With the stress of a busy year in the office and the anxiety from daily news of injustice, I found several practices to regulate my nervous system. One of them was hiking. Another was absorbing books. I hiked over 1,000 miles in 2025. Most of those hikes started before sunrise, accompanied only by audiobooks, birdsong, and the crunch of my shoes on gravel. I also brought hardbacks and highlighters on plane rides to far-flung adventures.
I dove into books but not imagined stories. (Only two of the titles below are fiction.) I wanted insight into my aches, questions, and disillusionment. I found voices that made my heart feel seen and others that articulated perspectives different from mine. Both challenged me to take a new look at the world, my religion, and my place in each. I transcribed paragraphs into my journal and read quotes to my therapist. Friends and family members often heard me say some version of, “I read an interesting book about that recently.”
Rabid curiosity led me to finish 102 books this year. Here’s what I thought of each, roughly in the order I would recommend them and less the order that I connected with them.
What If Jesus Was Serious About Justice?
A Visual Guide to the Good News of God’s Judgment And Mercy
I pre-ordered the print edition of this book the first day I heard about it last year. Every book in this series by Skye Jethani has changed the way I read the Bible, and still this volume changed my mind more than I expected. And that’s with me being the social justice guy in my faith community. Jethani doesn’t spend much time on culture war issues. Instead, he focuses on the tension and nuance inherent in the relationships of a sovereign Creator and finite beings. I was especially intrigued (and ultimately convinced) by his concept of what constitutes hell based on original Hebrew and Greek scriptures. This succinct but thorough book also gave me a filter for how to live in community with believers for whom justice is not a priority or whose definition of justice differs greatly from mine. I probably bought 20 copies of this book for friends this year. One of those recipients told me he read it twice and gave a copy to a workmate.
Better Ways to Read the Bible
Transforming a Weapon of Harm into a Tool of Healing
Whether all of Zach Lambert’s contextual support for his positions is valid or not—and he would know FAR more than I ever will—the posture of this book aligns with the Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount, the Jesus who washed feet and healed people of all stations, and the Jesus who defied cultural norms. We all bring biases toward the interpretation of the various versions of canon that different Christian religions claim as the Bible, but Lambert’s suggested filters seem to better align with the heart of the compassionate, sacrificial, and winsome Savior than the filters most American disciples have been given. Lambert’s credibility arrives almost as much from his seminary training as from (1) his experiences during his years of exclusion from the church and (2) the irony of his becoming a pastor. That’s probably why his assertions arrive with humility and simplicity, instead of an argumentative condescension.
The Light Eaters
How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth
Whether you view science through a filter of Darwinian chance or intelligent design, you will be blown away by the discoveries documented in Zoe Schlanger’s book. The peer-reviewed science she explains will forever change how you look at plants and maybe the world at large. The incredible ability of plants to adapt, communicate, and cooperate with both flora and fauna goes beyond just survival techniques to include a communal lifestyle in strange, diverse, and beautiful ways. I absorbed this book in audio format and several times blurted, “What!?” while listening. I shared anecdotes from these pages multiple times with multiple people, who were also amazed by what scientists are proving to be true.
Godbreathed
What It Really Means for the Bible to Be Divinely Inspired
Man. I wish I could get every person with whom I study the Bible to read this book. Zack Hunt thoroughly confronts how American evangelicals have turned the Bible into an idol—a placeholder for Yahweh that it was never meant to be. He also proves how both literalists and leftists have used the pages of Scripture as a Rorschach test—how we shape the Bible in our own image to love and hate the things we do. He explains how far from inerrant the Good Book is and how accepting its errors frees readers from mental gymnastics. I was intrigued by how many different Biblical canons (not just translations) there are and how new the doctrine of inerrancy is in the timeline of the church.
The Bible Says So
What We Get Right (and Wrong) About Scripture’s Most Controversial Issues
Every chapter of Dan McClellan’s book taught me something I didn’t know about the ancient manuscripts that became the Bible and/or the culture that influenced disparate passages of the archaic texts. But my biggest takeaways from this work might be (1) how thoroughly he debunks the univocality of the library of Scripture and (2) how much other and older Iron Age writings were copied by Israelite scribes. McClellan juxtaposes pop culture references against technical academic details to create an approachable manuscript, which is made even more engaging by his audiobook narration. (I bought both the print and audio versions of this book.) I’ve learned a lot from Dan McClellan’s explainer & rebuttal videos on social media, and this book only extended that education. If you engage with authors like Pete Enns or Marty Solomon, this work will be in your wheelhouse.
Disarming Leviathan
Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor
I really wrestled with the cruciform call of Caleb Campbell’s book. In it, he challenges followers of Jesus to see Christian nationalists as a mission field to be winsomely won rather than as enemy combatants to be conquered. Campbell showcases tactics of cross-cultural evangelism in other contexts as a model for attracting people away from views that are antithetical to Christ’s words and example. After attending many Christian nationalist gatherings and documenting their rhetoric, he created this guide for steering personal, incarnate conversations toward soul-level questions. The last portion of the book offers unifying thoughts to affirm and red-flag words, phrases, and ideas to avoid. Campbell masterfully moves conversations from flash points to the thing behind the thing—to human moments that validate concerns, assuage fears, and point to beautiful wholeness. It’s wild to think of church-going, Bible-quoting people as a mission field, but the distance between the kingdom of heaven and the seven mountains of authoritarian mandate is wide enough to need a passport to cross.
Sacred Attachment
Escaping Spiritual Exhaustion and Trusting in Divine Love
I don’t think I had ever highlighted content that appears before the table of contents in a book until reading this book. My copy has 11 dog-eared pages and multiple times that quantity of highlighted thoughts. I read lines to my therapist and even bought her a copy. Michael John Cusick is the Venn diagram of licensed counselor, seminary professor, abuse victim, and recovered addict. He leverages that overlap for a game-changing view of the intersection between human needs & brokenness and God’s view of needy, broken people. Cusick’s candor is coated with commiseration, and his assertions are filtered through humility. I didn’t read all of the optional group discussion content, but the questions in that resource I did read went well beyond typical small group fare.
Even If He Doesn’t
What We Believe About God When Life Doesn’t Make Sense
Kristen LaValley’s writing in this book proves both profound and beautiful. Its assertions rebuke religious tropes & clichés with unassuming prose. There are no big words, just heavy ones and light ones. If you’re like me, you’ll find more commiseration than comfort. LaValley’s vulnerability—even about tiny things—confronts the platitudes that fill books you’d find at the speakers’ tables at a Christian women’s conference. One of my friends cried through the first 50 minutes of the audiobook because it gave words to the groans of her heart. And I could see this being a book I return to when my prayers go unanswered and the waves of my hopes crash on immovable boulders. I found the last chapter to be indecisive, even as I’ve learned to embrace more both/and realities in life instead of either/or ones.
Healing What’s Within
Coming Home to Yourself—and to God—When You’re Wounded, Weary, and Wandering
You can read my review of Chuck DeGroat’s book in my 2024 reading retrospective, because I listened to this book (in January) for the second time in less than two months. I had bought a copy for my counselor, who liked it so much she started recommending the book to her peers and challenged me to spend more time with it. So, on my second pass through these pages, I took notes. On this journey through this content, different lines stood out to me. Just as with my first pass through its content, cathartic exhales dotted my hours with these constructive assertions and poignant quotations from deep thinkers.
The Familiar Stranger
(Re)Introducing the Holy Spirit to Those in Search of an Experiential Spirituality
I read this book after my church did a sermon series loosely based on its content. That was the first time in 40 years of Sunday sermons that I’ve gone on a deep dive on the work and role of the Holy Spirit, and this book was the first time I’ve read a whole volume on the subject. Tyler Staton’s earnestness, humility, and self-deprecation give credence to his assertions, and his frequent anecdotes from his life bring the concepts to life.
Jesus Through the Eyes of Women
How the First Female Disciples Help Us Know and Love the Lord
While so much evangelical discussion revolves around how Paul discussed women or how Jesus saw women, Rebecca McLaughlin asks us to consider how women saw Jesus. Using context clues and cultural artifacts, McLaughlin doesn’t need a lot of conjecture to illustrate how the Messiah changed both the station and the spiritual lives of those with XX chromosomes. I enjoy it when a humble, thoughtful shepherd confronts my white, male, and Western assumptions about the Bible. McLaughlin does this not as a combative activist but as a gracious guide, excited about her discoveries. Her writing in this book combines an approachable simplicity with an unassuming beauty.
