Jumping right in . . .

2010 — Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation by Parker Palmer

From Amazon: “With wisdom, compassion, and gentle humor, Parker J. Palmer invites us to listen to the inner teacher and follow its leadings toward a sense of meaning and purpose. Telling stories from his own life and the lives of others who have made a difference, he shares insights gained from darkness and depression as well as fulfillment and joy, illuminating a pathway toward vocation for all who seek the true calling of their lives.”

His views on the soul and coaxing it out were formative for me.

2011 — Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion by Gregory Boyle

My sister Elizabeth brought a copy to China when she and two of the girls visited. I wrote, “This book makes me want to be a better person! Father Gregory (G-dog) works in L.A. with people who have either been in gangs or exposed to them, helping them with gainful employment, make better decisions, and find belonging. He consistently reminds the reader that all people are of value and that compassion needs to be offered again and again and again. My favorite chapter looked at so-called failure and success in ministry. He is funny!”

2012 — The Pastor: A Memoir by Eugene Peterson

Having been in full-time ministry most of my adult life, Peterson is one of my mentors. In my notebook, in part, I wrote, “Amazing. This is the kind of life I want to lead.”

From Amazon: “Eugene Peterson tells the story of how he started Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland and his gradual discovery of what it really means to be a pastor. Steering away from abstractions, Peterson challenges conventional wisdom regarding church marketing, mega pastors, and the church’s too-cozy relationship to American glitz and consumerism to present a simple, faith-based description of what being a minister means today. In the end, Peterson discovers that being a pastor boils down to ‘paying attention and calling attention to ‘what is going on now’ between men and women, with each other and with God.'”

2013 — A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness by Nassir Ghaemi

This was a hard year to choose! I listed four “best books” and can see how each made a difference in my life and still see their fingerprints on me. But the book I could not keep talking about—and talked about it so much my friend Amy’s daughter Kate even read it and used in a class project—was A First Rate Madness.

From Amazon: “This New York Time bestseller is a myth-shattering exploration of the powerful connections between mental illness and leadership. Historians have long puzzled over the apparent mental instability of great and terrible leaders alike: Napoleon, Lincoln, Churchill, Hitler, and others. In A First-Rate Madness, Nassir Ghaemi, director of the Mood Disorders Programme at Tufts Medical Center, offers and sets forth a controversial, compelling thesis: the very qualities that mark those with mood disorders also make for the best leaders in times of crisis.”

Now I want to reread this!

2014 — Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint by Nadia Bolz-Weber

I read this in my midst of my memoir binging. I admire her writing ability so much! Chatty and readable. What draws me to this book is that she shared about life in ministry in ways that I could relate to. At that time in history (2014) much written was by rah-rah men who shared such tidy stories of ministry I could not relate.

Though very different from Nadia, I can feel like a misfit in the church because I’m not married, have no children, and am a leader. But the church is for me too and books like this remind me I am not alone. (Truth be told, I think we can all feel like we don’t belong. And she cusses like a sailor, so not all will want to read this book.)

2015 — With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God by Skye Jethani

Ugh! This was another year where I had five “best” nonfiction books. But as I look back, I still find the ideas from With in my daily life. This is my go-to book with young people in ministry. My friend Hannah read it and then felt inspired by the Holy Spirit to buy me a copy. Isn’t that beautiful!

From Amazon: “Stop Living Your Life Under, Over, From and For God and Start Living in Communion With Him.” Also, if God wants you to buy a book for me? Listen, wink!

2016 — Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown 

From Amazon: “The Way of the Essentialist isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s about getting only the right things done. It is a systematic discipline for discerning what is absolutely essential, then eliminating everything that is not, so we can make the highest possible contribution towards the things that really matter. “

I am wired to seek more =), but if I’m not discerning I can end up leading a diluted life. This book is so good!

