A Year in Books 2017

There are very few things I remember about my childhood before the age of five -- just little snapshots of faces, my great ancient aunt's brownies she made one Thanksgiving, the soft chair in my grandmother's bedroom, and a vivid image engraved in my mind,of once traveling down a long winding road lined by enormous trees.

Another one of those memories is of a large friendly room lined with books and the realization that I could borrow and read any number of them.  I was three.  My older brother Bobby at age five was getting his first library card, and so was I. A world of books without end. Amen and amen.

I also remember hiding in corners at home when I should have been doing something else, and under the covers when I was supposed to be sleeping.  I dreaded the severest of punishments:  my books being taken away.  My musician mom was incredulous:  you could have been practicing!  My research scientist father would just shake his head in disbelief:  you could have been inventing something!

And still to this day, stories continue to intrigue me, not just in books, but the incredible narratives woven in and lived out in the people God places on my path.

Last January, I entered the new year ravenous for books.  I discovered new authors and consumed different genres, all the while aware of balancing those that were old with those recently published, and interspersing those I have never read before with books and authors that are like familiar friends.

Here is my year of books in 2017.  Something old, something new, some on shelves at home, and many more at the public library, which still remains magical to me.

Green Leaf in Drought-time:  The story of the last C. I. M. missionaries from Communist China by Isobel Kuhn (1957)

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (2016) 

By Searching by Isobel Kuhn (1959)

Impossible People by Os Guinness (2016)

God’s Trombones:  Seven Negro Sermons in Verse by James Weldon Johnson (1927)

The Great Good Thing:  A Secular Jew Comes to Faith in Christ by Andrew Klavan (2016)

Prayer:  Conversing with God by Rosalind Rinker (1959)

The Insanity of God:  A True Story of Faith Resurrected by Nik Ripken (2013)

Every Good Endeavor:  Connecting your work to God’s work  by Timothy Keller (2012)

Some Writer:  The Story of E. B. White by Melissa Sweet (2016)

Fervent:  A Woman’s Battle Plan for Serious, Specific, and Strategic Prayer by Priscilla Shirer (2015)

If I Live To Be 100: Lessons from the Centenarians by Neenah Ellis (2002)

The Country of Marriage:  Poems by Wendell Berry (1971)

The Broken Way: a daring path into the abundant life by Ann Voskamp (2016)

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (1962)

Silence and Beauty:  Hidden Faith Born of Suffering  by Makoto Fujimura (2016)

Hearing God:  Developing a Conversational Relationship with God by Dallas Willard (1984)

Love Does:  Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World by Bob Goff (2012)

Mystery and Manners:  Occasional Prose by Flannery O’Connor (1957)

Pursue the Intentional Life by Jean Fleming (2013)

Every Good Endeavor:  Connecting Your Work to God’s Work  by Timothy Keller (2012)- twice

Why:  The Question That Never Goes Away  by Philip Yancey (2013)

Crossing the Congo:  Over Land and Water in a Hard Place by Mike Martin, Chloe Baker and Charlie Hatch-Barnwell (2016)

The Christian Mind:  How should a Christian think?  By Harry Blamires (1963)

Strong and Weak:  Embracing a Life of Love, Risk & True Flourishing by Andy Crouch (2016)

How The Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill (1995)

The Moth Presents All These Wonders:  True Stories about Facing the Unknown by Catherine Burns, editor  (2017)

Visions of Vocation:  Common Grace for the Common Good by Steven Garber (2014) –twice

Faith Like Potatoes:  The Story of a Farmer Who Risked Everything for God by Angus Buchan (1998)

Splitting Heirs:  Giving Your Money and Things to Your Children Without Ruining Their Lives by Ron Blue (2004)

The Circle Maker:  Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears by Mark Batterson (2011)

The Purple Swamp Hen and other stories by Penelope Lively (2016)

Real Love for Real Life: The Art and Work of Caring by Andi Ashworth (2002)

The Red Sea Rules:  Ten God-Given Strategies for Difficult Times by Robert J. Morgan (2001)

Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot (1956)

Secret Believers  by Brother Andrew (2007)

50 People Every Christian Should Know:  Learning from Spiritual Giants of the Faith by Warren W. Wiersbe (2009)

The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor by Flannery O’Connor (compiled 1971)

You Are What You Love:  The Spiritual Power of Habit by James K. A. Smith (2016)

The Economics of Neighborly Love:  Investing in Your Community’s Compassion and Capacity by Tom Nelson (2017)

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (1930)

The Benedict Option:  A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation by Rod Dreher (2017)

Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling by Andy Crouch (2008)

Overrated: Are We More in Love With the Idea of Changing the World Than Actually Changing the World? By Eugene Cho (2014)

In the Beginning:  A Memoir by Irina Ratushinskaya (1990)

Grey Is The Color of Hope by Irina Ratushinskaya (1988)

The World’s Last Night and other essays by C. S. Lewis (1952)

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus by Nancy Guthrie, editor (2008)

Especially At Christmas by Celestine Sibley (1969)

Hallelujah Anyway:  Rediscovering Mercy by Anne Lamott (2017)

Tinkers by Paul Harding (2009)

The Bible

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