I grew up in a small community in southern CA. It was mostly white with a growing hispanic population as well. There were very few black families. I don’t know specific demographics, but if I had to guess I would put the number well south of 1% of our city.

Today I live in a city without a majority population. It’s roughly 45% white and 43% black with a collection of other ethnicities as well. I absolutely love it. I love that my daily interactions in the world are always going to include people different than me.

That being said, I’m fairly ignorant when it comes to Black History. It wasn’t exactly a topic we spent a lot of time on in my city growing up. In fact, there were very few voices in my life from people of color at all (if any?). So one of my goals the last couple of years has been to really grow in this area of my life and one of the best ways I know to do that is through reading. So here’s some of the authors I’ve been reading the last couple of years. I’d encourage you to check some of these out!

• Rod Hairston – Cover Her (Rod’s a friend, a pastor and a real mentor to me)
• Derwin Gray – HD Leader (former NFL player turned pastor)
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu – The Book of Joy (the funniest Archbishop you’ll ever read)
• Lisa Sharon Harper – The Very Good Gospel (holy smokes. Incredible.)
• John Perkins – Dream With Me (a legend in the civil rights movement)
• Tony Dungy – Uncommon Marriage (NFL guy, commentator with an incredible ministry to dads)
• Michelle Alexander – The New Jim Crow (One of the most important books in the world right now, in my opinion)

These are just a few random things that have become a part of my life and have helped me, so I thought I’d share them with you:

1. Slack – This is an app that runs my work life communication. I can’t imagine doing what I do without it now. It has virtually eliminated email between me and my team. It’s where we share ideas, plan things together and touch base on everything from the major to the minor. We can share documents, links, photos and more.

2. A treadmill – It was this time last year that we made the big purchase. Every once in a while I’ll still go outside and run but then I remember why a treadmill is so nice. Mainly, I don’t hurt as bad. My joints and my feet thank me. I get to watch Netflix to forget that I’m running, and I get to dress the same every time – no special arctic running gear necessary. I don’t run for the joy of it like some crazy people, I run to be healthy. So anything I can do to turn a discipline into something more enjoyable is worth it to me.

3. VidAngel – Well, this app is currently not available because of some legal issues. But if it ever comes back, it’s something you should know about. It allowed us to “rent” movies via streaming for $1 each. Before watching users got the chance to filter anything they wanted to filter out of the movie. It really helped to be able to feel good about what I was showing my kids, but I appreciated the filtering option for me as well.

4. The 5 year journal – I heard about the idea of a 5 year journal on a podcast. I’ve never been able to keep the habit of journaling, mostly because I felt this pressure to write a lot. This journal has a few lines per entry. It’s a place to capture a quick thought about the day, about something I learned, a prayer, etc. I’ve found that writing in it at the end of a day works best for me. I still don’t do it every day, but it’s more than ever. And the cool thing is that you keep using the same journal for five years, so at some point I’ll start seeing past entries and what was happening in prior years on that same day. Pretty cool. (The one I purchased is by Levenger and is linked above.)

5. Podcasts – I know, it’s not anything new. But I don’t know that I understand people who don’t use these as a primary way of learning and growth. Last year I added a few that were more storytelling than anything else. I binged my way through Serial, as well as Revisionist History. But my regulars include the Relevant podcast, the Andy Stanley Leadership podcast, the Craig Groeschel Leadership podcast, The Matt Keller Leadership Channel.

Time to dust off the blog. This is my annual list of the books I read and a little commentary on some of the highlights.

1.  Jesus’ Son – Johnson
2. Our Story Begins – Wolff
3. The Heroic Path – Sowers
4. Defining Moments – Heath (not yet published)
5. How to be Here – Bell
6. The most excellent way to lead – Noble
7. The Divine Conspiracy – Willard (re-read)
8. Girl at the end of the world – Esther
9. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team – Lencioni (re-read)
10. The Emotionally Healthy Leader – Scazzero
11. The Ideal Team Player – Lencioni
12. Band of Brothers – Ambrose
13. Addicted to Busy – Bloye
14. The Customer Service Revolution – DiJulius
15. I don’t care if we never get back – Blatt & Brewster
16. Intentional Living – Maxwell
17. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality – Scazzero
18. The Very Good Gospel – Harper
19. Rooted – Liebscher
20. Crucial Conversations – Patterson, etc.
21. The New Jim Crow – Alexander
22. The Bible Tells Me So… – Enns
23. The Pastor – Peterson
24. When your father dies – Veerman and Barton
25. Extreme Ownership – Willink and Babin

So many good reads here. (Speaking of goodreads, see below if you want to connect there.) The theme of the year seems to be going deeper inside myself. I read a lot about emotional health (Scazzero books), about healthy rhythms and rest (Intentional Living, Addicted to Busy, How to be Here), and about calling and purpose (Rooted, The Pastor, The Heroic Path) and ultimately about grief and understanding loss (When Your Father Dies).