Safe Church
How to guard Against Sexism and Abuse in Christian Communities
Andrew Bauman is uniquely qualified to write this book. His back story, academic emphasis, professional expertise, and clinical research create an unmatched Venn diagram of credentials. It’s safe to say, he wrote this book primarily to men in church leadership, but he also speaks to victims of unsafe churches and to women who align with power instead of victims. Bauman thoroughly connects how sexism leads to objectification on its way to the abuse of women and children. As an author of a book about church trauma, I will be recommending this book with one caveat: the chapter confronting complementarian theology is inadequate. I will suggest to interested parties that they read Nijay Gupta’s Tell Her Story instead of that section of this otherwise solid book.
Commander in Cheat
How Golf Explains Trump
Surprisingly, 99% of this book avoids political partisanship. Rick Reilly, instead, leverages interviews, press coverage, and multiple conversations (including over a round of golf) with Donald Trump to describe the personal psyche and values of the American President. For an opinion columnist, Reilly applies impressive journalism to procure the testimony of Trump’s employees, friends, club members, neighbors, and perceived enemies. Reilly unveils a path of local conflict and litigation, and includes small details that raised my eyebrows as a former golf course employee. Reilly performs the audiobook with impersonations and genuine exasperation. I was moved when tears choked his ability to read his own book, and I was intrigued by what Reilly succinctly claims Trump has cheated himself out of knowing and feeling.
Revenge of the Tipping Point
Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering
For decades, Malcolm Gladwell has told captivating stories of surprising facts, intriguing realities, and counterintuitive connections. This book includes a lot of that while correlating seemingly disparate trends. But this isn’t the work of a conspiracy theorist, showing you the red strings on his corkboard. No, this book proves a philosophical critique of the tendency for subcultures to devolve into malignant versions of their original intent. He illustrates patterns instead of some grand scheme, tendencies rather than collusion. Each chapter builds on the stories of past chapters while also building anticipation for how all of these stories will fit together in the end. The audiobook version includes actual audio footage from some of the source material and Gladwell’s signature suspense-building cadence.
Magic Pill
The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs
I purchased this book during a season of motivated weight loss to qualify for a rad adventure that came with a weight limit. Johann Hari deftly weaves thematic structure with a personal narrative that grows in tension during his linear, pragmatic investigation. Hari’s vulnerability and curiosity transform his journalism into a compelling journey of contagious self-discovery. He invites commiseration through shared experiences but punctuates them with poignant vignettes from his family, friends, and sources. It was refreshing to sense an author struggling to reconcile competing true things and to admit that what isn’t known might be as weighty as what is known. That mystery leads to a conclusion filled with nuance instead of ambiguity or ambivalence.
Separation of Church and Hate
A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds
John Fugelsang thoroughly debunks the cherry-picked proof texts behind multiple culture-war talking points of Christian nationalists—and almost every church and school of my first few decades on the planet. The TV & radio host brought context I’d not personally investigated to multiple passages, including those I thought I knew well. The sheer amount of Bible verses in this book and their cross-referencing is impressive. I liked that Fugelsang unpacked topics as they were addressed by the Torah, by Jesus, and by post-Jesus authors—and that he centered his takes on Jesus. He also quotes American public figures to shine a light on the inconsistencies of those who use ancient holy texts as a weapon. Fugelsang’s broadcasting chops accentuate his humor in the audiobook presentation.
Wavewalker
A Memoir of Breaking Free
Man. I couldn’t wait to talk to my therapist about this story—about resonating with a childhood so different but with similar themes as one my body knows better than my mind most days. For having homeschooled herself without parental assistance, Suzanne Heywood proved herself a master storyteller. She builds suspense and rebuilds it again and again in waves as if the story were brought to her by the sea. She lets her parents’ words do the heavy lifting of their respective indictments. It’s wild to say this as one of the longer books I consumed this year, but Heywood’s writing feels compact or at least succinct. This book feels like a cinematic version of I’m Glad My Mom Died but with a healthier ending.
Good Inside
A Guide to Becoming The Parent You Want to Be
When my friend asked me to have a conversation with their child about their recent emotional outbursts, I asked my counselor for resources to prepare me for that encounter. She recommended the work of Dr. Becky Kennedy, and this work was both a thorough and succinct guidebook for almost any kind of negative behavior in kids. The good doctor’s advice stands in utter contrast to the parenting advice I heard on Christian radio as a kid and opposite of most of what I received from my parents. But I found it not to contradict the heart of the Good Father as expressed in the Bible. In fact, I put some of these recommendations to work in my relationships—including work emails—and found them useful. This book made me grateful that I never had to parent a toddler. Whew! It gave me more admiration for how my sisters are rearing their littles.
Cross Purposes
Christianity’s Broken Bargain With Democracy
I typed paragraphs of quotes from Jonathan Rauch into my journal from a book filled with dog ears and highlighter marks. Describing himself as “an atheist, homosexual Jew,” Rauch contends that the health of the United States could be improved by church-attending citizens embracing the words and example of Jesus, in particular “the confident tranquility of Jesus.” He critiques both the current post-liberal “church of fear” and the secularists who want to avoid any Christian influence on social institutions. He asks, “Can we blame the secular world for losing confidence in Christianity when so many Christians have lost confidence in Christianity?” Rauch dives into an interesting part of Mormon theology that has enabled more civic pluralism as something evangelicals should adopt. He quotes from many moderate and moderating voices that I regularly absorb and calls Christians to embrace what originally made following Jesus peculiar. “Christianity is a religion of exile, not dominion. Christianity is intended to be peculiar, not ordinary; countercultural, not consumerist.”
The Next Conversation
Argue Less, Talk More
Not only did I recommend this book before finishing it, I also bought another copy for a friend. Jefferson Fisher’s robust practical advice confronted my instincts as a chronic avoider. I’ll probably need to work through this content multiple times in order to remember these simple-but-counterintuitive frameworks enough to use them. I appreciated Fisher’s grace in regard to past conversational mistakes and his emphasis on emotional intelligence for future awkward moments. I wasn’t surprised to learn Fisher is a person of faith, as many of his suggestions ring true with the countercultural example of Jesus.
Start With Welcome
The Journey Toward A Confident and Compassionate Immigration Conversation
In this book, Bri Stensrud has built a fantastic bridge for conservative women to connect the Bible’s frequent calls to care for foreigners and strangers within America’s immigration crisis. Stensrud confronts false assumptions with verifiable data. She deftly debunks the false dichotomy of MAGA-approved cruelty and open borders—explaining what overwhelmed government and charity workers have found to be a workable balance of safety and compassion. She appeals to the “pro-life” values and motivations and enlarges the application of that morality, and she does this as a political and religious conservative with a significant résumé.
Fight Right
How Successful Couples Turn Conflict Into Connection
From everywhere I’ve heard about it, the research work of Julie Schwartz Gottman and John Gottman is considered the gold standard for scientifically supported approaches to marriage conflict. This book lives up to that hype. While the concepts make sense, they run counter to self-protective methods to which partners often resort. The results of these counterintuitive recommendations, as demonstrated by testing on thousands of couples, give readers hope that change is possible. The practical steps to resolving conflict are joined with poignant stories from real, anonymized clients and even the authors’ own marriage to help the truths come alive. I was amused by the advice that ran counter to what evangelical marriage “experts” use when quoting Saint Paul, who never married.
What Happened to You?
Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing
This book will wreck you. The anecdotes inside these pages will open your heart to others’ pain and help you change your inherent question from, “What’s wrong with them!?” to the title question, “What happened to you?” Bruce Perry’s insights from a jaw-dropping and often poignant career would make a fantastic book on their own, and the scientific discoveries he references are fascinating. But Oprah Winfrey’s captivating and vulnerable stories from her traumatic childhood convince the reader or listener that these realities can be true of successful, seemingly put-together people in our lives. The audiobook replaces quotes from televised interviews with the actual soundtracks of those conversations. If cultural commentators or personal experience has convinced you to eschew empathy, this book can still be a useful tool of self-understanding that can lead to healing.
