2016 Reading List

Over the last few years I have developed a reading system, which I shared about in a previous post (Reading Two Five), so I thought I would share my reading lists from the past few years as I developed the system.

Here are the books I read in 2016. It was a year full of some really great books. As the categories are loosely defined, there are books that could fit in more than one category, but I had to place them somewhere.

LITERATURE:

• Notes From The Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Meditations In An Emergency by Frank O’hara
• Death Of A Salesman by Arthur Miller
• The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom
• The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Standout: Death Of A Salesman. I enjoyed this beautiful, sad play so thoroughly that I included a moment of it in the conclusion of my MA Thesis.

ACADEMIC:

• Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places by Eugene Peterson
• Fiery Holy Spirit by Jonathan Kienzler
• The Theology Of The Book Of Revelation by Richard Bauckman
• Thinking In Tongues by James K.A. Smith
• The Responsibility Of The Church For Society by Richard Neibhur
• A Christian Manifesto by Francis Schaeffer
• The Cost Of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Standouts: Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, and The Theology Of The Book Of Revelation. I used a lot of highlighter in the first book in Peterson’s Conversations in Spiritual Theologies series. Reading Bauckman’s book has changed my perspective on the Book of Revelation.

Bonus: It was special to read the doctoral work of one of my favourite professors, Jonathan Kienzler, in his book, Fiery Holy Spirit.

CRAFT:

• Amusing Ourselves To Death by Neil Postman
• Worship By The Book ed. by D.A. Carson
• Emerging Worship by Dan Kimbal
• Extravagant Worship by Darlene Zschech
• Worship Through The Ages by Elmer L. Towns & Vernon M. Whaley
• The Artisan Soul by Erwin McManus
• We Become What We Worship by G. K. Beale
• Desiring The Kingdom by James K.A. Smith

Standouts: Worship By The Book, and Amusing Ourselves To Death. Worship By The Book is one of the best books on worship that I have read. I first read Postman’s prophetic book in college, but had to read it again.

EXPERIENCE:

• Walden by Henry David Thoreau
• I’m Your Man: The Life Of Leonard Cohen by Sylvie Simmons

Standout: I’m Your Man. When I started listening to Leonard Cohen in high school, I knew nothing about him, so I greatly enjoyed reading this biography of his life.

PROCESS:

• Pastor as Public Theologian by Kevin J. Vanhoozer & Owen Strachan
• Thanks for the Feedback by Douglas Stone & Sheila Heen
• Simple Church by Thom S. Rainer & Eric Geiger
• Leading in Disorienting Times by Gary Nelson & Peter Dickens
• Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson & Joseph Grenny
• The Five Love languages by Gary Chapman
• Scary Close by Donald Miller
• Contemplative Prayer by Thomas Merton
• A Beautiful Mess by Danielle Strickland
• Rising Strong by Brené Brown
• Jesus For President by Shane Claiborne & Chris Haw
• Here And Now by Henri J.M. Nouwen

Standouts: Thanks For The Feedback, and Pastor As Public Theologian. Feedback is a tricky thing, and this book is incredibly valuable to navigating how to receive it better. Transitioning from being in school to being a full-time pastor was a bit strange, but Pastor As Public Theologian helped me understand myself.

 

Here are other reading lists:
2015 Reading
2017 Reading

What are some of your best book recommendations? Let me know in the comments below.