2014 in Books

I love books.  Since I am also a giant nerd and keep track of every book I read on a spreadsheet, it seemed like it would be pretty easy to hilight my favorite and not so favorite books of the year.  Hopefully I can help you pick your next favorite.  (Also, I am the small minority of people that think book reports are fun.)  If you want my comprehensive list of every book read, feel free to email me at newbolds@mac.com

Here is my very sophisticated rating system:

x= Meh  

xx = slogfest

xxx= avoid 

!= favorites  

!!= more favoritesy

!!! = bestest, book of the year!

This is totally subjective, and has more to do with how much I enjoyed a book then an actual statement on the quality of the book.  As a matter of fact, 2 of the 3 books I didn't like are well reviewed, quality books.  I just didn't enjoy the time I spent with them.  

X:  What's best Next, Matt Perman.  

     This is a time management book based on a biblical worldview.  On the positive side, this book is actually full of quite useful ideas, and a very sophisticated and helpful system.  However, its about 100 pages too long, and...in my opinion, has a hard time communicating its overall system in an easy to understand way.  It needs a few "cheat sheet" pages and a checklist at the end to help get you started.  Otherwise, anyone who actually NEEDS this type of advice may end up feeling lost.  Also, I am a pretty organized person, and already have my own version of what this book is teaching, so that probably didnt help.  But dont worry, I still made a crazy detailed outline of this book for no reason.

XX: The Walking Drum, Louis La'Amour

    This was loaned to me.  And the person who loaned it to me said it was their all time favorite book.  I can totally see why.  Its a 450 page adventure novel with, like, a zillion short chapters and tons of cliffhangers.  Its like Conan meets Indiana Jones.  But I just couldn't get into it.  This book should have taken me a couple of days, but it dragged on for nearly a month.  (I just made a mental note that I should add a "date started" field to my spreadsheet.  My OCD will eventually kill me.)  Here's why:  There is no real over-arching drama.  It reads like a pulp-fiction (lower-case) serial TV show.  This would be a SWEET TV show.  Every 2 or 3 chapters had the hero fighting a new foe, in a different town, and some new and exciting set piece.  But I kept looking for the part I should care about.  The bigger story.  A character to care about, or hate.  It all felt a little to bland for me.  This is a well loved book, and for good reason, it just wasn't for me.  

XX:  Subterranean, James Rollins

    Well, this one was just plain dumb.  Its like a 12 year old's Clive Cussler fan fiction.  Its a story about some scientists who discover life in some caves in Antartica.  Maybe a nod to The Mountains of Madness?  But Subterranean has evil corporate henchmen, and psychic Australian Aboriginees, and the cheesiest parts of Journey to the Center of the Earth.  It was just really, really dumb.  It had the token love story, black and white, pure good or pure evil characters...It's from Jerry Bruckheimers reject pile.  I read this book on vacation, and I was swallowing books whole, about a book a day.  If it hadn't walked in front of my eyes during my annual reading hurricane, I wouldnt have finished it. 

XXX:  Jesus is better than you imagined, Jonathan Merritt.

    This book hardly talks about Jesus.  Like, nearly not ever.  I don't agree with its presuppositions, its all about chasing experiences, and doesn't ground any of itself in scripture.  I bought it (hard copy even!) based on a review on a blog I occassionally read, and it was frustrating me within a couple of pages.  Its false advertising.  It doesn't attempt to teach anyone about the God of the bible, or who Jesus is.  It's the author, a jaded baptist pastor, chasing one experience after another.  He had such a great opportunity to share the word of God through scripture.  I sat down excited to learn more about Jesus, but instead I learned about Jonathan Merritt.  Bummer.

!:  The Towers of Midnight, Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson.  

    I started reading The Wheel of Time when I was 12 years old.  If you count the re-reads, I have read about 20,000 pages worth of this series.  Its such a long series, that I gave up on it at one point.  There were too many characters and plot lines to keep track of, and the author wrote SLOW.  A book every 3 years.  Trying to start a new WOT book was like showing up to a test you studied for 3 years ago.  Sure, the questions might look sort of familiar, but you really have no idea whats going on.  The author died before it was finished, and Brandon Sanderson wrote the final 3.  I started from scratch, book 1, in October of 2013, and finished in June of this year.  Since the series was finally complete, I could just cram them all down my brain at once.  It was awesome.  The Towers of Midnight is the penultimate entry, and I think it was my favorite.  It tied up a few major plot's, and sealed the deal on Matt being my favorite character.  Just a little hint of how deep and complex this series is:  We finally got to see the meaning and result of a MAJOR plot-line in this book, book 13, that was started in book 4, maybe 8,000 pages earlier.  It was really rewarding re-reading these books that I grew up with, and I was so excited to finally get to the end.  I can't say if I loved the end or not, but I really loved the whole experience.  I'm just picking this book as my favorite, but really, the WoT is my favorite!

