- Culture
- 2011,After You Believe,Bonhoeffer,books,Che Guevara,Che's Afterlife,City of Man,common grace,Eric Metaxas,ethics,Eugene Peterson,Generous Justice,Gregory Boyle,He Shines In All That's Fair,Homeboy Industries,justice,Michael Casey,Michael Gerson,Michael Sandel,N.T. Wright,Peter Wehner,politics,reading,religion,Richard Mouw,Robert Lupton,Tattoos on the Heart,The Pastor,Tim Keller,Toxic Charity
Tim Hoiland
Reviews, Musings, Quotes
Last February I shared some thoughts on the merits of reading both widely and wisely, and I shared my own reading goals for the year. Specifically, these:
- At least one book about/from every continent in the world (plus Central America and the Middle East)
- At least one book by an adherent of every major world religion
- At least 25% to be written by dead people
- At least 40% to be written by women or non-white males.
Well, how closely did I stick to those goals?
- I had each of the continents (plus Central America and the Middle East) covered
- Though I read a lot of books written by Christians and a range of non-Christians (including Alice Walker, a Buddhist, and others I presume to be either atheists or agnostics), I don’t think I read anything by Hindu or Muslim authors.
- 20 written by dead people; only 21%
- 26 written by women or non-white males; only 27%
So I did better in some areas than in others. I’ll keep the goals more or less the same for 2012. But in the meantime, as is the custom (sort of), here are my picks for the top eleven books I read in 2011. Like last time, these are in no particular order, and include books not necessarily published this year. When applicable, I include a link to what I’ve already written about it.
Timothy Keller, Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just
A must-read on following Jesus and doing justice. I reviewed this one for PRISM and blogged about it here.
Eugene H. Peterson, The Pastor: A Memoir
If you are a pastor, know a pastor, or have opinions about pastors, read this. I blogged about it here.
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
It’s a classic, and I should have read it a long time ago. I’m guessing you already have.
Michael Casey, Che’s Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image
A fascinating look at how the iconic “Che” image has been reproduced and re-appropriated for countless causes — and has paradoxically come to represent global capitalism.
Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
This biography of the great German theologian who was part of a failed assassination plot against Hitler won all kinds of awards last year. I blogged about this here.
Michael J. Sandel, Justice: What’s The Right Thing To Do?
In this book the Harvard political philosopher put the cookies on a relatively low shelf, helping you and I wrestle through different understandings of justice in the world around us. I blogged about it here.
Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
One of the most inspiring, funny and heart-breaking books I read this year. I blogged about it here.
Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner, City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era
From what I understand, this book never really took off, which is a shame, because it’s a wise, nuanced, an intelligent handling of the two topics none of us seem to know how to discuss in polite company. I blogged about this here.
Robert Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
An important book on doing no harm when seeking to do good. I blogged about this here and it was also picked up by the Values & Capitalism blog.
Richard Mouw, He Shines In All That’s Fair: Culture and Common Grace
I haven’t had a chance to blog about this yet, but I plan to in January. In this slim book, Mouw articulates a wonderful theological and practical vision of common grace.
N.T. Wright, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters
For Christians unsure about what’s supposed to happen between being “saved” and dying, this is an important book on ethics and cultivating virtue. I blogged about it here.
How about you? What were your favorite books of 2011? What are your reading goals for 2012?
Tim, I love your goals! I may appropriate them for myself. The only book on your top 11 list that I have read is To Kill a Mockingbird. I read it in 9th grade and then again in November for my book club. I loved it when I was a teenager but I LOVED it as an adult. It made me happy, angry, sad, pensive, and so many more emotions. Now I understand why my father has always held this book in such high esteem.
Thanks for sharing! I notice your top 11 actually conform very poorly with the goals at the top. Interesting…
Thanks, Jenn! Yep, TKAM is a timeless classic. Can’t believe I waited this long to read it!
Hi Katelin, thanks for your comment! Very astute observation. Interesting for me to consider the fact that while I value reading widely, when push comes to shove, at the end of the year my favorites are mostly contemporary white guys, and many of them Christians like me. Does that negate the purpose of my reading widely, or does it just mean that it’s somewhat inevitable that I’ll largely resonate with and highly recommend books by people like me? You’ve got me thinking… so thanks!
I definitely think there is value in reading things we don’t enjoy or don’t connect with. It’s always important to expand what we are familiar with.
That being said, it also takes practice to learn to appreciate and enjoy that with which we are not familiar. You’ve probably had many years of exposure to white Christian male readers and so are more comfortable with how they approach their topics. Given a similar amount of time with the other authors, a similar resonance might develop there as well. But they may always be playing catch-up.
We will surely always tend to like works that we agree with and identify with. But I appreciate your commitment to expanding your opportunities to find new agreement. I’m impressed with these reading goals. Good for you for making the commitment!
Ooh, this morning I was thinking that you should read something by Gandhi. He’s not white, he’s Hindu, he’s from Asia and he’s dead. He would fit every single goal you have. Last year I read his autobiography, “Gandhi: An Autobiography. The Story of My Experiments with Truth”. It was fascinating. I found many things about him which I respect enormously and also quite a few things I found infuriating. It was a rough read, in that he was not a particularly gifted writer (in my opinion) but once I got the hang of his writing style, it was quite thought-provoking.
StrngeFruit, I wouldn’t say there were very many books at all in 2011 that I “don’t enjoy or don’t connect with” – I’m glad I read all of them, and for the most part enjoyed reading them. I’ve had great things to say about a whole variety of these books on the blog over the past year. What you’ve pointed out, though, is that the ones that have risen to the top this year are mainly WASP males.
But you’re probably right about my reading comfort zone, if I could call it that. I think we all have reading comfort zones as well as sorts of books/authors we react to, and so the goals of reading wisely and widely for each person would be different. While for me I think it means continuing to expand my influences to include more non-white, non-male, non-Christian authors and reading them with discernment, for some, it may mean the difficult task of giving white Christian male writers an honest hearing!
Jenn, great recommendation! I’ve eyed that one up on several occasions, but like you said, I’ve found the idea of reading it daunting. In 2010 I did read an anthology of his writing (300 pages, vs the 560 in the autobiography), and I’m glad I did. Not ruling out the autobiography, though!