My favorite books that I read this year

When I set my Goodreads challenge for 70 books this year, I didn’t know that the last third of 2021 would be spent reading for Doctor of Ministry classes. Needless to say, I didn’t hit my goal. That’s ok. The books I did read were life-giving, and here were some of my favorites:

Ministry-related

The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker. This book helps readers consider how to plan gatherings of all kinds - from worship services to contentious conversations - with the purpose firmly set front-of-mind. It’s an especially timely read with Covid continually causing waves of dispersing and re-convening.

The Power of Ritual: Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices by Casper ter Kuile. Have your individual or corporate spiritual practices become rote or lost their efficacy? This book helps you think through revitalizing them or creating new ones through intention, attention, and repetition.

Non-fiction

Our Time Is Now by Stacey Abrams. Is our democracy in danger? This book tells us why and what we can do about it.

Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight by Julia Sweig. Using the First Lady’s own copious notes and recordings, this book details the influence LBJ’s wife wielded in his White House.

Fiction

The Guncle by Steven Rowley. This novel is a funny, moving story about the layers of grief and the courage and disruption it takes to move ahead in an unpreferred reality.

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman. A woman long set in her ways leaves her unfaithful husband and finds unexpected community in a declining town.

What books spoke to you this year?

Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash.