I must admit, I’m very proud of myself. I think that this is probably the most books I’ve read in a year since I was in college and I had a lot of extra time on my hands. I think I did somewhere between 8-11 books in 2011. The funny thing is that I’ve been incredibly busy this year with starting up Illuminate and picking several new speaking opportunities. So, what changed?

Reading for a purpose:

There were several books that I picked up because I really needed to brush up on something or learn something for a breakout I was going to lead. Reading for a purpose seems to provide much higher motivation for me than just reading a book because someone said it was good.

Reading on the iPad allows me to multi-task

It was in April or May that I installed the Kindle app on my iPad and I started taking it with me to the gym while on the treadmill. I spent several months in the spring preparing to hike some mountains in Colorado and I found that the Kindle App allowed me to read while exercising. I love it. This alone helped me read more and kept me motivated to keep working out. Many times I went to run just because I wanted to read.

Here is the list of books:

• My First 90 Days in Ministry: How to Make a Splash Without Getting All Wet
• Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard My Review
• Fields of Gold
• Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
• A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story
• The E-Myth Revisited
• The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right My Review
• The 4-Hour Workweek
• Connect with Your Kids
• Kidmin Leadership
• I Blew It
• No Shortcuts to the Top
• Hood (King Raven Trilogy, Book 1)
• The Hunger Games
• Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)
• Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games

Tomorrow I’ll share with you my top 5 favorite books of 2011 and why. I’ve written reviews of several of the books already, but those I haven’t reviewed, I’ll do so in the coming weeks. Maybe one of these books will end up on your 2012 reading list.

So, back in January I posted my reading list for 2010. I had 18 books on the list. For some of you, that’s a leisurely weekend of reading. For me, that’s an undertaking! So, we’re a little halfway through the year and here is where I stand.

So far I’ve read 5 books total, essentially 1/3 toward my goal of 18. I’m really not sure I’ll hit 18, but I still think I can kick it in high gear and get pretty close. Unfortunately, of the books on my 2010 list, I’ve only read 2, Orange and Mad Church Disease. I’m starting Parenting Beyond Your Capacity this weekend (another book not on my list), but I hope to hit my list again next.

I know a lot of you have read the books on my list. Based on what you’ve read, what book should I read next? Below is a little poll. Whatever book gets the most votes, I’ll read it next. I was going to suggest comments on what book needs to be on my list, but I think I just need to focus on the 16 I haven’t read next. Maybe next year I’ll crowdsource my reading list.

Okay, vote below (you can vote for more than one book… just to make it interesting). I’m anxious to know what I’m going to read next.

Lately I’ve been a crazy reading man!

I just updated the ‘Books I’m Reading” and Books I’ve Read” widget on the right. Unfortunately I’ve been reading Bringing Up Boys for over a year now (I need to either just wrap that one up or take it off my list). I’m about three chapters away from finishing “Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul.” I’ve got some blogs coming out in the next few weeks addressing this book. It’s been hitting me on so many different levels, both personally and vocationally. In the last two weeks I devoured Patrick Lencioni’s books “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable” and “Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable…About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business.” I have upcoming posts on both of these books as well. As a staff at Gateway, we’re reading “Transforming Discipleship: Making Disciples a Few at a Time.” It’s a major focus for us, so I’m sure I’ll have many posts interacting with this one. Next week, however; I plant to dive into Covey’s “The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything.” After that, I’ll still have two more books that Nancy Ortberg told me to read while at Orange (I just haven’t listed them on the widget yet… I have too many “Books I’m Reading” there already). Last of all, I’ve still got the book “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars“ that I’ve only read one chapter of. So, I’ve got a lot of reading to do….

So, if you’re interested in reading any of these books, I’ll let you know what I think in the coming weeks. If you’ve read some of them, I’ll look forward to your comments!