The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book provides compelling and concrete advice for succeeding in a new economic world. While most of the advice centers around social media, the book is really about success in our modern world. Technology has left no excuses for marginal customer service. It is a ‘must’ in 2011. I bought this book for my whole team. A must read.
The Pixar Touch by David A. Price
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book provided an intriguing look into the perseverance required to achieve greatness. Pixar spent decades trying to build the technology capable of creating their dreams. I wish more time was spent on Pixar during its successful movie run and a little less about the time building up to it. Engaging read.
The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith by Timothy Keller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Life-changing. Keller’s treatment of the story of the prodigal son as being as much about the judgmental legalistic older brother as the rebellious younger one was truly eye-opening. I recognized a lot of the entitlement anti-God rule following he describes in myself and in some of the students I work with. A must read.
A Kingdom Called Desire: Confronted by the Love of a Risen King by Rick McKinley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This short book had one powerful idea in it. Most Christians today are not falling short in their relationship with Christ because of ‘How?’ questions. Rather many have failed to answer the simple question of ‘Why?’ in a satisfactory way. Their heart is perpetually restless for sin because it has never found rest in truly desiring Christ. Some of the supporting material around this idea was a little formulaic and boring, but the first 50-60 pages were a fabulous read.
The Pastor: A Memoir by Eugene H. Peterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sometimes it seems like people read things that entrench what they already think and encourage their own natural tendencies. This book was great for me precisely because it is outside my normal reading. No strategy. No fully framed opinions or arguments. It is simply a series of reflections and stories from life as a pastor. That simplicity leads to a beautifully humble picture of life for the ‘average’ pastor. Peterson brilliantly weaves his own narrative into probing questions for any pastor.
This book would be a great read for any type A that needs some encouragement to slow down and smell the beautiful roses of ministry.
for previous months look here (January, February, and March)
What have YOU been reading?
i loved “The Thank-You Economy”
bought it the day it came out and was a quick but in-depth read.
my only quam is that Gary Vaynerchuck is the biggest flake on the planet, but he is a good writer…
cant wait to read “thank you economy”
the keller book sounds excellent as well.
I’m enjoying your recommendations Luke. I just finished my thrid read of the prodigal God, because each time I read it I thought I missed domething, and the third time I realized that whe Mr. Keller, switched characters for his big brother metaphore, that’s the point he was going off road. Although I believe he’s correct in the fact that the big brother in Jesus’s parable is in fact a pharasee type, and thus shook his audiences foundational belief that they could be their own god. I disagree that Jesus Himself could be substituted as a good big brother in that story. Never the less, I enjoyed the eye-opening clairity of this book. Thanks for the recommendations.
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