The Body Keeps the Score
Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
Bessel van der Kolk’s seminal work lived up to the hype. It proves brutal enough to invoke my exclamation of swear words at the depravity of others and also hopeful in the possibility of healing for incredibly traumatized hearts. I can understand why others have told me they couldn’t finish this work as well as why others suggest it as a foundational explanation of therapeutic modalities. That probably explains why it took me months to finish this tome, as I often absorbed heavy and sometimes technical content only until I couldn’t. I assume this book is now required reading for anyone training to be a psychologist, psychiatrist, or therapist. I’m not sure I would recommend it to abuse and other trauma survivors unless they’ve done a lot of work to prepare themselves for this experience and have ready access to professional help should the content feel overwhelming. That said, I’m glad I endured this. In some ways, it made me marvel at the design of the human body and the science that has helped us understand its wild realities.
Catching Whimsy
365 Days of Possibility
I bought this book after spending a long weekend camping with Bob Goff in the high desert of Southern Utah. As with my pastors back home, I think I’ve learned from and been impacted more by Bob off-stage than on-stage. For me, his books are somewhere in between his stage-light talks and campfire conversations. They inspire, convict, and challenge me—just not as indelibly as personal interactions. The challenge with creating a 365-day devotional book for any author is mining for 365 different pieces of content. Every day’s devotional can’t be a banger. Thankfully, for Bob, the ones that do hit end up getting quoted in your journal—mine anyway. I dog-eared two dozen pages in this book and ran my highlighter over lines in dozens more.
Between Two Kingdoms
A Memoir of a Life Interrupted
I’m late to this party, but this work is timeless. As someone who figures out the world as much through the words I write as the words I read and hear read, I am in awe of Suleika Jaouad’s prowess of sifting profound experiences through the usually inadequate vehicle of language. Her choices of what to include, then where and when to deploy those choices, make this a book a masterclass on memoir. Her visceral wrestling with competing thoughts and feelings felt like it had been sifted through years of reflection and therapy, even though presented with raw candor. I was especially drawn into the second half of this book, where she describes a unique adventure for the mind, soul, and body.
What Time Is Noon?
Hilarious Texts, Ridiculous Feedback, and Not-So-Subtle Advice from Teenagers
If you have recently parented a teenager or adult college student, this book will tickle your funny bone. The verbatim lines from those with insufficiently formed prefrontal cortexes had me at times shaking from laughter, while tears escaped my eyes. Chip Leighton’s publishing team packaged the content in a variety of ways to make the journey through various themes a delight. As a graphic designer by trade, I applaud the simplicity and intentionality of the pages between the hardbound cover.
The Salmon Cannon and the Levitating Frog
And Other Serious Discoveries of Silly Science
Carly Anne York’s book proves both a breath of fresh air and an entertaining education. After months of headlines of draconian cuts to science and research, I listened to these pages as a winsome rebuttal. York presents not just happy accidents in science but also the consumer, commercial, and military applications of discoveries when scientists chase their curiosity instead of just corporate or academic objectives. Unlike other science writers, she mostly avoids long words or ostentatious language. She unfolds her narratives as though they’re detective stories. While York firmly ascribes to some sort of big bang theory, I found the details of this book to point to incredible design in nature. No matter which origin story readers hold as true, they will find inspiring tales of serendipity, biodiversity, and tenacity.
Share Your Stuff. I’ll Go First.
10 Questions to Take Your Friendships to the Next Level
I came to this book by recommendation rather than from Laura Tremaine’s podcast, social media, or previous book. I’m thankful for that recommendation, as this book inspired me to ask more and better questions in social settings. I wouldn’t normally value the opinion of a Hollywood Hills socialite, but Tremaine’s vulnerability and candor proved an antidote to my assumptions. As someone who has changed my mind on many beliefs, values, and dreams, I really liked how Tremaine normalized conversations around those shifts—especially in this era of algorithmically-accelerated polarization. This book is a long-form treatment of a saying repeated often in my faith communities of the past two decades: “Give others the gift of going second.”
The Men We Need
God’s Purpose for the Manly Man, the Avid Indoorsman, or Any Man Willing to Show Up
I listened to this book again this year because several men in my friend group said they wished there were a resource for healthy masculinity. I had loved this during my first pass and recommended it for a book study group. Brant Hansen portrays in life, in media, and in this book the opposite of the insecurity that drives the manosphere. Unlike misogyny influencers, Hansen calls men to quiet fulfillment instead of performative maleness. As the co-leader of a parachurch men’s ministry and as the husband of the pastor of a women’s ministry, I can confirm all of the assertions Hansen makes as to what women crave from men. Hansen’s self-deprecating humor brings even more humility and credibility to his invitation into a richer way of life.
The Air We Breathe
How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality
As someone who critiques the American church a lot—including a whole book about spiritual abuse—I really connected with Glen Scrivener’s premise: the standards by which churched and unchurched people judge Christianity are rooted in the values of the first-century church. Scrivener thoroughly explains how values like sexual consent and gender equality were foreign in the millennia before Jesus and countercultural in the centuries at the beginning of Christianity. Scrivener’s writing style avoids an academic feel while also demonstrating that he’s spent a lot of time with archaic texts.
With
Reimagining the Way You Relate to God
I wonder how different my spiritual journey would’ve been if the pastors and teachers of my life had embraced the message of this book. It’s not that Skye Jethani makes a life with God easy, but his counterintuitive assertions simplify the parameters of a religious life. I appreciated the explanation of how the four ways Christians typically interact with divinity and their fatal flaws. After listening to the audiobook, I purchased a print copy exclusively for the fantastic diagnostic questions in the second appendix.
Algospeak
How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language
I can’t imagine the research inherent in Adam Aleksic’s fascinating book. Aleksic gave me, the father of a Black Gen Z daughter, context for multiple words and trends. I like how he demonstrates something up close and then zooms out to the ramifications of each nuance at scale. I was intrigued by his dives into multiple niche subcultures and their oversized influence on culture at large. I’m grateful I listened to the audiobook version as it provided proper pronunciations of some Internet slang. This book seamlessly blends history with pop culture.
The Voice of the Heart
A Call to Full Living
Chip Dodd’s book is succinct, while kindness brims over its edges. This short but dense work doesn’t use filler anecdotes or restated explanations. I had to rewind the audiobook often to re-listen to sentences and paragraphs, and I should’ve paused it more after his chapter-ending questions. Dodd makes differentiations you don’t often hear in faith spaces—for instance, an interesting praise of anger with a critique of rage. I wonder how much safer the church would be if it asked and allowed its congregants to ask the kinds of diagnostic inquiries of these pages. I bought a print copy to have on my shelf for reference.
Eternity is Now in Session
A Radical Rediscovery of What Jesus Really Taught About Salvation, Eternity, and Getting to the Good Place
John Orberg’s thesis proves subversive—but not in a conniving, seditious way. No, he winsomely invites readers into a more robust and more beautiful way of engaging with Jesus. Especially in the first few chapters, he challenges assumptions Christians have made about the nature of the kingdom Jesus referenced often. I wonder if apocalyptic conspiracies would be as rampant in America if more pastors taught the themes of this book. As someone who also lacks enough physical coordination to dance, I really connected Ortberg’s closing analogy of ballroom dancing in reference to participating in the movement of the kingdom.
Land of My Sojourn
The Landscape of a Faith Lost and Found
I listened to Mike Cosper’s memoir in one day, and on that day, I also listened to one of my interviews for my book on a similar theme. I found in my answers to the radio hosts’ questions the same issue I found with Cosper’s final chapter: an unsatisfying explanation for how we’re still in evangelical churches. It’s as if both of us copped Simon Peter’s answer when Jesus asked if he would leave: “To whom would we go?” I’m still working on having a better answer, and I’d guess Cosper is, too. That objection noted, I was captivated by Casper’s weaving of the various hills and mountains of Israel and their historical significance into the hills where he looked over his life and faith. As with his hit documentary series, he weaves a compact story with juxtaposed vignettes that express a very personal journey with larger implications.
