I didn’t absorb as many books this year as I have in recent years.
First, I’ve been writing a book. Second, the nature of my job has changed so that I can’t take in as many audiobooks. Third, for the first time in my life, I read through the entire Bible in 2019. Finally, with so many new podcasts hitting the market, I’ve filled more of my free time with those. So, probably like you, I’ve added far more books to my Amazon queue than I’ve read this year.
If you’re looking for a theme to connect a lot of these titles, it would be self discovery. Many of these books describe personal journeys that led the authors to a better grasp of who they are and/or who God is, and how all of that intersects with cultural realities. That’s been indicative of my year, too. I’ve gotten into weekly counseling with a professional therapist. I’ve pushed into physical discomfort for adrenaline-fueled accomplishments. I’ve traveled alone and spent a lot of mornings, lunch breaks, and evenings walking alone in my thoughts. I’ve invited my friends to ask difficult questions and give even harder feedback. Many of these books have given me practical insight which I’ve already applied to my journey. A number of the remaining authors have unknowingly commiserated with me over the reality that none of us are “there” yet.
Anyway, here are the books I read in the order that I’d recommend them.
Gay Girl, Good God
The Story of Who I Was and Who God Has Always Been
This countercultural book contains the best prose I’ve ever read. Jackie Hill Perry travels as a poet and spoken word artist. She turns unique phrases around profound concepts but doesn’t try too hard. She strings words with earnestness yet also with meekness. She performs the audiobook version with accentuating emphasis and meter. And can she preach! Her incredible vulnerability blends with the perfect amount of restraint, and her tumultuous journey unwinds at the perfect pace.
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Finding God’s Life for My Will
His Presence is the Plan
Mike Donehey takes the reader on a meandering but intentional tour of the upside-down kingdom. Several of his claims run counter to Christian culture, even though he makes his living in the evangelical industrial complex. I listened to this book the week it hit the market, and it all but ruined a leadership conference for me (where I was unfortunately an emcee). In a good way. If you hold any leadership position in a faith context, make this book the next one on your reading list.
Amazon rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars
Garden City
Work, Rest, and the Art of Being Human
In this book John Mark Comer gives you new ways to think about work, sabbath, and the afterlife. He connects the three in a way I had never heard, too. I love the way that margin is built into the physical book’s layout and the way Comer reads the audiobook. So, I listened to the book while I read it. That focus on the content and all the highlighted sentences made an impact on me, helping me be more intentional with my vocation and my days out of the office.
Amazon rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars
Letters to the Church
Yes, this was on last year’s reading list, too. This year, I read it for a book study group. It’s been a long time since a book’s content has made it into so many of my conversations. I have a feeling that’s what Francis Chan was going for: conversations. After two readings, it’s interesting to me that Chan didn’t consider an option other than house church or mega church. I’ve found the best of both worlds in the faith community where I serve, lead, and worship. That said, Chan’s assertions lead to questions we should all be continually asking our own hearts, regardless of our church experience.
Amazon rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars
Something needs to Change
A Call to Make Your Life Count in a World of Urgent Need
David Platt makes a compelling case for global missions, intertwining relevant Scripture with heart-rending anecdotes from a high-altitude Himalayan trek. Some of his stories might sound far-fetched, but his accounts align with those of my family and friends who’ve served in Nepal. Platt peppers these encounters and reflections with vulnerable excerpts from his daily prayer journal.
Amazon rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars
Talking to Strangers
What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know
Malcolm Gladwell changes the audiobook game with insertions of news report audio and recordings of the interviews documented in the book. In this book, he continues his uncanny ability to weave seemingly disparate stories into one thematic journey. This book doesn’t offer solutions as much as more insight into our miscommunications. His documentation to the history and variations of “stop and frisk” policing should be public knowledge. Normally, I review only books I’ve completely read, but I skipped half the chapter on the child sex abuse case study.
Amazon rating: 3.6 out of 5 stars
The Gift of Being Yourself
The Sacred Call to Self Discovery
This tiny book is thick with profundity. Warning: you may have to read some paragraphs twice. David Benner drops some profound statements. You’ll definitely want to read with a highlighter (or digital equivalent). I’ve not read anything that addresses the topic of self-discovery and finding your identity like this volume. If you’d like to make this book’s content more applicable for personal or group study, Benner includes two different study guides in the appendix.
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Counting by 7s
If You’re Lost, You Might Need to Swim Against the Tide
Technically, this is fiction, but my niece asked me more than once to read this after her mom remarried. So, I took it as a homework assignment of sorts. I’ve not read young adult fiction in at least 25 years; but I absorbed this quirky, well-spun tale like an archeologist, excavating around my niece’s heart. The moral of Holly Goldberg Sloan’s story arrives on time and with a light touch, and the far-fetched plot unfolds along logical steps even with implausible realities.
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Sad Animal Facts
Brooke Barker’s unique volume starts with Instagramable comics and then dives briefly into the science behind them. The thin volume would work well as a serial bedtime read, a toilet-topper, a coffee table book, or a hammock companion. The illustrations are unique. The jokes aren’t the dad variety. The research must have been robust.
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Embracing Obscurity
Becoming Nothing in Light of God’s Everything
Only God, the publisher, and the author knows who wrote this book. As someone whose book proposal was rejected because of not having a big enough platform, I marvel at how this book got printed.The content flies in the face of culture at large and confronts the practices of the American church culture. The uncomfortable assertions are rooted in Scripture and will probably haunt me for years to come.
