1. Love Does, by Bob Goff - Mandy read this book a few months ago and shared with me some of the extraordinary stories that he tells. I have to admit that as I heard and then read them, I was a bit skeptical. So I decided that one of my prayers during sabbatical was that I would grow young; in other words, I would recapture faith and be less of a cynic. I must say that this book has both challenged and helped that prayer.
2. Sensing Jesus, by Zack Eswine - This is a beautiful and challenging book. It has given me the desire to live a slower life in which I experience life the way Jesus experienced life. It exposes over and over again the discrepancies between our view of greatness and God's.
3. Daring Greatly, by Brene Brown - Her talk at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit was outstanding. The call towards vulnerability, shame resilience, and wholeheartedness, though challenging (a theme with these books it seems), are timely and critical. Mandy is currently listening to her previous book, The Gifts of Imperfections. I'm looking forward to that one as well.
4. Straight Flush, by Ben Mezrich - I'm a sucker for his books. The movies The Social Network and 21 were based off of two of his previous books.
5. Dad is Fat, by Jim Gaffigan - This is the hilarious book by the comedian who lives with his wife and FIVE young children in a 2-bedroom apartment.
