i’m planning on posting 7 “best of 2008” posts, on books, music, tv & movies, ministry moments, family stuff, blogs, and ysmarko posts. i only have two written so far, though, so time will see if i get them ready to go live daily, as i plan.
i read about 45 books in 2008 (give or take). scanning back over them, these are the ones that really stood out as exceptional books, imho. i read books in plenty of other categories (youth ministry, general fiction, general non-fiction), and enjoyed many of them. the links are to my reviews of the books.
young adult fiction
donorboy, by brendan halpin
feed, by m.t. anderson
Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature, by Robin Brande
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
spiritual memoir
sin boldly, by cathleen falsani
my beautiful idol, by pete gall
church/theology
the great emergence, by phyllis tickle
the blue parakeet, by scot mcknight
the new christians, by tony jones
general fun
the book of general ignorance, by John Mitchinson and John Lloyd
christian fiction
christ the lord: the road to cana, by anne rice
my name is russell fink, by michael snyder
next up: best blogs of 2008
Thanks for the list!
I’m a little surprised you didn’t mention any of these:
A Christianity worth believing by Doug Paggitt
Jesus for president by Shane Claiborne
Soul graffiti by Mark Scandrette
Surprised by hope by NT Wright
But that’s just my 2 cents.
Keep up the good work!
pax,
meb
Great list.
And Russel Fink was great, but what about The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher?! Same editor, but I think it’s an even better book.
And I agree with meb for some N.T. Wright love on this list.
Seems like you read more than that Marko. 45? Thats like the number of books I read. Your number should be more like 243.
/TC/
jim — yeah, i read ryan fisher, and loved it. i almost included it on my list, but had to winnow a bit; and, personally, i liked russell fink a tiny bit better. both great books, though.
i didn’t read any n.t. wright books this year!
terrace — hey, 45 is close to 4/mo!
Do you have a goodreads account?
@Marko – 4/mo is a bunch. It just seems like you have more reviews than that here. Hey, now that you have the kindle perhaps that’ll help you elevate that number next year huh?
The Great Emergence would definitely top my list if I had one! I saw (heard?) her speak at NYWC in Atlanta, and was totally captivated! The minute I saw her book at Borders, I picked it up–and didn’t put it down for weeks! Very insightful, and brought a lot more out than she did in her talk at NYWC.