I Hit My Goal

After some reflecting around my 35th birthday, I set some goals for myself for the next five years. Among them was the goal to read at least 16 books a year. I admitted at the time that it might not be enough of a challenge, but the aim wasn’t to try and see how many books I could read, or even to push the limit. It was more to give me a good goal to keep on track of reading on a regular basis.

I hit my goal by finishing Tribes by Seth Godin on New Years Eve (leave it to me to wait until the last minute). And I did it in good fashion - having only started working toward the goal in May. I’m already well on my way to busting the goal for 09 by reading The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling this week.

As a recap and a look ahead, here are the books I’ve read in 2008 and some that I have in my queue for the new year:

Books I Read in 2008:

• The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling
• Tribes by Seth Godin
• The Fine Line by Kary Oberbrunner
• The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee
• The Life of God in the Soul of Man by Henry Scougal
• We Are Smarter Than Me by Barry Libert and Jon Spector
• The Faith of Barack Obama by Stephen Mansfield
• The Sacred Echo by Margaret Feinberg
• The 4-Hour Workweek by TImothy Ferriss
• The Dip by Seth Godin
• Wide Awake by Erwin McManus
• Clusters by Bob Hopkins and Mike Breen
• The Passionate Church by Mike Breen and Walt Kallestad
• I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt by Vince Antonucci
• The Shack by William P. Young
• Integrity by Dr. Henry Cloud
• Rules of the Red Rubber Ball by Kevin Carroll

Books in My Queue for 2009:

• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling - Read the series already, but want to re-read this one before the movie comes out next summer.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling - Can’t stop with book #6; besides, Beedle the Bard makes me want to revisit some of the themes in this one
• The Shadow Thieves by Anne Ursu - Josiah read this one a couple of months ago and wants me to read it as well
• Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices by Frank Viola and George Barna - Deconstructing modern church practices; looks intriguing
• Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity by Frank Viola - Presenting a new, more organic form of church - follow-up to Pagan Christianity
• Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life by David Allen - If you haven’t read Allen’s Getting Things Done, you need to. By far the most impactful book on organization and task management that I’ve read. This is Allen’s much awaited follow-up.
• Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God by Mark Batterson - Loved Batterson’s In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day. This is his newest.
• Spiritual Authority or Not I but Christ by Watchman Nee - Not sure which Nee book I will tackle next; he is hands down my favorite Christian author.

What else? What others would you recommend?

Posted 01.03.2009

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