Saturday, December 29, 2012

Books Read 2012

1. Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson
2. Back On Murder, J. Mark Betram
2. A Whistling Woman, A.S. Byatt
3. Scripture and the Authority of God, N.T. Wright
4. The Orthodox Way, Kallistos Ware
5. What Good is God?, Phillip Yancey
6. The Challenge of Jesus, N.T. Wright
7. Finding God in The Questions, G. Timothy Johnson
8. My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey, Jill Bolte Taylor
9. Pagan Christianity, Frank Viola and George Barna
10. The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul, Mario Beuregard
11. Surprised By Hope, N.T. Wright
12. Thinking in Tongues: Pentacostal Contributions to Christian Philosophy, James K.A. Smith
13. Justified in the Spirit, Frank D. Macchia
14. Healing the Soul After Religious Abuse: The Dark Heaven of Recovery, Mikele Rauch
15. Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church, James K.A. Smith
16. Solomon Among the Postmoderns, Peter Leithart
17. Postmodern Philosophy and Christian Thought, Merold Westphal
18. Love Wins, Rob Bell
19. Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God, Jonathan Edwards
20. Crazy for God, Frank Schaeffer
21. The Gurus, the Young Man, and Elder Paisios, Dionysios Farasiotis
22. Ragnarok, A.S. Byatt
23. Pobby and Dingan, Ben Rice
24. Momma and the Meaning of Life, Irwin Yalom
25. The Gift of Therapy, Irwin Yalom
26. The Abyss of Madness, George E. Atwood
27. Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller

I have highlighted my top five of the year. It's been a good year of reading, I will say. Not a lot of fiction, as you can see, which is unusual for me, but sometimes the variety is refreshing. I've enjoyed my forays into philosophical theology and all the rest.

I expect my reading will take off in some slightly different directions in the coming year-- more memoir, more poetry, more personal growth type stuff (including whatever I can find on art journaling and art therapy).  I'd also like to find some good books on how to read the Bible, especially the Old Testament, especially the Prophets. Maybe throw in some more good novels as well.

Here's to the future!

5 comments:

  1. Hi Leah.
    There are some really good ones in here! If you want one on reading the Bible, 'Grasping God's Word' by Duvall and Hays was really helpful for me. It tells you how to see connections, themes, etc. without telling you what to think about them. 'Jesus' Sermon on the Mount' by Don Carson is great, too. Very accessible. As is anything by Dale Ralph Davis who writes on the OT.

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    1. Thanks for the recommendations, Tracy. :) Will definitely check those out. All of those writers are new to me.

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  2. I am so happy you found something of value in my book
    Abyss of Madness G.A.

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    1. Wow, thank you so much for commenting! My blog is honored. :)

      In truth, your book had a profound effect on me. It offered a more human, holistic, and realistic paradigm for understanding the self in relation to mental problems than any I had come across before. I've personally felt the need for such a paradigm for a few years now (just as a human being myself, it's not like I work in mental health or anything) and have been casually on the lookout for the "right" book nearly as long. When I read Abyss of Madness, I felt it was what I had been looking for to help shape my understandings. I also loved all the case studies, tie ins to literature and philosophy, and especially the profiles of famous people at the end. Plus it was very well written and enjoyable to read. In fact, I may have another go at it soon. :)

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    2. thanks again Leah I had hoped this book would reach people outside my field. It means a lot to me that someone not working in mental health would nevertheless find my stories and ideas interesting.

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