When I left on the Race, I brought my Kindle and a handful of paperbacks, including a compilation of books by C.S. Lewis that I’d been saying for years that I would get around to some day. Shortly after arriving in Ecuador, I began reading in earnest, and a lifelong passion was rekindled. I started keeping track of the books, and before I realized it, I had read 25 of them. (Don’t worry, I read the bible too.)
Some of them were long, and some of them were -mercifully at times- short, but I’d read them. I set the goal for myself of reading 50 books before the end of the Race. The problem with reading more, though, is that you begin reading faster, so the 500 page novel you thought would slow you down occupies two afternoons and leaves you wondering how you got through it so quickly. Four days into India, I realized I’d almost reached that goal. Oops. I’d hoped to hit 75, and I might have done it too, but life got even busier and reading took a backseat. I have about five that I’m in the middle of and need to finish…
I list them here in the order I finished them them, and by country. They cover a wide range of subjects: Memoir, history, Christian ethics, cultural studies, and literary fiction. I’m sure some of the titles will make you scratch your head and wonder what on earth I was thinking. No matter. I read them, and each has been useful in its own way, and God has used them. I hope you find some inspiration in these titles, and that it gives you a glimpse into some of the stuff I’ve been uploading into my head over the course of this year. I hope it sparks discussion and thought. You might even read a few!
Month 1:PERU / BOOKS COMPLETED THIS MONTH: 0
Well, this is awkward. I didn’t actually finish anything in Peru because I was just starting to read… But I climbed a mountain!
Month 2:ECUADOR / BOOKS COMPLETED THIS MONTH: 6
1.) “Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity” – Lauren Winner
2.) “Wild at Heart” – John Eldredge
3.) “The Art of Listening Prayer” – Seth Barnes
4.) “The Hug Therapy Book” – Kathleen Keating
5.) “The Giver” – Lois Lowry
6.) “The 7-Day Prayer Warrior” – Stormie Omartian
Month 3:COLOMBIA / BOOKS COMPLETED THIS MONTH: 5
7.) “The Cross and the Switchblade” – David Wilkerson
8.) “C.S. Lewis: A Life Inspired” – C. Gordon
9.) “A Grief Observed” – C.S. Lewis
10.) “Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality” -Wesley Hill
11.) “The Horse and His Boy” – C.S Lewis
Month 4:GREECE / BOOKS COMPLETED THIS MONTH: 2
12.)”Feels Like Redemption: The Pilgrimage to Health and Healing” Seth Taylor & David Taylor
13.) “Life of Pi” – Yann Martel
Month 5:MONTENEGRO / BOOKS COMPLETED THIS MONTH: 7
14.) “On Which Side of the Road do the Flowers Grow?” – Wendell Mettey
15.) “Lies They Teach In School” – Herb Reich
16.) “Eyes of Integrity: The Porn Pandemic and How it Affects You”- Craig Gross & Jason Harper
17.) “Confessions of a Turtle Wife” – Anita Salzberg
18.) “Prince Caspian” – C.S. Lewis
19.) “How to Fail at Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life” – Scott Adams
20.) “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”- C.S. Lewis
Month 6: ALBANIA / BOOKS COMPLETED THIS MONTH:9
21.) “The Cost of Discipleship” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
22.) “Speed Reading For Beginners” – James T. Rose
23.) “77 Tips for a Grown-Up Man” – Kurt Starnes
24.) “Overrated: Are We More in Love with the Idea of Changing the World than Actually Changing the World?” – Eugene Cho
25.) “Just Courage” – Gary A. Haugen
26.) “Gandhi: A Life Inspired” – Lynn M. Hamilton
27.) “War of Words: Getting to the Heart of you Communication Struggles” – Paul David Tripp
28.) “The Sustainable Edge: 15 Minutes a Day to a Richer Entrepeneurial Life” – Ron Carson and Scott Ford
29.) “Cross-Cultural Conflict: Building Relationships for Effective Ministry” – Duane Elmer
Month 7: NEPAL / BOOKS COMPLETED THIS MONTH: 10
30.) “One World, Two Minds: Eastern and Western Outlooks in A Changing World” – Denis Lane
31.) “S*** My Dad Says” – Justin Halpern
32.) “When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor… or Yourself” – Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert
33.) “Micro” – Michael Crichton & Richard Preston
34.) “How To Win Friends and Influence People” – Dale Carnegie
35.) “Bossypants” – Tina Fey
36.) “Why Buy When Renting Makes You Millions?” – Patricia Marlene
37.) “Dimensions of Nepali Society and Culture” – Rishikeshab Raj Regmi
38.) “Civil Disobedience” – Henry David Thoreau
39.) “Rising Strong” – Brené Brown
Month 8: INDIA / BOOKS COMPLETED THIS MONTH: 8
40.) “The Abolition of Man” – C.S. Lewis
41.) “The Great Divorce” – C.S. Lewis
42.) “What Would Jesus Ask? 10 Questions That Will Transform Your Life” – Jim Dixon
43.) “The Problem of Pain” – C.S. Lewis
44.) “The Screwtape Letters” – C.S.Lewis
45.) “Stephen Colbert: Beyond Truthiness” – Bruce Watson
46.) “Ceremony” – Leslie Marmon Silko
47.) “The Enemy Within: Straight Talk about the Power and Defeat of Sin” – Kris Lundgaard
48.) “Mere Christianity” – C.S. Lewis
Month 9: MALAYSIA / BOOKS COMPLETED THIS MONTH: 10
49.) “Kampung Boy: Yesterday and Today” – L.A.T.
50.)”Tales of Beedle the Bard” – J.K. Rowling
51.) “Miracles” – C.S. Lewis
52.) “Eaters of the Dead” – Michael Crichton
53.) “The Silver Chair” -C.S. Lewis
54.) “The Last Battle” -C.S. Lewis
55.) “Eva, Kopi, and Matcha” – Evangeline Neo
56.) “Around the World in 80 Days” – Jules Verne
57.) “Re-Entry: Making the Transition from Missions to Life at Home” – Peter Jordan
58.) “Bruchko”-Bruce E. Olson
Month 10: THAILAND / BOOKS COMPLETED THIS MONTH: 2
59.) “The Wind in the Willows” – Kenneth Graham
60.) “Healing Victims of Sexual Abuse: How to Counsel and Minister to Hearts Wounded by Abuse” – Paula Sandford
Month 11: CAMBODIA / BOOKS COMPLETED THIS MONTH: 1
62.) “The Secret Life of Lobsters: How Fishermen and Scientists Are Unraveling the Mysteries of Our Favorite Crustacean” – Trevor Corson
