Gang Leader for a Day: a Rouge Sociologist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh

Takeaway: Poverty, the reasons for poverty and the ways out of poverty are never simple. Good, rich stories are one way to show the complexity. Purchase Links: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle Edition I love reading books when I have some outside references to the setting.  Part of the book The Magician was set in Paris.  We went … Read more

Chasing Francis by Ian Morgan Cron

I like the concept of this book, introduce a saint to modern Christians through story and not just biography.  Saint Francis, was a transitional Christian and is very relevant to today’s Christians, maybe especially to evangelicals. The weakness is that it isn’t great literature.  At one point it talks about the purpose of great art … Read more

Together in Prayer by Andrew Wheeler

Takeaway: Best book I have read on leading prayer in a small group setting Purchase Links: Paperback, Kindle Edition Small groups have become a standard among the evangelical church. Especially in large churches, they are the way that you build community, disciple one another, and give and receive care from the church. Many small groups … Read more

The Search for God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World

This is an unusual book.  First of all, the in the US there is a pretty clear anti-drinking message by the church, so anything that merges drinking and God is usually suspect.  The first chapter of this book does a good job giving a history of beer, civilization and the church.  I think it makes a … Read more

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years and Blue Like Jazz: The story of a story

  When I started reading “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years” I had never read a book by Donald Miller (or at least I didn’t think I had. When I was looking at Donald Miller’s Wikipedia page I realized I had read his first book “Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance“.) Many, many … Read more

Sacred Marriage

This is one of the books that my wife and I have used for an read together before we go to bed book. This is not a standard Christian marriage book. In fact, this is as unique a Christian marriage book as I have read. There are some parts I have issues with, but the … Read more