2017 — The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business by Patrick Lencioni

You know when a book says something you believed but you didn’t know how much you believed it until you read or heard it? That, in a nutshell, is The Advantage for me! The subtitle says it all, we need competent people, but competence isn’t enough. Very helpful for what “health” is and how to pursue it in an organization.

2018 — The Power of Healthy Tension: Overcome Chronic Issues and Conflicting Values by Tim Arnold

I love this book so much, if I had to pick the best book of the decade, it would be this one. Do not approach everything as a problem to be solved, be discerning and if something is not “solvable” learn to manage the tension. (Also, anything that embraces “the messy middle” had me at hello!)

2019 — Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin

From Amazon: “In Leadership, Goodwin draws upon the four presidents she has studied most closely—Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson (in civil rights)—to show how they recognized leadership qualities within themselves and were recognized as leaders by others. By looking back to their first entries into public life, we encounter them at a time when their paths were filled with confusion, fear, and hope.”

I love reading about history because it broadens me and helps me to see my place, our place in the grand scope of the world.

Whew there you have it! If you missed it, here’s my overall thoughts on the last decade and my top 10 fiction books.

Share your nonfiction highlights of the last decade, please! Amy

Let’s jump right into it!

2010 — Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

My mom read this first and said, “You must read this!!!” She was right. Though I’m sure it had been done before, Olive was my first novel told in what at first seemed like unrelated short stories. Brilliant writing and Brilliant story telling. Though it has been 10 years since we met, I can’t for more Olive time and am eager to read Olive, Again which I’ve heard rave reviews.

2011 — Gilead: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson 

I wrote in my notebook, “Beautiful. Simply beautiful. As one reviewer wrote, ‘The disarmingly simple prose in the novel is filled with profound wisdom.’ What started out as a letter to his young son by his elderly father turned in a reflection and the complexities of life.”

In December I read Lila, the third book with these characters. It gives the background to his young wife. This year I plan to reread Gilead.

2012 — The Beginner’s Goodbye: A Novel by Anne Tyler

From Amazon: “Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron grew up fending off a sister who constantly wanted to manage him. So when he meets Dorothy, an outspoken, independent young woman, she’s like a breath of fresh air. He marries her without hesitation, and they have a relatively happy, unremarkable marriage. Aaron works at his family’s vanity-publishing business, turning out titles that presume to guide beginners through the trials of life. But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever. Only Dorothy’s unexpected appearances from the dead—in their house, on the roadway, in the market—help him to live in the moment and to find some peace. Gradually, Aaron discovers that maybe for this beginner there is indeed a way to say goodbye.”

Are you beginning to notice a theme of what I’m drawn to? People further down life’s path that want to make a difference. Good grief, this feels a bit like baring my soul and we are only to 2012. Carry on, Amy. Carry on.

2013 — Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

I’ll be honest, I have four “best” of nonfiction books for that year and no first time reads in novels that stood out. I did reread Crossing to Safety and absolutely loved it. 2013 is the year I transitioned from China to America after nearly 20 years. Nonfiction was helping me make sense of my world more than fiction was at that point. I highly recommend Crossing to Safety. And just now, in the moment, seven years later notice the title and how it is a messy interpretation of a messy wonderful season. The title is a snapshot of what I was trying to do.z

2014 — And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

I wrote, “Wow! I don’t read much fiction, but maybe I should read more. Hosseini did an amazing job telling an epic story spanning three countries, five decades, and multiple story lines with grace and dexterity.
Bookended by brother and sister Abdullah and Pari, this note from Abdullah to Pari moves me. It was written after he was diagnosed with Alzheimers and before they were reunited.

“‘They tell me I must wade into waters, where I will soon drown. Before I march in, I leave this on the shore for you. I pray you find it, sister, so you will know what was in my heart as I went under.'”

I repeat, wow.

2015 — A Separate Peace by John Knowles

In truth, I read four or five novels in 2015, so A Separate Peace probably wouldn’t have made the cut in any other year. The Tuesday Night Book Group I’m in read this because one of my nieces (or another member’s kid) read this for school and many of us had not read it. It is famous and worth reading, I should have read it long before 2015!

