Books I read in 2009

December 30, 2009

My library grows faster than my stack of completed books, a "problem" that I attempted to remedy once with the 30 pages per day project. I doubt I averaged 30 pages per day, but I knocked plenty of books off the list in 2009. Here they are:

  • Watch For The Light: Readings For Advent And Christmas [I gave two of these away during Advent]
  • Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States by Bill Bryson
  • A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson [Photo]
  • Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale by Frederick Buechner [Related blog post + photo]
  • On Religion by John Caputo [Photo]
  • Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan
  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
  • Transforming Christian Theology: For Church and Society by Philip Clayton
  • The Sacredness of Questioning Everything by David Dark
  • You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers [Related blog post - "My least favorite work by Eggers"]
  • Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
  • St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography by Philip Freeman
  • You Can Write!: The Inside Scoop on Publishing Your Nonfiction Book by Sheryl Fullerton
  • The Invention of Air: A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America by Steven Johnson [Related blog post - "Interesting but not incredible"]
  • Downtown Owl: A Novel by Chuck Klosterman
  • Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer
  • Quantum : Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality by Manjit Kumar
  • Theology and Culture: A Guide to the Discussion by D. Stephen Long
  • Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta [Photo]
  • A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life by Donald Miller
  • Youth Ministry 3.0: A Manifesto of Where We've Been, Where We Are & Where We Need to Go by Mark Oestreicher
  • Relationships Unfiltered: Help for Youth Workers, Volunteers, and Parents on Creating Authentic Relationships by Andrew Root [Related blog post + interview with the author]
  • On Waiting by Harold Schweizer [Related blog posts one and two]
  • John the Baptist in the Gospel Tradition by Walter Wink
  • I'm currently reading Frederich Buechner's Godric, which I hope to finish before the year is out. I should also mention that I'm 130 pages into Ched Myers' momentous Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus for a weekly personal study with @bmick. At ten pages/week, we should finish it before the end of 2010.1

    1. Pronounced "twenty ten", FYI. []

    { 11 comments… read them below or add one }

    marko December 30, 2009 at 6:22 pm

    Dude, I’ve read 11 of your list, so we must have some similarly unique taste!

    Reply

    Jake Bouma December 31, 2009 at 5:34 pm

    Similarly awesome taste. :)

    Reply

    John January 17, 2010 at 2:53 am

    I'm reading You Shall Know Our Velocity by Eggers… I am stubbornly sticking with it. I am about 2/3 through. I've read What Is The What and was impressed with his writing. I am not so impressed with You Shall Know… I admire you for your ability to polish off books!

    Reply

    John January 17, 2010 at 2:53 am

    I'm reading You Shall Know Our Velocity by Eggers… I am stubbornly sticking with it. I am about 2/3 through. I've read What Is The What and was impressed with his writing. I am not so impressed with You Shall Know… I admire you for your ability to polish off books!

    Reply

    Molly Flinkman February 6, 2010 at 7:52 pm

    A Million Miles in a Thousand Years was my FAVORITE book of 2009. And that's saying a lot, because I also read all the Harry Potters in 2009.

    Reply

    Molly Flinkman February 6, 2010 at 7:52 pm

    A Million Miles in a Thousand Years was my FAVORITE book of 2009. And that's saying a lot, because I also read all the Harry Potters in 2009.

    Reply

    Molly Flinkman February 6, 2010 at 7:52 pm

    A Million Miles in a Thousand Years was my FAVORITE book of 2009. And that's saying a lot, because I also read all the Harry Potters in 2009.

    Reply

    Mike Stavlund March 19, 2010 at 11:50 pm

    We're like twins separated at birth, yo. Bryson, Caputo, Eggers, Fullerton, and Krakauer? That's a little spooky. (Check out Krakauer's latest, too. It's lots better than Under the Banner.)

    Reply

    Mike Stavlund March 19, 2010 at 11:50 pm

    We're like twins separated at birth, yo. Bryson, Caputo, Eggers, Fullerton, and Krakauer? That's a little spooky. (Check out Krakauer's latest, too. It's lots better than Under the Banner.)

    Reply

    Jake Bouma March 20, 2010 at 4:20 pm

    You say spooky, I say awesome.

    Reply

    bruce September 29, 2010 at 4:54 pm

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