It does seem like a number of folks have shared their top books of 2016. So, here is my list of top 6, in case you are looking for a recommendation for 2017.

Fiction:

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. As always, I’m late to the party. Most pastors I know had already read this gem. This book beautifully and amazingly accurately comprises one long fictional memoir of an elderly pastor hoping to pass on his story to very young son. I cried and cried during the book, because, well, I have a son (two of them if you’re keeping score at home), and am a pastor. Robinson weaves a story of grace, love, loss, having little, yet having much, redemption and reconciliation. You don’t have to be a pastor to enjoy this one. You just might cry more. This was hands down the most spiritually beneficial fictional reading I’ve ever come across. I can’t overstate how devotional this book became to me.

The Awakening of Miss Prim: I already did a review of this book here. I really enjoyed it.

Devotional:

Gospel Wakefulness by Jared Wilson. If you want a book which challenges you (and encourages!) you to look more deeply into the gospel message and see it for the treasure it surely is, this is it.

Sensing Jesus by Zach Eswine. This is one I had to read slowly. Really slowly. But well worth it. Eswine cautions leaders to slow down, examine who/what has been actually mentoring them. I hadn’t thought that we all have mentoring experiences and people in our lives who have truly mentored us (taught us how to think, respond, feel) in some way. Often that mentoring can be quite harmful and we need to slowly relearn knew habits and ways of dealing with people. I also benefited from hearing hard pastoring stories, as it prepares me for what might lay ahead. Unfortunately this one is no longer in print and a bit pricey. However, I’m happy to lend it to a local.

Nonfiction:

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larsen. I read two Larsen books this year, the other being The Devil in the White City, but this was by far more fascinating. Of course, if you know what happens with the Lusitania, it does end on a bit of a downer. However, Larsen does a great job weaving the individual story of the ships final voyage (strangely enough some Titanic survivors were among those traveling on this ship!) and what was happening with Woodrow Wilson and the events of WWI.

Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Joan Druett. This is the 2nd Druett book I’ve read as I’m a sucker for shipwreck/survival stories. Love them. There are actually two stories in one book. A remote, cold, and desolate, and uninhabitable island hosted two separate parties of shipwreck survivors literally on different sides of the island at roughly the same time. One party of 5 or 6 completely survived. The other, a larger party in the 20’s, only boasted a few survivors. Why? Leadership. One side had good leadership, vision, team chemistry. The other party did not, and most perished. A fascinating read in its own right, but a good one on leadership too.