Harry S. Truman – “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”
I am grateful that my Mom instilled in my brother, sister, and me a deep love for reading. We didn’t have a lot of disposable income when I was growing up, but library cards were free. I still remember loading up the car with books for the week ahead. In order to punish us, often my Mom would just have to threaten to take away our books. I’m grateful that God has nurtured my passion for reading into one of the most powerful ways that I am able to hear His voice. I am careful to read in a way that I think will help me to become more of what God created me to be.
I take great care to highlight while reading. After I read a book, I always take all of my highlights and type them into Evernote. This allows me to recall favorite quotes and phrases as necessary thanks to Evernote’s powerful search functions and organizational system. I then take these notes and formulate them into a book review on this blog. I’m not sure if anyone else reads these but me, but in the end…I’m the one that needs to learn, so it’s fine if it is just me. At the end of the year, I like to go back through all of the reviews and post a comprehensive list of all the books from the year before. You will notice that the titles of the books are links that will take you to the review I wrote of each book. This year I was privileged to learn a ton from reading 43 books.
Any suggestions for books to read in 2014?
BOOKS IN 2013
January
Drive by Daniel Pink
Dirty God by Johnnie Moore
The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
The Millionaire Mind by Thomas Stanley
Alone Together by Sherry Turkle
February
Coming Back Stronger by Drew Brees
A Faith Full Marriage by Paul Chappell
In Six Days by John Ashton
Chazown by Craig Groeschel
March
Already Gone by Ken Ham and Brit Breemer
The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk
Jesus Is by Judah Smith
One Race One Blood by Ken Ham and Charles Ware
Sifted by Wayne Cordeiro
April
Sum It Up by Pat Summitt
More or Less by Jeff Shinabarger
Who Do You Think You Are? by Mark Driscoll
May
The Catalyst Leader by Brad Lomenick
How Shall We Then Live? by Francis Schaeffer
June
School Law and the Public Schools by Nate Essex
Multiply by Francis Chan
Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley
July
Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham
The Ever-Loving Truth by Voddie Baucham
I am a Church Member by Thom Rainer
Discipling this Generation for a Digital World by Greg Bitgood
August
The In-Between by Jeff Goins
September
Leaders Who Last by Dave Kraft
The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller
Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham
October
Just Lead by Jenni Catron and Shery Surratt
Buy This Land by Chi Dooh Li
Orphan Justice by Johnny Carr
The Experience Economy by Joseph Pine and James Gilmore
The Heart of Leadership by Mark Miller
Let Hope In by Pete Wilson
November
What Great Principals Do Differently by Todd Whitaker
The New Digital Age by Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen
One Way Love by Tullian Tchividjian
All In by Mark Batterson
December
Love and Respect in the Family by Emerson Eggerichs
The Insanity of God by Nik Ripken
Give Them Grace by Elyse Fitpatrick and Jessica Thompson