Books

Books that made me think, rethink, or just wouldn't let me go — and a few I bet would do the same for you.

Book of the Month | Theo of Golden Book Cover
Book of the Month | Capitalism for All Book Cover
Book of the Month  |  The Cost of Discipleship Book Cover
Book of the Month  |  Strangers In Time Book Cover
Book of the Month  |  What If It All Goes Right? Book Cover

Below are 205 books posts from Tim. Use the filters to find what you are looking for within this category.

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Atomic Habits
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Atomic Habits

By James Clear

August 29, 2022

Editor’s note:  This book affirms my own experience with good and bad habits over time.  The author’s great strength is in his step-by-step how-to approach.  He makes life-changing practices seem...
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Post War
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Post War

By Tony Judt

July 30, 2022

Editor’s Note:   You must be serious history buff to read this book, even better an international observer.  I came at it from a much lower brow, loving 20 th...
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The First Kennedys
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The First Kennedys

By Neal Thompson

June 30, 2022

Editor’s Note:  Yes, second Ireland-focused book in a row but…any student of history will love this story.  Everyone knows about the famous Kennedy political dynasty and some know about their...
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We Don’t Know Ourselves
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We Don’t Know Ourselves

By Fintan O’Toole

May 30, 2022

Editor’s comment:  John Murphy, who married my sister, Felicia, in 1970 teased that his job in the Irish Immigration office at Dublin Castle was a lonely one “while the folks...
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Harlem Shuffle
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Harlem Shuffle

By Colson Whitehead

April 30, 2022

Editor’s note: I chose this book while looking for fiction, a crime story in the bestseller section. What I found was so much more. It takes a few chapters to...
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City of Thieves
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City of Thieves

By David Benioff

March 31, 2022

Editor’s Note: I walked into a mom-and-pop bookshop in California recently. The owner asked about titles I liked, then handed me this book after some thought. It’s historical fiction drama...
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Four Thousand Weeks  - Time Management for Mortals
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Four Thousand Weeks  - Time Management for Mortals

By Oliver Burkeman

February 28, 2022

Editor’s note:  I’m only half-way through this gift from my son, Tim, but it’s likely to make my top ten of all time.   I’d call it self-help with a...
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Billy Summers
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Billy Summers

By Stephen King

January 31, 2022

Editor’s comment: My friend, Joe Gibson, sent me looking for this delightfully crazy story about a frustrated writer/hit man embarking on his last “job”. Having never cared about science fiction,...
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Truth Worth Telling
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Truth Worth Telling

By Scott Pelley

December 27, 2021

Editor’s note:   This is a book to pick and choose from.  Some stories I let go of quickly for various reasons and some stories I read twice.  As with...
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Better Angels of our Nature
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Better Angels of our Nature

By Steven Pinker

November 30, 2021

Editor’s note:  I purposely chose this book as a companion to this month’s “News Cyclone” article.  Pinker’s well-supported theory that violence has continually declined over the centuries is a pretty...
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Forgetting: The Benefits of Not Remembering
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Forgetting: The Benefits of Not Remembering

By Scott Small

October 29, 2021

Editor’s note:  It’s funny that I was told this book is “easy to read” because for me, it was not.  Small is a scientist and therefore while more reachable than...
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Just Get Me A Box
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Just Get Me A Box

By Brendan Murray

September 30, 2021

Originally Published: Editor’s Note:  Ever since Alice and I counted 47 container ships in line as we drove the PCH from Long Beach to Laguna Nigel a few months ago,...
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Leonardo Da Vinci
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Leonardo Da Vinci

By Walter Isaacson

September 30, 2021

Editor’s comment:  Isaacson rides again, making a well-chronicled figure interesting in a different way, as he did with Einstein and Jobs.  His research is outstanding and it helps a non-artist...
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The Untethered Soul
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The Untethered Soul

By Michael Singer

August 30, 2021

Editor’s comment:  Due to sharing my life changing books last month and asking for yours, I have a stack of 15 books I had not read before you recommended them....
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Life Changing Books
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Life Changing Books

July 31, 2021

A young friend who is working on a pivot in his life asked me what books he should read during such introspection. It didn’t take long for me to share...
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Philanthropy, from Aristotle to Zuckerberg
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Philanthropy, from Aristotle to Zuckerberg

By Paul Vellely

July 31, 2021

Editor’s note: I ordered the book after reading a review and was stunned by its size on arrival.   Still I bravely dove in and found it surprisingly easy to...
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A Walk in the Woods
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A Walk in the Woods

By Bill Bryson

June 30, 2021

Editor’s note:  When I featured Bryson’s “The Body”, a good friend recommended this book which is hilariously funny.  Written in the late ‘90s, Bryson details his (and a friend’s) non-hiker...
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Mindfulness Makeover
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Mindfulness Makeover

By Sarah Jeane Brown

May 30, 2021

Original Article Editor’s note:  From Forbes, no less, comes this continuing thought that it’s time for mindfulness practice to become mainstream.  I’m an inveterate ruminator and so until I started...
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It’s Not About You
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It’s Not About You

By Tom Rath

May 30, 2021

Editor’s note:  In keeping with blog theme, this month’s book is Tom Rath's (StrengthsFinders) brief research and personal experience-based book, “It’s Not About You”.  It’s hard to write in a...
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Generosity Unbound
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Generosity Unbound

By Claire Gaudiani

May 1, 2021

Editor’s note:  I don’t know how I stumbled on this decade-old book but beyond Gaudiani’s ill-advised “independence declaration”, she riveted my interest.  Claire Gaudiani is a well-known student of philanthropy...
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The Body: A Guide for Occupants
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The Body: A Guide for Occupants

By Bill Bryson

March 29, 2021

Editor’s Comment:  Bryson is well known for his variety of interests, from his ambitious “A Short History of Nearly Everything” to a delightful childhood memoir I read called “The Life...
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