Three Really Good Books for Summer

from Patrick Morley

Volume 323
May 11, 2009

Looking for something to read this summer besides the usual pabulum?

I just took a few days off (grandparents trip to see Callie and Story, our two precious granddaughters).

Read three great books—one for the mind, one for the spirit, and one for the emotions.

Outliers is the latest from Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point). If you have kids and you want them to do well, this is a great read. To grasp “the 10,000 hour rule” is alone enough to buy the book.

Harvey Kirkpatrick gave me a copy of The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller (thanks, Harvey). This book focuses on the parable of the prodigal son or, as Tim likes to say, the parable of the two lost sons. Great stories, insights, and an explanation about the older brother that has made Tim famous.

For the emotions, few books can crack the husk of cynicism around the soul like Blue Like Jazz from Donald Miller. Don is an iconoclast, as hinted in the subtitle, “Nonreligious thoughts about Christian spirituality.” It will open you up in fresh ways—at least it did me!

Yours for changed lives,

Patrick Morley, Ph.D.