Reviewing My Own Books
I am presently working on a Missiology book that will hopefully be done in 2026. But for now, I would like to go over the books I have written up to this point. All of my books have been self-published and self-edited (mostly). My new book will probably have a publisher, so hopefully it will be more… professional?
My Author Page is on Amazon if you are interested in any of the books. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Robert%20H%20Munson/author/B017DGJSEW?ccs_id=9f9c11b5-f3d0-49f6-9962-c73391a90a89
I decided to go from what books I have sold the most copies of to the one that I have sold the least of. This is a bit deceptive. For example, the book I have sold the least of, has many many copies around.
#1. “The Art of Pastoral Care.” This is by far our most popular book. Celia and I wrote it together. We cofounded Bukal Life Care and Counseling Center. Celia is a Board Certified Clinical Chaplain and Pastoral Counseling. It is pretty good book I think. Most people find it valuable. Some want it to be “less Christian” while others want it to be “more Christian.” I think disappointing both groups equally is where we want to be. We use this book in Clinical Pastoral Education and Pastoral Care and Counseling classes.
#2. “Cultural Anthropology and Christian Missions: Ministering to a Multicultural World.” I have taught Cultural Anthropology at a seminary for many years. I struggled to find a book that works for teaching cultural anthropology to master’s degree students in the Philippines. I decided to write one myself. Am I proud of it? Mostly Yes. It has been extremely helpful in teaching. Do I have a degree in Anthropology? No. Do I think this books stands up to works by the expert Christian authors on this topic. Not really. But it does have an accessibility to it that many others don’t. I like the book but I wish it wasn’t my #2 book.
#3. “Dynamics in Pastoral Counseling.” This is the other book that Celia and I have written together. It is meant to be a follow-on to The Art of Pastoral Care. I think it is also a good book, but both Celia and I feel we need to do a new revision sometime. Some of the technical things may need some further review. That being said, it is pretty useful for those taking CPE (clinical pastoral education), our target audience, since it gives some good guidance to them without getting lost in the weeds in some of the details.
#4. “Theo-Storying.” This was the second book I completed. I am actually quite proud of it. But I do have a frustration. Soon after I published it over a decade ago, one person went onto the Amazon website and gave it a “One Star” rating. No review. No explanation. Very annoying. What makes it even more annoying is that on Amazon one can read a sample. If it wasn’t the book you wanted, you had every opportunity to find out beforehand. I consider this my second-best book that is not a textbook.
#5. “Principles and Practices of Healthy Medical Missions.” This was the first book that I completed (I think). It is essentially a “book-i-fied” version of my dissertation. As such, it is the only book that I have had formally edited and reviewed by others. That is all good, I think. The problem is that over the years I have become a bit disenchanted by medical mission events. Actually, I began to be disenchanted with them while I was doing my research. To be fair, the book does not gloss over my concerns for this form of ministry. One might even say that the book helps people figure out how to do medical missions in a way that is productive ministerially. As such it is a good book… but definitely very niche in its appeal.
#6. “Dialogue in Diversity.” This was written for a class I teach, “Dialogue with Asian Faiths.” The book is not for the entire course, but for the first 5 weeks. It is there where I promote how to do interreligious dialogue (IRD) well. I like the book as a textbook. There are not many books that deal with IRD well that have an Evangelical slant to it. This is my second best textbook (after “Art of Pastoral Care.”) and I would like to see more copies of it get around.
#7. “Walking With: A Theological Reflection on Christian Missions.” This is probably the best book that I have written that wasn’t a textbook. Of course, perhaps it IS a textbook. I wrote it after teaching a class on Mission Theology. I suppose it could be used for such a course. This is probably the book (after “The Art of Pastoral Care”) that I would recommend most for people. Again, however, missions theology is a bit niche. It is not for everyone, but I tried to make it accessible.
#8. “Missions in Samaria.” Okay. This one is complicated. Technically, I have never sold a copy of this book. And it is understandable why. The cover is boring (none of my covers are awesome, but this one is particularly boring.” The title is vague. I also only have paper copies available… not digital. But I am okay with this. Here is the rest of the story. Years ago, I did a four sermon series at a church based on Samaria. The interim pastor, a seminary professor, liked the series and suggested I turn it into a book. I thanked him and then did nothing with it. However, during COVID I got bored. I decided to make it one of my COVID projects. I wrote some articles based on the sermons, and then I added a couple of more topics and turned it into a book. I made the articles freely available online and made the book freely available online as well. Eventually, I decided “Why not put it on Amazon?” So I did. However, I could not make a Kindle version. Amazon would not let me because free versions of the book are floating all over the Internet. So although this is my “least successful book” in terms of sales, the articles and electronic versions of the book are all over the place. I am really okay with that. If you want a free copy, it is on my website somewhere. Others find it easy enough so I am sure you would find it too.
