Here is what I’m interested in right now–most recent reads are at the top. If you want to chat about one of these, drop me a line! I am a better listener than reader, so most of what you see were audiobooks from our local library, Scribd, or Audible.

UPDATE: I’m now tracking my reading on Goodreads. Find me there!

Somehow my study of “terrible leadership in the 1840s” (Tyler, Polk, Buchanan) sent me right back to terrible leadership in the 1960s. I can’t seem to get away from the Vietnam War, and now I wish I would have read Neil Sheehan’s masterpiece first. As informative as Karnow’s book is, Sheehan is much more engaging as he tells the story through the lens of one man, John Paul Vann. Sheehan was on the ground during different phases of the conflict and knew or interviewed many of the key players personally. The 16 years it took Sheehan to write this massive tome resulted in mature reflection on what went wrong and how both our successes and failures change us.
The book you don’t see on here is Volume I of Shelby Foote’s epic 3-volume history of the Civil War. That’s because I only got 40% through it before I had to return it to the library. But the more I listened about the Civil War the more I heard about the Mexican–American War and realized I knew nothing about that conflict. It’s not pretty. “A Wicked War” is what U.S. Grant called it years later. It was a land grab by James K. Polk during the early year’s of Mexico’s independence. Most of the key players in the Civil War cut their teeth fighting in Texas or Mexico and the question of whether slavery had a place in all the land “acquired” from Mexico after the fighting ceased set up the conflicts that led to the Civil War.

