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My Top 10 Books of 2024
My eclectic and whimsical strategy for picking books to read encompasses works by men and women, ancient and contemporary, fiction and nonfiction, Christian and secular. A book’s impact on my life, readability, and engagement significantly influence its placement in my top ten list for the year. The Bible is the best and only divinely inspired book, so although I read it, I excluded it from my list.
- Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality by Nancy Pearcy. This is my favorite book this year. I read another book by her, but I found this one to be better. She is culturally astute, clear, winsome, and engaging. She tackles the moral ground that has fallen away in our American culture with an eye for the tendency for people to divide the body and soul. She places blame on that division, causing people to do horrible things to their bodies.
- Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism by Tim Keller. I am a preacher, and this book is helpful. I have read several books on preaching this year and over my lifetime. Some are worth sharing, others shelving (chucking). This one is for every preacher.
- Lament for a Father: The Journey to Understanding and Forgiveness by Marvin Olasky. This is a wonderfully intriguing book. It is only 120 pages long. Every one of us has been hurt, wronged, or sinned against. How do you deal with parents who let you down and are the source of that pain? This is Marvin's journey. It is worth several reads. Here is part of the promotional of the book off Amazon: "Marvin played catch with his father, Eli, only once―it didn’t end well. Eli never laughed, rarely spoke with his son, and was periodically lambasted by his wife for his lack of ambition. How had a Harvard graduate failed to achieve all that he had once hoped for? Now an experienced investigative journalist, Marvin Olasky uncovers the true story of his father’s past in his most personal work to date―facing Eli’s pain and his own in order to understand and forgive."
- Run Fast: How to Beat Your Best Time Every Time by Hal Higdon. I love to run. I know that is sick. But I do. This book is helpful with motivational advice, creative ideas, and small vignettes. It can help you with a New Year's goal to get in shape or start moving. It motivated me. I have slowed down, not gotten faster. But the goal is to help you keep moving and motivated, not beat any world records.
- Intuitive Editing: A Creative and Practical Guide to Revising Your Writing by Tiffany Yates Martin is a great book for writers, editors, educators, and students.
- Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman. This is a great business book. It offers helpful advice on how to run a meeting, determine staffing, and strategically plan. I used some of the things in this book to help lead our pastoral staff, deacons, and elders this year. Many business people I know have used this book and the consulting and principles of EOS. Not everything relates to the church, and I would disagree with some concepts. However, for the most part, this is an excellent resource for organizational leadership.
- Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Cofounder by Kenny Moore. Again, I love to run. This year, I have run over 1000 miles. This book was inspirational. I personally also enjoyed it because it mentions other runners I have read about over the years. Another neat connection with the book is that my father ran with some of these athletes at the University of Minnesota. Bowerman was quite an individual from World War II, coaching the Olympics with terrorists, motivating great runners like Pre, developing modern training techniques, and inventing the modern running shoe.
- The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann. It is a page-turning, harrowing story of British naval history. It is incredible what people will do to survive. You won't be able to put the book down. It is a New York Times Bestseller. A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, TIME, Smithsonian, NPR, Vulture, Kirkus Reviews.
- What Is Reformed Theology?: Understanding the Basics by R.C. Sproul. This year, our pastors are teaching through part of this book. I found it to be a great resource, well-written, and biblical.
- A Passion for Souls: The Life of D. L. Moody by Lyle W. Dorsett. The other week, I checked out a book I thoroughly enjoyed: The Life of D.L. Moody: A Passion For Souls by Lyle W. Dorsett. I took several classes from Dorsett at Wheaton. He was one of my favorite professors. The book is 419 pages long, which allows you to get to know Moody and his family. It is inspiring and informative. D.L. Moody was a gifted communicator who effectively communicated vision and motivation. Although he could have turned his ability to work, sell, dream, and inspire to become a millionaire, he turned his gifts toward caring for the poor, starting three schools and a Christian publishing company, Christian music, and sharing the gospel with hundreds of thousands and thousands of people in America and England.
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