2011 Books

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For the past six years I have been posting at year’s end all the books I read in the previous year. The list is mostly for myself as it is a convenient way to keep track of when I read certain things, but I know I also love looking at other people’s reading lists, so I might as well put mine out there as well. This year’s list is not as diverse as in past years as seminary has me reading mostly theology books, but they were good reads and I finally got to read some books that I had been meaning to for some time. I did return to favorites this year – reading the Hunger Games again and the Kushiel books for what must have been the 7th or 8th time. I also finally got around to reading the Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, which I highly recommend. In the fiction realm as well, I also really enjoyed Veronica Roth’s Divergent – a dystopian young adult novel about a world where people are divided into factions depending on the virtue they exhibit most strongly. It reads a bit like Hunger Games meets Ender’s Game, but if you’ve spent time in Chicago, the book is worth it just for the post-apocalyptic downtown Chicago setting. As for non-fiction, it was nice to finally read through Moltmann’s Theology of Hope and Desmond Tutu’s No Future Without Forgiveness – both were great reads. I also loved James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me, which I think should be required reading in order for anyone to graduate college. The book highlighted for me how much I don’t know about history as well as the ways education is often used as a tool of control instead of as a means of teaching truth or encouraging students to think. It’s a disturbing, but helpful read.

I wish I had more time to read these days, but here’s my list of books I read this past year. I’d love to hear your thoughts on these books, and any recommendations for what I should read next year.

Non-fiction

Fiction