top_5_lists

Top 5 lists!!! (check out previous years: 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006)

Songs

1) Sigh No More - Mumford & Sons 
2010 was the year of Mumford mania. only controversy here was which song to pick. "awake my soul" might actually be my favorite, but this one kicks off the record and sets the tone for everything that follows: a quiet start, a big build, and a huge payoff. killer lyric: "love that will not betray you, dismay or enslave you, it will set you free, be more like the man you were made to be."
2) City With No Children - Arcade Fire
from their incredible album, "the suburbs." they upped the ante with this effort. killer lyric: "you never trust a millionaire quoting the sermon on the mount, I used to think I was not like them but I'm beginning to have my doubts."
3) Invented - Jimmy Eat World
it might be that i love this band even more now than i did ten years ago. their stuff holds up, and they've aged well. soundtrack to over a third of my life. crazy. killer lyric: "i'm one more here, some old-time pioneer, who believes with shaken faith, i still have some cool."
4) The Ladder - Andrew Belle 
saw this humble songwriter at cafe 939 here in boston and fell for him immediately. melancholy, wise beyond his years, and gentle in his approach, The Ladder was probably the one non-mumford album i listened to the most this year. killer lyric: on a ladder from there to here i'll climb, all this clatter between my ears i find, does it matter if i can't clear my mind, there's a right and a wrong time.
5) Bloodbuzz Ohio - The National
weird song, and not one that at first listen you would imagine to be humming hours later, but it is totally catchy. and at first glance the lyrics seem surreal and bizarre but end up being quite profound on repeated listens. killer lyric: "i still owe money to the money to the money i owe, i never thought about love when i thought about home, i still owe money to the money to the money i owe, the floors are falling out from everybody i know."

Books (required reading)

1) Practice Resurrection Eugene Peterson
the fifth and final installment to his "conversations in spiritual theology" series, which is my all time favorite canon of books on theology. i absolutely, with no hesitation, recommend these books to anyone the least bit interested in theology.  
2) Almost Christian Kenda Creasy Dean
maybe the "problem" with youth ministry isn't youth pastors, or the culture, or facebook, but the church? that's the central question of this startling book. dean argues that the "problem" with youth ministry is that we (adults, the church, theology) are not giving kids a compelling story to live, rather we are simply asking them to be "nice" (the cult of "moral therapeutic deism"). challenging stuff.
3a and b) The Seven Storey Mountain Thomas Merton and God Was In This Place and I, I Did Not Know Lawrence Kushner
a little bit of mysticism here in the middle of the top five list. these authors go about this in very different ways (one is Jewish, the other Catholic; one a midrash, the other an autobiography), but both push the reader to open themselves up to presence of God in the midst of us: right here, right now.
5) The Wisdom of Stability Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
a challenge to buck the cultural trend of constant movement and upward mobility and to see stability (calling one place home) as a spiritual discipline.

Book (non-required)

1) Born to Run Christopher McDougall
one of the most well written books of any type or genre i have ever read. i actually like the next book on the list more, but McDougall gets top billing for doing an amazing job at weaving everything from bio-mechanics to anthropology to good-old-fashioned sports writing into a masterpiece. you don't have to like running at all to appreciate this work.
2) Are We Winning Will Leitch
i love books. i love books about baseball. i love books about coming of age. i love books about quirky/semi-dysfunctional young guys who finally decide to get their stuff together. this book is all of that in one. changing the setting to san francisco would be the ONLY way to make me love this book more. i look forward to reading it again soon.
3) Cardboard Gods Josh Wilker
in many ways this book is very similar to Are We Winning, only the era is different and the style a bit more literary. i loved holding and looking at this book, and reading it wasn't a chore either =)
4) Zeitoun Dave Eggers
eggers made a name, and a fortune, for himself by telling his story (some would say "exploiting" and "embellishing" but i would vehemently disagree). since then he's taken to telling other people's stories. this is the most straight-forward, simple storytelling eggers has done, but it still packs an emotional punch. i love what he is trying to do and i hope he keeps on doing it. 
5) All Souls Michael Patrick MacDonald
talk to anyone who has lived in boston for the last 20 years and they have an opinion on this book. a strong one. a customer at starbucks who grew up in southie and moved out when he went to college calls it a "pack of lies." our friend bob says it's pretty accurate. the divisiveness makes me think he hit on some sort of truth. very helpful in illuminating some recent boston history, the racial tensions and divisions that still exist, and the yearning for peace that still permeates our streets. 

Movies

Didn't watch many movies this year, again. I will point you towards Willie's excellent movie blog because he will probably have some good year end stuff up soon. Here are a few i did enjoy in no particular order: Toy Story 3, Inception, The Town, The Fighter (love the Boston area films =), and I will be watching over and over the Giants' World Series DVD!