2011 Reading List

1. The Tipping Point – Malcom Galdwell
2. The Lost Hero – Rick Riordan
3. The Immortals – Paul Stewart and Chris Riddel
4. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
5. This is Your Brain on Music -
6. The Way of Kings – Brandon Sanderson: the guy who replaced Robert Jordan, his story is just as good and does not include the sexual innuendos
7. Immanuel’s Viens – Ted Dekker: a ‘christian’ vampire story (children of the angels)
8. Extraordinary, Ordinary People – Condoleezza Rice: from rags to riches, from burmingham to washington d.c., excellent
9. Boy’s Life – Robert McCammon: all the elements of a great story, a little crass at times, captures boyhood with excellence
10. Restoring the Republic – Devin Nunes
11. Incarceron – Catherine Fisher
12. Sapphique – Catherine Fisher
13. For the Time Being – Annie Dillard
14. The Old Curiosity Shop – Charles Dickens: very typical Dickens, poor characters trying to overcome adversity, bad characters who are rich and poor who attempt to take advantage, and a couple wealthy good-hearted people along the way
15. The Maze Runner
16. The Supernaturals
17. The Fellowship of the Ring
18. In the Blink of an Eye – Michael Waltrip
19. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption – Laura Hillenbrand: a wonderful, true story that was hard to put down.  Wild survival stories, a wild kid, a wild runner, and a wild faith journey.
20. Born To Run: A hidden tribe, superathletes, and the greatest race the world has never seen  - Christopher McDougall: an intriguing look at the idea of running and a very interesting story of great modern runners.  Makes me want to want to run.
21. Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived – Rob Bell.  Intriguing.  This book is for anyone who grew up with hell fire and brimstone.  His message, which reminds us of just how good the good news is and just how loving God is, resonated with me.  Judgment Day will remain a mystery to me but we definitely need a reminder that God is just and loving.
22. Confessions of a Band Geek Mom – Stacy Dymalski.
23. The Priest’s Graveyard – Ted Dekker.  Interesting fiction that gets at the real meaning of love and judgment.
24. The Seven Wonders that will change your life – Glen Beck & Keith Ablow.
25. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – one third story and two thirds philosophy.  I enjoyed the author’s descriptions of motorcycles, travels, and scenery.  The philosophy gets a little heavy at times, but he introduces the reader to the conflicts between classic and romantic thought quite well.
26. 007, Carte Blanche – fiction
27. Seal Team Six – one seal’s journey
28. The Heart and the Fist – excellent perspective of a humanitarian turned Navy Seal.
29. The Secret History of the CIA – I had to stop this one because it was so depressing.
30. The Original Arguement, Glen Beck – a paraphrased version of the Federalist Papers written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and… – didn’t finish, too heady, but I enjoyed exposing myself to some of the ideas.
31. One Bullet Away, The Making of a Marine Officer – story of entering the Marines and serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
32. RED: Sammy Hagar’s uncensored biography – I had to stop reading this book because Sammy’s life was/is so dysfunctional it is sad.  I was curious to read the life of a ‘rock star’ and shouldn’t be surprised by the ‘uncensored’ element.
33. Anything You Want – a very quick read (1 or 2 hours), the story of the success of the founder of CDbaby.com, lots of good business axioms and stories, to the point.
34. Lost in Shangra-La – the true story of a plane full of Military support personel crashing in the high jungles of New Guinea during WWII and their struggle for survival and rescue.