I’ve Got Questions
The Spiritual Practice of Having It Out With God
In a Christian Industrial Complex constantly screaming, “I’ve got all of the answers, especially for you,” Erin Moon interjects a refreshing, “I don’t have all of the answers, and it’s okay if you don’t.” These pages offer a gift of thorough commiseration but also spoonfuls of inspiration to give Christianity a second chance. She does this by describing her understandable deconstruction and wobbly reconstruction—still ongoing. “I can’t be certain of who or what God is, but I better be damn sure whatever I land on will be worth giving up my life for. That’s why I can’t waste my time on a tiny god-in-a-box of my own making.” She presents a Jesus who “loved people back into their humanity” and invites us to do the same—whether that “people” is someone we love, someone we don’t, or even ourselves. I appreciate her building a book out of Father Richard Rohr’s declaration that “we grow spiritually much more by doing it wrong than by doing it right.” If it weren’t for her ridiculous chapter on Judas Iscariot, I’d recommend this book to friends of mine questioning their faith.
Do You Still Talk to Grandma?
When the Problematic People in Our Lives Are The Ones We Love
I kid you not: halfway through my engagement with this book, one of my friends asked for a counseling session in regard to a lack of communication with his father. Brit Barron proves in these pages that she has her finger on the pulse of America’s online spaces and eschews remedies that would fit in an Instagram square or carousel. Barron doesn’t just sit in the tension between justice and cancel culture. She internalizes it, wrestles with it, and asks the reader stout questions about it. Near the end of the book, she reveals her intentionality in using herself primarily as a poor example in various sections of the book—that she wants to demonstrate a new default in Christians to pursue humility instead of social media affirmation, to see ourselves as part of the problem instead of the heroes with answers. I was struck by her assertion that the multi-step process of secure identity isn’t linear or always up and to the right. I didn’t listen to this book because Barron is Black, female, lesbian, or in an interracial marriage, but I benefited from the assertions made from identities different from mine. Several lines from the last chapter in the book ended up in my journal.
The Furious Longing of God
I listened to this whole Brennan Manning book while on a single night hike, waiting for a moonrise. I was alone in nature and with Manning’s carefully chosen words. Maybe it was the smell of spring blossoms in the occasional warm breezes, but truths I’ve heard for decades finally landed fully on my heart. Manning’s mysticism invites readers as much into their human frailty as into a relationship with a supernatural father with unmatched love. His words arrived as though they were transcribed in short monologues in a coffee shop rather than as the product of hours at a computer. Manning’s almost nonchalant confessions add believability to his assertions.
A Grief Observed
In this short book, C.S. Lewis gives readers permission to ask profound questions in their pain and loss. I’d not sat with some of those questions—maybe because the only close relationships I’ve lost haven’t ended in physical death. I was surprised by his candor about the sexual side of his short marriage (1) because of the time when this was written and (2) because of the erudite nature of his writing, but I was convicted by how fervent his love was. This is weird, but I was challenged to love so well that friends and family feel this depth of loss after I breathe my last breath.
The Serviceberry
Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
At least two of my friends are skeptical of the volume of nonfiction I absorb, as if I can’t be taking in all of that information in a permeating fashion. The day before I listened to this book, two guys in my faith community asked me how I highlight lines I want to remember. (I pause, rewind, and slowly replay lines that land on my heart and type them into the journaling app on my phone.) But I really look for only one or two takeaways per volume I consume through my eyes or ears. That concept from this book happened in the first few pages, when Robin Wall Kimmerer explained that in the language of her local indigenous tribe, the words for “fruit” and “gift” are exactly the same. That had spiritual implications for me but also vocational and relational ones. On the way home from the hike on which I listened to this entire book, I made sure to buy some berries. And I got permission from my wife and my HOA president to install a free library box in my front garden.
Hurt and Healed by the Church
Redemption and Reconstruction After Spiritual Abuse
What was interesting to me in my journey through this book again this year was how I listened to it—out of order. I’ve found I prefer to dwell on the reconstruction rather than the pain that made it necessary. I listened to the first chapters last. I absorbed the chapters that confronted the heresies of misogyny, patriarchy, and Christian nationalism more than once. As I lost hope in the faith spaces around me, I sought hope in my own words—stories of when Jesus’ teaching seemed truer and more possible in my life. After my cousin read the book, he confided that he thought my deconstruction story has gone only halfway. Taking another trip through its pages has helped me keep it at halfway, when my friends and family have kept going.
The Strategically Small Church (Revised & Expanded Edition)
Intimate, Nimble, Authentic, and Effective
Brandon O’Brien doesn’t just encourage small church leaders to be faithful in their contexts. He also dives into the various advantages small congregations can have and offers insight on how to leverage their limited financial and human resources to maximize kingdom impact. I appreciated the compelling, countercultural vision O’Brien cast of what a faith community can be—and how humility and contentment can be force multipliers. Of the dozens of lines I highlighted, this might be my favorite quote: “We must recognize and acknowledge that God is at work even when and where our church is not. The kingdom of God is larger than each of our churches; indeed, it is larger than all our churches.”
A Change of Habit
Leaving Behind My Husband, Career, and Everything I Owned to Become a Nun
The first half of Sister Monica Clare’s memoir will keep you turning pages with tales of childhood trauma, impressive career serendipity, and obstacles overcome. After that, the pace slows. Sister Monica Clare’s internal dialogue keeps getting confronted and disproved, and her anxiety gets relieved of its worst-case scenarios. I was impressed by her ability to remember physical sensations from key moments of her life. Her ecstatic, mystical visions took me back to places where I’ve felt surrounded by the supernatural. I wish the book had built toward a reflection on a theme or even just a strong note. Still, it delivers on the intrigue of someone who left improv comedy, ad agency work, and religious traditions for a life that looks very different from the American Dream®.
The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers
Spiritual Insights from the World’s Most Beloved Neighbor
Amy Hollingsworth’s friendship and years of correspondence give her a unique window into the heart and soul of the beloved children’s entertainer, educator, and minister. I was intrigued by how countercultural his vision and message were in the era when Mister Roger’s Neighborhood aired on terrestrial television. I got a lump in my throat two or three times during the final two chapters of the book, inspired by Fred Roger’s example of courage, empathy, and intuition. I really liked the concept of “an emotional archeologist” and was challenged by this line: “What is better than a conquest? A convert.”
Futureville
Discover Your Purpose for Today by Reimagining Tomorrow
I consumed Skye Jethani’s book in a day or two. Using the New York World’s Fair as an analogy, he deftly confronts the lack of imagination and wrongly aimed conjecture of the American church. The critique proves the garnish around vision casting for what both the church and earth could respectively be, if followers of Jesus saw the future as he does. What if we didn’t treat the world as disposable? What if we saw the Kingdom of God as having already started? What if every job or caregiver position were equally capable of showcasing the heart and values of our Creator? These pages introduced me to the difference between vocation and occupation and the connection they can share.
The Nineties
A Book
I spent the first half of the nineties in a sequestered homeschool and the second half in a religious fundamentalist college that didn’t allow us to watch TV or movies and didn’t allow Internet access other than in school computer labs. So, I knew Chuck Klosterman’s anthology would offer pop cultural details I didn’t know. What I didn’t expect was how the well-versed and apparently incredibly aware observer would thread connections between seemingly disparate pop cultural moments. I wonder how boomers and the silent generation’s perspective of the nineties would differ from this unapologetically Gen X one. I also wonder how much more approachable this manuscript could’ve been if Klosterman had consistently chosen words from everyday conversations rather than more pretentious ones.
Pillars
How Muslim Friends Led Me Closer to Jesus
Rachel Pieh Jones jumped into the deep end of African Muslim culture with both feet. Her reflections prove well-earned—expensive in the way wisdom typically charges for its acquisition. In hearing about the fundamentalism and superstition of her friends, neighbors, and fellow residents of Somalia and Djibouti, I recognized how silly and credulous the religious assertions of my formative environments also have been. At the same time, Jones demonstrates that the differences between Islam and Christianity are as extreme as those of her Minnesota roots and her desert adulthood. She does so with kindness and curiosity, indicting herself at least as much as she does those who became part of her expatriate story.
The Death of Expertise
The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters (2nd Edition)
This book isn’t a fun hang, but it is filled with important truths. Tom Nichols proves an equal-opportunity critic, not beholden to a single partisan viewpoint; and his self-deprecation and humility give credence to his assertions. While there are many anecdotes that feel familiar, I appreciated the lesser-known examples of this work. I especially appreciated his details about the disgraced evangelical huckster, David Barton, as well as his fair-handed treatment of the COVID-19 pandemic response by both the left and right. I was also challenged to not oversell my own (limited) expertise.
