Books I read in 2016

In 2016, I read eight old-fashioned paperbacks, and listened to 77 audiobooks, beating my personal record from last year's reading accomplishments. I also achieved my goal of reading at least 5 classics this year (by my definition of "classic," which includes classic sci-fi as well as more traditional literature, I read ten; I've marked these with asterisks in my list below).

The average length of these audiobooks was 8 hours on the dot. My average amount of listening per day was 1 hour and 42 minutes.

My "most influential book" awards go to The Blue Zones, the second half of 7 Habits, and a re-reading of Boundaries.

Walden wins my award for most rambling and least able to retain my attention (though Emma, The World Set Free, and the first half of 7 Habits also get honorable mentions in this category; Invisible Man would have taken the award, but I abandoned listening because after a few hours I couldn't stand the narration any longer).

Only counting non-Star Wars books, The Rosie Project was my favorite listen from this year. It was my wife Alissa's recommendation, being one of the only novelized romance stories she can stand, and I loved it. A close second was My Sister's Keeper, coincidentally (truly) also Alissa's recommendation.

This year also included 26 Star Wars audiobooks (of course it did; this is up from last year's 22). Of these, my favorite was Lost Stars, which tells the human-level stories of Imperial cadets as they grow up and serve in the Empire during the timeframe of movies 4-6, raising absolutely fascinating moral/ethical questions about loyalty to a cause vs loyalty to its leader vs loyalty to friends and family. I loved the book primarily though because it puts a face on "the other side." For instance: the main characters both had a best friend who perished on the Death Star during the Rebel's "terrorist" attack. We as a society struggle to understand the "other" - there is so much fear and mistrust created by our political parties both nationally and internationally. I think this is a great book which helps encourage the reader to consider the "other's" viewpoint, and does so in an accessible approach whether you're a Star Wars fan or not.

And of course, I also loved reading the Star Wars paperback novel Ahsoka, because she (along with Jaina Solo and Mara Jade) is one of my Star Wars universe crushes :)

And here are the lists of books:

Title	Author	Audiobook length
Star Wars: Bloodline	Claudia Gray	12:14:47
Star Wars: Dark Forces Collectors Trilogy Soldier for the Empire, Rebel Agent, Jedi Knight	William Dietz	5:28:59
My Sister's Keeper	Jodi Picoult	13:41:15
The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft, Volume One	H. P. Lovecraft	3:30:15
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood	Howard Pyle	10:36:35
The Rosie Project	Graeme C. Simsion	7:32:00
The Zimzum of Love	Rob and Kristen Bell	2:12:18
Total Recall	Philip K. Dick	1:00:00
Full Heart Living	Tom Glaser	5:40:00
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	J.K. Rowling	11:48:08
A Brief History Of Time	Stephen Hawking	5:47:20
I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: Zero Hour	Pittacus Lore	7:47:27
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	J.K. Rowling	8:17:00
The World Without Us	Alan Weisman	12:04:32
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People	Stephen Covey	14:03:00
Of Thee I Sing	Barack Obama	00:16:15
Star Wars: Dark Empire II	Tom Veitch	1:54:19
Star Wars: Dark Empire	Tom Veitch	2:37:21
Frankenstein*	Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley	8:42:00
Radio Free Albemuth	Philip K. Dick	7:45:02
Kisses from Katie	Katie Davis	8:52:57
The Scarlet Letter*	Nathaniel Hawthorne	9:28:00
Beyond Lies the Wub	Philip K. Dick	00:21:04
The Island of Dr. Moreau*	H. G. Wells	4:07:32
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	J.K. Rowling	9:24:16
Star Wars: Aftermath: Life Debt	Chuck Wendig	15:32:00
Watership Down	Richard Adams	15:53:32
Emma*	Jane Austen	15:18:00
The World Set Free	H. G. Wells	6:38:00
The Minority Report and Other Stories	Philip K. Dick	5:33:25
An Invisible Thread	Laura Schroff	7:02:44
The Blue Zones	Dan Buettner	7:39:17
A Journey to the Center of the Earth*	Jules Verne	9:17:23
King Lear (BBC Radio Shakespeare)	William Shakespeare	2:37:52
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde*	Robert Louis Stevenson	3:06:46
As You Like It (BBC radio collection)	William Shakespeare	1:59:45
Night	Elie Wiesel	3:38:42
Star Wars: Crimson Empire	Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley	1:32:45
I am Malala	Malala Yousafzai	9:55:03
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lord of the Sith (Full cast audio drama)	Tom Veitch	2:18:00
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi (Full cast audio drama)	Tom Veitch	2:42:00
America's Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the bridge to a new America	Jim Wallis	10:09:58
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl*	Anne Frank	9:55:21
Hamlet: a fully dramatized audio production from the Folger Theatre	William Shakespeare	3:32:49
A Voice in the Wind (Unabridged)	Francine Rivers	21:26:43
Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson book 9)	Patricia Briggs	10:07:00
Boundaries	Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend	11:00:03
Star Wars: Outbound Flight	Timothy Zahn	6:18:00
Star Wars: The Force Awakens	Alan Dean Foster	10:05:57
The Great Gatsby*	F. Scott Fitzgerald	4:53:29
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Radio Drama, as heard on NPR	National Public Radio	3:12:15
Star Wars: Battlefront: Twilight Company	Alexander Freed	13:40:57
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Radio Drama, as heard on NPR	National Public Radio	4:22:08
Star Wars: The Original Radio Drama, as heard on NPR	National Public Radio	5:55:36
The Collected Stories of Winnie-the-Pooh	A. A. Milne	4:27:00
Star Wars: Journey to Star Wars The Force Awakens: Lost Stars	Claudia Gray	11:26:01
Dragon Blood (Hurog duology book 2)	Patricia Briggs	9:34:24
Dragon Bones (Hurog duology book 1)	Patricia Briggs	8:56:56
Star Wars: Journey to Star Wars The Force Awakens: Smuggler's Run	Greg Rucka	3:22:07
All's Well That Ends Well (BBC radio collection)	William Shakespeare	2:14:47
The Great Divorce	C.S. Lewis	3:22:50
Star Wars: Heir to the Jedi	Kevin Hearne	9:02:20
The Invisible Man*	H. G. Wells	6:13:47
Star Wars: Millennium Falcon	James Luceno	10:06:04
Who Is This Man? The Unpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus	John Ortberg	7:40:50
Star Wars: Apocalypse (Fate of the Jedi book 9)	Troy Denning	16:30:00
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions (Unabridged)	Dan Ariely	7:22:57
A Grief Observed	C.S. Lewis	1:50:52
Star Wars: Empire and Rebellion: Honor Among Thieves	James S. A. Corey	9:52:49
Walden, and, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience*	Henry David Thoreau	13:50:56
Star Wars: Empire and Rebellion: Razor's edge	Martha Wells	9:57:19
Star Wars: Ascension (Fate of the Jedi book 8)	Christie Golden	14:44:14
Scary Close	Donald Miller	4:07:38
Star Wars: Dynasty of Evil (Darth Bane book 3)	Drew Karpyshyn	9:22:33
Star Wars: Conviction (Fate of the Jedi book 7)	Aaron Allston	12:57:30
Star Wars: Vortex (Fate of the Jedi book 6)	Troy Denning	14:29:25
Star Wars: Allies (Fate of the Jedi book 5)	Christie Golden	13:23:57

