Month: December 2021

My Top 16 Books of 2021

As an avid lover of reading, I have enjoyed finding time to read throughout the year of 2021. This year has been a particularly robust year of reading, completing my 65/65 book reading challenge AND reading more nonfiction than fiction books (this is a rarity for me)!

I intended to chose only 10 books for my top books of the year list, but I just couldn’t narrow it down past 16. As a result, you will find a comprehensive list of my top 16 favorite books of the year.

Some of these books made me laugh, while others made me cry. Some were highly informational, and some educated me toward righteous rage and justice-action. Many of these books fed my soul and spiritual practices. Others were highly creative in imagined worlds, while some envisioned something different in our own world. Some of these books are classics, and some are brand new. A few books are written by friends and colleagues while others are written by people I’ll never know. This list crosses the scope of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

I hope that this list inspires you to add a few books to your 2022 reading list AND encourages you to reach out and connect with me about them! Please know that I’m always happy to chat about any of the listed books. I’m passionate about each and every one of them!

Please enjoy my ‘Top 16 Books of 2021’ list: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2021/25536404

1. ‘Sister Outsider’ by Audre Lorde: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/730745
2. ‘The Interior Castle’ by Teresa of Ávila: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/162512
3. ‘A Wizard of Earthsea’ by Ursula K. Le Guin: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13356675
4. ‘Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents’ by Isabel Wilkerson: ‘A Wizard of Earthsea’ by Ursula K. Le Guin: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51152447
5. ‘The Land Is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery’ by Sarah Augustine: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55404509
6. ‘The Plague’ by Albert Camus: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11989
7. ‘Teaching to transgress’ by bell hooks: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27091
8. ‘The Naked Now: Learning to See As the Mystics See’ by Richard Rohr: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6522506
9. ‘The Color Purple’ by Alice Walker: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52892857
10. ‘The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America’ by Richard Rothstein: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32191706
11. ‘Advancing the Mission: The Order of Deacon in the United Methodist Church’ by Margaret Ann Crain: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58800816
12. ‘Gideon the Ninth’ by Tamsyn Muir: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42036538
13. ‘On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century’ by Timothy D. Snyder: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33917107
14. ‘Nature Poem’ by Tommy Pico: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32311036
15. ‘The Prophets’ by Robert Jones Jr.: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52576333
16. ‘Who Was Jesus and What Does It Mean to Follow Him?’ by Nancy Elizabeth Bedford: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54851903
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Top Ten Albums of 2021

https://embed.music.apple.com/us/playlist/top-ten-albums-2021/pl.u-oZyl3vgTRqDBzX

2021 has been a year full of ups and downs. Through it all, music has remained an important force of well-being, emotional connection, and joy. As a result, I wanted to celebrate the music that meant so much to me in 2021 by creating a ‘Top Ten Albums of 2021’ list. I hope that this playlist can bring you as much joy as it has brought me!

1. Lil Nas X, ‘MONTERO,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/montero/1582660720
2. Olivia Rodrigo, ‘SOUR,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/sour-video-version/1582274783
3. Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine, ‘A Beginner’s Mind,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/a-beginners-mind/1572705246
4. Justin Bieber, ‘Justice,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/justice-the-complete-edition/1588043759
5. Imagine Dragons, ‘Mercury – Act 1,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/mercury-act-1/1574210519
6. Kacey Musgraves, ‘star-crossed,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/star-crossed/1582033417
7. Leon Bridges, ‘Gold-Diggers Sound,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/gold-diggers-sound-deluxe/1594978030
8. Halsey, ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/if-i-cant-have-love-i-want-power/1574984039
9. Taylor Swift, ‘evermore,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/evermore-deluxe-version/1547315522
10. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, ‘Raise The Roof,’ https://music.apple.com/us/album/raise-the-roof/1578783072

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I hope that you enjoyed this list! What have been some of your favorite albums/songs of 2021? I’d love to hear/get some song suggestions in the comments section!

Thanks for reading and have a blessed end to your 2021~

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Prayer of Lament

Creator God of supposed justice and love,

why did you create a world full of such pain, division, and discord?

where our own families and friends

exchange violent words and vicious lies

about scientific health precautions

and protecting the basic human dignity and life

of all people?

Where dehumanization and oppression

become the expectation and right of those in power?

God of justice and love,

didn’t you proclaim victory over sin and death?

Why then must we feel the sting of death

and the seeming victory of sin?

I know you commanded us to be your agents of love and justice –

to teach others and make disciples of all people –

but we are walking in the valley of death

and I do fear evil.

But I also put my faith and hope

in a justice-filled day.

Please lead me Lord,

and I’ll try my best

to follow.

Amen.

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