100 Books in 2025 (61-80)

(Sorry about the formatting issues.  I tried to clean it up, but it kept having issues.) 

A Duty to Resist: When Disobedience Should Be Uncivil by Candice Delmas 

        A philosophical book on when people have a responsibility to stand up to injustice.  The author explains four criterion when resistance is necessary:  A duty of justice, principle of fairness, the Samaritan duty and Political associate.   

The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief by Francis S. Collins 

        Colllins, a medical doctor and world-renowned scientist, shares how his scientific views (what some might call theistic evolution, but he prefers to call BioLogos) and his evangelical Christian faith are not at odds.   

Bad Faith: When Religious Beliefs Undermine Modern Medicine by Paul Offit M.D. 

        Dr. Offit lays out how misinformation, along with fear, are leading some religious families to shun         modern medicine (not limited to vaccines) and how some children suffer and die needlessly as         a result.   

Vaccinated: From Cowpox to mRNA, The Remarkable Story of Vaccines by Paul Offit M.D. 

        A biography, of sorts, of Maurice Hillerman.  Hillerman played a major role in creating many                vaccines that have helped to eradicate many common, but dangerous sicknesses.  It is also a                    cautionary tale about how vaccinations helped to eradicate some diseases, but lower vaccination            rates are seeing a reemergence of some diseases that were almost extinct. 

Chronological NLT (New Living Translation) Bible 

        I listened to the whole Bible, first time chronologically, over 3 weeks.  Listening to it as quickly as I did give a very different feeling than slower reading.  Maybe because it was in a translation I’m         not used to or maybe due to the speed, I picked up on some interesting things (Joseph and Esther to name a few) that I’d missed before.   

George Lucas:  A Life by Brian Jay Jones et al 

        A fascinating biography of Lucas.  Lucas comes off as an intensely focused man, in both good and bad ways.  His determination lead him to demand creative control over many of his projects (Star Wars) and yet his hyper focus caused him to lose his marriage.   

The Crisis of Zionism by Peter Beinart 

        A chilling book about how Israel can hold on to power or democracy, but not both.  The author lays out how Israel’s long term ruthless actions towards non Jews living in their country, both Arab citizens and non-citizen Palistinians, goes against God’s call for how we are to treat our neighbors, and goes against claims that they want a democracy.  This book came out in 2012, and         Israel’s actions have only gotten worse since its release.   

 The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge by Matt Ridley 

        Ridley lays out how he believes things change from the bottom up, then from top down.  He gives examples from science, philosophy, technology, morality, economics, politics and more to show how many changes were inevitable based on changes going on all around.  I found some parts of the book interesting, and others less so.   

These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore 

        American History is not an easy subject to approach.  What you include, or exclude, will upset certain groups.  I found this book to be very even handed (this book is 960 pages, or 29 hours of audio), and 2/3 the way through the book I still couldn’t tell if the author had a “conservative” or             “liberal” take on history.  In the end, I learned a number of new things.  Some I feel surprised         I didn’t know before now, especially since some happened in my lifetime.  I think the book is             worth the time. 

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson 

        From World War 1 until 1970 The U.S. had a mass migration of blacks fleeing the Jim Crow south         for mostly northern, and some western, cities.  This book humanizes the migration by documenting three people, and by extension their families, as they fled inhumane conditions in the         south in hopes of finding greener pastures.  This book made me angry at times and brought me to             tears more than once.  It's a powerful book and well worth reading. 

White Trash:  The 400-year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg 

        An interesting take on classism throughout U.S. history.  The author documents how there have always been the “upper” class, and “lower” class in our nations history.  

 

Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson 

        Wow.  Wilkerson brings the receits on how the U.S. is more similar to India than I would have ever imagined.  In India their people are arranged by what caste they were born into.  America isn’t much different.  However, our castes are based on race.  Before you dismiss the concept, read         the book.   

 Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz 

        A book about the 2nd Amendment by someone who was once obsessed with guns, and now is skeptical.  That alone had me intrigued, since it follows a path I’ve gone down.  The book is more balanced than I expected, and gives a lot of facts about what led us to where we are today.  For         example, as I only learned in recent months, the NRA was in favor of stricter gun laws until the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s.  And staunch conservative Supreme Court nominees, such as Bork, argued he didn’t believe Americans had a constitutional right to own guns.   

