Top 10 Books of 2020
“A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.”
—Franz Kafka
Without further adieu, here are the the best books I read this year:
1. Searching for the Self: Classic Stories, Christian Scripture, and the Quest for Personal Identity by Adrian T. Smith
Adrian Smith was one of my New Testament professors in seminary. He is well-versed in Biblical theology, English literature, and narrative psychology. Searching for the Self is a collision of all three. If you enjoy reading Christian Scripture as the unfolding, overarching story that it is, you will benefit from this book. If you love literature and stories you will like this book. If you are trying to make sense of your own story, you will love it.
2. The Christian Ministry: With an Inquiry into the Causes of Its Inefficiency by Charles Bridges
There are two books on my list this year that I’m embarrassed I’ve never read before, and this was the first one. I’ve been told to read The Christian Ministry from several pastors over the last decade and never got around to it. I now know why it is so highly recommended for pastors. The entire book was great, but Bridges section on preaching could have been a book in and of itself. If you serve in pastoral ministry, read this one, and read it slow.
3. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith by Michael Reeves
This is the second book on the list I’m embarrassed I’ve never read before this year. I’ve heard many pastors and professors recommend it. It was a fun, short read. It was accessible, but still had great depth. I particularly enjoyed the way Reeves weaved in church history to his treatment on the doctrine of the Trinity.
4. The Storm-Tossed Family: How the Cross Reshapes the Home by Russell Moore
I think Russell Moore makes my list every year. I read his new book, The Courage to Stand, this year and really enjoyed it, but The Storm-Tossed Family was my favorite. Moore is a great writer and always had solid insight. If you are thinking through the dynamics of your own family, you will really enjoy this. It’s also applicable if you are striving to grow as a spouse or parent.
5. As Kingfishers Catch Fire: A Conversation on the Ways of God Formed by the Words of God by Eugene Peterson
This might be Eugene Peterson’s best book, and considering he has written over thirty, that’s saying a lot. This is a collection of sermons preached over the course of Peterson’s twenty-nine year pastorate. The sermons are divided up according to specific Biblical authors. For example, Peterson will have a collection of sermons entitled, Preaching in the Company of Isaiah, that will contain five sermons from different passages throughout the book of Isaiah. It gives you a good idea of how he preached from different genres, testaments, and authors. Reading it made me feel like I was listening to a sage, and I think that’s pretty accurate of Peterson.
If you are a Peterson fan, be sure to check out this new biography coming out in 2021, called A Burning in My Bones.
6. The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis by Alan Jacobs
I have to read something by (or about) Lewis every year. The Narnian is a really fun read, and I think it’s the second best biography of Lewis. If you are only going to read one, go with Alister McGrath’s.
In The Narnian, Alan Jacobs peals back the curtain and explores Lewis’ imagination and the shaping influences on his life. This book lit a fire under me to start reading the Chronicles of Narnia again this year, as it provided some insight on things I had missed before. I’ve now caught a lot of new things this time around. I’m four books down with three left to go.
7. Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush by Jon Meacham
This was my long biography read for 2020. It’s 600 pages and took me a while to track through. Truth be told, watching the shenanigans of politics and the election this year prompted me to pick this one up. Like every President, George Bush Sr. had his faults, but he was a true gentleman. He handled himself with class and dignity. And he experienced some crushing personal and professional losses. The account of him losing his 3-year-old daughter to leukemia choked me up, as my daughter, Kennedy, turned three this past year. I can’t imagine that level of loss.
Amidst everything, Bush persevered through the glory and garbage of Washington. He lived a truly remarkable life.
8. Churchill by Paul Johnson
Winston Churchill is probably the most fascinating world leader to me. Between this biography by Paul Johnson, and reading Leadership in War by Andrew Roberts, I got a pretty good dose of the British Bulldog this year. I hope to graduate to Walking With Destiny in 2021 and maybe The Last Lion in 2022.
If you are a Churchill fan, you might also want to check out the Churchill archives over on Al Mohler’s website. Mohler might be the most die hard Churchill fan of all.
9. Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortlund
Gentle and Lowly was probably the highest rated Christian Discipleship book this year, and I’ve seen it listed as #1 on a bunch of end of the year lists. I can’t do better than Michael Horton’s endorsement of the book:
“Dane Ortlund leads us into the very heart of God incarnate―not only what Jesus did for us, but how he feels toward us. That’s right: feels toward us. Anchored in Scripture and drawing on the Puritan Thomas Goodwin, this book is medicine for broken hearts.”
10. God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology by James Hamilton
Jim Hamilton is one of the leading scholars in Biblical Theology today. One of the reasons I decided to trek through God’s Glory in Salvation Through Judgment was because it comes with a tailored Bible reading plan. While I fell behind on the reading plan this year, I really enjoyed walking through the Old Testament in particular. It was like taking a guided tour. If you are looking for a Bible reading plan for 2021, I’d really recommend checking this one out.
Honorable Mentions:
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt
Lost in the Middle: Midlife and the Grace of God by Paul David Tripp
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story by Donald Miller
The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart by Harold L Senkbeil