Amazon rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Sixty Meters to Anywhere
Brendan Leonard’s memoir offers blunt, succinct descriptions of an addict’s journey. As someone who has sought relief from my own demons on mountains & rock walls, next to glaciers & cliffs, within fjords and deserts, I resonated with the healing properties Leonard has found in nature. As a novice rock climber, I found inspiration in some of his feats. His writing doesn’t draw attention to itself but pulls the reader through compelling content. The serendipity of how he moved from one career stage to the next is left a mystery.
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Beginner’s Pluck
Build Your Life of Purpose and Impact Now
I’m not sure how much of Liz Forkin Bohannon’s book is prescriptive or just descriptive. She has built an incredible company and changed the lives of many less fortunate women, but her path may not be a template for the rest of us. That said, her narrative is worth your time. As a writer, I envy her writing style. As a listener, I loved her performance for the audiobook, which I got for free by pre-ordering the hard cover edition.
Amazon rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars
Wonder Struck
Awaken to the Nearness of God
I read this book because Margaret Feinberg was the cohost of a writing seminar I would later attend. She tries too hard with some of her syntax, but the stories hiding behind the pretentiousness mixed well with some mountain hiking. Wonder leads me to worship, too; and I found a kindred spirit in that regard. The gambler story is worth the price of the book.
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Reforesting Faith
What Trees Teach Us About the Nature of God and His Love for Us
The premise of Matthew Sleeth’s book is unique. As an atheist emergency room doctor, searching various religious books for an answer to why there’s good in the world, Sleeth read through the Bible through the lens of trees. Since coming to faith in Jesus, he’s taught about trees in more than 1,000 churches, colleges, and organizations. While some of Sleeth’s tree connections are a bit of a stretch, he brought new life to both common and obscure passages. I also learned some cool stuff about trees to compliment one of my favorite books, The Hidden Life of Trees.
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Curveball
How I Discovered True Fulfillment After Chasing Fortune and Fame
I listened to all seven hours of Barry Zito’s memoir in one day. His book-launch interview with Dan Patrick shocked them and me with his vulnerability and humility, and this book only multiplies that. If you’re an Enneagram type one, this dude’s inner battle probably mirrors those in your diaries. You don’t have to like or know much about baseball to follow this book.
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5
Miracles and Other Reasonable Things
A Story of Unlearning and Relearning God
Sarah Bessey writes with earnest, sometimes too much. In between the over-written sections hide relatable, intimate spiritual breakthroughs. Though I’m not charismatic or Roman Catholic, her moments of intrusive realization evoked memories of my own. Some of the looser connections between this book’s essays tighten into a braided rope in the last chapter.
Amazon rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
The Wondering Years
How Pop Culture Helped Me Answer Life’s Biggest Questions
I’m not sure pop culture helped Knox McCoy answer life’s biggest questions as much as illustrate his deconstructionist journey. I also question his definition of a sheltered childhood, based on the media he and his parents consumed. That said, I listened to this book in a day and connected with a few of his recollections—especially his regrets. McCoy’s clever turns of phrase and random connections prove worthy of an exchange between Rory and Lorelai Gilmore.
Amazon rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars
Start with Why
How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Someone should get Simon Sinek and Apple a room or at least a candlelit table in a farm-to-table restaurant. This book would’ve landed better with me had the case studies been other than Walmart, Microsoft, Apple, Starbucks, and the like. Sinek isn’t wrong, but application would go a lot further if set in the context of typical American businesses.
Amazon rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
When Life Gives You Pears
The Healing Power of Family, Faith, and Funny People
I hope I never have to endure brain tumor surgery and recovery, based on Jeannie Gaffigan’s candid memoir of the most difficult year of her life. I can’t imagine going through this as the patient or spouse when five children and two dogs are in the picture. For her sake, I’m glad she and Jim are millionaires so that the financial realities of her care didn’t make the complicated decisions for them. In fact, it’s not even mentioned in the 320-page book.
Amazon rating: 4.8 out go 5 stars
Mary Magdalene Never Wore Blue Eye Shadow
How to Trust the Bible When Truth and Tradition Collide
I came to this book, hoping for a bunch of “you think this is in the Bible, but it isn’t” stories. Amanda Haley includes a handful of those, but they’re more garnish than meal. That’s not to say I didn’t learn from this book. Her background in anthropology, theology, archaeology, and world history give credibility to her assertions about the Bible and its cultural contexts. I will look at the Christmas story differently because of the content of these pages.
Amazon rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Rethinking Sexuality
God’s Design and Why It Matters
There’s not very much rethinking in Dr. Juli Slattery’s book, and what little innovation you’ll find is mostly just framing sexual ethic as a gospel issue and a pathway for discipleship. The earnest doctor quotes a lot of authors and Scripture but doesn’t use much of the Bible for her statements on porn, masturbation, or same-sex attraction. Congrats to the cover artist who made me think this would be a more modern approach to a Christian sexual ethic than you could buy at LifeWay 15 years ago.
Amazon rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars
An Economist Walks Into a Brothel
An Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk
Allison Schrager’s book sometimes feels a lot like Risk for Dummies. The analogies work, but they seem like the work of a teacher trying to make a lesson cool for the kids. Several of the anecdotes shine an interesting light on the topic but not enough to overcome my buyer’s remorse.
Amazon rating: 3.9 out of 5 stars
The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness
The Path to True Christian Joy
Timothy Keller’s very short book offers an antidote to the insecurity and competition of the social media era. He makes a counter-cultural case against the self-esteem movement, using a Madonna quote as proof of concept. One of my pastors recommended this book, and I don’t regret reading it. That said, in terms of practical, actionable help, Keller offers only directed prayer. It is a bold prayer, though—and one I don’t pray enough.
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