From Amazon, “Set at a boys’ boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, A Separate Peace is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of adolescence. Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. What happens between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world.”

2016 — Wonder by R. J. Palacio

One of my niece Katy’s favorite books, I chose it as a Velvet Ashes Book Club read. August has cranial abnormalities and his story confronts the deep part of ourselves where we judge those different from us and what it means to be beautiful or valuable. One of the highlights for me as we discussed the book was hear from a doctor and a parent who had a child with facial abnormalities. You can read what the doctor said here and the parent here.

2017 — A Man Called Ove: A Novel by Fredrik Backman

I wrote, “This book is amazing! It is brilliant story telling—and from a marketing perspective, to reinforce Ove’s name, brilliant! I loved watching Ove navigate life after his wife died. He was true to his grumpy self, but also open to community. His story showed how very much we all need each other.”

2018 — Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

From Amazon, “Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle, proud of her country roots and the ‘Indian-ness in her blood,’ travels from Ohio to Idaho with her eccentric grandparents. Along the way, she tells them of the story of Phoebe Winterbottom, who received mysterious messages, who met a ‘potential lunatic,’ and whose mother disappeared. As Sal entertains her grandparents with Phoebe’s outrageous story, her own story begins to unfold—the story of a thirteen-year-old girl whose only wish is to be reunited with her missing mother.”

Also read for the Velvet Ashes Book Club and the conversation it stimulated was rich! If you’re looking for a great book to discuss, try Walk Two Moons.

2019 — Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel by Gail Honeyman

I wrote, “I LOVE this book SO MUCH!!!! Eleanor is 30 and has very poor social skills, saying exactly what she thinks in a literal way. Mom described this book as Eleanor unfolding like a flower blossom. The storytelling was outstanding as Honeyman dropped clues that kept the story moving forward and the reader curious. This is a book about loneliness and the power of human connection.”

If you missed it, here are my thoughts on the last decade of books I read and tomorrow I’ll share my top nonfiction of each year of the last decade. Share some of your favorite fiction below! I can’t wait to hear. Amy

As the last decade drew to a close, I was curious to look back over my reading notebooks and ask myself the question: what was the best book I read each year?

In classic Amy-fashion, having opened pandora’s box—lists, books, and patterns are my catnip—this simple question morphed into three blog posts. I found myself pitting oh say, Wonder against Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less in 2016. It was like watching the worst boxing match on the planet, wincing at each blow.

I conceded I was on a fool’s errand and allowed myself two books from each year: best fiction and best nonfiction.

And then I almost added more categories because not all fiction or nonfiction are equal. Stop the madness Amy! Just pick a book!

So I did. Tomorrow I’ll share my fav fiction read from each year of the last decade and the day after that my fav nonfiction read.

Today, I want to share my thoughts reviewing a decade of reading.

Faithfulness adds up.

Would you be shocked to hear that I read 621 books last decade? I sure was! I knew that I was reading (duh!) and at the end of every year I was curious how many books I’d read that year. But, I never added up the years until now. On average, that is 62.1 books a year, 5.175 books a month, or 1.29375 books per week.

Like you, I had weeks where I did not read much, if at all. International moves, illness, traveling, my dad’s death, starting two ministries, writing four books, watching the Denver Broncos. My lowest year was 56 books in 2015, which surprised me. Nothing big happening that year, so go figure. In 2011 I made the goal to read 70 books and hit it. And nearly died in the process. Most of December was dedicated to reading the shortest books I could find, not my noblest book choices, that’s for sure.

But day in and day out, the years passed and I read 621 books.

Seasons are reflected in reading choices.

Good golly, but if anyone looks over the books by years, themes emerge. I can see when my thinking towards writing shifted and I read voraciously about the craft. The year after I relocated from China I read memoirs like a drowning fool, looking to cling to anyone else’s story in hopes of making sense of my own. Leading two organizations (Velvet Ashes and Global Trellis) has flavored my reading choices.

Reading formed me.

Seeing a title, author, or my thoughts on a book brought back memories to mind. I was reminded that much of what I know, think, or believe was formed by my reading.

Thankfully, I also saw on my lists books I disagree with or no longer would recommend and that’s good. If I’m only reading people who think like me, I’m not going to grow very much as a human!

Solitary, but not alone.

Over and over as I poured over my lists, I smiled at how often I noted, “Read for the June Velvet Ashes Book Club” or “Read this for Tuesday Night Book Group.” And over and over I noticed how reading in community broadens my reading selections, pushes me to read books I’ve been meaning to read, and helps me see what I would have missed as we discussed it.

If you are wanting to read more, it’s this simple: join a book club. If you are not sure of any in your area, join the Velvet Ashes Book Club. We are reading the novel Chasing Francis this month and I am loving it! Case in point, Chasing has been on my to-read list forever. I’m so glad to be reading it!

Stay posted for th Summers Reading Challenge! That’s also developed me as a reader.

Any chance you kept a list of the last decade? What patterns did you notice? I’d love to hear how reading the last ten years formed you.

Happy Reading!

Amy

P.S. Up tomorrow? Best fiction of the decade! Day after? Best nonfiction of the decade!

Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

The internet is awash with lists containing the “Best books of 2018.” I love reading them and seeing which books I’ve read, which are on my to-read list, and which are brand new to me. Here is my list, enjoy!

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

Genre: Work / Life

About the book: “Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It’s a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship.”

Why I loved it: I find too much of my time/brain space given to shallow work and shallow tasks. Newport helped me understand how much this impacts my brain and the ability to do sustained deep work. The constant attention switched we do is not good for our brains. I read this book last January and find myself returning to it again and again.

The Power of Healthy Tension by Tim Arnold

Genre: Leadership (I would argue “Life”)

About the book: “Often leaders and teams have a clear vision but fail to live it out. They feel stuck because of conflicting values, division within the team, and resistance to change. The Power of Healthy Tension helps leaders get unstuck.”

Why I loved it: I know have written about this book more than any other this year. Sorry-not-sorry! Culturally most of us reading this post have been programmed to see situations as “problems to be solved.” The result? We lack discernment on what are actual problems and what are tensions to be managed. For instance, responding in a truly loving way requires both unconditional acceptance and accountability (not one or the other).

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Genre: Classic

About the book: “When her father leaves the Church in a crisis of conscience, Margaret Hale is uprooted from her comfortable home in Hampshire to move with her family to the north of England. Initially repulsed by the ugliness of her new surroundings in the industrial town of Milton, Margaret becomes aware of the poverty and suffering of the local mill workers and develops a passionate sense of social justice.”

Why I loved it: I will come clean, I had never heard of this North and South until it was chosen to be the June read for the Velvet Ashes Book Club. Though full of death and class clashes and written in a style of another era, I loved it because it sucked me in (and is free on Kindle!). Bonus: this book models the importance of having touchpoints for different groups to interact and talk.

The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Dorris Kearns Goodw

Genre: History

About the book: “A dynamic history of the first decade of the Progressive era, that tumultuous time when the nation was coming unseamed and reform was in the air.”

Why I loved it: Okay, I truly did love this book, but why it made my top ten is because this book and I have been dancing for years. Finally, I quit dancing and read it for the Summer Reading Challenge. It was totally worth it! If you have been dancing with a book, quit dancing, pick it up and read. I shared Ten Takeaways from The Bully Pulpit.  Added bonus? My friend Kathleen read it with me. That’s true friendbookship!

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Bachman

Genre: Fiction

About the book: “When Elsa’s grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa’s greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother’s instructions lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and old crones but also to the truth about fairy tales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.”

