These are the books I enjoyed most in the last year. Each of them has had left deeper grooves on my brain and life than any others I read in the same time span. And I enjoyed them all immensely for various reasons.
In no particular order:
1) The Princess and Curdie
by George MacDonald
This is actually the sequel to The Princess And The Goblin, but I liked it more. Macdonald is a story teller who influenced Tolkien, Lewis, and Sayers. If you can do that you very clearly can weave a tale worth reading.
2) Steve Jobs
by Walter Isaacson
Good biographies are heard to write, as evidenced by how many boring ones there are. Isaacson managed to keep my attention for all 800 (or however many) pages. It helps that Jobs is one of the most fascinating and influential people of the past century. He is not a man to emulate, but he is one we can learn from.
3) Facing Leviathan
by Mark Sayers
Leadership books usually aren’t very artful. More often they’re pithy statements connected by chains of principles and lists of to-dos. Sayers turns that on its head with remarkable tapestry of culture, history, theology, personal testimony, and leadership lessons. It is actually a captivating read.
4) The Man Called Cash
by Steve Turner
Johnny Cash is simply one of the most interesting, complex people I have ever read about. This book wasn’t the best written, but the subject was so interesting it kept me turning pages. I became interested in Cash because I love his music and the more I learned of his life, struggles, and faith the more interested I became.
5) The Effective Executive
by Peter Drucker
When I read Drucker’s classic book I realized where so many other leadership and management books got their ideas. In fact, Driuckers principles are ingrained into leadership literature today most people couldn’t pick them out as his. I recommend this book to anyone – pastor, CEO, entrepreneur, inner aspiring to lead, mid level manager – who has or seeks responsibility over others. Wonderful resource.
