The Leaping Rabbit

This year has marked a return to reading for me. I’ve always loved to read, but sometimes life takes over, and it seems there is no time. But this year I found time. It’s been fun. A few books rise to the top when I look back on 2009. I thought I’d choose my top 5 and profile them in the order that I read them.

The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus by Brennan Manning

This book was so good, I read it twice this year. I blogged about it here.

Crooked Little Heart by Anne Lamott

I’ve read a lot of Anne Lamott’s nonfiction. I love it, because it always reminds me that it is okay to be imperfect – that all human beings are flawed and broken, and that God loves flawed and broken people. It turns out her fiction does the same thing. Crooked Little Heart is filled with flawed and broken characters; Lamott doesn’t hide their failings or shield them from pain, but she tells their story with compassion and grace. To me, this kind of storytelling rings true.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

I am becoming more and more of a Neil Gaiman fan. It started with Coraline, which I read three years ago. Since then I’ve recommended it to just about everyone I know. And I will recommend it again now: Read Coraline; it’s excellent. The Graveyard Book, which won the 2008 Newberry Medal, is also very good. Maybe the concept sounds morbid to you: A boy lives in a graveyard and is raised by ghosts. It’s not morbid. It is a scary, funny, and bittersweet story about growing up. It made me feel happy to be alive. And I couldn’t put it down.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

I picked up this book after hearing a lot of good things about it. I wasn’t disappointed. The story is at times tragic and at times bizarre, but author is consistently compassionate toward his characters, and I found myself rooting for them the whole time. I really cared about what happened to Owen Meany. Irving is a great storyteller who ropes you in. For example, this is the book’s first sentence:

I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice–not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.

One of the best first lines I’ve ever read. Doesn’t it make you want to pick up the book right now?

The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy L. Sayers

Lots of artists and writers have recommended this book, and I finally got around to it last month. It was a dense and heady read that required my full attention, but it was also rewarding. Like C.S. Lewis, Sayers has the ability to take a confusing abstract concept and demonstrates that it is, in fact, logical and reasonable. Without explaining away the mystery of the Trinity or the wonder of human creativity, she shines light on these topics and leads the reader to greater understanding. This book affirmed my creativity and faith. I plan to read it again.

So that’s my list. What were your favorite books you read this year? Let me know. I love getting book recommendations.