Unsocialized: The Homeschool Podcast with Scott Moore

013 Top 10 Most Influential Books

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What are the most influential books in your life? Have you shared them with your kids? On today’s episode, I share my list.

  1. The Bible – It’s God’s Word to man and has shaped all of human history. I have read it several times through and continue to gain new wisdom with each reading. Frankly, I need all the help I can get and I can’t think of a better place to get it.
  2. Honest to God by Bill Hybels – It has been so long, I don’t even truly remember much of this book. The reason it’s on the list is that God used it to speak to me during a pivotal time in my life. I was challenged to live whole-heartedly for God and put my faith into action. This book really helped me make the transition into adulthood.
  3. The Journey of Desire by John Eldredge – A whole new understanding of my own heart, desires, and life. This book is the second in Eldredge’s trilogy of great books. The other two are equally important to me – The Sacred Romance and Wild at Heart. And, don’t forget Epic: The Story God Is Telling.
  4. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis – I hesitate to put Lewis on the list because so many others include him, but there’s a reason for that. He was, quite simply, one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century. This book helped me clarify my beliefs. Others by Lewis that were important to me – The Screwtape Letters and the Chronicles of Narnia.
  5. The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews – If you aren’t familiar with Andy, you should be. He draws principles from the greatest minds in history and shares them in brilliant stories like this one, The Final Summit, and The Noticer, to name a few. He has changed how I think. About everything.
  6. Six Hours One Friday by Max Lucado – An intimate and personal look at Jesus’ crucifixion. How anyone can reject Jesus after reading this is beyond me.
  7. Miles, The Autobiography by Miles Davis – As vulgar as it is powerful, this book shaped my thinking about music, creativity, and culture. Not for everybody, but mind-blowing to me.
  8. 48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller – I include this book because it changed the way I think about work. Also, because of Dan’s creative solutions to life’s problems and the many works Dan has recommended that have impacted me – like Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search For Meaning, Zig Ziglar’s See You at the Top, and Rabbi Daniel Lapin’s Buried Treasure.
  9. The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay – I got tired of hearing people talk about federalism and states’ rights and not knowing what they meant. So, I read the Federalist Papers (and the Anti-Federalist Papers) for myself. Pardon the pun, it revolutionized my thinking about government. It also terrified me to see how far we’ve strayed, as a nation, from our founding principles and the liberty that so many have fought and/or died to secure.
  10. Hollywood vs. America by Michael Medved – With all due respect to my college professors (I majored in Mass Communication), this book influenced me more than any of my textbooks. It opened my eyes to the vast spiritual and moral chasm that exists between the media elites and normal Americans.

    11. There are so many others that deserve honorable mention on this list. I’m currently reading Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage and Band of Brothers, both of which are extraordinary. The Harry Potter series has provided wonderful memories reading aloud to my children and some of the lessons are priceless. From the first book, Dumbledore says, “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” Other great fiction books: The Call of the Wild by Jack London, Vince Flynn’s Extreme Measures, and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Dave Ramsey’s EntreLeadership and Total Money Makeover are essential reading for business and personal finance. Living Proof by Jim Petersen shaped my thinking on ministry. In addition, The Lost Art of Disciple Making by Leroy Eims, and The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert E. Coleman.

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    Unsocialized: The Homeschool Podcast with Scott MooreBy Scott L. Moore
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