Tag: books

Fortitude, mental fitness, Personal Development

2023 Team Quadzilla Book List

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Another year of excellent reading materials consumed by yours truly. You might know that I summarize what I’ve read over the year so I can remember. If my notes encourage you to read these books, I’d love to hear your thoughts on them.

OOOOOH, Quadzilla Book Club… ??

Anyway, in last year’s book summary I confessed a new strategy for my reading habits. This year I purposely read even FEWER books than I have in a LONG time. But these were so good for me. I highly recommend all these books be read slowly, properly digested, and ultimately applied to your life. That was my aim, because while I appreciate the value of reading for entertainment, I prefer to learn something that I can apply to my life hopefully making me a better husband, dad, leader, man, and Jesus follower. Here’s what I read.

If Only He Knew – Gary Smalley

Angie gave me this book, lol. Evidently I need it. So I read it. And it surprised me, a lot. People generally are not great at relationships because we tend to assume that other’s needs, expectations, and preferences are the same as ours – or at least they should be. I’m surely guilty of this and it makes close relationships like marriage more difficult. Thankfully there are valuable resources like this one to help men in particular navigate the mystery that is their spouse.

Friend, if you are involved in relationships and you fancy yourself as one who pursues personal growth and development, then you need to invest energy in learning how to love well – especially if you are married. This book can help. With chapter titles like: How to Drive Your Wife Away Without Even Trying; If Your Wife Doesn’t Win First Place, You Lose!; What No Woman Can Resist; and A Successful Marriage…It’s Easier Than You Think, I promise you will learn something(s) that you can apply to your marriage today. Highly recommend.

Atomic Habits – James Clear

I finally got around to reading one of the most popular books on human behavior and personal growth. I read it, then immediately started over and read it again. Each chapter is rich with helpful advice about simplifying my personal growth journey with tiny changes to how I think, how I function in ordinary routines, and how to build good habits that last. It’s a bit academic (backed by research) but in a way anyone can understand – even me, so it’s not like the author is making this up or preaching some kind of mystical mumbo-jumbo new age baloney. Honestly, most of it is common sense once you read it, but the simplicity of it is what makes for numerous “ah-ha” moments. You can build healthy habits that will literally automate much of your lifestyle which will make your personal performance and satisfaction in life greatly increase.

Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table – Louie Giglio

The small group of couples Angie & I meet with for bible study chose this book to help us understand the deeper meaning of Psalm 23. You may recognize this Psalm as it is often read at funerals, (though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…) but there is so much more to this text that is meant to help us understand the inevitable trouble in this life.

The enemy, of course, is the devil. He is the enemy for every human. The devil seeks to steal, kill, and destroy us and he very often starts with our mind. As you’ve heard me say many times, the real battle is in our mind – between our ears. It’s an unseen battle, and it rages all around us all the time.

Ever thought to yourself I’m not good enough…Everybody is against me… I’m not going to make it… I deserve what they have? Those thought come from the enemy trying to lie his way to your mind and control your life.

I found this book especially helpful to understand the deeper meaning of Psalm 23 to help me break free from my destructive thinking, stop believing the lies I tell myself, and quit living in shame, insecurity, and temptation. I can see more clearly the purpose behind the challenging times in my life. It’s liberating!

The Meaning of Marriage – Timothy Keller

This is my 3rd time through this book since 2018. It is so good. Possibly the best book on marriage I have read – and I’ve read many. It’s so good that I have purchased several copies to give away. Regardless of your stage of life or marriage, you can benefit from the principles in this book. Here are a few of the many passages I’ve highlighted in my copy.

“Nothing can mature character like marriage. ”

pg 17

“Therefore, the moment you marry someone, you and your spouse begin to change in profound ways, and you can’t know ahead of time what those changes will be. So you don’t know, you can’t know, who your spouse will actually be in the future until you get there….Over the years you will go through seasons in which you have to learn to love a person whom you didn’t marry, who is something of a stranger. You will have to make changes that you don’t want to make, and so will your spouse.”

pg 33

“Do for your spouse what God did for you in Jesus, and the rest will follow.”

pg 43

“If two spouses each say, “I’m going to treat my self-centeredness as the main problem in the marriage,” you have the prospect of a truly great marriage.”

pg 64

“It is a mistake to think that you must feel love to give it.”

pg 105

“So if we want to be happy in marriage, we will accept that marriage is designed to make us holy.”

pg 146

“Marriage does not so much bring you into confrontation with your spouse as confront you with yourself. Marriage shows you a realistic, unflattering picture of who you are and then takes you by the scruff of the neck and forces you to pay attention to it.”

pg 154

“We must communicate love in the way our spouse needs it.”

pg 171

“Each partner in marriage is to be most concerned not with getting sexual pleasure but with giving it.”

pg 267

I have benefitted greatly from slowing down to savor a few good reads this year. My plan will be the same for 2024. What books did you read that were impactful to you? Let me know so I can add them to my list.

Fortitude, Personal Development

My 2020 Book List

teamquadzilla

I’ll not waste precious ink to tell you how important it is to read. You already know that feeding your mind positive inputs is key to your healthy living journey. If you read a book that knocked your socks off this year, I’d like to hear about it.