Why I loved it: While Grandmother is slower to fall in love with than A Man Called Ove and confused me for the first third (clearly salesmanship runs in my blood! Ha!), I loved this book. Both of my book clubs read this, and it was in the second reading that Bachman earned my total respect as a storyteller. It is only as she delivers her Grandmother’s letters does Elsa realize her grandmother used stories to make sense of her reality and it was through the stories that she could actually see the people in her life. Not to over-spiritualize, but this book might be a modern parable. For those who have eyes to see, you’ll love it. For those who don’t, you won’t.

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

Genre: Memoir

About the book: “Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule.”

Why I loved it: Memoir is my favorite genre, and this book is why. Memoir lets the reader (me) walk in another’s shoes. In my notes, I wrote, “Compelling, tight, humorous, a great read for a Baltic cruise.”

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

Genre: Memoir

About the book: “Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.”

Why I loved it: You know when you read a book and can’t quite believe that another person’s life could be like this? That’s Educated. Once again, I love how memoir opens a door into a world I did not know existed. (Warning, if you hated The Glass Castle or do not want to read how this family abused each other, pass on this book.)

Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life by Tish Harrison Warren

Genre: Christian Living

About the book: “In the overlooked moments and routines of our day, we can become aware of God’s presence in surprising ways. How do we embrace the sacred in the ordinary and the ordinary in the sacred? Framed around one ordinary day, this book explores daily life through the lens of liturgy, small practices, and habits that form us. Each daily activity is related to a spiritual practice as well as an aspect of our Sunday worship.”

Why I loved it: This is the book I wish I had thought of to write. This is the book that comes the closest to capturing what goes on in my head and how I want to interact with this world. This is the book that captures the muck of my life while offering out the hope of who I can be. This is the book that shows how theology and spiritual practices are for our common lives. I’m pretty sure Tish and I would be friends if we met.

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf

Genre: Fiction

About the book: “In the familiar setting of Holt, Colorado, home to all of Kent Haruf’s inimitable fiction, Addie Moore pays an unexpected visit to a neighbor, Louis Waters. Her husband died years ago, as did his wife, and in such a small town they naturally have known of each other for decades; in fact, Addie was quite fond of Louis’s wife. His daughter lives hours away, her son even farther, and Addie and Louis have long been living alone in empty houses, the nights so terribly lonely, especially with no one to talk with. But maybe that could change?”

Why I loved it: I first fell in love with local Coloradan author when I read Plainsong. How he can tell such rich and quietly moving stories with such sparse writing is a beautiful mystery to me. Months later I find myself thinking about Addie and Louis. I wonder how they are.

As Kingfishers Catch Fire: A Conversation on the Ways of God Formed by the Words of God by Eugene Peterson

Genre: Christian Living

About the book: “‘Sixty years ago I found myself distracted,’ Eugene Peterson wrote. ‘A chasm had developed between the way I was preaching from the pulpit and my deepest convictions on what it meant to be a pastor.’ And so began Peterson’s journey to live and teach a life of congruence—congruence between preaching and living, between what we do and the way we do it, between what is written in Scripture and how we live out that truth.”

Why I love it: When Eugene Peterson died this fall, I found myself craving his writing. I love this book because he shares sermons he gave over the years, which is to say, Peterson modeled what “a long obedience in the same direction. When I own a book, I note in the back pages and thoughts I want to remember. This is by far my most marked up book of the year. Peterson, you will be missed.

And a bonus book because not every year will I get to share a book I wrote, so when I do, it is to be noted (and celebrated!).

All the News That’s Fit to Tell and How to Tell It: How to Write Christian Newsletters

“You might not think of yourself as a writer, but you are. Whether on social media, newsletters, or reports, writing is a part of your ministry life. What if improving as a writer allows you to communicate with friends, family, and co-workers more effectively? What if improving your writing is simpler—and more fun—than you remember from school days?”

You might also enjoy the 9 Books I Loved in 2014,  10 Books I Loved in 2015,   My top 15 books in 2016, and  Have you read the 17 Best Books of 2017?

What were some of your best reads from 2018?