Favorite Books of 2023
It’s been an amazing year for books in my opinion. I have read more than I have in awhile, but I still missed a ton of books. I couldn’t stop at just ten book. Out of the books I read this year, these are my favorite:
20. Ordinary Discipleship: How God Wires Us for the Adventure of Transformation by Jessie Cruickshank (Ep. 106 Jessie Cruickshank Returns - How God Wires Us for the Adventure of Transformation)
19. I Didn’t Survive: Emerging Whole After Deception, Persecution, and Hidden Abuse by Naghmeh Panahi (Ep. 140 Naghmeh Panahi - Emerging Whole After Deception, Persecution, and Hidden Abuse)
18. Pivot: The Priorities, Practices, and Powers that can Transform your Church into a Tov Culture by Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer (Ep. 135 Scot McKnight - The Pivotal Priorities, Practices, and Powers to Transform Into a Tov Culture)
17. Metanoia: How God Radically Transforms People, Churches, and Organizations from the Inside Out by Alan Hirsch with Rob Kelly (Ep. 136 Alan Hirsch & Rob Kelly - Metanoia: How God Radically Transforms People, Churches, and Organizations From the Inside Out)
16. Fear Not! A Christian Appreciation of Horror Movies by Josh Larsen (Ep. 123 Josh Larsen - Gospel Hope in Light of the Horror of Horror Movies)
15. Wake Up to Wonder: 22 Invitations to Amazement in the Everyday by Karen Wright Marsh (Ep. 121 Karen Wright Marsh - An Invitation to Wonder and Amazement in the Everyday)
14. The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture Has Been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here by Kaitlyn Schiess (Ep. 125 Kaitlyn Schiess - The Bible, Politics, and a Flourishing Community)
13. What if Jesus was Serious About Heaven?: A Visual Guide to Experiencing God’s Kingdom Among Us By Skye Jethani (Ep. 139 Skye Jethani - What We Get Wrong About Heaven)
12. Orphaned Believers: How a Generation of Christian Exiles Can Find the Way Home by Sara Billups (Ep. 100 Sara Billups - Orphaned Believers)
11. Stumbling Toward Eternity: Losing & Finding Ourselves in the Cross of Jesus by Josh White (Ep. 116 Josh White - Stumbling Toward Eternity)
10. The Scandal of Leadership: Unmasking the Powers of Domination in the Church by JR Woodward (Ep. 133 JR Woodward Returns Pt. 2 - The Scandal of Leadership: Models to Follow the Scandalous Way of Christ)
Even though you can tell that this book is written from a dissertation and could use a bit more editing to make it more accessible, the themes and ideas in this book are crucial for any leader to understand and implement. The idea that we are imitators and that if we imitate anyone or anything other than Christ, we will have problems is something that needs to get into the soul of people as quickly as possible. The research, scholarship, and examples in this book make for something that will be a reference and a go-to for years to come.
9. You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
A memoir about the end of a marriage, the beginning of a new life, and finding a way to beauty through the disillusionment of circumstance is a hard thing to pull off. But poet Maggie Smith does it. It’s raw, honest, and beautifully written. I read it and listened to the audiobook read by Maggie. It’s a gorgeous book.
8. Between the Listening and the Telling: How Stories Can Save Us by Mark Yaconeli
A story about story. This book is stunning. It’s a beautiful portrait into the art of listening and storytelling and the healing it creates in communities. It makes me want to be a better. And it makes me want to create space for people to tell their story to facilitate healing and growth.
7. The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
The way this is written helps any creative out there. And by any creative, Rick Rubin means every human because it takes creativity to walk through this world awake and aware. This book reminded me to be present and create. It’s also a book you can pick up and read a short chapter, put it down, and practice what was there for the day. This is another one that I will go back to over and over again.
6. Revelation for the Rest of Us: A Prophetic Call to Follow Jesus as a Dissident Disciple by Scot McKnight with Cody Matchett (Ep. 105 Scot McKnight - Revelation for the Rest of Us)
Growing up with dispensationalism in the Left Behind era had me disillusioned with the book of Revelation, but Scot and Cody’s book Revelation for the Rest of Us got me excited about what Revelation says for the first time. Reading it as a book of discipleship that raises up dissident disciples in the shadow of Babylon is a take that is applicable across time and geography. This is one that I recommend highly.
5. Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church by Nijay K. Gupta (Ep. 112 Nijay Gupta - How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church)
The scholarship and illumination of the role of women in the early church is extremely helpful. I love books like this that take something that is familiar and makes us look again and realize that something was there all along, but we missed it. I have given this book away more than any other this year.
4. The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images & Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis (Ep. 122 Karen Swallow Prior - The Evangelical Imagination that has Shaped a Culture in Crisis)
A stunning cultural analysis incredibly written. Prior takes Charles Taylor’s social imaginary concept and runs with it. Our collective imagination has led us to this moment of crisis in the American evangelical church and our collective imagination can move us into a brighter future. This is the type of book I get excited for.
3. The Deep Down Things: Practices for Growing Hope in Times of Despair by Amber C. Haines & Seth Haines (Ep. 138 Amber & Seth Haines - Finding Hope in Times of Despair)
Beautiful and poignant. There is something magical when someone shares their story of pain, abuse, and despair and shares practicals on ways to find hope again. This book feels like the embodiment of Jesus. Light seeping into the cracks of darkness illuminating the path home to Him. I loved this book.
2. Mission is the Shape of Water: Learning from the Past to Inform Our Role in the World Today (Ep. 130 Michael Frost Returns - Mission is the Shape of Water)
I love this book. Frost takes missions history and makes it come alive for us today. He shows how the gospel is good news for people across time and culture in their specific context. He doesn’t hold back and shows both the good and the bad that the missions movement has created and then draws a line from the past to our current moment and propels us into the future with a vision of the reign and rule of God’s Kingdom that is inspiring and holistic.
My favorite book of the year:
1. The Church in an Age of Secular Mysticisms: Why Spiritualities without God Fail to Transform Us by Andrew Root (Ep. 128 Andrew Root - The Church in an Age of Secular Mysticisms)
This book awakened new synapsis in my mind. It made sense of the world in which we live in a way that is stunning and profound. There are a few books that make you see the world differently – this is a prime example. The whole secular age series that Andy has written is incredible. I would highly recommend reading When Church Stops Working by Andrew Root and Blair Bertrand as a brilliant distillation of the first five books of the secular age series and then read this one.
P.S. 5 Fiction Reads I loved this year: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut, and Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr