Here it is … my long awaited “favorite books” post!
The “Would you shut up about this book? It’s all you talk about anymore!” category: Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff. D’Aun didn’t have to read this book because it’s all I talked about for weeks. This book has it all: remote tribes in the South Pacific, plane crashes, brave American soldiers, crazy aeronautical stunts … the list goes on. It reads like an Indiana Jones adventure combined with a World War II action movie, all set on a Survivor island. Really hard to imagine that it’s all true, but it is!
The “This book should be considered by the Pulitzer Prize people” category: The Future of Power by Joseph Nye. A brilliant foreign relations expert shares his thoughts about how power is likely to be utilized in the 21st Century, and why “soft power” has far more impact than anything else America can do around the world. An honorable mention to Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard. She makes President Garfield fascinating!
The “Yes, I’m biased, but it’s my blog and nobody is paying you to read my opinion” category: XEALOTS by Dave Gibbons. Dave is a friend who has captured a message for all of us who live life to the beat of a different drummer…or even for those of us who don’t pay attention to the damn drummer.
The “Finally, somebody pulled it all together and wrote a timely book on a timely topic” category: To Change the World by James Davison Hunter. If you are interested in how the Christian Church has failed to impact America, this is THE book to read on the topic. The best part of the book? It’s ultimately optimistic and suggests ways to truly transform culture.
The “I wanted to branch out into something new and found myself really enjoying this book” category: The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson. Originally published 60+ years ago in Sweden, this English translation captures all the magic of a sweeping adventure tale. Viking raiders, Moors from Spain, Celtic monks and a whole cast of curious characters set in the 10th Century. A great novel.
The “Business is lousy and I want to figure out how to get out of this mess” category: The Intelligent Entrepreneur by Bill Murphy. Insights about what makes an entrepreneur tick, all gleaned from three case studies. Very helpful book for anybody who is starting a new venture. Honorable mention to The Referral Engine by John Jantsch, which offers practical information about how to create referrals for your business.
The “Funniest book of the year even if a lot of the information is suspect” category: Boomerang by Michael Lewis. The guy who brought us Moneyball and The Big Short is at it again with a hilarious take on the global debt crisis. His portrayals of corrupt Greeks, pessimistic Irish, uptight Germans and delusion 20-somethings from Iceland are laugh out loud worthy. Too bad much of it is stereotypical and not particularly insightful. But who cares when you are laughing so hard?
The “Best book to put on this website to generate traffic” category: Love Wins by Rob Bell. I thought it was an overrated book and a manufactured controversy that was really just a tempest in a teapot, but it easily had the highest number of viewers of any book review I posted all year.
The “Best book that involves history, business, and culture because I like all three topics” category: We have a tie! Both Chocolate Wars by Deborah Cadbury and The Great A&P by Marc Levinson are worthy award winners. The former is about the Cadbury family and how that family built an empire that lasted for centuries. I especially appreciated the sense of social responsibility that the family took from their Quaker faith. The later book is about the now defunct A&P Markets, a sort of Wal-Mart of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Both books explore how business impacts culture, and why business has a social responsibility to their employees, customers, neighbors, and stockholders.
The “The Giants didn’t win the World Series but I still want to read a fun book that reminds me of my childhood” category: It just has to be Go Like Hell by A.J. Baime. Last year it was the Willie Mays biography (I’m convinced that reading the book helped the Giants win the World Series). This year it was a book about the legendary Le Mans battle between Ford and Ferrari in the 1960’s. And how could a guy who has a blog called Junkyard Wisdom not read a book titled “Go Like Hell”? A well researched and fun book. Made me want to strap into a GT40 and take off down the freeway.
The “Most helpful on my spiritual journey” category: God on Mute by Pete Greig invigorated my prayer life and got me thinking about how I perceive God in prayer. I love the elegance of this book and how Pete weaves the idea of prayer into the days of Easter. An honorable mention to Sanctuary of the Soul by Richard Foster. Good stuff from the old master of spiritual disciplines.
And my favorite book of 2011? It has to be Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. An amazing biography of a true American icon. The depth and breadth of this book is impressive. It was especially interesting to me because of the many ways Jobs and my life revolved closely together (though never directly connecting). Isaacson, one of the best biographers of our age, explores the contradictions of Jobs’ life and how it all weaves together into a quirky personality. Simply a great book about a one-of-a-kind character.
So how about you? Where were YOUR favorite books of 2011?