I’ve always been an avid book reader, but for my 2017 New Year’s resolution I took on an immense challenge. I would read a book every week throughout the whole year! This challenge was extremely rewarding and my heart, mind, and spirit developed in phenomenal ways.
In 2016, I authored my first book, The Space Between Memories: Recollections from a 21st Century Missionary. My 2017 reading helped me form my thoughts in The Mind of a Missionary: What Global Kingdom Workers Tell Us About Thriving on Mission Today, released in 2018. Writing is my passion and I hope to reignite a newfound hunger for the missionary biography—a genre that sadly seems to have gone out of fashion.
So without further ado, here are the top 15 books I read in 2017 during my 52 book challenge.
These books are listed by date in the order that I read them. Because they constitute a wide array of genres, I do not recommend one over another. Each of these books received my highest rating based upon the following headings: target audience, content quality, message clarity, creative style, language selection, overall impact, and 10 point rating.
Note: Because of the tremendous impact it made on me, I have included one extra book that I read at the end of 2016. Navigate to the bottom of the page to find out more!
01.21.2017 Spiritual Rhythm: Being with Jesus Every Season of Your Soul by Mark Buchanan
02.13.2017 Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity by Nabeel Qureshi
04.07.2017 Mission Smart: 15 Critical Questions to Ask Before Launching Overseas by David Frazier
04.14.2017 The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected by Nik Ripkin
04.21.2017 The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
05.18.2017 Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses, and Relationships That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Move Forward by Henry Cloud
05.28.2017 There’s a Sheep in My Bathtub: Birth of a Mongolian Church Planting Movement by Brian Hogan
06.02.2017 Switch On Your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health by Caroline Leaf
06.19.2017 Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know by Meg Meeker
08.24.2017 The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile
09.02.2017 Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
10.28.2017 Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
11.23.2017 Through Gates of Splendor by Elizabeth Elliot
12.11.2017 Bruchko by Bruce Olson
12.28.2017 Let My People Go: The Life of Robert A. Jaffray (Jaffray Collection of Missionary Portraits) by A. W. Tozer
I finished this final book one day before beginning my 52 book challenge on January 2017. Because it has impacted me so tremendously I could not help but include it in this post.
12.31.2016 Quantum Glory: The Science of Heaven Invading Earth by Phil Mason
And what would a post like this be without a shameless plug for my own books, The Space Between Memories: Recollections from a 21st Century Missionary and The Mind of a Missionary: What Global Kingdom Workers Tell Us About Thriving on Mission Today. Find both on Amazon today!
The Space Between Memories: Recollections from a 21st Century Missionary by David Joannes
The Mind of a Missionary: What Global Kingdom Workers Tell Us About Thriving on Mission Today by David Joannes
