I did a great deal of reading on sabbatical, much of it planned  but with some fun additions. Thanks to all of my reading partners out there: Mom and Dad, Trinity’s Monday Morning Study Group and Sunday Adult Forum, Treasure Valley ELCA Rostered Leaders, Devon, Celia, Joy, Casey, Christa, and Dan.

Books about Storytelling (in keeping with the sabbatical theme)

Finding God in the Graffiti: Empowering Teenagers Through Stories by Frank Rogers

Storytelling for Social Justice: Connecting Narrative and the Arts in Antiracist Teaching by Lee Ann Bell

Soul Stories: African American Christian Education by Anne Wimberly (Wish I had read this 15 years ago)

Digital Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community by Joe Lambert

A Story Worth Sharing edited by Kelly Fryer

Dancing With Words: Storytelling as Legacy, Culture, and Faith by Ray Buckley

Autobiographical Stories

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

Fictional Stories 

Anne of Avonlea by Lucy M. Montgomery (Prep for trip to Prince Edward Island)

Anne of the Island by Lucy M. Montgomery (ditto)

Wolfpack by C.J. Box

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Books about Theology or Church

Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donahue

Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory by Tod Bolsinger

Foundations of a Lutheran Theology of Evangelism by Russell Briese

The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Cone (still reading as this is for a book group)

Faith Formation in a Secular Age by Andrew Root

On Being a Theologian of the Cross by Gerhard Forde

Religion and the Public Life in the Mountain West: Sacred Landscapes in Transition edited by Jan Shipps (part of a great series, Religion by Region)

Holy Envy by Barbara Brown Taylor (still reading with Trinity’s Monday Morning Study Group)

Rule of Benedict:  Insight for the the Ages by Sister Joan Chittister

Love Without Limits: Jesus’ Radical Vision for Love with No Exceptions by Jacqueline A. Bussie (just started this one)