And the paperbacks:

• Star Wars: Ahsoka, by E. K. Johnston
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi, by Michael Reave and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, by J.K. Rowling
• A Practical Wedding, by Meg Keene
• The Secret of Dreadwillow Carse, by Brian Farrey
• Star Wars: Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina, edited by Kevin J. Anderson
• A Practical Wedding Planner, by Meg Keene
• XKCD: What If?, by Randall Munroe

The Second Noel

He's finally asleep.

J and I are exhausted. I suppose I didn't think birthing and raising a child would be easy, but, I never imagined the sleep deprivation. I don't think I've slept in a year. This baby might be my future Messiah, but he still cries and poops like every other baby I've seen. I need rest.

And we've also been on the run. J had a dream, a vision from God, telling us we were in danger. So we left. Decamped that very night, and headed to Egypt. We were welcomed, I suppose you could say. I mean, no one here has been overtly hostile to us. But it's not home. I miss home. I miss my parents, my brothers and sisters, my friends. I haven't seen them or heard from them in well over a year.

J and I are getting along better now. It was a rough start for us. I suppose some girls my age would think it romantic to be swept away by their husband-to-be, but, truth be told it was just awkward. We barely knew each other. Even though everyone else our age was getting betrothed, I think we were too young.

But it's getting better now. Even away from home, away from our Community, we are ... dare I say, thriving? We used some of the gold gifts, and sold some of the myrrh, and that got us through a lot of the months. Now that we're at least somewhat settled, J's been able to find work. There's always a demand for carpenters, and J's really good at what he does. I'm so proud of him. I'm so grateful for him. I can't imagine raising this baby without him.

This baby.

Today's his first birthday. To think of where we were one year ago, desperate for a place to rest. Now he's resting comfortably on my lap. He's so serene. I treasure these quiet moments, because I know eventually he will grow up, and life will be more complicated. But for now, when I look into his face, I see Peace.

Runaway Sheep

Close call. Woke up this morning and one of the sheep had run away! We spent all day searching. I thought for sure he'd been eaten, or wandered all the way to Egypt. The others always say I'm the pessimist. Maybe they're right.

Well anyway, we found him. The sheep. Now he's watching the sunset with all his sheep friends. Looks like it'll be clear skies, a good night for star-gazing.

I wonder if sheep think like we do? They're all staring at the sky like it's the strangest thing they've ever seen. I wonder what they're thinking.

Now wait, what are they staring at? It's getting brighter. But how? It's night. There's a... it looks like a man floating in the sky, dressed all in white, and, he's glowing?

Shepherd #2, do you see what I see? Oh, good. That means I might not be going crazy. But that also means it's real! I'm scared. Do you hear what I hear, too? This, ... Being - he / she / it - is speaking! "Hark, fear not," he says. ("fear not," yeah, right) Good news, he says. Town of David, cloths, manger, Messiah - it's all a lot to take in at once. Now there are more of the... Beings. They're singing. It's beautiful. We sing to the sheep, but I've never heard music as moving, peaceful, hopeful as this.

They're gone. The heavenly intervention comes to a close. We're all dumbfounded. Was that real? It's hard to imagine we'd all have the same hallucination, if that's what it was, but... would YHWH speak to us in this way? Us, lowly and humble shepherds? I guess there's only one way to find out: we need to start stumbling toward Bethlehem.