Best Reads of 2013, continued.

Heather (@rockettheology and the person who tweets @cruxbooks and writes these blogs) read John Stott’s last book, The Radical Disciple, during the big ice storm and powerless days last week. It seemed an appropriate read for the time and situation. Stott’s book challenges us all to become mature Christians, and suggests things that characterize people of mature faith. You should read it. You should read it with Still by Lauren F. Winner. The two books together challenge readers to move forward in faith, even when that seems difficult. Move on to maturity — put away childish things.

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Best reads of 2013: Andrew’s turn

Today we hear from Andrew, back on Crux staff after a couple years away. Well, he never really left the store, he just didn’t work many shifts. Welcome back Andrew!

Andrew’s favourite book read this year:

Wendell Berry, A Place in Time. I love Berry’s fiction. A steady reflection on what it means to be faithful to a place. No romantic, Berry never shies away from the terrible beauty of remaining faithful to place and his stories in this collection of short stories masterfully narrates this.

Seeing and hearing Wendell Berry was one of Andrew’s highlights of the recent SBL/AAR conference in Baltimore.

Best Book Read in 2013, continued

In the spirit of other blogs which publish staff selections of the best books they read in 2013, we continue our Crux staff picks of the year.

Alain’s book of the year: C.S. Lewis’s Lost Aeneid

Carolyn’s book of the year: With Burning Hearts by Henri Nouwen

More 2013 favourites to come!

Best book you read this year?

So of the books you read this year, what is your favourite? Note that this is not a book published in 2013, rather a book READ in 2013. For examples see this New Yorker post. There might be some overlap between the year of publication and the year of reading, but that is certainly not always the case.

In the short time left before Christmas, we’ll post some of the read-in-2013 favourites from Crux staff. We’ll start with Connor’s pick of the year.

My Pick for 2013: Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher. It’s the best selling book on negotiation that introduces its readers (of any background) to the basic strategies that make co-operation possible. For most people, it probably won’t work; the strategies are difficult to use. I enjoyed it, because its simplicity and wealth of examples make it an attractive starting point to someone looking into the subject more deeply.

Let us know your pick of the year!

Best of 2013 Religion and Spirituality

2013 has been a big year for Theology and Religion publishing. The long-expected N.T. Wright book Paul and the Faithfulness of God appeared. Many book-review publications have begun to put together their best of 2013 lists. Here are a few for your consideration.

1. Five from the Library Journal. From this list, the one I am most interested in is Francis Watson’s Gospel Writing: A Canonical Perspective.
2. Twenty from Huffington Post. I was pleased to see Slow Reading in a Hurried Age by David Mikics on this list. I’ve had my eye on that one since it landed in the store.
3. A list from Christian Century. Diarmaid MacCulloch’s Silence: A Christian History just landed in the store last week. It looks intriguing.

Happy reading!