Some books I read in 2011 that I recommend
Below is a list of books I read in 2011. This is not the complete list, but the books listed are books I recommend. As you will see, the vast majority of books have to do with Christian theology, church leadership and spirituality. In 2012, I hope to broaden my list to include more fiction, biographies, etc. This list is in no particular order. At the end, I’ll mention my three favorite books of the year:
- Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
- Next Generation Leader by Andy Stanley
- Simply Jesus by N.T. Wright
- The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight
- Church Unique by Will Mancini
- Unconditional (the call to Jesus to radical forgiveness) by Brian Zahnd
- After you believe by N.T. Wright
- Search and Rescue by Neil Cole
- Collected Sermons of Will Willimon
- Rumors of God by Jon Tyson and Darren Whitehead
- Replenish by Lance Witt
- The Pastor by Eugene Peterson
- Introducing the Missional Church by Alan Roxburgh and Scott Boren
- Small Groups with a Purpose by Steve Gladen
- The Contemplative Pastor by Eugene Peterson
- Invitation to Lead by Paul Tokunaga
- New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton
- Falling Upward by Richard Rohr
- The Best Kept Secret of Christian Mission by John Dickson
- The Good and Beautiful Community by James Bryan Smith
- The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith
- Why Jesus? by Will Willimon
- The Shattered Lantern by Ronald Rolheiser
- Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger
- Pure Desire by Ted Roberts
- The Preaching Life by Barbara Brown Taylor
- Generous Justice by Tim Keller
- Reconciling All Things by Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice
- In Praise of Slowness by Carl Honore
- The Unnecessary Pastor by Eugene Peterson and Marva Dawn
- Cracking Your Church’s Culture Code by Samuel Chand
- Our one great act of Fidelity (waiting for Christ in the Eucharist) by Ronald Rolheiser
- Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas
All of the above books were very good and I highly recommend them. My three favorite books that I read in 2011 were Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas, The Pastor by Eugene Peterson and Simply Jesus by N.T. Wright
I loved Metaxas’ book because Bonhoeffer is probably the theologian/pastor that has influenced my theology and practice more than any other. I loved the book.
I loved Eugene Peterson’s memoir because his journey as a pastor was a journey I can very much identify with. He happens to be one of my favorite authors as well.
N.T. Wrights book, Simply Jesus gives another compelling vision of who Jesus was/is and what the Kingdom is about. I can’t get enough of Wright’s books.
Can’t wait to start my 2012 reading!
Great list. My question is do you have a strategy of what books you want to hit or do you just read whatever you come across that looks interesting? Just wondering.
hey bro…I typically ask friends/leaders/mentors what they’ve been reading recently. I also tend to read lots of books that were footnoted in another book. i guess that’s my strategy…some of the books are based on ministry questions/needs as well.
This is an overwhelming list of books. Wow. Great that you get to read so much! I have 30 books sitting on my floor waiting to be read right now. I’d be lucky if I get through 10 of them in 2012. I also like to re-read “Catcher In the Rye” and “Letters To a Young Poet” throughout the year so that also puts me back a bit… but I’m excited to start “Let Justice Roll Down” by John Perkins to kick off the year.