OTHER GOOD BOOKS -- MY 2005 BEST READS

Though these books were not all published in 2005, here's a list of some of the best books I've read this past year:
1) When Life and Beliefs Collide: How Knowing God Makes a Difference. Excellent book for women in particular, but for anyone struggling to make sense of their Christian faith in the midst of trials. Haven't read a book like this since Joni Eareckson Tada's When God Weeps.
2) The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America. I must admit, I like crime / mystery stuff that's a bit macabre. Again, this book is history written like fiction. It tells the story of two men who become famous for different reasons in Chicago in 1893. One man is one of the architects responsible for many buildings in the famous Chicago World's Fair. The other man is a now unknown, then infamous man who lived in the same place at the same time, but he was known for murder -- he was a serial killer with a twist (though he usually murdered women, he did so for money, a link missing in today's serial killers).
3) Israel on the Appomattox: A Southern Experiment in Black Freedom from the 1790s through the Civil War. Written by one of my history professors while at Yale (Melvin Ely), this book tells the true story of a group of Blacks who were freed AND given their own land, and this was as far back as 70 years before Emancipation. Blacks who were given their own land interacted with free whites, in business, in love relationships (yes, there were interracial marriages even then and interestingly, they were allowed to exist), even in religion. VERY LONG, but VERY INTERESTING.
4) Grace Matters: A Memoir of Faith, Friendship, and Hope in the Heart of the South, by Chris Rice. Excellent true story of a white man who learned about following God and life in the city through a friendship with a Black man, the son of famous Christian community developer John Perkins.
5) Power Lines: Two Years on South Africa's Borders. Jimmy Carter's grandson tells about his experiences in S. Africa (Peace Corps, I think) and shares lessons he learns about respecting others' cultures and how taking the time to learn someone's language can break down barriers.