I am surprised you overlooked Belcher’s Deep Church. I believe that he is working hard to be a 3rd way thinker and gives many emergent, and more conservative theologians a place to talk and find that middle way.
One book that I really enjoyed this year, and it is not theology per se, was Shop Class as Soul Craft by Matthew Crafword. He is a philospher by training (a P.h.D no less) and motorcycle mechanic. He does a nice job of unraveling work and why it is so important, and how neglecting to train some people in the vocational arts is going to, and in some cases already has, leave a deep hole in our culture.

Carl, I was torn between Adam’s book and Jim’s — but Jim’s book deserves some recognition.

Great list Scot. I haven’t read Fishbane’s newest yet, but am looking forward to diving into since you recognized it.
I was looking forward to Walton’s scholarly version of Lost World to be published by Eisenbrauns. Guess we’ll have to wait until 2010 for that version!

I’ve read several great books this year, the best being David Dark’s The Sacredness of Questioning Everything. My favorite older books I just tgot around to reading this year are by Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God and The Fidelity of Betrayal.
The best memoirs I’ve read this year are Don Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years and Kevin Roose’s The Unlikely Disciple.

Sacred Attunement was excellent. Many of the others mentioned here were as well. But what is up coming – worth getting for discussion?

I loved Ron White’s “A. Lincoln.” I also liked, “The Good and Beautiful God.” “Pilgrim Heart” was great too as was Armstrong’s book you mentioned above.

John Calvin: A Pilgrim?s Life by Herman J. Selderhuis–Fascinating look at a flawed and brilliant man.

I have been impressed with Scot’s “Fasting” (which is a very accessible treatment of the subject) and Andrew Marin’s “Love is an Orientation.” Both have been very helpful for me in ministry.

Thanks for the suggestions! I have not read any of them yet, but they hit my wish list!

I realize some of these are 2008 publications, and I omitted anything older than that (I think?)??
# EXCELLENT READS
The Sacredness of Questioning Everything by David Dark
The Divine Commodity: Discovering a Faith Beyond Consumer Christianity by Skye Jethani
The Prodigal God by Tim Keller
How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now by James Kugel
Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N.T. Wright
The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible by Scot McKnight
# GOOD READS
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose
Everyday Justice: The Global Impact of our Daily Choices by Julie Clawson
The Future of Faith by Harvey Cox
Finding Organic Church: A Comprehensive Guide to Starting and Sustaining Authentic Christian Communities by Frank Viola
The Shack by William P. Young (fiction)
Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith by Shane Hipps
The Jesus Paradigm by David Alan Black
From Eternity to Here: Rediscovering the Ageless Purpose of God by Frank Viola
Doing Healing: How to minister God’s kingdom in the power of the Spirit by Alexander Venter
Heaven Is Real: Lessons on Earthly Joy–What Happened After 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper
The Myth of a Christian Religion: Losing Your Religion for the Beauty of a Revolution by Greg Boyd
# POOR/AVERAGE READS
The Evolution of God by Robert Wright
The Reason for God by Tim Keller
A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story by Diana Butler Bass
Making the Best of It: Following Christ in the Real World by John Stackhouse
Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches from Growing: How Leaders Can Overcome Costly Mistakes by Geoff Surratt
How to Argue like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History’s Greatest Communicator by Joe Carter
# NOTEWORTHY (SECULAR) OTHERS (ONLY PORTION, AND MINUS ALL TECHNICAL/COMPUTER BOOKS)
Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free by Charles Pierce
The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty by Peter Singer
Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives by Nicholas Christakis
Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas Blackmon
Microeconomics: Behavior, Institutions, and Evolution (The Roundtable Series in Behavioral Economics) by Samuel Bowles
Farewell to Alms by Gregory Clark
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer
Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture by Ellen Rupert Shell
The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image by Leonard Shlain
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely

Scot,
How would you rank “God Hides in Plain Sight” by Dean Nelson?
That was one of the books you talked about that interested me the most (i.e. that I still want to read).
Thanks,
Steve

Steve, a very good book. I blogged through it. For memoirs, though, I thought Jaber’s book was the best I read this year.

I just finished “Dominion of God: Christendom and Apocalypse in the middle ages.” I thought it was the best book on Christian history I’ve read this year:
Here’s my review: http://dkam136.com/2009/12/07/dominion-of-god-christendom-and-apocalypse-in-the-middle-ages/

Thank you for the recommended books. I would add a few to this list.
Ecclesiology: “From Eternity to Here: Rediscovering the Ageless Purpose of God” and “Finding Organic Church: A Comprehensive Guide to Starting and Sustaining Authentic Christian Communities” by Frank Viola
Theology: “Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church” by N.T. Wright
Christian Living: “The Myth of a Christian Religion: Losing Your Religion for the Beauty of a Revolution” by Gregory Boyd

THe Mission Of God -Chris Wright
Kingdom Concerns -Ken Gnanakan
THe heavenly Man -Brother Yun
Secret Believers -Brother Andrew
Christ of the Round Table -E.Stanley Jones (Oldie)
THe True Vine -Andrew Murray
Wild at Heart -John Aldridge
Paul the apostle of the free Spirit- F.F. Bruce

Totally in agreement on Douglas Campbell’s “The Deliverance of God.” The most exciting and thought provoking book on Pauline theology in a very, very long time.

Thanks, Naum… good idea to add in the poor/average reads
Care to ‘spill the beans’ some more on these?
A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story by Diana Butler Bass
Making the Best of It: Following Christ in the Real World by John Stackhouse