Each year, I set myself a goal of reading one book per week. It’s a pretty ambitious goal and most years I miss the mark. But this year, I’ve finished 54 books and many of them have been really great. Here are my Top 20 books I’ve read this year, along with comments about a few:

1. The Five Lies of our Anti-Christian Age by Rosaria Butterfield
   • I think this is a really important book. Butterfield claims that she is writing especially for an audience of Christian women, but this book deserves a broader reading. Butterfield was formerly an English professor at Syracuse University whose primary academic field was critical theory with an emphasis in queer theory. But after coming to faith in Christ, she renounced her lesbian identity and has since become an important voice responding to several of the cultural shifts in our day. Using Scripture, she examines the lies we often hear in secular culture pertaining to gender, sexual identity, and feminism. The five lies she identifies are: 1) Homosexuality is normal; 2) Being a spiritual person is kinder than being a biblical Christian; 3) Feminism is good for the world and the church; 4) Transgenderism is normal; 5) Modesty is outdated and it serves male dominance by holding back women. Butterfield will come off as confrontational to some, but personally, I find her treatment of these issues to be refreshing, bold, thoughtful, and deeply biblical. I highly recommend The Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age.
2. The Way of the Heart: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers by Henri Nouwen
   • Over the last few years, I’ve become more acquainted with the spirituality of the desert fathers — early Christians who withdrew into silence and solitude in order to more deeply connect with God. One of the results of our frenetic, fast-paced lives is a loss of reverence. But the desert fathers advocate for a way of life that is just as radical today as it was in the third century: a life of intentional solitude and deep silence. I love his book and I wish everyone would read it.
3. The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth by Gerald G. May
   • This book will reorient your perspective of suffering as God’s instrument of transformation in our lives.
4. Critical Dilemma: The Rise of Critical Theories and Social Justice Ideology – Implications for Church and Society by Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer
   • I’ve done quite a bit of study on the topic of critical theory over the last couple of years and I can say that Shenvi and Sawyer have written what I consider to be an essential volume in the discussion, especially from a Christian perspective. You’ll find this to be a well-reasoned and fair-handed treatment of the various dimensions of critical theory and social justice ideology.
5. The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides
   • I find these real life stories of adventure and discovery to be fascinating. I didn’t know much about Captain Cook when I picked up a copy of this book, but he has to go down as one of the most important men who has ever lived. A fascinating account of his fateful third voyage around the world.
6. The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
   • Jackson asked me to read this one because Donna Tartt is his favorite modern-day author. I loved this book. It’s about many things: nostalgia, revenge, the South, sisterhood. But more than anything, it’s about the losses we experience that change us and cause us to grow up — and the type of people we become as a result. My favorite fiction read of the year.
7. Living In Christ’s Presence by Dallas Willard
   • Anything by Dallas Willard is really great.
8. Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers by Ian O’Connor
   • Rodgers is the best QB I’ve ever seen. I know others will argue for Brady, but I’ve never seen anyone do the things Rodgers has done on a football field. I would also argue that Rodgers is the most interesting and misunderstood athlete of this century so far. This book peels back some of the mystery surrounding his persona.
9. Into the Silent Land: A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation by Martin Laird
   • Great wisdom to help you pray.
10. Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul by Tony Hendra
    • Tony Hendra, of Monty Python fame, writes about the influence of his spiritual director, Father Joe. If you told me that one of the Monty Python players would write my favorite spiritual memoir of the year, I wouldn’t have believed you. But that’s exactly what this is.
11. Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson
    • I loved this book, but with Musk now playing an important part in President Trump’s second administration, this volume already feels wildly incomplete. But as it is, Isaacson has written an essential biography of one of this generation’s most iconic and important personalities.
12. Blood Meridan by Cormac McCarthy
    • McCarthy’s haunting tale of the Kid and the Judge doesn’t pull any punches. It’s an unflinchingly violent story, one whose thesis seems to be the universal bloodthirstiness of humanity.
13. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
    • I’m a big Roosevelt fan and this is the first of Morris’s trilogy of biographies, covering his early years to his rise to the presidency. I’m thinking I’ll read volume two in 2025 and wrap up with the final entry in 2026.
14. Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No, To Take Control of Your Life by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend
15. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
16. Contemplative Prayer by Thomas Merton
17. The Yankee Years by Tom Verducci and Joe Torre
    • This was my favorite baseball book this year.
18. Does the Bible Affirm Same-Sex Relationships? Examining 10 Claims about Scripture and Sexuality by Rebecca McLaughlin
19. When the Game Was Ours by Magic Johnson and Larry Bird
20. Counterfeit Kingdom: The Dangers of New Revelation, New Prophets, and New Age Practices in the Church by Holly Pivec and Douglas Geivett