My 2014 Reading List:

The Heist, by Daniel Silva. Over the top spy mystery, but a page turner.

America in Retreat, by Bret Stephens. Wildly pessimistic analysis. Disappointing.

Simplify: Ten Practices to Unclutter Your Soul. Practical but not very insightful advice about simplifying your life.

God is in the Manger, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Leave it to a brilliant martyr to remind us what Christmas is really about.

What if?, by Randall Munroe. Fun book about ridiculous scientific questions.

The Snow Queen, by Hans Christian Andersen. Classic children’s story.

The Hope Quotient, by Ray Johnston. How hope can be raised and measured.

Skink–No Surrender, by Carl Hiaasen. Classic crazy Hiaasen story. Bubblegum for the brain.

Bad Paper: Chasing Debt from Wall Street to the Underworld, by Jake Halpern. Entertaining and sometimes sad look at the seedy side of consumer debt collection.

The Men Who United the States: America’s Explorers, Inventors, Eccentrics and Mavericks, and the Creation of One Nation, Indivisible, by Simon Winchester Innovative approach to understanding the tangible ways the States are connected.

Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street, by John Brooks I’ve heard Bill Gates loves this book.

Tell No One, by Harlan Coben Typical cheesy mystery.

Crazy Is a Compliment: The Power of Zigging When Everyone Else Zags, by Linda Rottenberg Solid book, not much new here but nothing I can criticize either.

The Forgotten 500, by Gregory Freeman Wow, what a story!

Chump Change, by G.M. Ford Fun detective story featuring one of my favorite smart aleck characters.

Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power, by Andy Crouch Follow up to his previous book. Not quite as good.

Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products, by Leander Kahney Not a great book, but definitely an interesting person.

Excellent Sheep, by William Deresiewicz Irreverent, sometimes outrageous, always thought provoking.

Good Hunting: An American Spymaster’s Story, by Jack Devine Nice biography from a relatively unknown CIA leader.

Called: The Crisis and Promise of Following Jesus Today, by Mark Labberton Mark touches on some important points.

The Innovators, by Walter Isaacson Not the authors best work, but still really good.

Gatecrashing, by Brian Heasley Amazing story of perseverance and God working in a party town.

How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World, by Steven Johnson Thought provoking and fun.

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future, by Peter Thiel Enjoyed this.

Things a Little Bird Told Me: Confessions of the Creative Mind, by Biz Stone Nothing new here.

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, by Timothy Keller Good stuff here.

Cool War: The Future of Global Competition, by Noah Feldman Sorta interesting.

Caesar: Life of a Colossus, by Adrian Goldsworthy Great bio of an amazing figure.

Russian Roulette, by Giles Milton Very fun read.

Risky Compassion, by Ash Barker Powerful, insightful.

Talk Like TED, by Carmine Gallo Had some good tips for the public speaker.

The Sacred Year, by Michael Yankoski Good stuff from Michael.

West of the Revolution: An Uncommon History of 1776, by Claudio Saunt Tried hard but didn’t hold my attention.

Nero’s Killing Machine: The True Story of Rome’s Remarkable 14th Legion, by Stephen Dando-Collins Another “deep history” book that only a few will love. I did.

China’s Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa, by Howard W. French Really interesting if you are into Africa issues.

God’s Prayer Book: The Power and Pleasure of Praying the Psalms, by Ben Patterson Good read to promote your prayer life.

Overrated, by Eugene Cho So true ….

Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks, by August Turak Had some good points, had some dull points, had some points that were just cliches.

The Men Who Lost America, by Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy History wonks will enjoy it.

The Truest Thing About You, by David Lomas Excellent book about our true spiritual selves.

Age of Ambition, by Evan Osnos Loved this book about modern day China.

The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien Ever hear of it? It was pretty good. Just kidding. It’s a classic, obviously.

Old Man River: The Mississippi River in North American History, by Paul Schneider Only if the topic interests you.

Year Zero, by Ian Buruma Very good.

A Curious Man, by Neal Thompson Sorta good.

Lost for Words: A Novel, by Edward St. Aubyn I wanted to love this book. I didn’t.

Inventing Freedom: How the English-Speaking Peoples Made the Modern World, by Daniel Hannan Interesting concept, biased presentation.

The Director: A Novel, by David Ignatius Great spy story for the person who wants a fun read.

The Republic of Tea: How an Idea Becomes a Business Could have been so much better. A few good points.

I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity, by Izzeldin Abuelaish Powerful.

The Great Omission, by Dallas Willard Anything by Dallas is worth reading.

In the Company of the Poor: Conversations with Dr. Paul Farmer and Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez Not what I expected.