Beating Guns: Hope for People Who are Weary of Violence by Shane Claiborne and Michael Martin 

        A book for Christians by Christians about the United States obsession with guns.  In the book the authors seek to blend their theological opposition to the obsession, with the humanizing of those who have been victims of gun violence in recent years.  Possibly to the surprise of some, the book does not advocate for a complete ban on guns (multiple times they advocate for a limit of buying 1 handgun a month).  Instead, the book seeks to promote the Kingdom of God by longing for a time when weapons of war will be turned into garden tools.   

The Third Harmony: Nonviolence and the New Story of Human Nature by Michael N. Nagler 

        While not a book directly tied to guns, this completed the trifecta of books I read regarding the                 problem of violence.  Nagler promotes nonviolence, not only as a lack of violence, but to change             the hearts of humans in how they view others.  This books points out how the teachings of Jesus,             Ghandi, MLK and many others have shown us that we do not have to resort to violence to achieve          a more peaceful world. 

Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise and other Bribes by Alfie Kohn 

        The overall premise of the book is to show how we have been taught to incentivize those under us         to “do” more/better is to bribe them is wrong.  Bribing people to do what we want them to do may         work in the short term, but has negative effects in the long run.  Instead of helping them love what         the briber hopes they will love, education, reading, finding purpose in their work, instead it usually         leads people to do the minimum to get the reward.  And, even those who enjoyed the task ahead of         time, often find less joy in the same task after a reward in promised or given.  

 

On Call:  A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service by Anothony Fauci M.D. 

        An autobiography by Fauci, documenting his 5+ decades in public service.  Going into the book I             knew little about Fauci, apart from hearing him demonized by some for his handeling of Covid.              This book filled in the long, and storied history of his work.  Fauci was instrumental in helping             advance treatment of HIV/AIDS, as well as playing a large role in helping the U.S. through scares         with Ebola, SARS, West Nile and anthrax crisises—before being asked to help with the Covid19             pandemic.  The book is dry at times.  But, overall, I found it interesting.  He had good working             relationships with several Presidents and speaks most glowingly about his relationships with                 Republican administrations.   

The Cost of Ambition: How Striving to Be Better Than Others Makes Us Worse by Miroslav Volf 

         This book compares the teachings of Kierkengaard, John Milton and the Apostle Paul on ambition. As followers of Jesus, are we driven more by a desire to achieve excellence, or do we strive to be superior to others?  One is a noble endeavor; the other is not.     

History Matters by David McCullough 

        After his death, historian David McCullough’s daughter and a research assistant compiled                   unpublished essays and writings on why history matters.  The book gives an interesting behind the         scenes look at one of Americas better known historians. 

From Dropout to Doctorate: Breaking the Chains of Educational Injustice by Terence Lester, PhD 

        A moving memoir about how Lester struggled to overcome many obstacles, including                           homelessness, to beat the odds.  There was a lot of good information about educational inequality             and how poverty affects many in our country. 

It's Complicated. It's Messy.

 It’s complicated.  It’s messy.   

Recently I listened to the entire Bible, yes all 74 hours, over the course of about 3 weeks. In the past, I would read the Bible in smaller chunks.  Sometimes I would complete a reading of the Bible in a year.  Sometimes it would take me multiple years.   Reading the Bible the way I recently did was different for me than my past readings. I noticed things I’d missed in the past, recognized patterns woven through the text, and was reminded that the people and events written about in the Bible are complicated and messy. 
 
Over the decades that I have been reading the Bible, I’ve come to appreciate that the Bible shows people as complicated beings.  It doesn’t airbrush their flaws.  It doesn’t cover up their sins.  It shows that men and women of faith also said and did some terrible things.  It also shows that some bad characters did good things.  It would be much easier if the Bible had painted the good characters/events as always being good, and the bad characters/events as always being bad.  Such binary would have been more compatible with how many of the people I grew up with viewed their religion, and people/events in general.   