!: Night, Elie Weisel

    From a 1000 page monster, to a 104 page beast.  Night is a very short book.  Its probably best that it is, because its horrible and impossible to put down.  Elie was 12 (I think, my rule is to write this all from memory, and so I am not bothering to totally fact check.  you may hate or appreciate that as you see fit) at the time of the Holocaust. This book talks about his experiences being in the Ghetto, then the trains, and finally Auschwitz.  Its a true story.  It is considered a bedrock of Holocaust literature, and you should read it.  It was sitting on our bookshelf for a while.  Ever since we combined our books with my mother-in-laws.  It was one of those total larks.  I picked it up not knowing anything about it, and basically read it in one sitting.  The moment I was done with it, I picked up Schindler's List, a book I bought several years ago and never got around to reading.

!: Schindler's List, Thomas Keneally

    So good.  I still haven't seen the movie (I know, I know...)  But I was fascinated by this man.  What an amazing thing he did, and what a horrible thing that happened.  God was gracious to people through Herr Schindler, in the midst of very dark times.  I was glad to know nearly nothing about the account of Schindler's Ark (the orignal, and way better title of this book...think Noah) so I was on the edge of my seat most of the time.  The Wheel of Time apparently took up too much of my reading life.  After I read Night and Schindler, I was on a major non-fiction kick for several months.

!:  Always Ready, Greg Bahnsen

    We read this for my mens group at church.  Bahnsen is basically the smartest person to ever live, and this is a collection of his teachings and view points.  He is a Christian philosopher, and famous debater (his most famous is simply called "The great debate").  He is a briliant logician, and I hope more people will read and understand this type of stuff.  It would be challenging for an unbeliever, and rewarding for a beleiver.  Its pretty heady, and becomes repetitive about half-way through, but I encourage you to check it out.  Its also available for free download (PDF), so its cheap-skate friendly.

!: Lost in Shang-ri-la, Mitchell Zuckoff

    Scribd suggested this to me.  True story, WW2 plane-crash, survival, amazing but little known story.  I'm in.  Its awesome.  You will learn some cool things about WW2 planes (and hang gliders!) and New Guinea, and the last large, previously unknown people group (Dani tribe).  There are literally 4 or 5 different cool subjects this book could start you down a worm-hole on.  I almost wore out Wikipedia while reading this book.

!: Wind through the Keyhole, Stephen King

    It's a one-off, basically book 4.5 of the Dark Tower series, my other most favorite, and often re-read series of all time.  It's been out for a while, but for whatever reason, I wasn't all that excited about reading it at first.  It's really good.  This set me off on a mini Stephen King run (which happens from time to time).  Its a story within a story, and the brilliance of SK means you never get lost.  Its got fantasy and horror trappings, both good things to me.  If you are interested in the Dark Tower series (and you should be) but for whatever reason are intimidated by a 7 book series, then I would suggest this as a possible entry point.  

!!: Delighting in the Trinity, Michael Reeve

    This was a cool surprise!  I got a free copy at a church conference, and there was just something about the feel of the book and the cover that made me want to read it.  (yes, book aesthetics are important).  Its a wonderful treatment on the doctrine of the trinity, and explains why the Trinity is important in fairly easy to understand terms.  Of course, the main thrust of the book is delighting in the Trinity, and it really does help the reader see why we should rejoice in the relationship of our triune God.  The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have an amazing relationship, and a deeper appreciation for that is something every believer should strive toward.

!!:  Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand

     Yes, everyone knows about this book.  But guess what, its at least as good as you have heard.  Louis Z's story is amazing and you should read it.  Movie, schmoovie.  Also, Louis Z spoke at my high school, and I remembered him talking about things like The Bird, the gauntlet of punches, holding a log over his head all day, and sharks.  16 years later, I didnt forget those details.  Read it.  I'll buy you a copy* 

!!!:  Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, Alfred Lansing

    My book of the year!  I don't care that it was written in 1959.  I told every single person I came in contact with about this book, and only 3 of them had heard of this voyage.  And of those, only 1 had read the book.  It's impossible that everyone hasn't read this book.  I don't understand what my teachers were thinking for the 18 years I was in school.  This could have been mandatory reading for history, math, geography, science, english, PE, home ec, everything.  I loved, loved, loved, loved loved this book.  This book is the specific reason I read SIX OTHER BOOKS this year.  I cannot get enough of exploration or survival stories.  Throw in learning about early 20th century nautical technology, and I'm hooked.  Shackleton is the man's man's man.  He eats the Dos Equis guy for breakfast, and then for second breakfast he has Jack Palance from City Slickers.  If you don't go read this book, you hate America.  

    

    

*(for a small dontation of $10)