Non-Fiction Reading List

I'm a book collector. But I like reading my books too, albeit slowly and steadily. I finished three great non-fiction books this fall and if I did New Years Resolutions, I would determine to spend more time reading.

These are the books I plan to read in the coming months.

VIOLENCE by Slavoj Žižek
Popular philosopher Žižek engagingly discusses the roots of violence rather than surface issues. And by violence, he means even the passive violence and class struggles against sexism, poverty, and ideology.

MINDSET: THE NEW PSYCHOLOGY OF SUCCESS by Carol S. Dweck
This is required reading at work so we can coach our students to approach challenges with a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset. Recommended by a psychologist who both attends my church and is working with our school.

THE NAKED ANABAPTIST: THE BARE ESSENTIALS OF A RADICAL FAITH by Stuart Murray
Since receiving daily emails from the Bruderhof communities (Mennonite Communes) in 2005 and watching the Amish response to a slaughter of 5 school girls in 2007, I have been fascinated by the Anabaptist expression of Christianity. This should flesh it out for me. It carries endorsements from Brian McLaren and Shane Claiborne.

THE TIPPING POINT: HOW LITTLE THINGS CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE by Malcolm Gladwell
I enjoyed Blink by Gladwell a couple years ago, so I plan on continuing to read his popular books. This one focuses on how certain people, usually ordinary, have greater influence on people than others do.

YOU'RE NOT AS CRAZY AS I THINK: DIALOGUE IN A WORLD OF LOUD VOICES AND HARDENED OPINIONS by Randal Rauser
I first heard Dr. Rauser (philosophy prof) speak at our ACSI Teachers Conference when I started working in Calgary. I only ever attend his seminars now. Lately I have followed his blog with great interest as he duels with Atheists, Calvinists, and Fundamentalists.

THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN: ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY AND MODERN PHYSICS by Lazar Puhalo
I recently completed Archbishop Puhalo's The Soul, The Body, and Death and was impressed at his scholarship and how this ancient theology is so engaging and still so relevant. My friend Chris lent me these two books, so I had better read this one too. I've been watching Archbishop's regular YouTube videos too.

WHAT IS YOUR BELIEF QUOTIENT? by Tennyson Samraj
I found this on my father's bookshelf. The author was my philosophy professor in university and I quite liked him. His book questions why Christians believe the way they do.

SWEET HEAVEN WHEN I DIE: FAITH, FAITHLESSNESS, AND THE COUNTRY IN BETWEEN by Jeff Sharlet
I found this book on Tony Jones' blog and read the the first chapter online and was hooked. Got it for Christmas from my sis. It is a collection of essays on what he has found on the faith frontier in the USA. I think the title of the first chapter is pretty rockin' too.

SCRIPTURE AND THE AUTHORITY OF GOD: HOW TO READ THE BIBLE TODAY by N. T. Wright
I've mentioned how Anglican Bishop Wright has quite turned my head around after reading his Surprised by Hope a couple summers ago. I plan on reading more of his books (and collecting them) as time passes. Great faith grounding material.

THE SECRETS OF FACILITATION: THE S.M.A.R.T. GUIDE TO GETTING RESULTS WITH GROUPS by Michael Wilkinson
This is assigned reading from the Process Team in our Cohousing Project. I have been recruited to be one of the groups six facilitators and now I must read this book. So far, I haven't had anything to complain about (ask me if I've started it).