On Tyranny
Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
Timothy Snyder’s short book proves dense with correlation. The historian who niched his career within twentieth-century Eastern European movements demonstrates restraint with his succinct delineation of Germany and Russia’s path to despotic oppression. Snyder documents tactics from the authoritarian playbook that the Trump administration is leveraging with eerily similar language to that of Hitler and Stalin. He doesn’t just sound the alarm, though. Instead, he breaks the momentum into steps and ends each chapter with at least one way to resist the pertinent autocratic action. I’m not sure the United States can change direction from its current course. If it can, it will be because citizens chose to listen to voices like Snyder’s and their pluralistic neighbor’s instead of those that profit from stoking the fires of otherness and violence.
Here
A Spirituality of Staying in a Culture of Leaving
I sought out Lydia Sohn’s book during a season of indecision about leaving a faith community—that I started. I appreciated her candor about the times when she stayed and left different ministry leadership roles. Sohn didn’t answer my question of whether I should stay or leave, but I found myself pausing the audiobook multiple times to transcribe her statements and questions into my journal. While it didn’t solve my heart’s tension, I was captivated by her declaration that “Staying doesn’t make you holier or more loved by God.” My biggest takeaway was a line she quoted from W.B. Yeats: “Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth. We are happy when we are growing.” As an adrenaline junkie, I probably answer her question differently than other readers or listeners: “Do you think adventure and stability are mutually exclusive or mutually supportive?”
Becoming the Pastor’s Wife
How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry
As the husband of a woman in vocational ministry, I was intrigued by the inverse of my personal experience. So, after reading Beth Allison Barr’s previous book, I pre-ordered this book months in advance—and bought both the print and audiobook versions of it. (I didn’t know my wife had bought a print copy as well.) I wanted an education, and the historian & professor thoroughly provided that in these pages. I was impressed by the research inherent in this work and the anecdotes of female ministers of the past 2,000 years. The most impressive aspect of Dr. Barr’s book might be the hope she brings to its concluding pages.
Big Dumb Eyes
Stories from a Simpler Mind
I listened to most of this memoir while working a Saturday shift, while my wife was at our local civic center attending Nate Bargatze’s live standup show. She got the more efficient jokes, while I marinated in incredulity. You don’t build the comedy apparatus Bargatze has while being as clueless as he tries to convince readers he is. I wonder if his theme of childhood poverty and marital frugality is a public relations effort to distract from him making almost seven figures per night on tour. As I listened, I tried to figure out where the candid ridiculousness ended and the exaggeration started.
Heartbreak
A Personal and Scientific Journey
Like other Pushkin audiobooks, Florence Williams’ most recent volume comes to life with the touches of a well-produced documentary podcast series. Listeners get to hear recordings from the conversations documented in these pages, as well as context sounds from her adventures. This manuscript moves back and forth between (sometimes very) candid anecdotes from Williams’ post-divorce journey and a growing collection of pertinent scientific discoveries. I was particularly intrigued by the documented physical changes from trauma and the impact it has at even the cellular level—and how those ramifications differ between men and women. I appreciated that Williams explained the methods scientists have used to understand the results of this experimentation, even as I pitied the people and animals who endured those tests.
Breasts
A Natural and Unnatural History
I bought Florence Williams’ book because I thought it would be a cultural discussion like Heather Radke’s Butts: A Backstory. But this is more of a science and history book assembled by a curious journalist, though with succinct doses of cultural commentary. I appreciated that Williams acknowledged that the fossil record doesn’t verify any of the claims of natural selection in regard to why humans uniquely adapted with and for breasts. Until this book, I had never noticed that breasts are the only human anatomy that doesn’t have a medical specialty. I was also intrigued by (1) international disparities in cancer screening, (2) the trends in male & female breast cancer, (3) environmental hazards absorbed and transferred by breasts, (4) eyebrow-raising trends in puberty, and (5) the evolution and dangers of breast augmentation.
The Deep-Rooted Marriage
Cultivating Intimacy, Healing, and Delight
I bought the audio version of this book by Dan Allender and Steve Call when I found the hardback copy in an Amazon box I opened before looking at the shipping label. My wife had bought it for a woman in her ministry, but all I saw was my wife receiving a marriage book. I’m grateful for that accident. Allender and Call demonstrate the vulnerability they challenge readers to try. Their incredibly candid accounts from their own marriages give their assertions and advice more credence. The Jesus part of the manuscript isn’t leveraged for image management or dogma but as a winsome invitation into a richer life experience. Even if you don’t approach this book for advice, it’s worth its cost for the inspiration from the various poignant stories of the redemption of pain.
SNAFU
The Definitive Guide to History’s Greatest Screwups
When I listened to this book, I had not heard any of the episodes of the podcast that helped Ed Helms get this book contract. But the chapters did feel like podcast episodes. Helms’s robust acknowledgement section reveals this content was the work of a full team of researchers, and that shows in the impressive details of these vignettes. Helms and his writing staff crafted the manuscript to sound like Andy Bernard from The Office was presenting at a slide deck dinner party. The sense of humor that marinates these tales of profound mistakes would’ve made Helms everyone’s favorite history teacher, if school were the delivery vehicle of these stories.
Ordinary Time
Lessons Learned While Staying Put
I came to Annie B. Jones’ book on a week when I was considering leaving a faith community I started. I didn’t find direction for the binary choice in front of me. Instead, I absorbed commiseration with the tension that happens when rootedness and connection feel mutually exclusive. While I would never live more than 15 minutes from restaurants with apps, I connected with the nostalgia for slower-paced places I frequent and the small towns of my past. I’m a dude who rarely reads fiction and who absorbs most books in their audio formats, but I was able to get lost in Jones’ essays. Her relatability proves almost as impressive as her ability to grow a bookstore business during a pandemic.
A Teachable Spirit
The Virtue of Learning from Strangers, Enemies, and Absolutely Anyone
I copied multiple lines from A.J. Swoboda’s book into my journal. I had purchased it during a season when I was debating my continued participation in faith environments where my theology and ideology are in the vast minority. He didn’t help me make that decision, as each of his discussions of the seven types of teachers basically ended with, “You don’t want to listen all the time, but you also don’t want to avoid listening to them altogether.” In several non-critical passages, Swoboda made some extrapolations from the Bible that depended heavily on the space between the lines. I was impressed by the five kinds of authors he tries to read regularly. That intentionality bore fruit in this volume, which quotes dozens of other authors—but not so much as to be pretentious.
20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America
Ryan Burge presents interesting findings that offer a counter-narrative to the headlines about trends in Christianity. I liked the chapters best where he could isolate data that offered either nuance or clarity to widely-held assumptions. At the same time, some of the data sets—while large enough to qualify for academic rigor—seemed too small to be trusted as inarguably definitive. I also wonder how different the data is after the political season of 2024.
Dad, I Want to Hear Your Story
A Father’s Guided Journal to Share His Life & His Love
My daughter bought me this for Christmas. We adopted her during her first semester in college. She had joined our household two years earlier. During those two years, I became estranged from my father and then my mother. So, there were a lot of gaps in my story for my daughter to learn. Jeffrey Mason’s guided journal asked multiple good questions, the answers to which my daughter was eager to read. I filled these pages gradually over seven months, and I benefited from codifying some of my perspectives. The one negative of this book is that the graphic design (especially the font choices) makes it look cheap—not the keepsake that it has the potential to become.
Strange Religion
How the First Christians Were Weird, Dangerous, and Compelling
In this book, Nijay Gupta combines original language details, context from ancient secular texts, and anecdotes from church history to make the case that before Christianity’s assumptions and practices became cultural norms, they were first oddly counter to their surrounding status quo. Gupta documents how Jesus’ early followers’ devotion to human dignity made them first social pariahs and only later paragons of virtue. The examples of this book stand as a critique of an American Christianity that now (1) considers empathy toxic and (2) treats as heresy Mathew 25’s call to a gospel that is centered on the marginalized.
