and their journey entering the 1936 Olympics. It’s beautifully told and reads like a novel.
8. Pursuing Health in an Anxious Age
by Bob Cutillo, MD
We live in the most medically-advanced era yet. But we are increasingly concerned about our health anyway. This book explores why, and from a Christian perspective.
9. Better Than Before
Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives
by Gretchen Rubin
How do we make habits? How can we break the bad ones and keep the good ones? This is a practical book about how to organize our lives in the best way possible.
10. No Mud, No Lotus
The Art of Transforming Suffering
by Thich Nhat Hanh
We each have trials in life. We can’t escape them. But we can be transformed through them. In this book Hanh talks about facing our suffering without being overwhelmed by it.
Top 10 Novels of 2016
1. The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead
This is the powerful story of Cora, a slave on a Georgia plantation, in the 1800s. When she receives an opportunity to escape, she leaves on a literal underground railroad, a system of tracks and tunnels beneath the ground. The story chronicles the ups and downs of how she goes and where she ends up. Excellent in plot, in perspective, and in writing.
2. Underground Airlines
by Ben H. Winters
What if the Civil War never happened, and the states actually did divide into basically two countries, with slavery still existing? This novel set in modern times gives a haunting look at what might have been.
3. Everyone Brave Is Forgiven
by Chris Cleave
This novel is a beautifully-told story of World War 2 from the British side. It chronicles the journeys of the young socialite Mary in London, a black American student Zachary that she befriends, and Alastair, an art curator who enlists in the British army.
4. The Fellowship of the Ring
(The Lord of the Rings, #1)
by J.R.R. Tolkien
I didn’t expect to enjoy it so much, after starting the trilogy when I was younger and finding it too confusing. But as an adult, I enjoyed starting over with Frodo Baggins and Sam and the Ring of Power.
5. The Two Towers
(The Lord of the Rings, #2)
I couldn’t stop with book 1 of The Lord of the Rings. In this classic the Fellowship separates, but the mission to destroy the Ring goes forward.
6. The Return of the King
(The Lord of the Rings, #3)
The adventures continue and finally come to a satisfying end in the final book of the trilogy. I’m so glad I invested time in reading them all this year, although I’m sure I still missed a lot. These books are as full of symbolism as they are of narrative.
7. Before the Fall
by Noah Hawley
This mesmerizing novel is about a small plane crash off Martha’s Vineyard and the story of the passengers’ lives before and after.
8. A Man Called Ove
by Fredrik Backman
I almost gave up on this one after 50 pages. I couldn’t connect with the grouchy main character, Ove. But I’m glad I listened to others who loved this book, and kept going. Ove’s reluctant yet inevitable encounters with his neighbors make this worth the read.
9. When You Reach Me
by Rebecca Stead
This 2010 Newbery Medal winner is about 6th grader Miranda and a series of anonymous letters she’s receiving in 1978 in her home in New York. It’s a fun and easy to read mystery (and includes a few A Wrinkle in Time references).
10. The One-in-a-Million Boy
by Monica Wood
This excellent novel is the moving story of 104-year-old Ona and her friendship with a special 11-year-old Boy Scout, even though he dies on the third page of the book. The novel travels nicely back and forth through time as you piece the whole puzzle together. It’s a heart-wrenching story.
10 More Books that Are Important
- Hillbilly Elegy
A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
by J. D. Vance - The Bridge to Brilliance
How One Principal in a Tough Community Is Inspiring the World
by Nadia Lopez - Listening Is an Act of Love
A Celebration of American Life from the Storycorps Project
by Dave Isay - 10-Minute Digital Declutter
The Simple Habit to Eliminate Overwhelm from Technology, Social Media, and Online Distractions
by S.J. Scott and Barrie Davenport
[my book review] - The Road to Character
by David Brooks - The Path of Centering Prayer
Deepening Your Experience of God
by David Frenette - Christianity After Religion
The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening
by Diana Butler Bass - The Great Spiritual Migration
How the World’s Largest Religion Is Seeking a Better Way to Be Christian
by Brian D. McLaren - The Wisdom of the Enneagram
by Don Richard Riso, Russ Hudson - The Upside of Irrationality
The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home
by Dan Ariely
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What’s a good book you have read this year? Please share in the comments.
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