The Year in Review, 2009.

Books Read

1. Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church by Michael Horton (reviewed 1/15/09);

2. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (reviewed 1/19/09);

3. Fun While It Lasted: My Rise and Fall in the Land of Fame and Fortune by Bruce McNall (reviewed 1/26/09);

4. Journey of a Thousand Miles: My Story by Lang Lang with David Ritz (reviewed 2/4/09);

5. Lawyer Boy by Rick Lax (reviewed 2/11/09);

6. How to Lose Friends and Alienate People: A Memoir by Toby Young (reviewed 3/2/09);

7. A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity by Bill O'Reilly (reviewed 3/20/09);

8. Why I Became An Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity by John W. Loftus (reviewed 4/5/09);

9. There is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind by Antony Flew with Roy Abraham Varghese (reviewed 4/24/09);

10. 40 Days and 40 Nights: Darwin, Intelligent Design, God, OxyContin and Other Oddities on Trial in Pennsylvania by Matthew Chapman (reviewed 4/30/09);

11. Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up? A Debate Between William Lane Craig and John Dominic Crossan (reviewed 5/13/09);

12. Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul by Edward Humes (reviewed 5/21/09);

13. Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America With Einstein's Brain by Michael Paterniti (reviewed 5/24/09);

14. The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose (reviewed 6/7/09);

15. Little Pink House: A True Story of Defiance and Courage by Jeff Benedict (reviewed 6/8/09);

16. Self-Made Man: One Woman's Journey into Manhood and Back Again by Norah Vincent (reviewed 6/23/09);

17. Lost in the Meritocracy: The Undereducation of an Overachiever by Walter Kirn (reviewed 6/26/09);

18. Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America and Found Unexpected Peace by Willliam Lobdell (reviewed 7/2/09);

19. Is There A God? by Richard Swinburne (reviewed 7/10/09);

20. This is Water, Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, About Living a Compassionate Life by David Foster Wallace (reviewed on 7/25/09);

21. Was Jesus God? by Richard Swinburne (reviewed on 8/3/09);

22. The Right Stuff by Thomas Wolfe (reviewed on 8/11/09);

23. The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture by N.T. Wright (reviewed 8/17/09);

24. Renegade: The Making of a President by Richard Wolffe (reviewed 8/28/09);

25. Columbine by Dave Cullen (reviewed 9/14/09);

26. The Faith by Charles Colson and Harold Fickett (reviewed 10/4/09);

27. Out of Captivity: Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle by Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, Tom Howes and Gary Brozek (reviewed 10/9/09);

28. The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich (reviewed 11/1/09);

29. Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman by Mary Tillman with Narda Zacchino (reviewed on 11/11/09);

30. A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers by Lawrence G. McDonald with Patrick Robinson (reviewed 11/13/09);

31. Speech-Less: Tales of a White House Survivor by Matt Latimer (reviewed 11/18/09);

32. American Original: The Life and Constitution of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia by Joan Biskupic (reviewed 12/3/09);

33. The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins (reviewed 12/23/09);

34. God? A Debate Between a Christian and Atheist by William Lane Craig and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (reviewed 12/29/09);

35. Reasonable Faith: Christian Faith and Apologetics (3d ed. 2008) by Willliam Lane Craig (good survey of Dr. Craig's five unequally persuasive, but cumulative arguments for God's existence);

36. Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman (2009) by Jon Krakauer (when a great writer, Krakauer, meets a great subject, Tillman, recording great triumphs and tragedy, it's textual magic).

Losses Sustained

John A. Radcliffe (see 9/30/09 post).

Film of the Year

In a lean year, Inglourious Basterds (sic) for the writing (by Quentin Tarantino) and acting (by Christoph Waltz)--in multiple languages--of the instantly legendary and unparalleled character, Col. Hans Landa.

Trial of the Year

Part I: http://lawreligionculturereview.blogspot.com/2009/03/thats-when-we-were-going-to-get-married.html;

Part II: http://lawreligionculturereview.blogspot.com/2009/03/thats-when-we-were-going-to-get-married_30.html

Appeal of the Year (tie)

"That's You"

Part I: http://lawreligionculturereview.blogspot.com/2009/03/thats-you.html;

Part II: http://lawreligionculturereview.blogspot.com/2009/03/thats-you-part-ii.html

"Summiting"

Part I: http://lawreligionculturereview.blogspot.com/2009/01/summiting.html

Part II: http://lawreligionculturereview.blogspot.com/2009/04/summiting-part-iii.html

Part III: http://lawreligionculturereview.blogspot.com/2009/04/summiting-part-iii.html