final book learnings from 2012 (part 5)

this is my final post of quick takeaways and learnings from all the books i read in 2012. below are the books i read in November & December of last year & a few thoughts about them along with my star rating (1-5*s). i explained all that HERE. and then you can look back on parts 1-4 of my takeaways from all the books i read HERE, HERE, HERE, & HERE.

The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance - Jim Loehr & Tony Schwarz     5*s
definitely worthy of 5 stars. life-changing book. so thankful i read it. basically a book about how a holistically life should look. a strategic plan for refueling energy physically, emotionally, mentally, & spiritually.
absolutely brilliant. has no doubt changed my life for the better already. big time.

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality - Pete Scazzero     4*s
the bottom line is that you can't be spiritually healthy without being emotionally healthy. it was a great follow up read to the above book. some good practical ideas & suggestions toward the end of the book for sabbaths, etc... thankful to have read it & implement a lot of it into the plan from the book above.

The Peacemaker - Ken Sande     3*s
basically the biblical encyclopedia of conflict resolution/peacemaking. good read. pretty much everything the Bible has to say about conflict & resolving it in a healthy way. i dig it. pretty long book though, actually.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child - Marc Weissbluth     4*s
not 4*s because i enjoyed reading it, but 4*s because my wife read it when Keira was born, then we implemented this philosophy and Keira has slept like an angel! seriously, 12 hours a night since she was a few weeks old. difficult to follow through with this method at first but soooo worth it.

Serving Those in Need - Edward L. Queen (editor)     2*s
required reading for my non-profit class. just ok for me. a lot of boring stuff. written for NGOs & any agencies serving the poor. may look back on it for some practical tips, but really not that helpful.

Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard - Chip & Dan Heath     5*s
always fun to read the Heath brothers. this is their follow up to Made to Stick. loved it so much. basically i'll use it as another helpful manual to change the world (and to change anything, really). a must read for any leader of anything. it's all about leading the elephant AND the rider :)  [the emotion & the rational parts of peeps]

Shepherds After My Own Heart - Tim Laniak     3*s
this was actually required reading for a Spring class. i had a chapter or 2 to finish though last month. the author was my professor & it is a brilliant look at a biblical theology of leadership based on an overarching/undergirding metaphor that penetrates through the whole of Scripture. pretty amazing actually. not necessarily a fun read by any means. crazy technical & reads just like you'd expect a Harvard PhD to read. but the payoff is worth it at the end.

A Work of Heart - Reggie McNeal     3*s
pretty cool concept - a look at how God shaped the hearts of 4 different major leaders = Moses, David, Jesus, & Paul. not all that interesting once you get into it but some very valid, practical outcomes - how God uses & shapes us as leaders by our context, community, etc... the best part of the book is the end with some GREAT questions for reflection in a lot of areas. definitely will be using those Qs.

Leading the Team Based Church - George Cladis     3*s
an early leadership network book. takes an interesting approach to team leadership based on the trinity. the whole book is written with the goal of showing why team leadership is better in our postmodern context. some cool insights. not overwhelmingly many though.


and that's it. the 50 books i read in 2012. onto 2013.
(tomorrow i'll actually post my top 10 list of all these i read in 2012.)