2012 Book List Part 1

"Read in order to live." - Gustave Flaubert

Here's the books I've read so far this year along with a short commentary on a few of them. Rather than one big post at the end of the year I figured I'd share what I'm reading every six months. This year I'm focusing on quality rather than quantity. One of my goals was to get through NT Wright's Christian Origins and the Question of God series. Thankfully I somehow got through them. Highly recommended!

1. The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky // A masterpiece! Plan on reading this again and again.
2. Beauty Will Save the World - Brian Zahnd // BZ is one of my favorite teachers right now. He's made a huge influence on my thinking. A number of these books were recommended by him. Read this book.
3. Resident Aliens - Stanley Hauerwas, William H. Willimon // My intro to Hauerwas.
4. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
5. Heaven Misplaced - Douglas Wilson // Excellent!
6. Jesus and the Land - Gary M. Burge // NT challenge to Holy Land theology. Needs to be read.
7. God of the Possible: A Biblical Introduction to the Open View of God - Gregory Boyd // Calvinism, ugh. Amazing book on open theism.
8. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
9. Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ - Russell Moore
10. The New Testament and the People of God - NT Wright // First book in the Christian Origins series.
11. Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir - Stanley Hauerwas // Good book.
12. The Politics of Jesus - John Howard Yoder // Should be read by everyone.
13. Dread Jesus - William David Spencer // Excellent intro to Rastafarian theology. Explores the Christologies within the movement. Can't wait to read Chanting Down Babylon.
14. Postmillenialism: An Eschatology of Hope - Keith A. Mathison // A++
15. The Myth of a Christian Nation - Gregory Boyd // Excellent book.
16. Animal Farm - George Orwell
17. God's Beauty and the Beast - Lynn Hiles // With foreward by William Hinn. Love Dr. Hiles.
18. The Jesus Way - Eugene Peterson // First book I've read of Peterson's outside of The Message. This guy can write. Beautiful book.
19. The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoevsky // Beauty will save the world.
20. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea - Barbara Demick // First book I've read on North Korea. So sad. Learned that Pyongyang was once known as the "Jerusalem of the East" because of the revival that took place there in the early 1900s.
21. Salvation on Sand Mountain - Dennis Covington // Wow. Amazing book on snake handling Churches. (Snake handling appears twice in the NT. The word Pastor is only found once. Hmmm...) :)
22. A Tale of Three Kings - Gene Edwards
23. I See Satan Fall Like Lightning - René Girard // Tough book.
24. The Harbinger - Jonathan Cahn // How anyone takes this book seriously is beyond me. Absolutely disagree with Cahn's theology on this.
25. The King Jesus Gospel - Scot McKnight // Do yourself a favor and read this.
26. The Prophetic Imagination - Walter Brueggemann // Excellent.
27. Don't Let's Go To the Dogs Tonight - Alexandra Fuller // Great read!
28. Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl // Excellent.
29. Jesus and the Victory of God - NT Wright // 2nd Christian Origins book. Masterpiece.
30. The Priesthood is Changing - Kelley Varner // KV has been a huge influence on my thinking for years. Get everything he's written.
31. Jesus of Nazareth - Pope Benedict XVI // Surprised at how much I liked this book. If you didn't know it was the Pope you would've thought a Protestant wrote it. Beautiful.
32. Moonwalking with Einstein - Joshua Foer // Fun book on mnemonics.
33. Escape From Camp 14 - Blaine Harden // Amazing book about life in a North Korean gulag.
34. The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg
35. Race, Religion, and Racism - Frederick K. C. Price // What can I say? He's angry here.
36. The Myth of a Christian Religion - Gregory Boyd // Read this please.
37. The Resurrection of the Son of God - NT Wright // 3rd Christian Origins book. Another masterpiece. Every teacher should read this book.
38. Long Walk to Freedom - Nelson Mandela // Amazing story.
39. Quiet - Susan Cain // The power of introverts in a world that won't shut up. Highly recommend this. Great book.
40. Simply Jesus - NT Wright // Easier Wright book. Great read.
41. The Rapture Exposed - Barbara Rossing // Left Behind is not all it's cracked up to be. God is very much for this world. Great book. :)
42. The Aquariums of Pyongyang - Kang Chol-hwan, Pierre Rigoulet
43. 1984 - George Orwell
44. Velvet Elvis - Rob Bell // Keep asking questions Rob! Awesome book.
45. Pagan Christianity - Frank Viola, George Barna // Not the best book if you have a chip on your shoulder. If you love the Church however like Viola and Barna do read this book. Definitely will make you think.

Looking at my to-read shelf and have some Pinnock, Gentry, McLaren, Willard, Kierkegaard, Augustine, Moltman, Wright (of course), Varner and more to get through in the next six months. Also plan on going through some books on my beloved Congo. If there's anything that you think I should read let me know. Always looking for recommendations. I hope this list encourages you to read more. Blessings!