What Makes a “Best” Book?

When the Christian Century invited me to contribute to their Fall Books issue, I immediately said yes. All they asked was for me to select the five best books published on the practice of ministry since 2000. I could define “practice of ministry” any way I liked. I knew there were other people being asked, so I didn’t feel a lot of pressure to be definitive. I could do this.

A week later, I wasn’t so sure. What makes a “best” book? And best for whom? Is the best resource for me and my unique church and ministry really the best for anyone else? Does it have to be a best seller? Is there such a thing as a generic best?

bestseller

In the end, I decided on the following:

The “best” book is one that’s best for me and my context. It’s a personal choice rather than a generic choice.
The “best” books on ministry practice offer solid, practical content.
The “best” books are well-written and communicate clearly.
As a group, the “best” books on ministry practice address the outward practice and the inward journey that are both part of pastoral ministry.
As a group, the “best” books include diverse authors–women and men, persons of colour, different denominations, different backgrounds.

If I were choosing the “best” devotional books or the “best” mysteries; the “best” science fiction or the “best” cookbooks; the “best” books about art or race or social media or anything at all, I might well add some different criteria. For me, the best mysteries have both strong plots and strong characters. The best cookbooks feature natural ingredients.

What makes a “best” book in your particular area of reading? Can you identify what you look for in a book? Or is reading more subjective than that?

And what five best books of ministry practice did I choose? How closely was I able to follow my own criteria? You’ll have to wait and see when the Christian Century releases its Fall Books issue….

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"Writing is an act of faith, not of grammar," says author E.B. White, and that's how writing feels to me too. It's an act of faith to write out your heart, an act of faith to put words together and hope they speak to someone else.

I currently serve as resident author with a liturgical worship community; edit a quarterly devotional magazine; write online and in print publications; and often speak in churches and other settings. For me those are all acts of faith too.

On this website, I share some of my writing, books I'm reading, Scripture, prayer, and living everyday life with faith and hope. Whatever today holds for you, I pray you'll be refreshed and renewed by the articles you read here.

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