Joyful Outsiders
Six Ways to Live Like Jesus in a Disorienting Culture
In the acknowledgements of this book, Patrick Miller & Keith Simon reveal how many people shaped its content, and that collective feedback shows. Their advice resonates with both practicality and the countercultural vibe of Jesus. I wish more people understood and agreed with their premise that “The Bible is a minority report on empire.” I came to this book for an answer it didn’t have, though. How do you engage as an outsider in a religion that has whored itself to MAGA’s cruel dehumanization that contradicts the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus’ other teachings? What if the culture that needs redemption is the church itself? I wish the authors had sat with the statement of the atheist author of Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy: “The new mission field for Christians in America is Christians in America.”
The Art of Gathering
How We Meet and Why It Matters
Priya Parker holds the exact bona fides to write this guidebook, and many of her anecdotes are from gatherings she has curated. Some of her suggestions felt intuitive. Others confronted assumptions I’ve held about social and spiritual environments. I was intrigued by her concept of temporary cultures, of aspirational gatherings that assert, “This is who we were here.” She called organizers and facilitators to challenging assignments and superlative vulnerability. If you want to improve your family holidays, work parties, or church small groups, Parker’s stories and assertions offer thoughtful options to guide experimentation.
Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome
One Woman’s Desperate, Funny, and Healing Journey to Explore 30 Religions by Her 30th Birthday
Almost exclusively, when I’ve heard or read about someone exploring other belief systems or religions, the expedition was an intellectual one: someone reading books and watching videos of those with different contexts. But Reba Riley dove into this journey with both feet, literally eating, praying, and hugging practitioners of very different faiths. Her curiosity is matched by her generosity, and I appreciated her candid reflections on each experience. I was intrigued by the thread of seemingly sovereign or at least serendipitous spiritual moments—how words and images kept repeating throughout disparate encounters.
The Ballot and the Bible
How Scripture Has Been Used and Abused in American Politics
Kaitlyn Schiess presents the foibles and strengths of both sides of various politically religious camps. She critiques the Scriptural gerrymandering of both leftists and literalists and the cherry picking of those in red hats and liturgical robes. Schiess presents both sides of different topical debates but doesn’t resolve the differences. She calls those tempted to retreat to clobber verses to consider the holistic themes of sacred texts. Basically, this book shows how binary camps built their foundations, how they used the Bible to construct them, and how their partisanship colored their hermeneutical and exegetical approaches.
God Didn’t Make Us to Hate Us
40 Devotions to Liberate Your Faith
Lizzie McManus-Dail takes a lot of liberties with Scripture, selling vibes and conjecture at least as much as real accounts from Scripture. She over-indexes on the female roles of God to the point of only referring to Sovereignty as a woman. Some of her rhetorical jumps would challenge an Olympian. At the same time, McManus-Dail offers some tender reflections on the Creator of all good things and some potential filters to consider while approaching the life of Jesus. These devotionals offered multiple “spit out the bones” moments.
Money, Lies, and God
Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy
As someone who tries to follow the example and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, I could listen to only a chapter (or less) at a time of this book before my anger made me switch to other books or media. Katherine Stewart documents her multi-pronged dive into the public statements and published words of Christian fascists and nationalists. She retells what she heard in the church services and conference sessions she attended during her journalistic investigations. The partnerships she found between financial backers, extremist ideologues, and opportunist spokespeople left me disheartened as both an American and a person of faith. Stewart’s perspective as an outsider shows up in multiple descriptions of personalities I know well from my years within fundamentalism and then evangelical culture, but her impressive source material proves her investigatory prowess.
The Psychology of Money
Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness
Morgan Housel has sold more than eight million copies of this book. I’d be curious to see how the income inherent in that changed the habits and strategies he documents in the final, self-disclosure chapter. I appreciated the lack of an agenda, the humility, and the candor throughout this book. Housel presents as the opposite to both Jim Cramer and Dave Ramsey. His analogy of finances to medical treatment made a lot of sense, and I was intrigued by his distinction between riches and wealth. Along with intuitive, practical advice, Housel dares readers with a countercultural message: pursue contentment instead of status.
The Unfiltered Enneagram
A Witty And Wise Guide to Self-Compassion
I purchased this book after my counselor challenged the Enneagram profile to which I’ve identified for years. I don’t follow Elizabeth Orr’s @rudeassenneagram Instagram account, but I’m grateful that some of the snark from that work seeped into this manuscript. Orr uses a little side eye and a lot of direct critique of each type, including her own. It’s as if each chapter is an intervention where friends tell you what everyone but you knows about you. For some reason, approaching the unhealthy nature of each type proved more helpful for me than other Enneagram books I’ve read. Orr’s descriptions also supported my therapist’s intuition.
The Anti-Greed Gospel
Why the Love of Money Is the Root of Racism and How the Church Can Create a New Way Forward
Malcolm Foley presents a question I’d never considered: why did lynchings end in America? It wasn’t the Civil Rights Act. It wasn’t really any specific law, as mob murder was rarely legal in American statutes. He uses this question—and harrowing stories from grotesque lynchings—to explain why they happened in the first place and where the energy behind them has gone in the decades since their prevalence. I was most convicted by this quote from my favorite chapter in the book: “The goal is not just to avoid appearing racist. The goal is to drain racism of its power.” He makes the case why the church—at least as much the individuals in it as the corporate entities—should lead the effort not just to welcome diversity but also to actively, intentionally sacrifice our comfort in ways that will neuter the power of racist systems.
Complicit
How Our Culture Enables Misbehaving Men
As someone who spent tens of thousands of dollars on a book and media tour confronting the evangelical culture that enables and excuses predators in positions of power, I’ve both written and consumed a lot of content about how the church handles misbehaving men. So, I was intrigued by a secular discussion of the problem, and I was surprised by some of the dots Reah Bravo connected as a victim of a famous predator. Bravo’s vulnerable disclosures explain how and why some victims absorb abuse for months or even years before finding the courage to resist, confront, and report their abusers. I appreciated that her reflections didn’t just point fingers at specific documented criminals; they shone a light on cultural norms that predators exploit.
All Systems Red
The Murderbot Diaries, Volume 1
My wife recommended this book for our monthly book club date night. Since I don’t typically engage with science fiction shows, movies, and books, she chose Martha Wells’ first book of a series as an on-ramp back into the genre. I had questions about the sudden and insufficiently developed resolution of this first volume, and I questioned the premise of an only self-aware robot; but I engaged with the tension and adventure of the overall story. This book is thankfully light on world-building and focused on conversations, introspection, and succinctly described action. The audiobook proved a fun respite between heavier nonfiction reads and took me back to when I used to listen to vintage radio dramas during Sunday night replays on AM radio in the 1990s.
The Deepest Place
Suffering and the Formation of Hope
Curt Thompson’s writing must be consumed in first gear. His writing style stretches my capacity for dense, philosophical absorption. So, I was grateful for the more conversational sections with anonymized examples of his clients and members of what he calls a “confessional community.” He reframes a few biblical accounts through the filters of his chapter topics. His version of Jesus’ interaction with the wealthy ruler was new and interesting to me. My biggest takeaways were the power of looking a confessor or confidant in the eyes during revelations and “one of the hardest things for a human to do is accept love.”
A Trace in Time
A Daily Diary from a 4 Year Old Explorer, A Composition of Real Childhood Stories
I am estranged from my father, who was estranged from his father. So, there are large gaps in what I’ve been told and even more so in what I know about my dad’s youth, his family, and his formative community. With all of his documented deceit—he’s the subject of exposé podcast episodes—I’ve long wondered what of the childhood stories he told me I could believe. When his younger brother published this selection of stories about their tiny rural town and the characters in it, I immediately bought the hardback. North Java, NY, still has only one blinking stoplight at its center intersection. After my most recent visit in 2023, it was easy for me to imagine its Rust Belt ecosystem as captured in Trace George’s recollections. I’m grateful for this work because of the pieces it added to the puzzle I’ve been assembling of my family of origin. That’s obviously a unique motivation for engaging with its content that 95% of you reading this review wouldn’t share. What keeps this book from being an engaging journey through a Mayberry-like time capsule is the obvious (and sometimes even distracting) lack of editing. This book would’ve ranked higher on this list if its manuscript had been allowed to be professionally influenced.
