Books Read in 2010 (48)

Although my plan for 2010 was to focuse more on what I read than how much, the number got close to the 53 of 2009: a grand total of 48 books.

Below, you can see the full list of books from 2010. All links (when applicable) are affiliate links to Amazon (e-book links are affiliate links to the book authors’ web sites), so if you buy a book through them, I get a share. However, many of these books can probably also be found at your local library or BookMooch, too. You don’t have to spend much money unless you really want to!

And one more thing: this year, unlike last year, I counted e-books as books. There are too many great e-books out there to be left out! And going paperless is the future, like it or not.

January

  1. The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs
  2. Red Letters: Living a Faith That Bleeds by Tom Davis

February

  1. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
  2. Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuck
  3. Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin. I first listened to this book as an audio book. Twice. Then I ordered a copy from Amazon and am now reading it on paper so I can take notes.
  4. A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
  5. In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan. This book changed the way I think about food.

March

  1. Kotona maailmankaikkeudessa by Esko Valtaoja
  2. Walking by Henry Thoreau

April

  1. The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho
  2. In Praise of Slowness by Carl Honoré
  3. The Art of Being Minimalist by Everett Bogue (e-book)

May

  1. Olimme kuluttajia by Roope Mokka and Aleksi Neuvonen
  2. Debt is Slavery by Michael Mihalik
  3. Minimalist Business by Everett Bogue (e-book) Proven advice for starting your own minimalist business.
  4. Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Not a quick read (and at points even a bit boring) but still absolutely worth reading and re-reading.
  5. Simplify by Joshua Becker (e-book). An uplifting and inspiring guide to simplifying your life to make room for the things that really matter. I loved the chapters about becoming minimalist with children and about sticking to minimalism even after the first crush burns out.

June

  1. Living the Simpler Life by Sam Spurlin (e-book). A refreshingly holistic approach to simplifying your life. I wouldn’t recommend this as your first e-book on minimalism, but a good read with many actionable steps nevertheless.
  2. Jeesuksesta (Om Jesus) by Jonas Gardell (not available in English). A well written, objective yet extremely personal take on the historical Jesus and his role in Christianity.
  3. Rework by Jason Friend and David Heinemeier Hansson. 37signals founders share their business philosophy. I like it — a lot.
  4. Essays in Idleness by Yoshida Kenko. Ancient Japanese wisdom, with a minimalist touch and surprising moments of humour. One of my favorites this year.

July

  1. Enough: Breaking free from the world of more by John Naish A great, actionable book on the philosophy of enough. We need to start to apply these lessons NOW.
  2. Tyylikkään köyhäilyn taito by Alexander von Schönburg (Not available in English, original German title “Die Kunst des stilvollen Verarmens. Wie man ohne Geld reich wird”) Witty, interesting book about how to live with less money, with style.
  3. Kuoleman ja unohtamisen aikakirjat by Kari Enqvist (Only available in Finnish). A touching, humane book on life and death, and how we should appreciate what we know to exist for sure (instead of focusing on what happens in the afterlife).

August

  1. Blindness by José Saramago
  2. Kaikki pääsevät taivaaseen by Antti Kylliäinen (Only available in Finnish). When the book was published in 1997, it created a lot of buzz in the Finnish media and even more within the church (maybe not so surprisingly most people who complained about the book never read it). In the book, Kylliäinen, a pastor in the Lutheran church himself, explains among other things why he believes that God cannot be loving and almighty at the same time and how there is no hell. It’s a small book, but a good read if christian faith and its open questions are something you’re interested in.
  3. The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko. Not the best written book, and most definitely not a how-to book on becoming rich, The Millionaire Next Door was eye-opening for the importance of frugality. Making a good living is not enough if you want to collect wealth.

September

  1. Vagabonding by Rolf Potts. A beautiful book on long term travel, addressing it’s practicalities as well as philosophy. One day, I will go see the world with my family, but even now, I feel the book has encouraged me to be more of a vagabond in my everyday life. I recommend this one, even if you are not planning to travel long distances.
  2. Pölli tästä 2 by Jari Parantainen. Finland’s Seth Godin shares 77 pieces of advice (plus a few bonus ones) on business and marketing. An inspiring, fun and quick read.
  3. U2 by U2 by U2. As a big fan of a band, I am biased, but I loved this book for showing how this group of four kids from Dublin got where they are now. It’s the 10,000 hours in action, once again.
  4. Ignore Everybody by Hugh McLeod. Although I liked many of the ideas in this book, I felt it was a bit too unpolished and short.

