Reading new books is something I’ve done with regularity for the better part of a decade. This list features the best books I read during January that were published in 2019.
- (5.0) Losing My Religion: A Memoir of Faith and Finding by William C. Mills (Resource Publications, 2019)
- (4.5) The Right Story: A Brief Guide to Changing the World by Bernadette Jiwa (Perceptive Press, 2019)
- (4.0) Twelve Lies That Hold America Captive: And the Truth That Sets Us Free by Jonathan P. Walton (IVP Books, 2019)
- (4.0) The Knowledge Work Factory: Turning the Productivity Paradox into Value for Your Business by William F. Heitman (McGraw-Hill Education, 2019)
- (3.5) How Neighborhoods Make Us Sick: Restoring Health and Wellness to Our Communities by Veronica Squires and Breanna Lathrop (IVP Books, 2019)
- (3.5) Jesus’ Economy: A Biblical View of Poverty, the Currency of Love, and a Pattern for Lasting Change by John D. Barry (Whitaker House, 2019)
So What?
This month’s top two books are quite different: Jiwa writes about storytelling while Mills shows himself to be an effective storyteller.
I was introduced to the story telling genius Bernadette Jiwa last year . In the seven months since reading Story Driven (rated in June 2018), I’ve become a regular reader of her blog: The Story of Telling. Her latest book, The Right Story, is a quick read packed with help for those seeking to communicate more purposefully and more powerfully. This volume provides a solid foundation (including the necessity of authenticity, the importance of building trust, and the rich role storytelling plays in creating change) and provides real world connections to effective story telling with examples from the non-profit and for profit sectors.
William C. Mills makes his first ever appearance on So What Faith. Losing My Religion: A Memoir of Faith and Finding focuses on his preparation for life as a parish priest and his first call as the solo clergyperson shepherding a community of faith. Told with unusual honesty and frankness – especially about his naiveté as a child, a seminarian, and a new parish priest – the book’s many short stories draw readers in to Mills’ world: the Eastern Orthodox Church. His pastoral work is quite like what many traditional seminary graduates experience across all denominations and traditions face with a first call: relocating a young family to an unfamiliar geography, entering a congregation with more education than the previous pastor, learning the business aspects of leadership that were not in the seminary curriculum, and overcoming a tendency to be conflict averse even when doing so results in the loss of members and money. Mills’ continued quest for personal growth leads him to complete his doctoral studies, and, combined with healthy humility, enables him to seek professional help when he realizes how significantly he has been hurt by the church he loves.