Best Non-Fiction #1-5

My Favorite Non-Fiction Books Read This Year (#'s 1-5):

1. The Forgotten Ways – Alan Hirsch
I'm not even done with this and I can already say this is number one! I love Hirsch's honesty as he tells the stories of his failures as they experimented with new ideas of church. It's refreshing. It's not a sales pitch to sell you an idea like a lot of church books. "This will change your church, blah blah blah." He's really laying down some foundational stuff. Sure, he uses his own language for it (which some will find tiring), but I don't get the sense that he's trying to sell me anything. If you have anything to do with the church I would recommend you read this slowly and think through it.



2. Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer
This is Jon Krakauer's account of the disaster at Mt. Everest of 1996. He initially went there to investigate the commercialism of Mt. Everest but got way more than he bargained for. I couldn't put this one down. It's exciting, it's terrifying, it's sad, and it's not without controversy. I felt like I was on the mountain. This one really got me hooked on the fascinating culture of Mt. Everest. Love those sherpas.

3. Choose the Life – Bill Hull
Great book on discipleship. I believe that is pretty much all Bill Hull writes about. Uh, not much else to say. It's challenging.

4. The End of Memory – Miroslav Volf
I think I enjoyed this book so much because it was so different than what I had read before. Part psychology/part theology, Volf examines the role of remembering in forgiveness and uses his own brutal experience being taken for a spy and held for a year of questioning/torture. I have thought about "remembering rightly" a lot since I have read this book.

5. Soul Survivor – Philip Yancey
Yancey gives (I believe it's thirteen) portraits of people who have inspired him to hold onto the faith throughout the years when he wanted to leave the church. Some of these include MLK Jr., Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Nouwen, Buechner, Chesterton, and some people I had never heard of but am glad that I did. These are all fascinating people, plus it's obvious that Yancey is just a really good writer.