One of my college professors, Dr. Jeff Myers, used to say, “You’ll be the same person 5 years from now that you are today, with the exception of 2 things: Who you spend time with, and the books you read.” It turns out, that statement has yet to disprove itself.  And as Rick Warren says, “Leaders are readers.” I know. Call it cheezy, but it doesn’t doesn’t make it untrue.

I set out at the beginning of ‘09 to read a book a week.  I didn’t quite succeed, because a few of them took a while to digest, but I didn’t do half bad.  I can’t even begin to tell you the influence books have had on my life, and therefore, (hopefully), the lives of those around me.

I haven’t included magic books, because you don’t have access to them, making listing them pointless.  Out of what I read this year, here are the 10 non-fiction, non-magic books that made the biggest difference in my life, in no particular or special order:

1. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, by Timothy Keller

2. Don’t Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned, by Kenneth C. Davis (Okay, this didn’t impact the way I live, but it did give me TONS of perspective on the history of our nation, and it was one of the coolest history books I’ve ever read.)

3. Sex God, by Rob Bell (I recently finished this since visiting Pattaya, Thailand, and the new perspective was incredible.)

4. The 4-Hour Work-Week, by Timothy Ferris (I read this in 2008 and loved it, and recently re-read it by getting the new expanded and updated version.)

5. Soul Cravings, Erwin McManus (One of the most quotable books I’ve ever read!)

6. It, by Craig Groeschel

7. The Way to Love, by Anthony De Mello (This book took me 2 years to fully read/process, and is by far the shortest book on this list. It’s life-changing.)

8. Meatball Sundae, by Seth Godin

9. Tribes, by Seth Godin

10. The Message, Eugene Peterson (While I’ve been studying the Bible since a kid, I’ve always done so by chapter or individual verses. I use this version to quickly read entire books or sections of the Bible, and I like the perspective gained by reading an entire book in one sitting.)

What about YOU? What were some of YOUR favorite books from this year?  After all, 2010 is coming quickly, and I’ve got a new reading list to create!