Taiwaneers

For the last few years I’ve rediscovered a love for reading books. During the campaign of ’06 I became a news junkie and it took me a while to  I realize that the news is just the same thing day after day after day. I think 2009 was my first full year of enjoying books on a consistent basis instead of just news. To mark this historic fact I give you a list of the books I read throughout this past year with a few comments about them. If any of you have read these books and want to add your two cents I’d love to hear it. If you have any suggestions for books that should be on my 2010 list let me know!

Prison To Praise by Merlin Carothers is how I began 2009. I found it in the MCU library and remembered that I’d seen the book on my parents’ bookshelf growing up. It was really small so I figured why not give it a try. I liked it and it made me think about praising God in new ways.

Playing For Pizza by John Grisham had been borrowed from my dad and brought from Michigan the previous summer to read during the year. You’ve got to love Grisham, at least I do, and I read the book in like 2 or 3 days because it was so fun. I liked how lighthearted it was and I loved reading the story of an expat while living as an expat myself.

The Dilbert Principle by Scott Adams was given to me for Christmas by my uncle back in 2006. That, as you will recall, was when I just read news so I never read it. I should have though because this is seriously a great book. I can remember reading it and laughing over and over no matter if I was in my bedroom or in Mos Burger and just loving how spot on Scott Adams got the whole office scene. If you’ve ever worked in an office and haven’t read this book then stop waiting and borrow my copy! Thanks again uncle Jimmy!

Descending From Duty by J. Ryan Fenzel was another book I picked up in ’06 and hadn’t read. The author is from Michigan and on a campaign staff retreat they had him give us a little talk and copies of his book. I liked how the book was set in Michigan and how I had been to places he uses in the setting of his book. It smacked of a Clancy novel to me and while it isn’t going to be a bestseller or anything it was fun to read it. During the time period when I was reading it I posted here on Taiwaneers and mentioned the book. The author found the post on the internet and messaged me about it asking how a dude in Taiwan picked up a copy of his book. It’s amazing this internet thang isn’t it?

On The Boundaries Of American Evangelicalism, The Postwar Evangelical Coalition by Jon R. Stone is another book I found in the MCU library. If I remember right it was the author’s doctoral dissertation. While I skimmed parts of it I did learn a lot. I gained a lot more big-picture understanding of the whole twentieth century for American christianity. I had no idea before reading this all of the intricacies of how fundamentalists and main-stream modernist denominations split in the first part of the 1900s and how evangelicalism sprang up out of the middle of it all. I liked it and it has made me interested to learn more about the history of Christianity.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell is one of Ken’s (our housemate) books and was just sitting on the bookshelf here. The little quotes on the front about how great the book is and the fact that I kept hearing about Gladwell finally prevailed on me and I read the book. I was thoroughly entertained by it but the book definitely did not change my life as the hype around it told me it would. It’s just a bunch of entertaining stories and practical sense observations about how products and stuff take off and become popular. I guess all the hype about the book is what let me down. It was entertaining and enjoyable to read…just not life-changing.

River Town by Peter Hessler was my lucky snag from the white elephant gift exchange during our Christmas party last year. I liked the book and found several similarities to culture here in Taiwan that the author observed in mainland China. Also, I saw some pretty big differences and it made me want to take a trip and explore the mainland. For anyone who wants to read an account of an American living in China pick this one up.

Improving Your Serve by Charles R. Swindoll came next. I guess I don’t really have much to say about it. If anyone else has read it and can share with me what I should feel let me know. Otherwise I’m tempted to feel like Swindoll just needed to publish something so he slapped it together. There just doesn’t seem to be much to it.

Operation SOLO by John Barron was an awesome read! The true story of FBI spies to the Soviet Union totally made me realize how much goes on that we don’t know about. This husband and wife looked like the complete, subversive, anti-American, communist, couple and we find out years later that they were giving the American government some of the best clandestine information ever gathered. Shazam! A very good book.

Blindsight by Robin Cook was and, unless the book was rewritten, still is crap! I saw it at my parents’ house and brought it to Taiwan to read during the year just to have more fiction to choose from. Talk about drivel.

Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne & Chris Haw unlike The Tipping Point was a life-changing book for me. At the beginning of the book I was turned off by the confrontational statements but as I read on I became more and more challenged and more and more turned on by the message of total surrender to Jesus. I really liked the book and still haven’t gotten over the questions it raises. I encourage everyone to read it. Definitely one of the best books I read in 2009 and on my list of books to recommend. If you haven’t read it then put it on your list.

The Act of Marriage by Tim & Beverly LaHaye was recommended to Emily and I to read when we got married. We started it on our honeymoon in the spring of 2007 and finally finished up in 2009. This is not a reflection of the book though. Actually we finished the book quickly after starting it but I didn’t put it on my list until now because we were still reading through the Q&A section at the back. It is a great book and one we recommend to others when they ask us for marriage advice. It makes a great wedding gift but definitely not something for single people to read.

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner came next. I was a little apprehensive that it would just be another entertaining book that had lots of hype around it. I think because my expectations were tempered actually contributed to how much I enjoyed the book. It did completely entertain me and at the same time I thought it was fascinating. Levitt definitely seems to be asking interesting questions and using data in new ways. I liked the book a lot!

Scratch Beginnings by Adam Shepard was recommended to me by my mom while I was home during summer break. It’s a quick and easy read and she hit on a good one. An interesting socio-economic experiment as a middle-class kid tries to start at the bottom of the economic ladder with $30 bucks, the clothes on his back, in a brand new city and work his way out of the homeless shelter into middle class America without using any of his past-life credentials or connections. A very interesting topic and a nice read.

The Odyssey by Homer, translated by W.H.D. Rouse I will admit was a bit hard for me to get through. I was excited to read it after taking a mythology course in the previous year of school and after the two easy reads directly before I was ready to take it on. Now I can say I’ve read it.

The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne was on my dad’s bookshelf and after Jesus for President I was eager to see what else Shane had to say. This is his first book and contains a lot of the same stuff that he talks about in Jesus for President. This one focuses in more on him and his experiences. I think I would have preferred reading it later on and not so close to Jesus for President though because it did seem a bit repetitious even though it does have a place on its own. I would recommend others not to read both books in close proximity to each other but I do recommend both books.

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis is another fantastic book by one of my favorite authors. Lewis does such a great job with imagery doesn’t he?

Man of the House by Speaker Tip O’Neill with William Novak was my grandpa’s book. My uncle suggested I read it back when I was first getting interested in politics as a high schooler. Sadly, it took me seven years to decide to read it. Once I started it though I loved it and basically scarfed down the pages. I felt like I was getting to know my grandpa better even though he’s dead because Tip, like my grandpa, was an Irish Catholic and the whole story-telling qualities seemed so similar. I really enjoyed the book and hope I can find others like it. Anybody who enjoys stories and has an interest in legislative goings-on would enjoy this book!

PYONGYANG A Journey In North Korea by Guy Delisle was lent to me by my brother. It is written in comic-book form but not humorous or about something “larger than life” or anything typically depicted in comics. It’s written by an animator who spent some time at an animating company in North Korea about his experiences there. I really enjoyed it. It’s short and just gives quick glances into living an expat life in the one country no one knows anything about.

The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy is the first Clancy book I’ve read. I’ve listened to one or two on tape and watched most of the movies but that’s not the same is it? I can see why people buy his books. He does a really good job at developing a whole bunch of characters and bringing them together for a cataclysmic finale. Not quite as amazing as Dickens does in A Tale of Two Cities but hey, not half bad either. I liked the book even though it took me a while to get through it. Clancy writes long novels doesn’t he?

Jim & Casper Go To Church by Jim Henderson & Matt Casper is another book I found on my dad’s bookshelf. It’s about a Christian and an Atheist who visit a bunch of churches in America and talk about what they observe. I thought it was an interesting read although I think there is a ton more that they could have done with the premise. I found myself wishing they would take the conversation farther than they did and felt in a lot of ways like they were saying things I already knew.

And that folks is the end of 2009. I can’t wait to hear what you all have to say about these bad boys. A penny for your thoughts as they say.