2006 Reading List

I’m a little late to the game this year with my 2006 reading list, mainly because it’s a woefully short list. It would have been even shorter if I didn’t read books to my daughter and manage at least a short-term return to good habits (exercise).

But there is a little one to look after now. You try reading books with a baby in the house. And I did write a book this year–that counts for something, right?

Enough excuses, on to the list…


1) Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell – Ah, bizarre history mixed with personal anecdotes. Reading doesn’t get much more fun than that. And there is something morbidly fascinating about presidential assassinations. I was hoping for a little more history to go with the bizarre-o stuff, but I guess I’ll have to write that myself.

2) Big Moo edited by Seth Godin – A collection of business and marketing essays from lots of famous folks. But in the interest of not over-inflating any heads, there aren’t any bylines. Which is a little annoying (though you can pick out Tom Peters in a heartbeat). Plus it’s for charity. Bonus. Read the Church Marketing Sucks review.

3) Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Chris Moore – Irreverent doesn’t begin to cover it. It’s also hilarious.

4) Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel – Great book on business blogging. Read the CMS review.

5) The Multi-Site Church Revolution by Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon and Warren Bird – All about taking churches beyond the four walls and taking advantage of multiple locations. Full of some great rationale. Read the CMS review.

6) Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell – He’s always had a dislike for church marketing, so I had to finally read the book and see what he really says. Read the CMS review.

7) Stories of Emergence edited by Mike Yaconelli – You can try to pigeon-hole the emergent folks, but I liked reading it to see how different people do church. Read the CMS review.

8) Our House in the Last World by Oscar Hijuellos – Oh, it was nice to read some good fiction.

9) The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis – Then I started reading The Chronicles of Narnia to Lexi. I hadn’t read the whole series myself, so it was fun to finally go through it.

10) The Purpose-Driven Church by Rick Warren – Had to pull some marketing lessons from this much-loved and much-hated tome. Read the CMS review.

11) The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

12) On Earth As It Is In Advertising by Sam Van Eman – Another book for CMS. Read the CMS review.

13) Good to Great by Jim Collins – Basically explores what makes great businesses great. I also read the companion Good to Great and the Social Sectors. Read the CMS review.

14) The Horse and his Boy by C.S. Lewis

15) Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

16) Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton – Required reading for a client, but I enjoyed it. The whole point is that you should focus on your strengths as opposed to trying to improve your weaknesses. The test to determine your strengths was the most interesting part.

17) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling – Had to read it again.

18) The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

19) The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

20) The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

21) Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli – Another book to read to Lexi. This one took me quite a while to get through (just got busy with other stuff) and I really only finished it last week (shh, don’t tell).

One thought on “2006 Reading List”

  1. I also read Lamb this year, and of the five or six books I’ve read by Christopher Moore, it’s near the top, but my favorite is still The Stupidest Angel. It’s simply the best Christmas-themed zombie farce I’ve ever read.

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