I began this year with a much more modest reading goal than normal for me. I was in a place where I didn't want to read much for the first time in a very long time. And for the first 7 or 8 months this year, I read very little and was way behind my goal pace.
Around August or September, that started to change, and my love of reading has returned at this point. I read more books in the last 2 or 3 months than the rest of the year combined...by a lot.
So this is my list of what I found most interesting, entertaining, edifying, enlightening, challenging, and/or simply enjoyable. Not everything in these would be something I would endorse, but all have had some impact on me this year. Take that for what you will.Generally in order of most favorite on down.
- I don't know if I've ever needed to read a book more than when I read this book this year. This increased my love for Christ and helped me understand in a much deeper way his love for me at the exact time I needed both of those things.
2. The Trinity: An Introduction - Scott Swain
- I believe American Evangelicalism has a bit of a crisis of Trinitarian theology, with even well-known and heavily-relied-upon theologians holding to unorthodox views. This, along with the book below, are wonderful introductions to the doctrine and why it is so crucial.
3. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith - Michael Reeves
- Probably the first book I would give a new believer on understanding the Trinity.
4. The Gateway Chronicles (6 Book Series) - K.B. Hoyle
- A delightful 6-volume series, aimed at more the YA age group (Seth read all 6 books twice). The story, though, is an epic adventure that tells The Story in various ways as well. Great character development over the course of the books. Fans of C.S. Lewis will find much to love here.
- Fascinating take on our current political climate of intense division and some scary (and increasingly believable) scenarios of what could happen if we don't find ways to unite. I love David French and this book didn't disappoint me.
6. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
- I cannot believe Bradbury wrote this in the 1950s. Sounds like it could have been written in the last decade. He explores a world where firemen burn books rather than putting out fires. But his take on where technology might lead and the irrelevance of books and ideas is creepy in its accuracy.
7. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction & Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader's Guide to a More Tranquil Mind - Alan Jacobs
- Even when I don't agree with Alan Jacobs, I like the experience of disagreeing with him. He's a wonderful writer, and reading him makes me want to read more.
8. Who is an Evangelical?: The History of a Movement in Crisis - Thomas Kidd
- My go-to historian, Kidd's take here on the development of evangelicalism and where it can go from here is fascinating.
- Embarrassingly the first Schaeffer book I've ever read. I now see why it was re-published this year. Brilliant and prescient when you look at how what he predicted has come to pass.
10. Reading Between the Lines: Volume 1 - Glen Scrivener
- I used this devotionally for the first half of the year. Scrivener finds Jesus in every part of the OT, and it is beautiful and felt like a drink of fresh water to me. This helped rekindle some things in me that had dimmed some.
11. Insider Outsider: My Journey as a Stranger in WhiteEvangelicalism and My Hope for Us All - Bryan Loritts
- Difficult but needed look at a black pastor's experience in white evangelicalism. Lots of good lessons to learn for everyone here.
12. The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church's Complicity in Racism - Jemar Tisby
- This was another very difficult book to read, but a necessary one. Tisby shows the ways in which the church in America has fed into the racism that has affected our minority brothers and sisters in this country. One doesn't need to agree with every conclusion he draws to see the historical case in indisputable.
13. Dracula - Bram Stoker
- I had never really heard much of the actual story of Dracula (and yes, I went to Transylvania University in Kentucky, so....). This was way more profound and moving than I expected. Some of it is a slog, but totally worth it in my opinion.
______________________________________
And 2 current reads that will no doubt be near the top of next year's list once I finish them....
The Wonderful Works of God - Herman Bavinck
- I've been reading this devotionally and slowly, and it's one of my favorite books I've ever read. Essentially a systematic theology, but beautiful and worshipful. I plan on reading a lot more Bavinck in 2021.
The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia,Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution - Carl Trueman
- From everything I've heard, this is going to be an important book for a long time. I'm only a chapter in, but I trust Trueman on these issues and look forward to reading the rest of this.
