Grace is reading seven books, and so are Randy McRoberts, Sonja, Lyn, Former Leader, and Julie Clawson — Robbymac and Jamie Arpin-Ricci are only reading five each. It was Randy McRoberts’ list that caused trouble for me, since it ends with, “If you read this, consider yourself tagged. What are you reading?” Dang.

Here goes:

1. Robert Farrar Capon’s The Third Peacock: a Book About God and the Problem of Evil, available as part of his trilogy, The Romance of the Word. Capon is brilliant, and at times, as Jamie Howison who loaned me the book would say, “mad as a hatter.” I love it, but it’s not a long book and I’m trying to read slowly enough to savour and fast enough to not look bad when I return it.
2. Ron Martoia’s Static: Tune Out the “Christian Noise” and Experience the Real Message of Jesus. Martoia is a former student of Scot McKnight, and here argues for replacing our Christian lingo… I should have a review up this week.
3. The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki — I never actually read it when it was in the popular craze, but it supports my decentralization thesis over against the apostolic-pastoral CEO model of church government.
4. Cornerstone Biblical Commentary: Romans, Galatians (Cornerstone Biblical Commentary) by Roger Mohrlang (Romans) and Gerald L. Borchert (Galatians). I’ve got this one for review — it’s the first I’ve gotten my hands on in the new Cornerstone series based on the NLT. At a glance and a dip or two, this one looks accessible enough to read devotionally by the layperson yet thorough enough to not leave the same audience wanting for more information.
5. Alan Hirsch’s The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church. I admit to taking my time with this one… several months so far, which should not be misunderstood in any way as suggesting this isn’t one of the most important books on the missional church in the past 5 years. It is. Unless he completely blows it in the last half, which I doubt! ;^)
6. Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work is on deck, though I keep picking it up and putting it down… recommended either by Robbymac or his wife, it examines the way leaders are rewarded and promoted up to the top job not only in spite of but often because of their particular psychopathology. Did I mention I’m down on the apostolic-pastoral CEO model of church government?
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   The Hermetic Code, by Frank Albo, Carolin Vesely, and Buzz Currie. Not well-distributed, the book is published by the Winnipeg Free Press, and I’m a little annoyed that they bury the author’s names and give top billing to the paper’s editor, listing the paper itself as the author (give credit where due!). To be fair, I’m sure it was a team effort; the work of art director Gordon Preece certainly contributes to the whole as it features prominently in this coffee-table book. It was originally published serially in the paper to help boost circulation, and the book is award-winning effort to tell the story of the construction of the Manitoba Legislative Building, which is filled with scandal and the hidden secrets of Freemasonry. Deeply fascinating, this one was a Fathers’ Day gift.