I love to read leadership books and this year was no exception. Probably my favorite in that department was a less traditional leadership book – Band of Brothers. I had finally watched the show by the same name this year on Netflix and so reading the book was me wanting more. I gleaned so much from the real life examples of this incredible group of men.

I tried to be intentional this year in learning and growing in my understanding of injustice. I’ve only just begun that journey but I was so moved by The New Jim Crow and The Very Good Gospel. The first was an incredibly eye-opening journey into inequality and injustice in current day America and the second was a more theological journey. Both have left a lasting impression on me.

I think my favorite book I read this year was “The Pastor.” It was written by Eugene Peterson (The Message translation author). It’s a memoir of his life and calling and the ways he wrestled with the role God gave him as a pastor. It’s packed full of wisdom from a man who has done this a very long time. I’m deeply grateful for his wisdom and insight and will come back to it a lot I’m sure.

So there’s the list. What would you recommend I put on my list for 2017?

**Connect with me on GoodReads here.

Well, it’s that time of year again. Every year I like to keep track of the books I read and then take a look back at what shaped me and what stood out most. First, the list – then I’ll give you some thoughts on some of my favorites.

1. The Barbarian Way – McManus
2. The Bourne Identity – Ludlum
3. Things Fall Apart – Achebe
4. Notes from Underground – Dostoevsky
5. The Bourne Supremacy – Ludlum
6. The New Rules of Love, Sex and Dating – Stanley
7. The Bourne Ultimatum – Ludlum
8. Vanishing Grace – Yancey
9. Let Your Life Speak – Parker
10. Simply Good News: Why the Gospel is News and What Makes it Good – Wright
11. Good Leaders Ask Great Questions – Maxwell
12. Lamb: The Gospel according to Biff – Moore
13. Scary Close – Miller
14. Leadership Pain – Chand
15. The Silver Chair – C.S. Lewis
16. Inside the Box: A proven system of creativity for breakthrough results – Boyd, Goldenberg
17. Procrastinate on Purpose – Vaden
18. The ABCs of Financial Freedom – Cameron
19. The Key to Everything – Keller
20. H3 Leadership: Be Humble, Stay Hungry, Always Hustle – Lomenick
21. Love, Live, Lead – Brian Houston
22. Millones Cajones – Bell
23. Leading with the Heart – Krzyzewski
24. Coaching 101 – Logan

I started the year with an old favorite, The Barbarian Way by Pastor Erwin McManus. Years ago that book gave me a fresh look at faith that caused me to begin to dream crazy dreams and it was good to dip back in to that.

Five of the next six books I read were fiction, and nine total on the year – which has to be some kind of record for me, at least since college. And of course, that’s if you count The Bourne trilogy as actual books. They were incredibly fun to read and hard to put down. I probably didn’t learn much from them but I do know several ways to turn everyday objects into weapons if need be. So there’s that.

I read Things Fall Apart and Notes from Underground on the recommendation of a friend. I get it. Classic literature isn’t always about entertainment. In this case, they were both kind of laborious, but if I’m honest – they have stuck with me in ways other books haven’t. They disturbed me and weren’t necessarily “fun” reads, but probably important nonetheless. (You’re welcome Jared.)

Probably one of my favorite reads this year was “Lamb: The Gospel according to Biff.” The story is told by “Biff” who was apparently the childhood best friend of Jesus. I laughed out loud a lot reading this while on vacation. It’s disturbing at times, and would be deeply offensive to some I’m sure. But in some weird way it made the humanity of Jesus so much more real to me. I loved it. There’s one scene in particular where Jesus’s cousin John is sort of bullying the other kids and won’t stop dunking them under water which basically had me losing it. So good.

On the leadership end, I think Sam Chand’s “Leadership Pain” was so timely for me and one I’ll come back to again and again, while Matt Keller‘s “The Key to Everything” was probably one that resonated deepest with my own leadership values and beliefs. Matt has been a mentor and a friend to me and his voice has been one of the loudest in my life and for that I’m thankful. It has quickly become the must-read book I give to other leaders. I also really loved Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s book “Leading with the Heart.” I’ll admit, I’m a Duke fan so maybe I’m biased. But anytime I get to mix my love of sports with my love of leadership I’m probably going to say it was awesome no matter what.

Well, that’s the quick rundown of the books that shaped me in 2015. What did I miss? What would you recommend I pick up in 2016?