2007 Book List

Ok, I think I will try again to maintain a book list for the year. Here goes:

Mind Games by Matthew Paul Turner-- At only 119 pages, this makes for an easy and informative read. Turner shares parts of his journey as he tackles the mind games that we all have played or are still playing. Chapters cover the topics of possession, independence, passiveness, codependence, lies, distraction, manipulation, and surrender. Written with much humor and grounded in a biblical worldview. I learned a lot and highly recommend this one.

Work Types by Kummerow, Barger, and Kirby--Based on the Myers-Briggs personality types, this book applies "type" information to various work situations. Fairly easy to read and understand if you are already familiar with the "types."

The Brethern by Beverly Lewis--This fictional story set in an Amish community made for a good, quick read. I'm sort of intrigued by the whole Amish thing, so I enjoyed reading about that way of life. As you might expect, there's a love story or two thrown in, but it was tolerable. I'm discovering that I like fiction more than I thought.

Hearing God by Dallas Willard--Willard is not the easiest author to read, but this book was worth the effort. Willard attempts to answer a couple of questions, such as, "Does God speak to individual believers today?" and "If so, what would that look (or sound) like?" One of my goals this year was to learn more about prayer and since listening is an often neglected part of prayer I found this book very helpful.

Believing God by Beth Moore--This book was great! Moore writes about the life-changing practice of actually believing God, as opposed to just believing in Him. She has an easy to understand style of writing and offers some practical help in making it a reality in your own life. This book would go on my "recommend to everyone I know" list.

Not As Crazy As I Seem by George Harrar--Fictional story for teenagers (but it held my interest) about a 15 year old boy with OCD. Since I was once a 15 year old girl with OCD, I could relate to some of the story. A short and entertaining read that could actually help people understand what someone with OCD deals with.

Boundaries in Dating by Henry Cloud and John Townsend--I've read this one before, but it was definately worth re-reading. Written from a Christian perspective, this book offers good advice for handling dating (and any relationship really). I've read several books by Cloud and Townsend and highly recommend them. It's like therapy without the $80 per hour price tag.

365 Manners Kids Should Know by Sheryl Eberly--I think this book should be re-titled 365 Manners Everyone Should Know because there is a lot of good information in here. I learned plenty from reading this, though at times I wished the auther would have gone into more depth with the explanations. As you might guess, the book is arranged into 365 short readings-one for each day of the year. They are arranged into categories such as, Family Time, Introductions, Table Manners, etc. As I said, this book has a lot of good information, but, in my opinion, is not really practical if you are looking for a manners/etiquette curriculum to use with kids. I will definately keep this one on the shelf for reference though.