For those like me who know little about Henry Clay (“the most famous American politician who was never president”) or how the United States came to include land from sea to shining sea, this is an important and sobering read.
I know next to nothing about macro economics, but this was a fascinating read about the history of wealth inequality worldwide (not much changed until industrialization), in America (the Gilded Age! Robber Barons!), and the present state of the .1% or the “super rich.” Freeland addresses the circumstances that open the doors for amassing such ridiculous wealth, what work commitments are required, and what the lifestyles look like. Perhaps the most shocking part of the book was hearing about the “normal rich” who pull in $5-10 million a year and live paycheck to paycheck trying to live like the super rich. Be content, y’all.
Abortion is an incredibly emotional topic that stirs up visceral reactions on both sides. So it was a challenge to read a book that takes a very measured, approach that considers the merits of arguments from every angle (Watson approaches this as a bioethicist). But I felt like I could not hold my pro-life view with any intellectual honesty without hearing the case for abortion that goes beyond protest signs. I was not ultimately convinced to change my view, but the statistics and ethical quandaries involve in “ordinary abortion” gave me a deeper appreciation for the difficult decisions those with challenging or unplanned pregnancies face.
Full disclosure: Pete Wehner is a good friend. I also happen to generally agree with him politically (you can tell his view of Trump by the subtitle). But wherever you land politically, this book goes into what politics is–giving a primer in political theory from Aristotle to Locke to Lincoln–and how we can recover the virtues that make for a better society.
I lived in southern West Virginia for 2 years and part of my heart is still in those hills. J.D.’s family brought some of the worst of Appalachia when they moved in Ohio and it is heartbreaking to hear from the inside what I observed from the outside of many families in West Virginia. This is just one family’s story but the future of Appalachia deserves much attention in a post-coal economy.
This one broke my heart. Gilda recorded this about a month before she died and goes into tremendous detail about her battle with cancer. It is incredibly raw and as sincere as she was. Even if you care nothing for SNL or comedy, this is worth your time.
I was both too young and too (appropriately) sheltered to know much about National Lampoon. But when I learned how half the cast and writers from SNL’s legendary first season came from the Lampoon, I wanted to learn some more history. Takeaway: cocaine and promiscuity does not make for a fulfilling existence.
Late night hosts + stand up comedy + unionizing = a fascinating and sometimes tragic tale
I do deep dives. It’s how I roll. So after my Vietnam deep dive finally wore off, I stayed in the 70s but moved over to comedy. I’ve been an SNL fan for years, so I enjoyed this massive volume (800 pages or, for me, 28 hours). I also listened to a bunch of books connected to SNL, which I will post above.
The Vietnam obsession continues. This massive work goes deep into Vietnam’s history and how America got tangled up in it. Thorough and fair.
When I confessed my new Vietnam obsession to a friend, he pointed me to this recent work. I am a third of the way through it and taking leadership notes along the way. So far, here are the basics: don’t lead out of insecurity and don’t shut down voices of dissent. People might die.
Watching Ken Burns’ documentary on the Vietnam War left me wanting to know more. This was the first book available for immediate download from the library, and I wasn’t disappointed. The authors of “We Were Soldiers Once and Young” record their return to Vietnam to reckon with their nightmarish battles and find common ground with the enemies they fought. It is a powerful account with solid leadership lessons.
Ike was a blank spot in my knowledge of modern presidents, so I dove in to this excellent biography that focuses on his White House years. His restraint and preference for the middle way largely served our nation well–particularly with nuclear weapons abroad, less so with civil rights at home. He is a leader worth studying.
Blew through this in 6 days. Riveting account of MLK’s assassin and the pure racism that drove his heartless act. Humanizes MLK and contextualizes the movement in ’68. Can’t recommend it highly enough (can’t you tell from my breathless sentence fragments?)
Before the mega church or Billy Graham’s crusades there was Whitefield, compelled by God’s missionary call to preach to tens of thousands in fields, warehouses, and wherever else people would gather. His personal holiness, gentleness with adversaries, and passion to reach the lost are a challenge to every Christian.
I love comedy. I love geniuses. Robin Williams was both. Also, incredibly flawed. His death remains a tragic reminder of how fragile our mental and physical health can be.
Account of how Lincoln incorporated his political rivals (mostly Republican primary challengers) into his cabinet. I was particularly moved by Lincoln’s mixture of gentleness, patience, and iron will.
I am solidly pro-life, yet desire to understand the history of the abortion issue and what background makes sense of a pro-choice stance. So far this is an even handed historical account.
See above, only this is more critical of the pro-life movement circa 1990s.
Full disclosure: this is the only thing by Stephen King I have read. But I’m glad I read this one. He has straightforward, no BS pointers on writing, even if you don’t plan to write fiction.
I can not comprehend the mentality that thrill-seeking test pilots have, but it sure is invigorating to hear about them. Wolfe’s writing is incomparable and Quaid’s reading of it gripping.
My Watergate obsession continues….fascinating counter-perspective from John Dean’s account. Much shade thrown Mr. Dean’s way.
Somehow I never took any leadership courses in seminary, yet this is what I do the most as a pastor. So I try to learn from whatever leaders I can, even if their fields and assumptions vary dramatically from mine. This classic on leading change was well worth the read.
I love tech, Star Wars, Apple, and Pixar. Also, I need to learn leadership lessons from those older than me. So this book was a slam dunk. Many powerful insights, especially in creating an environment open to new ways of doing things.
I wanted to hear the story behind the guy who could play both the dentist on Seinfeld and Walter White on Breaking Bad. I was not disappointed. A unique and powerful approach to autobiography.
This kicked off my Watergate obsession. Found it in a used book store while on vacation and, thanks to a cortisol imbalance that kept me up from 10PM – 2AM every day, read all 400 pages in a week. Fascinating read on a singular event in US history.
O’Connor is one of my favorite fiction authors, yet I never read her second novel. More taut and focused than Wise Blood, this is classic Flannery in all her jagged, gruesome glory.
Jack Deere – pastor, theologian, and author – opens a vein in this autobiography. From his son’s suicide to his wife’s alcoholism and Jack’s unhealthiness in the midst of it all, he allows us to see how God can use weakness and brokenness for His good purposes.
A distilled and applied version of the concepts behind Playing God (see below). Very useful teasing out of high concepts.
My #ChurchToo story caused me to grapple with the topic of power as I never had before. Andy Crouch’s brilliant, comprehensive work gave me biblical and philosophical categories to even begin thinking about this critical, neglected issue.