Accelerated Reading Program Part II

16 more books read in 2006 and briefly reviewed

1. To America, by Stephen Ambrose...How his love of history enriched his life.
2. An Ordinary Man, by Paul Rusesabagina...based the movie Hotel Rwanda on this book, powerful, go read it.
3. Smoke and Mirrors, by Neil Gaiman...more short stories by this master of fantasy.
4. First Impressions, by Mark Waltz...I know him! He's my friend! I love that guy! He's a pastor, but not so's you'd know it, which is a high compliment from me. Oh yeah, the book...it sucked big time, just kidding. practical, proven ways to create the WOW experience in your church to help people know they matter to God. Now get busy on your next book Mark. Book mark.
5. The Weight of Glory, by C.S. Lewis...not his best, but excellent pages on the value of people, if we saw people for how they really are, immortal, glorious spirit beings in the image of God, we would be so overcome we'd be almost tempted to worship them, but instead we would treat every person as a being of infinite value.
6. Family First, by Dr. Phil...not bad, not a big fan, but his folksy common sense and direct delivery is refreshing.
7. Crazy, America's Mental Health Madness, by Pete Earley...great job of illustrating the mess our system is in. Solutions? Not so much.
8. On Being a Therapist, by Jeffrey Kottler...very helpful, I have a lot to learn, In fact I think when I'm 90 I'll be a half way decent therapist.
9. Law in America, by Lawrence M. Friedman...you might think that this book would be boring and of little value to us laymen, and you would be right.
10. He is There and He is Not Silent, by Francis Schaeffer...while I still consider it a classic, I'd forgotten until this time through how much he repeats info from his other books.
11. The Pirate Coast, by Richard Zacks, it's about Thomas Jefferson and the very first mission of the Marines, which was "to the shores of Tripoli." A good read.
12. Leading With a Limp, by Dan Allender... he's got a great half of a book here, I'd be willing to say more than half. This is much more easily forgiven if the second half is the better half, but alas, it wasn't. When the team doesn't show up after half-time there's no possibility of a comeback.
13. The Seven Sacred Truths, by Denis Waitley...even though it is filled with pointless psycho-babble, it also has a lot of New Age crap. So it all evens out.
14. Winston Churchill; Man of the Century, by John Ramsden...I knew Churchill was a great man, but I didn't realize just how great until I read Ramsdens' book.
15. Letters to a Young Therapist, by Mary Pipher...if you're seeing a therapist and they haven't read this book, buy it for them, and tell them you expect it to be read before your next session. Of course, they will be deeply offended and angry, and that's when you helpfully point out that it isn't you who've made them angry, they chose to be angry.
16. Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank...This was the first time I read it since I got to see the actual diary at the Museum of Tolerance in L.A. It had more of an impact this time.