In Praise of Slowness, by Carl Honore A good reminder but ultimately unconvincing.

The Power of Less, by Leo Babauta Unconvincing. 

1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed, by Eric Cline Deep history buffs will be the only ones who love this.

Wild and Wonderful: Tourism, Faith, and Communities, by Stan LeQuire If the topic interests you it’s a must read.

An Invisible Thread, by Laura Schroff Still can’t figure out why this book was so popular. 

Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, by Bo Burlingham Started good, ended just okay.

Heroes, by Paul Johnson Um, nothing special.

The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown MY PERSONAL FAVORITE OF THE YEAR!!!!

The Jewels of Paradise, by Donna Leon Simple Italian detective mystery set in Venice.

Think Like A Freak, by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt Fun and counterintuitive. If you like Freakonomics, you’ll like this.

The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, by Pietra Rivoli Fascinating study of the globalized economy.

Soul Keeping, by John Ortberg Probably the best spiritual book I read all year. And one of the best John has written in a while.

River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana’s Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon, by Buddy Levy The topic enchants me but the writing was dull.

Between Man and Beast: An Unlikely Explorer, the Evolution Debates, and the African Adventure that Took the Victorian World by Storm, by Monte Reel It was fun but could have been so much better.

A History of the English People, by Paul Johnson I finished and then asked, “Why did I read this book?”

The Spirit of Food, by Leslie Leyland Fields Well, maybe for some folks. But this didn’t do much for me.

American Nations, by Colin Woodard Skip it.

Not Cool, by Greg Gutfeld Skip it.

Asia’s Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific, by Robert Kaplan More academic than I expected, but an important and well written book.

War Front to Store Front, by Paul Brinkley Want to change the world? Stimulate the economy.

The Golden Egg, by Donna Leon Simple Italian detective mystery set in Venice.

Flash Boys, by Michael Lewis Important topic, but it’s missing something.

Beastly Things, by Donna Leon Simple Italian detective mystery set in Venice.

Street Smarts, by Norm Brodsky Excellent business book for the entrepreneur.

The Up Side of Down, by Megan McArdle Good counterintuitive book.

The Second Machine Age Had high hopes but this one disappointed.

Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East, by Scott Anderson Great biography.

Drawing Conclusions, by Donna Leon Simple Italian detective mystery set in Venice.

The Baby Boom: How It Got That Way (And It Wasn’t My Fault) (And I’ll Never Do It Again), by PJ O’Rourke Funny if way too cynical and flippant.

A Question of Belief, by Donna Leon Simple Italian detective mystery set in Venice.

APE: How to Publish a Book, by Guy Kawasaki Title says it all.

It Happened in Wisconsin, by Ken Moraff Simple novel about Depression era amateur baseball.

Everest 1953, by Mick Conefrey Fun adventure tale — and it’s true.

About Face, by Donna Leon Simple Italian detective mystery set in Venice.

Jesus: A Biography, by Paul Johnson It’s okay. Could be a lot better.

The Myth of America’s Decline, by Josef Joffe In the midst of so much pessimism, reasons to be positive.

Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome, by Robert Harris Fun read.

The Girl of His Dreams, by Donna Leon Simple Italian detective mystery set in Venice.

Socrates: A Man for Our Times, by Paul Johnson Wish this one went deeper, but it’s a good overview biography.

Suffer the Little Children, by Donna Leon Simple Italian detective mystery set in Venice.

A Delicate Truth, by John Le Carre More brilliance from one of my favorite authors.

The Summer of Beer and Whiskey, by Edward Achorn Fun look at how alcohol shaped baseball.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, by James Thurber Classic, still relevant today.

An Unhurried Life, by Alan Fadling Helpful for the workaholic.

Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston Brilliant. A classic.

Through a Glass, Darkly, by Donna Leon Simple Italian detective mystery set in Venice.

The Bully Pulpit, by Doris Kearns Goodwin Wow, fantastic book!

George Washington: The Founding Father, by Paul Johnson Good but not great bio by a renowned author.

Charity, by Gary Anderson Interesting take on the eternal ramifications of our charity today.

Aston Martin Centenary Yearbook Great book for the Aston Martin fan.

Top 10 Singapore, by Jennifer Eveland Helpful if you spend a couple of days in Singapore.

Museums Matter: In Praise of the Encyclopedic Museum, by James Cuno High brow, but interesting.

Top Gear’s Midlife Crisis Cars, by Matt Master Hilarious for the gear head.

Intentional Golf, by David Balbi David is my golf instructor. 

Burma/Myanmar: What Everyone Needs to Know, by David Steinberg Titles says it all!