Made For His Pleasure – Alistair Begg

To be honest, this was not my favorite book, but maybe that’s because I wasn’t ready for the central message. I firmly believe we can only receive instruction or be convicted to the point of making change in our life when we are ready for it. God is good like that. This book challenges our human nature to live for self and look for pleasure in all the wrong places when it is living fully for God and his purposes that answers our deepest needs. Thought provoking, convicting, and entertaining when you read it in Alistair’s Irish accent.

Leadership & Self-deception- Arbinger Institute

I first read this book about 10 years ago as an assignment for work. It blows your mind to realize that the reason for most of our problems in life are our own fault. We are all deceived, seeing the world and other people from a narrow and skewed perspective that sabotages our relationships and personal productivity. Written in a story format, it’s engaging and thought provoking. I often put the book down mid-paragraph to think about what just happened and how spot on it is to my own experience. Read this.

The Self-Propelled Island – Jules Verne

A diversion into classic fiction, which I don’t do very often. Verne has many famous stories like Journey to the Center of the Earth and Around the World in 80 Days, so I took a chance on a lesser known story he wrote 100 years ago. His vision of technology is fascinating and the way he describes the adventures in the middle of the ocean makes you believe you were actually there. It’s pretty fun.

Kingdom Man – Tony Evans

As chaplain for the Dallas Cowboys, Tony Evans has endorsements from NFL stars like Tony Romo, Tony Dungy, Jon Kitna, and Joe Gibbs for this amazing playbook for life. He tells it like it is, and sometimes it hits you like a linebacker. This is a valuable resource worth reading on the regular to give men the encouragement and inspiration to live, lead, and love in ways that will change our corner of the world.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People- Stephen R. Covey

Everyone needs to read this book. Period. It’s a little wordy in spots, but the principles discussed here are timeless. I’ve written about it before, and even had my article on the 7 Habits published in a magazine. This is another book that needs to be in regular rotation for anyone who strives to be their best – no matter your role.

The Purpose Driven Life – Rick Warren

This is the most impactful book I read this year. Like some of my other books, this one should be in regular rotation. It is so rich with insight taken directly from the best instruction manual for life – the Bible. There are over 1,000 Bible verses referenced in this book which is broken down into 40 short chapters. While it could be read in a “40 Days of Purpose Challenge,” I took much longer as the concepts to absorb were more than I can manage in one day. Warren doesn’t mince words, but rather it seems as if every word has importance. I’ve nearly highlighted the whole thing! Do yourself and your loved ones a favor and read this book.

Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell

My 11th grader was assigned this book for summer reading in prep for his AP English class. I thought I’d read it with him to give us something else to talk about. Glad I did. It’s a good one. Entertaining and thought provoking about what successful people look like. It’s not at all what you think. His observations and scientific research turn what we thought we knew about what makes a person successful on its head. Just when you thought all you had to do was try harder and maybe you’ll get lucky…

Believe Become Be – Robert Noland

What we believe about ourselves is important. If you are like me, or at all human, it’s likely you believe some lies about yourself. These lies are holding us back from being all we were made to be. Noland helps us unravel some of these lies and shows us the truth about who we are and who we are meant to be.

Daring Greatly – Brene Brown

Daring greatly is to be vulnerable. To let your guard down and not be so afraid of what we think other people believe about us. To be your authentic self, to be brave, take a chance, and see what is on the other side of going for it. It’s a call for those of us who are hiding behind walls of fear and doubt to say, “I am enough, and I am tired of being imprisoned by the lies I tell myself.” Brown compels us to believe that the safety we perceive behind our walls is no safety at all, but rather a prison keeping us from being all we were meant to be. How liberating it would be if we lived with even just a wee bit of raw vulnerability. We might find some incredible blessing. I recommend this book for teens and up.

The Road Less Traveled – M. Scott Peck, MD

An old friend recommended this book to me many years ago. This is my 3rd time through it. It’s as deep and heavy as you are ready to receive the message Dr. Peck has about how to live and love well. Like other books in my list this year, there is strong emphasis on personal responsibility and the power of our choices. Choosing well and owning our life is hard. So hard at times that it’s easy to see why most people won’t travel this road. But since we want to live life to the full and be our very best, we will choose the road less traveled. This book shows you how.

Compound Effect – Darren Hardy

The message in this little book is simple. Doing the simple and mundane things (healthy habits, personal/ professional productivity habits, etc.) consistently over time will compound results no matter the venture. The trouble is that we give up too early, or we see no point in doing the mundane. Hardy shares stories and illustrations that are easily relatable to help inspire us to be patient and stick with it. I have begun to see some fruit to some simple and mundane newer habits I’ve adopted – things I’ve tried before but given up too early. The compound effect is real.

Jesus is___. – Judah Smith

This is among the most impactful books I’ve ever read. My 3rd time around, and I still find new things to knock my socks off. The writing style is very conversational as it seems like Pastor Judah is in the room talking directly to me. He brings Jesus to life in unconventional ways, using familiar Bible stories and looking at them from a unique perspective. Who is Jesus? You fill in the blank for yourself, but not until you read this book.