2024 Reading List

I took a different approach to reading this year. In years past, I've read anything and everything. This year, I decided to be a little more intentional and read books that were a little more meaningful.

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

I was inspired to go back and read A Christmas Carol after taking my kids to see the play at a local theater in Houston this past Christmas. As an adult, I had a new appreciation for the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge than I did as a high school student. Seeing the world through Ebeneezer's eyes helps you understand that it's never too late to change.

Wilco: Learning How to Die - Greg Kot

Greg Kot chronicles Wilco's beginnings as Uncle Tupelo and the race to release the first solo record as both camps tried to establish themselves. Wilco continually reinvented themselves, even to the dismay of the record company. The book follows that journey, including when the record company releases them from their contract with a paid-for record, only to be rebe resigned by another label at the same company. The recording process stressed relationships, even to the point of dividing the band.

Tender Warrior - Stu Webber

My high school youth pastor gave me this book carried one copy or another of it around for the last twenty years. I finally read it this year. It was a little heavy for me as a teenager. I've tried to pick it up a few times over the years. I think this year was just the right year to finally read it

Stu Weber served as a Special Forces Group Intelligence Operations Officer in Vietnam before going on to found Good Shepherd Community Church near Gresham, Oregon.

In Tender Warrior, Stu Weber unpacks what it means to be a Christian Man, a tender warrior.

Down and Out in Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain - Charles Leerhsen

I suppose I'm happy to have read this book. For anyone who has followed along with Anthony Bourdain's life, we all know he wasn't a saint. For all of his abrasiveness and wrongdoings, there are at least a few stories that show he was at least a decent person. The author of this book however seems bent on removing all doubt and making us all believe he was a loser.

I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics Taught Us About Their Path to Jesus - Everts and Schapp

Think of this as a gentle guide to evangelism in the postmodern world. More than ever, it is important to recognize that it is not a linear process. The world is full of doubt and often with each step forward, there will be steps backward or even to the side.

The Other Half of Church - Wilder and Hendricks

Through his friendship with neuortheologian Jim Wilder, Michael Hendricks starts using brain science to identify two halves of the church: the rational and relational. Both sides have to be embraced to form a healthy church.

The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien

I first read The Hobbit when I was about ten years old. This year, I was trying to get my kids interested in reading something that wasn't Captain Underpants or Dogman. I pulled The Hobbit off the shelf and started sharing about Bilbo and his adventures, and my son was hooked. We have since watched all three Hobbit movies, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and he is working his way through The Lord of the Rings boxed set he to for Christmas.

Bone in the Throat - Anthony Bourdain

Less successful than his cooking-related books, but it's still a great story. A mobster's nephew works in a restaurant kitchen as a sous chef, wanting nothing to do with the mob life. He may or may not know that he is working in a mob-funded front until he unwittingly witnesses a murder in his kitchen.

Why Do I Do What I Don't Want to Do? Replace Deadly Vices With Life-Giving Virtues - Jon Green and Jonathan Pokluda

JP explains that we can escape the world that celebrates vice and undervalues virtue. We can find freedom from habits that cause us more harm than good in the long run. By leading a life of virtue, we can feel more fulfilled.

The Godfather - Mario Puzo

The classic gangster novel. Don Corleone is a seemingly self-made man but with some underhanded methods. He runs an olive oil business but lives like a king. Things begin to change when a crosstown rival tries to assassinate him, and his youngest boy gets involved in the business.