16 Books for 2016 (and What I Learned From My Last Reading List)
I love to read! Ever since I learned how I’ve loved the feeling of a book in my hands and the thrill of discovering what’s on the next page. Whether I was trying to explore every possibility in a Choose Your Own Adventure, or being overly ambitious with homework (thanks for the help with that book on the crusades Mom!), reading has always been a significant part of my life.
When I first started blogging, back in 2013, one of my first posts was a reading list of 14 books I wanted to read in 2014. It’s been one of the most popular posts on the blog, and I love to share what I’m hoping to read. So here’s my reading list for 2016. But first, I want to share what I learned reflecting on my last reading list. . .
1. I probably won’t read everything I set out to.
When I look over the last reading list I shared I can see that I completed six out of the 14 books. If I had my way I’d read every book ever published. Unfortunately, though, there’s only so much a person can read and more is published every day. I have to accept the reality that I won’t read everything, and that’s OK because of the second lesson. . .
2. Not Everything is worth reading (at least for me)
In addition to the six books I completed there are another three that I started, but didn’t finish. This is for a variety of reasons. In all the cases it was because the book wasn’t particularly relevant for me in my current season of life. But in one of them it was because I didn’t find the writing to be particularly engaging. (Atlas Shrugged, to be totally honest.) After finishing the first four chapters or so I couldn’t bear the thought of reading the next 1000 pages (literally!). This isn’t to say that any of the books aren’t valuable, they just aren’t for me. Not right now anyway.
3. Other Things Come Up
I completed six of the 14 books I set out to read in 2014. But I definitely read more than 14 books, many of them just weren’t on the list. Other books popped up as I went through the year. Simon Sineck’s Start With Why. Jon Acuff’s Quitter. Chris Guillebeau’s $100 Startup. or Ben Arment’s Dream Year. These are just a few of the books I read that weren’t on the list. It’s simply impossible to know with 100% certainty in January which book you’ll be aching to read in August.
This year I’ve tried to plan for that with books I’m excited are coming out but haven’t been published yet. But, there are other books I know are coming out (like Pat Flynn’s Will it Fly) that I’m intrigued by. I just don’t know anything about them yet and I’m not sure I want them on my list.
4. It’s easier to read more when you’re excited about what you’re reading.
It is much easier to read a lot when you can’t wait for a moment of quiet to crack the pages back open. I used to be very strict with myself in my reading. One book at a time, cover-to-cover, period. In the last couple of years, however, I’ve realized that I read much more, and enjoy it much more, when I allow myself to have many different kinds of books going at the same time. Tired of reading about business? Pick up something to enrich your faith or a novel to help you wind down. You can always come back to that book another time (or not, see point 2).
With that, here’s my reading list for 2016:
Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp:
A couple that Becca and I are friends with recommended this book to us. It approaches parenting from a perspective that focuses on your child’s heart and relationship with God. We’ve been reading it together a little here and there and have enjoyed it so far. We’re still just a couple of chapters in and I expect that we’ll be able to finish it early this year.
The Bulletproof Diet by Dave Asprey:
This one is a re-read for me. I read it last Christmas while we were traveling to see family and really liked the content. It’s got a lot of science-y lingo in it (which tends to go right over my head) but I appreciate that it’s well-researched and referenced. I also appreciated Asprey’s emphasis on overall health and performance. However, he does seem to spend a disproportionate amount of time discussing mold and mold toxins, which isn’t as useful for people who aren’t very sensitive to those things. It definitely challenged my preconceptions of what is good for me and what isn’t. As I prepare to improve my health over this next year I want to give it another read.
Satisfy Your Soul by Bruce Demarest:
After graduating from college I signed up to participate in a graduate-level ministry program. As I started digging into the first class I quickly realized that the time and expense were too much for our young family to handle. So I dropped out, but not before purchasing my books. This was one of them. It’s a pretty academic book, but it examines the role of spiritual disciplines in the Christian life. I really enjoyed it when I started reading it and I’m excited to pick it back up this year.
E-Myth Mastery by Michael Gerber:
One of the books on my last list that I did read was The E-myth by Michael Gerber. It was highly recommended to me by both my Dad and my pastor and they definitely didn’t steer me wrong! It was amazing! Well, if The E-myth was the principle, then E-myth Mastery is the practical how-to. It’s a thick book, but one I’m excited to dig into.
Living Forward by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy:
This is one of those books that I’ve planned ahead for! I was lucky enough to get Hyatt’s free life-planning eBook before he replaced it with his current freebie, and I fully expect that this book will expand on that content well. Hyatt and Harkavy have had this book in the works for a long while and I’m so excited to dive in when it comes out this February. I got Hyatt’s 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever course this year and am loving it! I really think it will make a difference this year in helping me to accomplish what I’ve set out to do and I expect Living Forward to be a great supplement to the content of the course.
