Favorite Reads 2016

If I had to pick out my favorite place to go, besides a coffee shop, it would probably be a bookstore. God must love me a lot because I have had jobs working in both. My love of coffee and books is something that I will probably carry with me to heaven. Comfort to me is a warm mug in one hand, and a good piece of writing in the other. About the only thing better than reading a good book, is sharing it with a friend.

For this reason, and because I know you are either trying to come up with gift ideas for your loved ones or you are being asked for your Christmas list, I thought I would share a few of my favorite reads from 2016. They weren’t all published this year, but I have read them in the last twelve months.

Favorite Fiction

Paper Towns: Paper Towns is funny, thoughtful, and hopeful. In it, John Green weaves a coming of age story with a mystery, and it isn’t boring (I am not a mystery fan). Green tells the story of a high school senior searching for the girl he’s had a crush on forever. After taking him on a memorable night of pranks, she disappears, leaving him to follow clues as to where she has gone. On the journey, however, he begins to learn the truth about her, versus the person he wanted her to be. It is not so much a love story, as it is a lesson about love—one that is needed for both adolescents and adults. If you are looking for a book to get lost in over the Holidays, this is the one.

Favorite Memoir

When Breath Becomes Air: What would you do if you knew you didn’t have much time left to live? Dr. Paul Kalanithi wrote a book. This book. About to finish his training as a neurosurgeon, Kalanithi discovered that he had stage four lung cancer at the age of thirty-six. Staring down death, he realized that he had been wrestling with the meaning of life for years. Yet it was only when death became imminent that things began to become clear. When I picked up this book I was afraid that it was going to be a heavy, depressing read, but Kalanithi powerfully and creatively walks the reader through his journey from doctor to patient. He offers a rare perspective on life and death, and in a surprisingly hopeful way. This book would be a great read as one begins the new year.

Most Encouraging

Looking for Lovely: Annie F. Down’s writing style makes you feel like she is a friend you’ve met for coffee—a friend who will have you both laughing and crying. In Looking for Lovely, Annie vulnerably and powerfully shares some dark times she has walked through, and how “looking for lovely” in her life changed her perspective. So often in hard times, it can feel like God has forgotten us, but Annie reminds us that if we are truly looking for His good in our lives, we will always find it.

Most Personally Impactful/Timely

Play With Fire: One thing I don’t think we talk about enough, is the heartache we all experience in life and how in hard times, we often don’t feel God. In Play With Fire, Bianca Olthoff shares her experience with pain, and how God met her on the journey. This book came at just the right time for me this year, and I talk about it more over here.

Favorite Book on Leadership

Rising Strong: In her previous book, Daring Greatly, Brene Brown wrote about taking risks. In this book, she writes about what to do when those risks don’t pan out. For so long in our culture, failure has been something we don’t own or talk about, as a way of protecting oneself. But Brene shares in Rising Strong how this protective denial hurts us—both as people and as leaders. It damages our relationships and our influence. Thankfully, as owning our mistakes and being vulnerable with those around us is difficult and seems counterintuitive, in Rising Strong, she also gives us techniques and practices to follow. If you are leader, chances are you have failed or will fail, and this is an excellent read to help you know what to do when you get there.

Favorite Book on writing/creativity

Bird by Bird: In this book, Anne Lamont teaches the reader about writing (and life), in a way that feels more like a conversation than a lesson. For me, personally, her chapter on the importance of Sh*ty first drafts really lit a fire under me to continue writing. For so many of us—whether we are writing or otherwise—the pressure to create a polished product can keep us from ever starting. But Anne shares that all great works begin in the “Sh*ty” first draft stage, and that the most important thing is to start. I would recommend Bird by Bird to anyone considering a creative endeavor.

Inspired me to Change the World

Doing Good is Simple: What if doing good is actually simple? According to Chris Marlow, the founder of Help One Now, an organization dedicated to relieving poverty through empowering ordinary people, it is. In this book, he shares how his organization has grown through the help of one person, one family, and one church or organization at a time, and how every day people can make a huge impact. Marlow helps the reader not only see the difference one person can make, but also offers tangible ways for people, like you and me, to make the world around them a better place.