Over the past 12 months, I’ve built a stack of two handfuls of books on my night stand—unread or only partially read. There are almost 100 more nonfiction books on my Amazon wish list and another 75 on my iTunes wish list.
The twenty-one books I have finished so far in 2016, though, have each left an impression on me. Several have created meaningful conversations in my life and even some personal growth. I’ve listed the books below and commented on each for two reasons: (1) to remind me of my takeaways and (2) to pique your interest in the better ones. Here they are in the order I would recommend them.
Simplify
Ten Practices to Unclutter Your Soul
I read this book twice this year and even led an (outdoor) book study group around it. Of all the stress management/life organization books I read in 2016, this was the longest but also the most practical. Guys in my group said Bill Hybels might as well have written their names in its pages, as if were their biography.
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
The Sleep Revolution
Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time
This book could and maybe should scare you into better sleep and pre-sleep habits. The science and anecdotes Arianna Huffington weaves throughout its pages inspire more like a TED talk than a sermon. Her advice arrives with both carrots and sticks.
Amazon rating: 3.7 out of 5 stars
The Power of Habit
Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
This was my second time listening to this book, and I was no less astounded by its implications. Charles Duhigg saves the practical content for the end, but the payoff is worth the journey through the anecdotes. [As a believer in intelligent design, I was wowed by this book’s science.] Amazon rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Miracles
What They Are, Why They Happen, and How They Can Change Your Life
As someone who approaches my faith pragmatically and somewhat empirically, this read was an intentional challenge to absorb some of the mystical side of life. Eric Metaxas starts the book with the ramifications of incredible scientific discoveries before relaying some mind-bending anecdotes.
Amazon rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
A Curious Mind
The Secret to a Bigger Life
Oscar-winning producer, Brian Grazer, has been doing something for decades that’s long been on my bucket list: interview a bunch a people from a wide swath of life, ask them about what makes them tick, and then write about it. We all benefit from those interviews and the takeaways from those conversations. The author’s serious name-dropping is offset by self-deprecating stories.
Amazon rating: 3.6 out of 5 stars
Come as You Are
The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life
Dr. Emily Negoski wrote this book for women, but I learned a lot from it. Some of this content doesn’t align with my personal faith; but this book confronts stereotypes and false assumptions prevalent in all cultures, even our more liberated Western one.
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
The Happiness Project
Or, Why I spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have more Fun
I had been using Gretchen Rubin’s five-year journaling system of the same name for several months before I read this #1 bestseller. The book confirmed the scoring system I’ve been using daily (since 2007) to track my goals. I highlighted a lot of new-to-me concepts—the biggest of which to me was: “You can choose what you do, but you can’t choose what you like to do.”
Amazon rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Scary Close
Dropping the Act and Finding True Intimacy
Donald Miller writes how I want to write someday. I’m not normally a memoir reader, but I listened to this book twice—including during a 9-hour drive through a snow storm. In a world of social media facades, this book makes the case that authenticity holds a purpose beyond authenticity’s sake.
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Bonk
The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
This book has more humor than any of the others on this list, which you wouldn’t expect from a book about nineteenth- and twentieth-century science. That’s Mary Roach’s calling card, though—as you can see in her TED talk. The intersection of something we think of as clinical and something we deem romantic (or at least passionate) makes for interesting tales of discovery.
Amazon rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars
Invisible Influence
The Hidden Forces That Shape Behavior
There’s not much surprise or even newness in Jonah Berger’s assertions, but the ways he proves them makes for fun dinner party conversations. I’m better armed now to evaluate my purchases, perceptions, and pastimes through the filter of motivation. As a marketer, this book reinforces what I recommend to my clients, when they’re prospecting for clients.
Amazon rating: 4.2 out of 5 stars
Foolproof
Why Safety Can Be Dangerous and How Danger Makes Us Safe
I was drawn to Greg Ip’s book, because my acquaintances think my passions are dangerous. I came to it, hoping for affirmation; but I left with a purpose to create more intentional margin into my life. The financial products discussion drag a bit, but the rest of the case studies lift the book this high on my list.
Amazon: 3.9 out of 5 stars
Sacred Pathways
Discover Your Soul’s Path to God
This in-depth discussion of the nine major spiritual temperaments continued the exploration I’ve done in years past about how I and others relate to God. The premise is basically The Five Love Languages but for a vertical relationship. If you grew up in a church that gave the impression that worship or inspiration happens only inside organized services or your private study time, this book will expand your awareness of the divine.
Amazon rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Essentialism
The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
Greg McKeown drops some ideas I had never previously pondered. I highlight interesting lines but dog-ear pages to which I need to return. There are a lot of dog-eared pages in my copy of this bestseller. Come for the new filters to see your world; stay for the paradoxes that fly in the face of popular culture.
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Thrive
The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder
Ariana Huffington spends the whole #1 bestseller, reinforcing the early premise: your life will positively change when you change the way you measure success. Simplify is more practical, but I like her quotations from world religions and foreign cultures.
Amazon rating: 4.2 out of 5 stars
Design Your Day
Be More Productive, Set Better Goals, and Live Life on Purpose
This really short read probably had as many highlighted lines a any of the books here. Makes sense that the book is short, since Claire Diaz-Ortiz is one of the early employees of Twitter and since she tries to read 100 books per year. My two biggest nuggets from her pages are actually quotes from other authors: “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives,” and “The point isn’t to escape it all and live on a Wyoming ranch—but rather to find a way to live well in the midst of our lives.”
Amazon rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars
Breaking Busy
How to Find Peace and Purpose in a World of Crazy
Alli Worthington aims this book at working moms. Even though neither a woman nor a parent, I found highlightable truths applicable to my life. Truths like: “Choose discomfort over resentment,” “Just be the best you to the people who matter the most,” and “Don’t confuse a busy life with a full life.”
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
The Passion Principles
Celebrating Sexual Freedom in Marriage
I listen to Shannon Ethridge’s weekly podcast, in which she and her co-host have confronted some of the assumptions I brought into my marriage. In this book, she systematically walks through the overarching concept that humans are both sexual and spiritual beings with practical applications as to how to live out both of those.
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Present Over Perfect
Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living
Shauna Niequest’s much-hyped bestseller proved far less practical—for me—than her dad’s Simplify. That doesn’t mean I didn’t see myself in her pages. The differentiation of this stress management book is the theme of proper self worth helping you pare the effort and time we pour into impressing people. Shauna writes like a poet transcribing a therapy session.
Amazon rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
How to Be Here
A Guide to Creating a Life Worth Living
I bought Rob Bell’s book for the story at the end of it—the practical takeaways he gained while recovering from amnesia (after a concussion incurred while wakeboarding). The big lesson: pursue gratitude and wonder for the things that our busyness misses.
Amazon rating: 4.2 out of 5 stars
The Energy Bus
10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy
Part of my problem with this book is that I listened to it, and the syrup was exaggerated by the voice actor. The other is that I don’t get into fiction books, and Jon Gordon wrote this as an allegory. Ironically, the characters keep mentioning a nonfiction guidebook that inspired them. That is the book I would’ve preferred to read.
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
New
Understanding Our Need for Novelty and Change
If you’ve read at least a half dozen articles on dopamine and the science of adrenaline, you don’t need this book. If you struggle with information overload, picking a channel on your satellite TV, or addiction to social media, the last portion of this book might be a help to you. If that’s the case, though, I would recommend reading The Power of Habit instead.
Amazon rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars
So, what books did you read this year? What did you like about them or learn from them? Use the comment section below to make the case why we should read them.