In the Bible we read Abram/Abraham’s faith as God asks him to pack up and leave his homeland for an unknown land.  But we also see Abraham lying about his wife to try and safe his own life.  We read about Moses’ faith in leading the children of Israel, but we also read about his anger and murdering of an Egyptian. David is said to have had great faith, yet he was a lousy father and murderer to boot.  Simon Peter swings from moments of great faith to seeking political power, drawing praise and ire from Jesus respectfully.   

If the Bible doesn’t scrub the undesirable parts of its characters, we shouldn’t either.  It’s ok to feel conflicted regarding the legacy someone leaves behind.  David did some pretty nasty things.  And yet both Samuel and David say that David was a “man after God’s own heart.”  I don’t feel comfortable absolving David for all of his sins.  And thankfully, I don’t have to.  The Bible acknowledges the tension between the man of faith and the sinner, and I think it's OK if we do as well.  After all, it’s complicated.  It’s messy. 

Multiple public figures have died in recent months that were well known in the circles I’ve spent time in over my 47 years.  Many of them were mixed bags.  Some spoke fervently about Jesus, and in those regards I usually was in agreement.  But there were other beliefs put forth by these individuals that were at odds with my understanding of the Bible.  Some of their beliefs, I believe, are in opposition to the teachings of Jesus.  So, how should I respond?  One of these figures I called out many years ago, saying that even correct doctrine without love is to be in error.  I received harsh criticism from someone close to me, saying that calling out such a person shows a “lack of respect” for those that came before me.  I have no desire to disrespect others.  However, I’m also not comfortable scrubbing the negative aspects of such people just to appease their followers.  As a follower of Jesus, “The way, the truth and the light”, I believe that truth—the whole truth—is important.  
 
I have said and done a lot of things I am not proud of in my 47 years on this earth.  When I become aware that I’ve gone too far, or said something hurtful, I try to respond in a way that is consistent with my stated ethics.  I’m sure I fail and fail often.  I’m sure there are many circumstances where I am not even aware I was wrong.  After all, life is complicated.  Life is messy.  Yet, I don’t want to throw my hands up and say, “oh well.”  I hope to live by the philosophy that people do not scrub the bad I did, just to not speak anything negative about the dead.  If I want people to speak kindly of me in death, I need to live a life that reflects that.  If I want people to remember only the good, I need to work hard to correct my mistakes before my life is over.  But I realize that both the good and bad I’ve done are part of my story. After all I’m complicated.  I’m messy. 

100 Books in 2025 (41-60)

(Sorry about the formatting issues.  I tried to correct it a couple times, yet kept reverting) 

A Brief History of Intelligence:  Evolution, AI and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains by Max S. Bennett

    An interesting take on how we got from primitive thinking to AI.  I found parts of the        book interesting and helpful, and felt like other parts went over my head.  This                 probably would be a better book to read in print form than to listen to as an audiobook (?).  

The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy by Michael Lewis 

This book examines how Donald Trump’s first administration was not prepared to lead our nation.  It dives into how the administration had little knowledge of what many governmental departments even did (e.g. the man selected to lead the Department of Energy, which includes nuclear weapons, had said a few years before he wanted to eliminate the department completely).  Even as the previous administration was trying to prepare them for the difficulties to come, they ignored the warnings as Trump handed positions to his political donors.   

Who is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service (Edited by Michael Lewis) 

A collection of essays about unsung heroes in the United States government.  The individuals profiled have spent years, or decades, improving the quality of life of citizens, and yet I was unaware of what many of their positions even did.  A decent book on how the government helps its people.  

Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination by Brian Jay Jones 

A biography of how a mediocre college student became one of America’s most beloved authors.  The book had me smiling and crying at times.  Seuss was a complicated man, who has left a lasting legacy. 

The Name of This Band is R.E.M.: A Biography by Peter Ames Carlin 

It sounded interesting when I read the preview.  The book was OK.  It covered how the band met, and very slowly progressed through their career.  Not a book I see myself returning to. 

Becoming the Pastor’s Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry by Beth Allison Barr 

As a historian and a pastor's wife, Barr talks about the state of white evangelicalism and how they treat pastors’ wives.  As a medieval historian, Barr shows that much of what we think is “biblical” is quite modern.  A good read, even if you don’t come to all the same conclusions she does. 