October

  1. Sarasvatin hiekkaa by Risto Isomäki. An interesting science fiction (although more on the actual scientific side) thriller about what could happen if the ice cap of Greenland started to melt. Isomäki is probably right in saying that we should stop building nuclear plants on seashores…
  2. The Idle Parent by Tom Hodgkinson. One of my absolute favorite books this year. The book’s approach to parenting touches the child in me: my parents were a lot like the idle parent described and I love them for it. After reading this book, I have words to explain what was great about my own upbringing, and that helps me transfer the ideas to my own children.
  3. Isku ytimeen by Ilkka Remes. An entertaining action novel that would fit very well in the movie format. Ilkka Remes knows how to write for this genre and crafts a good story as usual.
  4. Following Jesus Without Embarrassing God by Tony Campolo. This one was an interesting mix: a totally conservative Christian book (too conservative for my taste) but at the same time very open about the things that we as christians do that “embarrass God” and drive people away from Christianity.

November

  1. Focus (free ebook version) by Leo Babauta. A lot of the content in this book is very similar to Leo Babauta’s earlier work, such as the “The Power of Less.” However, I think the final part of the book, where he describes his Getting Amazing Things Done method finally clearly differentiates the book from the rest, bringing something new to the productivity discussion.
  2. Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson. A beautiful story about getting outside your comfort zone and how you can learn to love something you were afraid of (winter) once you survive through the hard times. The text was a bit hard to follow for my three-year-old, but I loved all the small details and nuances the book was full of. In all a lovely, inspiring story.
  3. Under Pressure: Rescuing Our Children from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting by Carl Honoré Quite similar to “The Idle Parent” (see above) in theme, just presented in a more serious and journalistic tone. I agree with the key ideas, and liked the book a lot. But at times, I missed the humor and wit of The Idle Parent.
  4. How to Read the Bible by Richard Holloway This book is a part of my long process to try and understand Christianity and the Bible, so I will be able to decide this book’s importance only after a lot of more thinking and reading. For now, however, it opened a lot more doors and ideas to explore, and did it in a very inspiring way, so I liked the book a lot.
  5. Rosoinen Raamattu by Heikki Räisänen. It’s still hard to say if I agree with everything Räisänen writes, but I love the way he approaches theology. Instead of giving readymade answers, this was again a book that lead me to even more questions and an ever growing list of unread books.
  6. Johdatus Raamattuun by Kari Kuula, Wille Riekkinen and Matti Nissinen. A good overview to the Bible studies and what we know about the book today. The Bible is too big a book to fit in a short overview such as this one though, and I often felt that the authors were just rushing through all the interesting topics and questions. I guess that just means there is more to read.
  7. The First Christmas by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan. A bit repetitive at times, but brings great insight into the birth stories in the Bible. We are called to be changed by Christmas and work together with God in creating a world of “peace through distributive justice.”

December

  1. The Greatest Prayer: Rediscovering the Revolutionary Message of the Lord’s Prayer by John Dominic Crossan. My favorite book this year — so far. This is Christianity I can believe in.
  2. The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield. I first heard of “resistance” (the main concept in this book) in Seth Godin’s book, Linchpin, so it was interesting to finally get to read the original text behind the concept. I liked the book a lot, although I feel that in the final third, it got too spiritual, talking about muses, angels and other such things. The book is inspiring me to keep fighting my creative battles, so it was well worth the read.
  3. Köyhien Raamattu by Hanne von Weissenberg et al. This book does a good job summarizing the different texts that speak about poverty in the Bible. A useful read when trying to understand Christianity from a different angle that is at the same time more useful and more true to the movement’s origins.
  4. Kenen poika sinä olet? by Sakari Häkkinen. A good, although short, discussion on the family of the historical Jesus. Häkkinen draws a picture of a fatherless man trying to survive in a paternalistic culture, and thinks about what that means for us and our “Christian” family values.
  5. Nasaretilaisen historia by Risto Uro et al. Different articles about the historical Jesus. I suppose if I hadn’t already read so many books on the topic, I would have liked this book more. Reading it at this point, I left feeling that there wasn’t that much that I hadn’t read already from other books. Interesting read nonetheless, again making it clearer that there is no consensus among scholars on most of the details of Jesus’s life.
  6. Animal Farm by George Orwell. Brilliant.