(not available on Amazon or Goodreads; hardcover available here)
Curveball
When Your Faith Takes a Turn You Never Saw Coming (or How I Stumbled and Tripped My Way to Finding a Bigger God)
I related to Peter Enns’ journey of moving from a narrow definition of God and Christianity to larger, more generous versions of what I’ve been taught for decades. I appreciated the call to admit that we all—even the theologians who say they don’t—filter the Bible through our experiences. Enns weaves quite disparate topics together to illustrate how various sciences are expanding what we know of the cosmos and how that creates new questions that the Biblical canon’s dozens of authors never had to ponder. He does this all with self-deprecation and candor. While I don’t know if I take his trains of thought as far as he does, I did appreciate a substantive affirmation of the reality that an alive faith is one that is ever changing. In the churches of my youth, religious commitment was defined as never changing—even when life throws curveballs that can’t be explained away with churchy clichés.
Platonic
How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—And Keep—Friends
I was not the intended audience for this book. Marisa Franco seemed to write this as a guidebook for adults on the autism spectrum and/or those who overuse the words “toxic” and “trauma” in conversations because of their TikTok feeds. Still, I did highlight several lines from the book related to my attachment style, and I was intrigued by some of the interesting scientific studies she leverages for validation of her assertions.
Everything Trump Touches Dies
A Republican Strategist Gets Real About the Worst President Ever
Rick Wilson holds impressive Republican credentials, having worked for some of the biggest names in the party, including Giuliani and Bush. This insider perspective gives credence to his utter evisceration of the people and institutions that have abandoned traditional conservatism (along with their dignity and legacy) for authoritarian nepotism. Though he does not adhere to a faith, he deftly exposes how Christians have abandoned their long-declared morals and jettisoned any moral authority to be part of Trump’s pugilist movement. This book proves an interesting time machine in 2025 back to the middle of Trump’s first term. What probably seemed like exaggerated predictions then have mostly come true in the Project 2025 version of the Trump administration.
Knock at the Sky
Liz Charlotte Grant didn’t convince me that she had ever lost faith in the Bible—only that she holds a more nuanced view of its contents based on the discoveries of archeologists, theologians, and Jewish counternarratives. I appreciated her delineation of various aspects of the Creation myth that are described with feminine terms in the Hebrew language. Grant also made me notice for the first time that Isaac prayed over his wife’s barren womb when his Hall-of-Faith father, Abraham, had not (at least according to the Torah). Grant takes a lot of liberties with what’s between the lines of Scripture, but that seems just a continuation of the Midrash tradition.
The Molecule of More
How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, And Creativity—And Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race
As an adrenaline junkie, I’m grateful for the interesting distinctions about dopamine presented by Daniel Lieberman and Michael Long. I was intrigued by the tension between “here & now” (H&N) chemicals like oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins with dopamine, and the different motivations of each. I thought it was a bit of a stretch to say that the central motivations of entire political parties are driven either by dopamine or H&N. They also used self-reported polling for one assertion and presented their whole premise before admitting that they were not using observational data. If you struggle with compulsive behavior, this book might help you understand your unconscious longings and how to address them.
PCOS Repair Protocol (Second Edition)
The Complete Manual to Thriving with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome by Uncovering the Root of Your Symptoms
I am not the target audience for Tamika Woods’ well-regarded book, but I benefited from her extensive experience in this field to understand women in my life for whom PCOS is an inescapable reality. I appreciate how Woods filters challenges through hope and anchors that optimism in stories from her life and the lives of the women who’ve used her highly specialized clinic. Even though Woods offers a lot of free resources for further study on her website, that altruism is clouded by plugs for supplements she sells on that same website. While the science she references makes sense, I wonder if this is a glorified infomercial that could be easily debunked by physicians.
Amazon: 4.6 Goodreads: 4.29 (first edition)
Flirting with Disaster
True Travel Tales of Fear, Failure, and Faith
I’ve not yet read Eat, Pray, Love or watched its subsequent movie adaptation, but I assume Angie Orth’s book was pitched to Christian publishers as the Southern Baptist version of it. So, it makes sense that it was printed by a Nashville imprint. In my travels to thirty-some countries and all seven continents, I’ve never looked for a romantic relationship or frequented establishments built around alcohol or dancing. So, I can’t relate to the kinds of experiences, mistakes, and regrets of this travel memoir. Orth’s oft-referenced virginity creates a unique tension for this kind of storytelling, though it seems like her spiritual journey could’ve used more introspection, more processing, and more nuance. This book wasn’t written for me, but the different choices I’ve made in my travels to the same or similar destinations created intrigue in Orth’s tales.
What in the World!?
A Southern Woman’s Guide to Laughing at Life’s Unexpected Curveballs and Beautiful Blessings
I bought Leanne Morgan’s memoir as a palate cleanser from heavier reads. This book offers us husbands candid insight into life with a perimenopausal wife. As the founder of a men’s ministry, my biggest takeaway from this book was the description of Morgan’s husband. Chuck Morgan was presented as the embodiment of tropes: a hard-working man who can’t express his emotions, who approaches sex like a prehistoric caveman, who makes consequential family decisions without consulting their partner, and who softens only with grandkids. My wife can’t make those jokes, and this book made me want to influence the men in my circle so that their wives can’t either.
Soul Boom
Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution
Rainn Wilson’s book-length treatise drips with the self-indulgence you’d expect from a celebrity. Thankfully, it also contains some self-deprecation and an impressive amount of references to books I don’t have the patience to read. The sections connect to each other but don’t necessarily build on each other. Still, I appreciated how he showed the commonalities of various faith systems. And this book was worth its price for the concept of “calling in” instead of “calling out.” That changed my filter for my public content about harmful people of faith.
Listen Listen Speak
Hearing God and Being Heard in a Noisy World
I struggled to get through the first 75% of Jay Kim’s book, but then transcribed multiple passages from the last section into my journal. As someone who makes my living in the Attention Economy, I really like how Kim turned attention into a currency of love—and how intention and attention are inexorably linked in relationships. He also reframed the story of the Good Samaritan for me, describing it as Jesus changing the question from “Who is my neighbor?” to “How can I neighbor?”
Surviving the White Gaze
A Memoir
As the white father of an adopted Black daughter, I came to Rebecca Carroll’s book to help me see blind spots in my transracial parenting. What I absorbed instead were accounts of scorched-earth takedowns of a series of tumultuous relationships. In fact, Carroll shows no remorse for accusing her father of sexual abuse even after she learns he wasn’t the perpetrator. Carroll offers a literary shoulder shrug for her frequent discarding of relationships, and the long-term health of her interracial marriage proves little more than a footnote. (I can’t imagine being her husband and reading her accounts of sexual exploits.) I wonder how different these stories would be had therapy and selfless mentors been a part of Carroll’s early life.
Don’t Believe Everything You Think
Why Your Thinking is the Beginning & End of Suffering
I didn’t really connect with this bestselling content until the last portion of the book where Jospeh Nguyen encouraged readers to embrace uncertainty. As a constant striver, I also appreciated Nguyen’s challenge to allow transformation as a byproduct of our relinquishing of control—instead of as some amorphous goal to chase. Two of the quotes that made it into my journal from these pages are (1) “An intelligent person is constantly learning. A wise person is always unlearning,” and (2) “The unknown is where we feel most alive. Although our minds crave certainty, our hearts desire freedom.”
Revelation for the Rest of Us
A Prophetic Call to Follow Jesus as a Dissident Disciple
It took me months to finish this book, listening for 20-30 minutes each Sunday morning while I set out the traffic cones and signs in my church’s parking lots. But the last section spilled into the rest of my week, as Scot McKnight & Cody Matchett explained that this controversial apocalyptic literature is rooted in a critique of empire. Rather than a commentary built on a linear exegesis, McNight & Matchett unpack this first-century literary work more like English teachers using a thematic exposition. I appreciated their denunciation of those who superimpose world events onto the text to surmise the future. Instead, they call readers to see the timeless applications of its underlying critique.
Odder
I purchased this book, as I thought the story would focus on the narrative of a young outsider trying to fit in. But Katherine Applegate’s book showcases more of what the title character shares in common with other otters. I was surprised by the intensity of the fulcrum moment of Odder’s story. It made me wonder what age range I could recommend this audiobook or its print equivalent. Having visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium more than once, I could picture what Applegate described. I appreciated the epilogue’s details about the real-life otters on which this narrative was based.
