The best new books I’ve read in the last 30 days are listed below.
- (5+) Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents – and What That Means for America’s Future by Jean M. Twenge (Atria Books, 2023)
- (5.0) The Poverty Paradox: Understanding Economic Hardship Amid American Prosperity by Mark Robert Rank (Oxford University Press, 2023)
- (4.5) Christ Among the Classes: The Rich, the Poor, and the Mission of the Church by Al Tizon (Orbis Books, 2023)
- (4.5) Trust & Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others by Stephen M. R. Covey (SImon & Schuster, 2023)
- (4.5) 10x is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy (Hay House, 2023)
- (4.0) When Church Stops Working: A Future for Your Congregation Beyond More Money, Programs, and Innovation by Andrew Root and Blair D. Bertrand (Brazos Press, 2023)
- (4.0) On Brand: Shape Your Narrative. Share Your Vision. Shift Their Perception. by Aliza Litchy (Union Square & Co., 2023)
- (3.5) Testimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Failed a Generation by Jon Ward (Brazos Press, 2023)
Generations
Two months ago I labeled Poverty by America as the most unsettling book I’ve read this year. Now, I’m calling Generations the most eye opening. Get ready to have some (and perhaps many) of your assumptions about each generation challenged or updated based on a timely analysis of the latest relevant data.
If you’ve never heard of Jean M. Twenge, there is no better time than the present to learn more about her work. She’s been studying generations for more than thirty years and published significant prior works, including iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy–and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood–and What That Means for the Rest of Us (2017) and Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled–and More Miserable Than Ever Before (2006 – and, an updated edition published in 2014).
Twenge proposes a new way of thinking about generations to update the classic view that was based solely upon major events. Her approach, “The Technology Model of Generations,” understands technology as “the root cause of the intervening forces of individualism and a slower life” while also leaving a smaller role for major events (p.8). As she unpacks the model generation by generation, you’ll gain insight into new and better ways to build relationships within and across generations in your family, faith community, friendships, neighborhood, and workplace.
Welcome Back
One author on this month’s list has been mentioned previously on So What Faith: Andrew Root. His prior appearances have been linked to two of the many books he’s written::
- Churches and the Crisis of Decline: A Hopeful, Practical Ecclesiology for a Secular Age by Andrew Root (rated 4.0 in April 2022)
- The Relational Pastor: Sharing in Christ by Sharing Ourselves (rated 4.0 in May 2013)