What Did You Expect by Paul Tripp:
This one’s kind of a dark horse on my reading list this year. It’s been a while since I’ve read a marriage book and I wanted to get one to read together with Becca this year. I started with a list of books that piqued my interest and stumbled through the rabbit hole that is the internet until I stumbled on to this one. Most marriage books seem to be either pretty broad in their content and focused on those who are not yet married. Or they seem to be focused on people who are already married with a particular issue or struggle. This book seems like it will bridge the gap between the two. One that covers more than one aspect of marriage without spending a significant amount of time on
Most marriage books seem to be either pretty broad in their content and focused on those who are not yet married. Or they seem to be focused on people who are already married with a particular issue or struggle. This book seems like it will bridge the gap between the two. One that covers more than one aspect of marriage without spending a significant amount of time on specifically pre-marital discussion (e.g. dating, courtship, honoring God as a single person). Pre-marital content is good. It has served Becca and me well, but it’s not particularly applicable to this season of our lives.
Thinking for a Change by John Maxwell:
During the summer I was reading Maxwell’s Everyone Communicates Few Connect. In it, he was talking about how he includes a bit of himself in each book he writes to make the communication more personal. In that section he said that Thinking for a Change essentially captured his DNA. It explains how he thinks and makes decisions as a leader. I immediately decided that this book is a must-read. If you can learn to think like John Maxwell in just 200 pages (or so) jump on that opportunity!
Disciplines of a Godly Man by R Kent Hughes:
I’ve heard great things about this book from the people who have read it. It’s another book about spiritual disciplines, which is an area I’d really like to grow in this year. I think I tend to do pretty well at Bible Study. And I’ve grown a lot in prayer over the last couple of years. But, I need to expand my toolbox of spiritual disciplines, so to speak. You can do a lot of projects with just a hammer and a screwdriver, but you can do more (and better) with a greater variety of tools. (There’s also Disciplines of a Godly Woman available for the ladies reading this.)
Do Over by Jon Acuff:
This is Jon Acuff’s latest book. Start was on my last list. And Quitter wasn’t on my list, but I read it anyway. So you can probably tell that I’m a fan of Acuff’s writing. Seth Godin called Do Over, “the best career book ever written” which is pretty high praise from a very highly respected author. I’ve been through a few career “do-overs” myself over the last year or so. I moved from one field to another within the same organization. Then transitioned to another organization entirely (although still in the same field). I’m hoping that this book can help me make the most of my most recent transition and help equip me for any others that may come in the future.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey:
This is Steven Covey’s classic book on how to get the most bang-for-the-buck out of your life. I’ve already started reading this one, but I can’t wait to finish it! Covey does a great job of providing practical insights on how to live a more effective life. He makes a distinction between people who are effective and those who are merely efficient. The latter get a lot done, but the former get the most significant things done.
Culture Making by Andy Crouch:
This is another book I started last year that I haven’t quite finished yet. One of the things I often struggle with as a pastoral major who’s not working in full-time ministry is seeing how the work I am doing has any eternal significance. This book provides a valuable framework for understanding how the work we do creating and cultivating various forms of culture fit in to God’s larger story. It examines the biblical story through the lens of culture and offers practical suggestions for how we can think about, respond to, and create culture. I’ve still got about 1/3 to go, but I’d already highly recommend it based on what I’ve read so far.
Mother Jupiter by Joseph Wolfe:
This is one I’ve been looking forward to for a while. The author is a friend of mine and I loved his last book, a Fantasy Novel, The Lion of Fallavon. Mother Jupiter is a collection of science-fiction short stories themed around the planets of our solar-system. Wolfe uses these stories to explore ideas about faith, philosophy, ethics, and life through characters who are facing circumstances unlike any of us have ever seen (or are likely to see in the near future).
To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink:
This one came highly recommended by my dad and is a New York Times Bestseller. In it, Pink makes the argument that everyone is in the business of selling in one way or another. That selling isn’t just trying to separate someone from their money: It’s about moving people. And, perhaps most significant, he suggests that most of our perceptions about selling (sleazy, smarmy, slick) aren’t necessarily accurate. If you interact with people at all, either in your job or outside of it, you most likely engage in Pink’s style of selling without even knowing it. And, you can probably benefit from the suggestions and research in his book.
Wild at Heart and Fathered by God by John Eldredge:
These books count for two of the sixteen but I’m going to talk about them together. I don’t know that I would’ve chosen these on my own, but I just started Wild and Heart and am enjoying it very much so far. These ones are on the list because they’re reading material for a men’s study I’m participating in with my church. Wild at Heart is a book about Masculinity, how God designed men to function and what he created them to desire. Fathered by God is kind of a sequel, so to speak, about the masculine journey; how boys grow into Godly men. I’m particularly excited to get into Fathered by God. This is partly because I believe that it will be edifying to me personally. But even more so because I believe it will help me become a better father to my young son. (Don’t feel forgotten ladies! Eldrige and his wife wrote a women’s book called Captivating. Becca’s read it and loved it.)
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie:
This book is a re-read for me as well. My dad gave it to me on my first day of college and left a note in the front saying that it would be the most important book I would ever read besides my Bible. So far, I’m inclined to agree with him. This is an AMAZING book, with a somewhat unfortunate title. Really it’s just a book about how to relate to people in a way that is most winsome and serves them best. This has the side benefit, when you do it, of widening your circle of friends and influence but the book is much more practical than the title may suggest.
