My absolute favorite, tell-everyone-about-it book:
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
Donald Miller, in one year, has become one of my most favorite writers. After reading Million Miles, I collected and read all of Miller's other books as well. His style is casual and open, and his honesty is both amusing and refreshing. The book's message is simple: to live a better story. It certainly made me reconsider mine.
The changing face of today's "community":
The Church of Facebook: How the Hyperconnected Are Redefining Community
by Jesse Rice
Jesse Rice asks the question: Can true community be found online? He reasons that social networking, such as Facebook, distinctively points to our human need for relationship. He includes some fascinating research and psychology. It's a great start to the conversation of how the changing face of technology influences church community.
Best parenting resource:
Wild Things by Stephen James & David Thomas
For those of us raising boys, this book is a must read! It follows the developmental stages in a boy's life and describes what he needs emotionally, physically, and spiritually to grow. I plan to keep mine as a reference - it certainly helped me understand my wild men so much better! We also credit this book for giving us the idea to have a "rite of passage" for our oldest son when he turned thirteen. Good stuff!
Changed the way I eat:
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan, a brilliant New York Times writer, researches what we're eating, where it comes from, how it got to our tables, and what it really costs us. He explores everything from fast food to organics to hunting for a meal himself. A truly eye-opening book; I also wound up reading two of Pollan's other books on the subject as well.
My favorite "autism" read of the year:
Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison
John Elder Robison's memoirs of his life with Asperger's Syndrome (in addition to a highly dysfunctional family, which is also referenced by his half brother Augusten Burroughs in his book Running with Scissors). For me, this was a fascinating look into the mind of someone on the autism spectrum who could not only articulate his thoughts but also shared his memories over the course of a lifetime. It reminded me again that emotion and intention are deeply internal, and cannot be simply judged by what you see on the outside.
Personal therapy:
Father Fiction by Donald Miller
From fatherless wanderer to "wounded healer"….. Father Fiction is Miller's truly transparent narrative of processing a life without a dad. An excellent read. I'd like to read it again and journal through it myself.
Angry Conversations with God by Susan Isaacs
Disenfranchised by the church and by life's downturns, Susan took God to couples therapy (it's not as irreverent as it sounds!) Angry Conversations is an honest memoir of her life and spiritual journey to understanding who God is and who He isn't.
Fascinating Science:
Why we Make Mistakes by Joseph Hallinan
The subtitle says it all: How we look without seeing, forget things in seconds, and are all pretty sure we are way above average. The book is chock full of stats, studies, and interesting psychology (for me, anyway! LOL)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Science has known her cells for decades as "HeLa" and used them to make amazing breakthroughs in medicine, yet until now no one knew the story of Henrietta Lacks, the woman who gave those cells without consent.
I finally read some fiction:
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Fiction just isn't my thing! But a good friend convinced me this year that I should try getting lost in a story every now and then, so I took her advice and worked in a few. In The Help, Stockett tells the stories of three black women in 1960's Mississippi, their white employers, and a tell-all book that shakes everyone up. Look for the movie due out this year!
My favorite kids book:
Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
Now, I buy TONS of books each year for my kids. TONS! And I like many of them, but this one is truly precious. I bought it when my youngest son started poetry work as part of his homeschool curriculum. In Love That Dog, a boy about the same age is just being introduced to poetry for the first time and doesn't like it! But through the course of the school year, he discovers a love for verse and a way to express his feelings about the dog he lost. I kid you not, I actually CRIED! My son thought the book was very clever -- it was a GREAT way to introduce him to some of the classics.
Curse you, my amazon wishlist is already out of control! Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading something ridiculous like two or three books a week and I still can't keep up.