book list

The book list of 2006 consisted of...(in chronological order).

The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian Mclaren. I thought this book was alright. I found that the secret wasn't all that secretive. 7 out of 10.

Managing Non-Profit Organizations by Peter Drucker. For the kind of book it was I thought it had some great insights about leading volunteers, fundraising and other non-profit kind of things. A 7 out of 10.

Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne- Good book- recommend it to anyone. It's very easy to read and is full of Shane's experience as political and social activist. It also describes the new monastic community he started with some friends called The Simple Way. 8 out of 10.

blue like jazz by Donald Miller- This was probably the 6th time I read this book. Love it. 9.5 out of 10

The Last Word and the word after that by Brian Mclaren. I held off on reading the last book of the New Kind of Christian Trilogy because I needed some time to digest the first two, which I really liked. The theme of the third installment of Dan Poole and Neo's story is the formers understanding of Hell and his journey to reach some conclusions on the matter. As always, Neo pointed out some things I didn't know but... also, as always, left me a little confused, which I suppose is his point. Good book though. 8 out of 10.

Completely Pro Life by Ronald Sider. This book discusses a consistent ethic of human life as it relates to abortion, the poor and nuclear arms. It was written in the early 80's so the argument about abortion and nuclear arms was a bit dated (ie. references to wade vs. roe and the big bad soviet empire), but the part about the poor was real good. 7 out of 10

eleanor rigby by Douglas Coupland. I really liked Life after God a couple years ago and finally read another Coupland. The basic premise is a 36 year old single woman discovers she has a 21 year old son who is terminally ill and who comes to live with her. The description sounds sappy but its actually a fairly entertaining book essentially dealing with the main characters sense of loneliness. 7.5 out of 10

To own a Dragon by Donald Miller. I would say I liked this book 3rd best out of the four that I've read (followed by BLJ and Through Painted Deserts). It was interesting, light hearted and at some points laugh out loud funny. Don's a great writer but he'll be hard pressed to ever exceed Blue Like Jazz. 7.5 out of 10

Blankets by Craig Thompson. Buy this book. That's it, no description -it is simply a book that if you ever get the chance you should buy it. The coming of age story of a boy who is raised in the christian subculture and then leaves the faith. 9.5 out of 10.


I might be missing some but that's all I can think of. A fairly light year but after reviewing a few syllabi for this coming school year-- 2007's book list is going to be ridiculous. yikes.

the house.

I realized that I don't really like being alone. By alone I mean- in Toronto at my house with no one around for days on end. I thought I would like this a little bit but I'm not a big fan. I wish Paul Randall was here. Jay and Jay are at Urbana and Chris Clements is at a dinner party for the rest of my life (it would seem). The good news is that I got some work done at Wesley Chapel, watched a couple movies and even picked up a digital camera (I'm a little behind...) so that I can document my year in the south.

To combat the emptiness of this house I invited a couple of the youth over for some serious video gaming. It'll be good to hang out with them for a couple hours.

So far I like facebook.

the book of faces

For a long time now I've tried to be against things that are trendy. I suspect this has something to do with my pride and/or stubbornness- although I'm not sure in which ways. Par example, I refused to watch the t.v. show '24' for the simple reason that everyone was watching it. After three years I cracked, watched one episode which was swiftly followed by the entire season...and then two other seasons.

The same will be said of Facebook. After about a year of 'facebook this' and 'facebook that', I decided that I would join. Now, just so you don't think I'm a slave to trends I would like to clarify that IF I was staying in Toronto and in relative contact with friends there, then I doubt that I would join. However, in light of the impending move to school-- I think it might be a good way to stay in touch.

So, facebook away.