I’ve been blessed with a number of Amazon Gift cards and a few books as gifts recently. This means I have a pile of books on my shelf that I am currently reading or getting ready to read. I am always looking for new books and really value the recommendations of my friends highly. Some of these books I’ve read a couple chapters or just the book jacket. I’ll be posting more complete reviews of these books as I get into them.
Here’s a rundown of what’s there.
The Four Hour Work-Week – Timothy Ferriss // I was given this book by a friend who highly recommended it. I am skeptical but at least going to give it a chance. I’ll let you know how it turns out. - When the Earth is Young – Gerald Hiestand // this book was written by my brother and is a fascinating mythical story that accounts for the reality of the new heaven and new earth. I loved it. This is kind of a tease because its not available yet and I have one of the only copies available. But, when and if it is, you can be sure that I’ll try and get everyone to buy it.
- Total Church – Tim Chester & Steve Timmons // I picked this book up as I am always looking for books to give to people. It’s likely that I’ve already read most of what they have to say in other books but from flipping through it it seemed like a great intro book and they write in a clear and compelling way. So, this might be one of those give out to people who are trying to reimagine church and mission.
- Linking Arms, Linking Lives – Ron Sider, John Perkins, Wayne Gordon, F. Albert Tizon. // As a friend said, “You had me at Suburban and John Perkins.” I’ve read the intro and a little into the first chapter of this book and I’ve even blogged about it already. I’m looking forward to seeing how these well experienced and bright minds approach this subject. It’s one dear to my heart.
- Practicing His Presence – Lawrence & Laubach // I could use a little bit of what these guys are writing about for sure. Again, I’ve dipped my toes in this book a bit and am very pleased and challenged and encouraged by what I’ve read so far. What would it look like to be in God’s presence in every moment throughout the day? Impossible? Maybe but worth the effort!
- Six Thinking Hats – Edward De Bono // This book approaches an issue that has become a reality in our leadership team. People bring different perspectives to challenges and decisions and this book helps validate each one and give each on a voice. White Hat: Data, Red Hat: Emotion, Black Hat: Pessemistic, Yellow Hat: Optimistic, Green Hat: Creativity, Blue Hat: Process Control. Looking forward to reading this book for sure. This approach to decision making should be helpful in each person having their important voice be heard.
- The Seven Storey Mountain – Thomas Merton // I’ve heard Tim Keel recommend and refer to Merton enough that I have finally bought this book (the one he recommended first). It’s been compared to Augustine’s Confessions. It’s healthy for me to be reading something that isn’t about leadership or church or mission. I’m about 50 pages in so far and am totally engaged in his prose and writing and storytelling.
- Tribes – Seth Godin // I don’t know much about this book other than Seth Godin is awesome and I love his out of the box ideas. This was a gift from a friend and I’ve heard some good things about it.
- A Failure of Nerve – Thomas Friedman // I’ve written about this book on my blog a bunch already. It’s game changing in my mind and has been immensely helpful to me maturing in my leadership. I’ll recommend this book to anyone and there is a good chance I’ve already recommended this book already.
- The Other Side of 1984 – Lesslie Newbigin // An obscure book by Newbign. I’ve made it a goal to read almost everything he’s ever written. Not sure I’ll get there because he’s written a ton of articles. This book deals with his coming back from India to Great Britain and how that transformed his understanding of mission work in the West.
- Believing the Future – David Bosch // Love Bosch. One of my heros. This book promises to deliver some good stuff. John Chandler has already blogged about it a bit and I’m excited to get into it.
- The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read Your Bible – Scot McKnight // Love Scot McKnight’s ability to write about important issues in a readable way and I’m looking forward to really engaging this book more. I’ve read a few chapters and have really enjoyed what I’ve read so far.
When the Earth is Young – 
