Top 10 Books of 2021
“Story is the primary language of the human heart.”
This Fall our church went through a series where we dug into various themes that are crucial to understanding our unique place in God’s story. We covered themes like identity, belonging, and purpose. The series was called Unearthed, and over the course of a few months I worked through a variety of worksheets tracing God’s faithfulness in my own life. It was deeply encouraging.
This quote is adapted from LifePlan, a resource from the Patterson Center. I believe it’s true.
Story is the primary language of the human heart.
I already resonated with these words, but I’ve doubled-down on them over the last few months. For my doctoral work this semester, I spent a bunch of time studying the relationship of narrative to the way we read, interpret, and live out the truths of Scripture. It was fascinating stuff. All that to say, I’ve been thinking a lot this year about the category of story and how it impacts the Christian life.
Five of my top reads for 2021 fell under the category of biography and memoir. My intake of biography has continued to trend upward over the last five years. While I still ready plenty of books to gain more information, I’m reading more and more stories that trace God’s providence in the lives of others. For many Christians, obtaining more information isn’t their most pressing need—it’s finding their place in the sweeping story of God and living in light of it. If you find yourself in a dry season and longing for more as 2021 winds down, maybe the most life-giving thing you could do over the holidays is pick up a good story. Trace a life. Marvel at the faithfulness and wisdom of God in the lives of others. And reflect on his faithfulness in your own life.
Not all of these books were written in 2021, but these were the most impactful reads for me this year. In lieu of a book description, I’ve included some inspiring quotes below to encourage you to pick one up for yourself. Happy reading, friends.
1. A Burning in My Bones: The Authorized Biography of Eugene Peterson by Winn Collier
“Teaching people to pray and teaching them to die a good death—Eugene often said these were the two essentials in the life of the pastor.”
2. Redeeming Heartache: How Past Suffering Reveals Our True Calling by Dan Allender and Cathy Loerzel
“Life is a long search for what we lost in Eden.”
3. An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison
“It never occurred to me that I was ill; my brain just didn’t put it in those terms.”
4. The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life by David Brooks
“The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”
5. Robert Lowell, Setting the River on Fire: A Study of Genius, Mania, and Character by Kay Redfield Jamison
“All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story or tell a story about them.”
6. The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness and Discovery by Ross Douthat
“The purpose of the illness in your life has to involve finding something—finding strength in learning how to endure, finding virtue in how to live for others, finding some hidden truth in unraveling the mystery of what actually ails you. . . And not to yield is often the hardest task of all.”
7. R.C. Sproul: A Life by Stephen Nichols
“If the keystone of the doctrine of God is in place—and honored—then all other doctrines will fall into place, will be sound. If the doctrine of God is off-kilter, forgotten, or diminished, then all other doctrines will go awry.”
“The less you want friends the less like God you are. Therefore, one way that we reflect God is by entering and enjoying friendship’s pleasures. God’s image is less reflected in a hermit’s home that it is around a meal with laughter and love.”
9. The Secular Creed: Engaging Five Contemporary Claims by Rebecca McLaughlin
“Rather than shouting at progressives, let’s call them in with a Jesus song: his song of good news for the historically oppressed, his song of love across racial and ethnic difference, his song that summons men and women, married and single, young and old, weak and strong, joyful and hurting, rich and destitute, into eternal love with him. Let’s fight with love and sing the song with which we’ll one day overcome.”
10. Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change by Tod Bolsinger
“To reorient requires that we move forward in a concrete way. Moving forward means that we have to make some decisions. Every time we learn, adjust, and decide on a next step to the next waypoint, we build momentum for change. And momentum and the feelings of hope it inspires increase resilience.”
Best Rereads
The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis
“Well,” said the King at last, “we must go on and take the adventure that comes to us.”
The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis
“For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are.”
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
“This is what the past is for: every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see.”
