Summer Reading List

If you are like me, at the end of the school year some of your teachers would give you a “summer reading lists.” Of course you never read any of the books on the list or if you did you waited until the last week of August.

This year I am challenging myself with an ambitious reading list. The list was compiled after consulting some friends and church members. At the end of the day the list is primarily made up of books that were already on my shelf because I had purchased them for a variety of reasons. It is also likely that I will add one or two books after Annual Conference as I always buy the books at the “Bishop’s Recommendations” table at the Cokesbury display. It is my hope to publish a short review/book report on “graceandstuff” as I complete each book. Some books I will be reading a chapter a week throughout the summer, some I will be reading in a period of a few days. Below are the books with a short commentary about each one. So here they are in alphabetical order by author.

Covey, Stephen R. The 8th Habit. Free press, 2004
I have already started this book but will begin again in the first week of June with the intention to read one chapter a week. Not only is it a book but it comes with a great DVD. Now, I wonder what happened with the other 7 habits? Hmmm.

Crossan, John Dominic and Reed, Jonathan L. Excavating Jesus, beneath the stones, behind the texts. HarperSanFrancisco, 2001
This book is on my shelf as it has come to me from my great uncle Rev. George Foye who passed away a couple of years ago. Uncle George was a member of the Cal-Pac (Southern California) Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Crossan is a well known Jesus scholar and I am looking forward to what he has to say.

Diamond, Jared. Collapse, how societies choose to fail or succeed. Viking, 2005
Diamond’s “Guns, Germs and Steel” was a fantastic work explaining how civiliztions began and why they developed the way the did. I am looking forward to see if he was as effective with “Collapse.”

Kasser, Meyer and Wurst. Eds. The Gospel of Judas. National Geographic, 2006
The June Sermon series is titled “The DaVinci Code, The Gospel of Judas, and other Heresies” This Gnostic Gospel should be interesting for what it reveals about Gnostic Christianity.

Keri, Jonah. Ed. Baseball Between the Numbers, why everything you know about the game is wrong. Basic Books, 2006
I was introduced to thinking about baseball in a new way in 1995 when I began regularly reading Rob Neyer’s columns on espn.com. Then came “Moneyball” in 2001. Then I began regularly reading the fine work at www.ussmariner.com . They recommended another blog http://marinerds.blogspot.com/ Deanna from this site is sponsoring a book club which is reading this book and another on my summer list. If my math teachers had used math the way these guys do for baseball perhaps I would have done my homework more often.

Kouzes, James M. and Posner, Barry Z. Christian Reflections on the Leadership Challenge. Jossey Bass, 2004
I picked this up while I was attending the Leadership Institute at the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS. I haven’t read it yet and that was 8 months ago. The forward is by John Maxwell too!

Krosney, Herbert. The Lost Gospel, The Quest for the Gospel of Judas Iscariot. National Geographic. 2006
Book II from the National Geographic team.

Maddox, Randy L. Responsible Grace: John Wesley’s practical theology. Kingswood Books, 1994
A pastor friend recommended this when I was seeking recommendations for my summer reading. I recognized the name and author immediately as it was one of those books I bought while I was in seminary. I just never found a reason to read it, until now.

McLaren, Brian D. A Generous Orthodoxy. Zondervan, 2004
I have really enjoyed McLaren’s other works “A new kind of Christian” and “The story we find ourselves in.” McLaren is speaking at this year’s COR Leadership Institute and I am really looking forward to hearing him speak.

Meacham, Jon. American Gospel, God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation. Random House, 2006
Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” must sell millions of books. I bought this book after the author’s appearance on the show. I have been curious about the topic of “the founding fathers” and their faith since my days as a history major at WSU.

Olney, Buster. The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty, the game, the team, and the cost of greatness. CCC, Harper Collins, 2004
Buster can thank Deanna at http://marinerds.blogspot.com/ I would never have bought a Yankee book but this is next on her book club list. At least its about the decline and fall of the Yankees and not some propaganda about their greatness (I hope.)

Robinson, Marilynne. Gilead, a novel. Picador, 2004
This is one of those paperbacks I picked up simply because it had a sticker on it that read, “winner of the Pulitzer prize.” Then I found an article about Robinson in a recent article of “The Christian Century.” Its good to get a fictional novel in the mix too.

Sellon, Mary K. and Smith, Daniel P. Practicing Right Relationship, skills for deepening purpose, finding fulfillment, and increasing effectiveness in your congregation. The Alban Institute, 2005
Dan and Mary are awesome and I wanted to give this book a look over as Kendra begins a new appointment and I refresh myself for another great year at LUMC.

Cheers and Happy Reading!