Long Story Short
The Bible in 12 Phrases
Glen Scrivener spends a large part of this book connecting stories from the Old Testament to the Jesus they foreshadowed—or at least looked like they foreshadowed with the benefit of retrospection on the recorded stories of his biographies. While Scrivener includes a few details that proved interesting in those explanations, this book didn’t really draw me in until it got to the section on Saul of Tarsus. From that point on, several lines made it into my journal.
The Best of You
Break Free From Painful Patterns, Mend Your Past, and Discover Your True Self in God
I found it interesting that every time Dr. Alison Cook addressed the reader, she did so exclusively to women. All of her exemplars were women. I’m grateful for those case studies as they helped me visualize what otherwise could’ve been a series of Instagram carousels. The last pages of this book were written as if the audiobook would be an affirmation track to play while applying makeup before work in the morning. They didn’t land as well for me as the “You is smart. You is kind. You is important,” scene from The Help.
Sex Without Stress
A Couple’s Guide to Overcoming Disappointment, Avoidance, and Pressure
I much prefer relationship books from licensed, professional counselors over those of pastors and faith leaders, and Jessa Zimmerman has written a book whose content would keep it out of Christian bookstores. But I’d imagine tens of thousands of Christian couples would benefit from its contents. While Zimmerman’s framework could probably be applied to multiple, if not any, areas of disconnection in a marriage, her communication and curiosity model has been honed for her work as a sex therapist. My biggest takeaways from this book weren’t of the sexual variety but about communication in general, particularly in how to manage anxiety over relational conflict or even just awkward conversations.
If the Ocean Has a Soul
A Marine Biologist’s Pursuit of Truth Through Deep Waters of Faith and Science
Rachel Jordan’s soul connects to God in nature, and maybe that is most true when her face is underwater. Wonder leads her to worship, and Jordan’s zeal feels authentic. But some of these chapters stray from the coral reef and other underwater habitats. (That makes sense when you learn she now lives in a landlocked Upper Midwest state.) Jordan briefly offers several ways Christians can reconcile evolutionary adaptation and the creation poetry of Scripture. If you have an aspiring marine biologist in your life, they would probably enjoy this collection of memoir devotionals.
Call You When I Land
Nikki Vargas’ memoir unfolds as a story of both tenacity and serendipity. Her journey to a dream job and true love is potholed by selfish immaturity, unstable entitlement, and coping mechanisms that would cause her therapist to interrupt—if she visited one. To Vargas’ credit, she seems to realize the damage in her wake, even if it’s convenient for her now to have left so many people in the lurch. I wish she had spent more time describing the differences between exotic travel for work vs the experience of personal adventures. The Instagram world could use a better peek behind the curtain. As someone who has traveled to more than 30 countries across all seven continents, I’ve found the opposite of what Vargas contends regarding inebriation and foreign travel. For me, alcohol-dependent environments dull the experience instead of enhance it. Vargas’ self-deprecating tales showcase someone who learns how to make good choices only after making poor ones.
God Speaks Science
What Neurons, Giant Squid, and Supernovae Reveal About Our Creator
Usually, I have to make my own spiritual connections when reading science books. So, I had hopes that John Van Sloten’s intentional combination of science and faith would be an even richer experience than the secular bestsellers I consume. I was disappointed by what often felt like a backwards-hat youth pastor working really hard for a sermon illustration—but with academic language. I learned a few new science facts, but the presentation was stodgy. Significant space was dedicated to establishing the credentials of the experts from whom Van Sloten got his chapter ideas—maybe to give them more authority to secular readers. But that space could’ve been used to make the spiritual content more compelling.
Modern Genre Theory
An Introduction for Biblical Studies
Andrew Judd, appropriately but counter-culturally, views the contents of the Bible as a library of books instead of a single piece of writing. He then applies a librarian or literature teacher’s questions about different types of writing to the genres and subgenres of Christianity’s holy texts. Because this was the most academic book I read this year—I finished this only because it was an audiobook read by an Australian with interesting pronunciations—I was surprised that his critique of circular reasoning didn’t apply to his reasoning as to what constitutes Scripture in light of the other gospels, epistles, and histories of the era of the modern Bible’s composition. This book was worth the price of purchase to get language for what I’ve told peers about the epistles with Judd’s adaptation of a Carly Simon line: “You’re so vain, you probably think this letter was written to you.”
Beard
A Memoir of a Marriage
Either Kelly Foster Lundquist’s journal entries during her first marriage were incredibly detailed, or she has an enviable sensory memory. Her ability to describe physical sensations from decades ago helps readers feel her journey. I appreciated her vulnerability and candor about her contribution to what had to be a surreal experience and a unique betrayal. The epilogue’s details about her continued friendship with her gay ex-husband surprised me. I wonder if the choice to end the narrative where Lundquist did was hers or a request from her current husband, because its close lacks satisfying redemption of pain or any explanation about her healing path. Her new life gets only a few lines in her acknowledgements strangely in the middle of the hat tips—not at the beginning for emphasis or at the end of a buildup.
Hell Bent
How the Fear of Hell Holds Christians Back from a Spirituality of Love
Brian Recker uses the protestant Bible to support a version of Jesus-inspired universalism, where everyone eventually ends up in their version of heaven. While he does present well-worn Scriptures with an interesting alternate lens and addresses pushback from other exvangelicals, he avoids discussing the ramifications for purveyors of pure evil—let alone justice for their victims. Recker performs the audio rendition of this book with passion and sometimes the intensity of a traveling evangelist.
Flying Falling Catching
An Unlikely Story of Finding Freedom
I bought this book because I’ve heard quotes from Henri Nouwen for years and because I like aerial sports. To consider Nouwen a co-author of this book is a stretch, since his contributions to this project were his private journal entries. Either Carolyn Whitney-Brown got strangely-specific details in interviews of other players in these stories, or she took great liberties while speaking for Nouwen and others. I related to Nouwen’s tension between wanting to write a book on a topic and not knowing how. I found the rest of this book a strange tribute to a religious thought leader who never felt free to reveal his sexual orientation. While there’s a brief passage about him feeling free to die, there are few details of his actual death that illustrate that.
Forgiving Our Fathers and Mothers
Finding Freedom From Hurt and Hate
I struggled to finish Leslie Leyland Fields and Jill Hubbard’s preachy book. The authors turn the description of Fields’ reconciliation with her neurodivergent dad into a prescription for anyone abused by their parents. While there are a few paragraphs acknowledging that boundaries might be a good idea, they come across as a yada yada hand sweep or a footnote for legal reasons. While Jesus calls us to forgive our enemies and to bless those who curse us, he also promised a horrible fate to those who have harmed children. I don’t remember that verse getting a mention during my hours with this book. The authors treat the nuance of physical and emotional safety as something to get past and rampant sexual abuse as something to forget.
What Jesus Intended
Finding Faith in the Rubble of Bad Religion
In this book, Todd Hunter thoroughly convinces the reader that he recognizes a multitude of ways the church has and does hurt people. He commiserates with victims through stories of people in his life. The rest of the book falls into four buckets: (1) Don’t equate the church you’ve experienced with Jesus, but don’t pit them against each other. (2) God hates the dysfunction and evil the church has engendered, too. (3) God’s vision for the church is even greater than your hopes for it. (4) We must extend grace to the church because we can’t even live up to our own goals for ourselves. My biggest takeaway was a quote in its final pages: “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” (Rainer Maria Rilke)
Not So Sorry
Abusers, False Apologies, and the Limits of Forgiveness
Kaya Oakes doesn’t pull punches on the rampant abuse in various faith communities, and she doesn’t shy away from exposing the hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of those who aid and abet abusers, rapists, and even mass shooters. Her examples ring true to my experience with religious predators, and it is amazing how little contrition those who are caught offer. At the same time, I do believe—and have witnessed—people who have forgiven those who’ve caused trauma, even when that forgiveness is not earned. In fact, I think some form of relinquishing of bitterness frees victims to live fuller lives. That doesn’t mean we demand that of victims, but we can make space for that possibility Oakes does not.
(The Amazon & Goodreads ratings shown above were as of the time I either started or finished each book.)