All My Knotted Up Life: A Memoir by Beth Moore 

A moving biography.  From being a survivor of abuse as a young girl, to becoming a well-known speaker, to losing support for speaking out against Trump’s sexual braggadocio.  The story is personal and is relatable in many ways.   

Abundance by Ezra Klein and Kerek Thompson  

This book looks at how the United States used to be full of visionaries, but has lost its focus.  It’s a call to not abandon innovation or allow politics to be the weeds that hinder growth.    

The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate by John H. Walton  

Walton, an Old Testament scholar, looks at how a “literal” interpretation of Genesis 1 may be causing us to miss the point of the text.  Walton argues that the creation account, viewed through the context of the ancient near middle east, is less about origin (the creation of things) than about function (finding meaning in things).   

Warp Speed: Inside the Operation That Beat COVID, The Critics, and the Odds by Paul Mango 

An insider's account of how the Trump Administration was able to get multiple COVID vaccines created, tested and on the market in record-setting times—without cutting corners on the science.  The book was interesting and answered many of the questions I’ve heard posed over the years.  Downsides: The book is dripping with partisan politics (basically anything GOP is great, all others are bad), and the author comes off quite sexist against women on the “Operation Warp Speed” team.   

The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket by Benjamin Lorr 

The book was a fascinating look at the dark side of how we shop for food, and all of those trampled by the lower prices we pay.  One of the best books I’ve read this year. 

Make Sense of Your Story: Why Engaging Your Past with Kindness Changes Everything by Adam Young 

Wow.  Loved this book.  It is a book I should either listen to when I can take notes, or read a physical book where I can highlight/underline.  So many nuggets I need to apply in my daily life. In a nutshell, until we come to grips with our past, we cannot effectively move forward.   

The Deep-Rooted Marriage: Cultivating Intimacy, Healing, and Delight by Dan Allender and Steve Call 

            A marriage book that encourages people to get to the roots of why they are the way                 they are in efforts to not continue to make the same mistakes. 

Becoming by Michelle Obama 

                  A memoir by the former First Lady.  This book covers her life from childhood until                       they left the White House in 2016.  Predictable at times, and yet personable at                          other times.  If nothing else, it shows the human side of someone in the political                       spotlight. 

Vaccinated: From Cowpox to mRNA, the Remarkable Story of Vaccines by Paul A. Offit M.D.             An interesting history of vaccinations, how they were developed, how they saved                     hundreds of millions of lives, and even how there has been some pushback in                         recent years. This book is almost a biography of Maurice Hilleman, one of                         the most prolific vaccine creators, and how personal tragedy in his life led him                      to dedicate his life to the creation of vaccines that saved millions of people. Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World by Simon Winchester             Winchester gives a relatively brief history of how humans have treated land, at                         least its ownership, over the past several centuries. He details how our mindset                      towards stewardship land has drastically changed, and the consequences of the                       change. Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents by Lindsay C Gibson PsyD             This book seeks to help people overcome the negative traits that come from                             having parents who, in one way or another, are or were emotionally abusive. It                         outlines different personality types that are abusive, and how to overcome                                 ongoing abuse and gain independence and self-confidence. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omer El Akkad             Akkad seeks to lay out how the horrors of the attacks by Hammas in 2023 have                         allowed Israel to carry out atrocities of their own, on a ramped up level, against                         the people of Palestine. The genocide that Israel is directly contradictory to the                         so called values held by the West, and yet most in the West have turned a                         blind eye to the actions of the state of Israel. I saw more of the teachings of                             Jesus laid out in the book, written by a Muslim, than I see from many who claim                         to follow Jesus. The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark A. Noll             “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical                         mind.” Noll’s book, written in 1995, lays out how the evangelical community has                     abandoned serious intellectual thought, and how forfeiting serious scholarship to                     non-Christians has hurt both Christians and non-Christians alike. Christian Slavery: Conversion and Race in the Protestant Atlantic World by Katharine Gerbner                A look at how the evangelization of slaves in the West divided communities.                           Some viewed the "Christianizing” of the slaves to be at the root of both                                       rebellions and calls for emancipation, while others argued that Christianity                              would make the slaves more compliant. In the end, the tension between the                          two groups, as well as the slaves themselves, transformed Protestantism in the                      Western world.