Top 10 Books of 2008

Posted on January 2, 2009 by Kevin Watson

Glancing back through the books I read in 2008, here are my favorites:

10. Wesley and the People Called Methodists Richard P. Heitzenrater

9. The Fidelity of Betrayal: Towards a Church Beyond Belief Peter Rollins

8. In Constant Prayer (The Ancient Practices) Robert Benson

7. The Crisis of Younger Clergy Lovett Weems and Ann Michel

6. They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations Dan Kimball

5. Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations Robert Schnase

4. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (Oxford History of the United States) Daniel Walker Howe

3. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln Doris Kearns Goodwin

2. Charles Wesley and the Struggle for Methodist Identity Gareth Lloyd

1. Forgotten Ways, The: Reactivating the Missional Church Alan Hirsch

Filed under: Book Review, links

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7 Responses

  1. gavin, on January 3rd, 2009 at 10:06 am Said:

    that is an excellent list. probably a few will be on my ‘09 list

  3. Andrew Conard, on January 3rd, 2009 at 3:57 pm Said:

    Sweet. I have added those that I don’t already have to my Amazon wish list :)

  4. Ben Simpson, on January 5th, 2009 at 12:19 pm Said:

    I resonated with Forgotten Ways as well. Good list.

  5. Speedlinking - January 19, 2009 « Thoughts of Resurrection, on January 19th, 2009 at 8:03 am Said:

    [...] I trust Kevin and have added to my wish list from his Top 10 Books of 2008. [...]

  6. Brandon, on January 19th, 2009 at 11:04 am Said:

    Looks like a good list. I enjoyed both the Heitzenrater and Schnase reads. Heitzenrater is unbelievably thorough, and the text reads well. We are using Five Practices at one of the churches where I am an intern, and I’m hoping that it will lead toward transformation of our community rather than just recoining the way we talk about our current ministries.

  7. Kevin Watson, on January 19th, 2009 at 9:42 pm Said:

    Brandon – I reread Heitzenrater this semester for a directed study and agree with your assessment – it is almost unbelievably thorough while also readable.

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