2021 Reading List
2021 was the first year I kept a record of the books I read throughout the year. It was a fun project in that when I started, I couldn’t even guess how many books I read each year. This year I read 81 books: 28 fiction, 53 non-fiction (44 of which fall into the category of Christian/Biblical Studies/Theology). Once I had the list…I didn’t really know what to do with it, so I decided to write a sentence on each (81 paragraphs felt too daunting) though I recognize this is horribly unfair to the authors of the covered works. I also learned, I should have been doing this all along, rather than trying to remember/review all of the books at the end! So here’s my list, but first, my favorites!
Best Book - Stewards of Eden - Richter
Best Novel - House on Endless Waters - Elon
(runners up - The Beekeeper of Aleppo; The Madonnas of Leningrad)
Best Non-fiction - The Truths We Hold - Kamala Harris
Best Theology Books (runners up) Simply Trinity; Unveiling Paul’s Women
Shadows in Paradise - Erich Remarque - Remarque is my favorite author. Not sure how many times I have read this one but it’s still good!
Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes - Bailey - First Bailey book I’ve read. Some helpful insights by a deeply informed thinker.
The Coffee Trader - David Liss - Liss writes excellent historical fiction - this was my least favorite of all his books.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Theology of a Preaching Life - Michael Pasquarello - I don’t know why but I’ve never really gotten into Bonhoeffer’s writing. This was a helpful perspective looking at him as a preacher.
Who’s Tampering with the Trinity - Millard Erickson - Erickson is great and this is a helpful, balanced look at the Eternal Functional Subordination debate within trinitarian theology.
Reading Scripture Canonically - Mark Gignilliat - A great reminder that some people are WAY smarter than me.
Cloud Splitter - Russell Banks - I am fascinated by John Brown. An excellent work of historical fiction from the perspective of his son.
Mattimeo - Brian Jacques - Enjoyed Jacques as a kid. Enjoying it again reading aloud with my son.
The Truths We Hold - Kamala Harris - One of the best books I read this year!
Paul and the Power of Grace - John Barclay - Really good! Pauline studies will be forever marked by this work!
Pont Neuf - Max Byrd - Uhh apparently I read this because I wrote it down.
The Night Watch - Sarah Waters - Usually if I make it halfway through a book I consider myself pot committed and finish it. This one was an exception.
The Bridge of Sighs - Olen Steinhauer - This was a pretty engaging mystery….I think.
The Mission of God - Christopher J.H. Wright - An important work! A bit too long, but it’s hard to write a short, comprehensive biblical theology.
Unveiling Paul’s Women - Lucy Peppiatt - Peppiatt is my new favorite biblical scholar!
Simply Trinity - Barrett - At times a bit dense, but really good on a wide range of trinitarian issues. So good I read it twice.
Walking With the Wind - John Lewis - I mean, come on, it’s John Lewis!
Still Christian - David Gushee - A fascinating read by a man who thinks wisely about the Christian faith. I agree with a lot, I disagree with a lot.
He Descended to the Dead - Matthew Emerson - I sort of wish all theology books were like this.
The Conspiracy of Paper - David Liss - A great one, I like Liss.
Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes - O’Brien and Richards - This one was sort of a miss for me. Some good points but some of the application fell flat for me.
The Count of Monte Cristo - Dumas - I read this one every spring. Still great!
The Tubman Command - Elizabeth Cobb - Well done historical fiction - takes lots of liberties but made for an action packed read.
Gender Roles and the People of God - Alice Mathews - A bit more surface level than what I was looking for but I recommend it if you are looking for a starting place.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll - Pretty strange but brought me back to my childhood. A fun family read.
The Day of Atonement - David Liss - What can I say, I like Liss.
Simply Jesus - N.T. Wright - Wright is simply one of the best. See what I did there?
The Splendid and the Vile - Larson - If you haven’t read anything by Larson, do yourself a favor.
What is the Mission of the Church? - DeYoung and Gilbert - Assumed I would disagree with this one going into it. Boy was I right! It’s good to read books you disagree with now and again.
Stewards of Eden - Sandra Richter - Hands down the best book I read this year. Finished it and started it all over again. Can’t remember the last time a book so effected the way I live.
D-Day Girls - Rose - I’ve read several books on the Allied female spy network. For my money, “A life in Secrets” by Helm is the best.
The 100 Year Old Man who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared - Jonasson - As fun as it sounds.
Three Day Road - Joseph Boyden - Powerful, at times hard to read WWI historical fiction.
The “Colored Hero” of Harper’s Ferry - Steven Lubet - I was going to like this one anyways because it was about John Brown’s rebellion but this is a work of nonfiction that reads like a novel.
Rejoice and Tremble - Michael Reeves - I really enjoyed Reeves’ “Delighting in the Trinity”. This one didn’t have the same impact on me.
40 Questions about Biblical Theology - DeRouchie, Martin, Nabelli - Some very helpful nuggets, at times a little too specific to be helpful.
Night Soldiers - Alan Furst - Not my cup of tea. I’ve tried several times to get into spy genre lit, just not my thing.
A Spectacle of Corruption - David Liss - Have I mentioned I like Liss?
Living the Gospel of Jesus Christ - ed. Mark Oxbrow and Tim Grass - Got this to read a paper by a contributing friend. A wonderful, learning experience for me in Orthodox Christianity.
The Clocks - Agatha Christie - I’m a sucker for a good Christie mystery. This remains a favorite.
The Card - Michael O’Keefe and Teri Thompson - A fascinating read which made me question everything about the legitimacy of the baseball card industry.
Stuck - Chris Grabenstein - A fun family read.
The Winter Guest - Pam Jenoff - Shouldn’t have waited so long to write a sentence about this one…
The Discipleship Gospel - Bill Hull and Ben Sobels - Not life changing for me but also very different from the type of books I normally gravitate towards.
Blood Brothers - Elias Chacour - A beautiful, redemptive, heart rending read. On Israeli-Palestinian relations I would also recommend Isaac Munther.
Let Justice Roll Down - John Perkins - Perkins is simply amazing! If you don’t know about him, educate yourself!
The Unseen Realm - Michael Heiser - Wow! This one will take some time to process. The short answer is I’m not convinced.
Son of Holmes - John Lescroart - Disappointing. Very not Doyle-esque.
The Madonnas of Leningrad - Debra Dean - One of the best novels I read this year. All of the over-used superlatives apply.
The Color of Compromise - Jemar Tisby - An important work but I fear that those who already agree would agree with this book and those who disagree would find it lacking.
The Mystery of the Blue Train - Agatha Christie - I mean I read a lot of Christie and I wrote this one down so I must have read it, but I have zero memory of doing so.
The Lost World of Genesis One - Walton - It’s probably been 15 years since I’ve interacted with Walton’s work. A thought-provoking exercise to do so again!
The Good Shepherd - Bailey - I so appreciate the perspective Bailey brings to the table, can’t say I always agree with his conclusions.
Jesus the Priest - Nick Perrin - Very academic work. I fear Perrin sacrifices (pun intended) some of the kingly aspects of both prophetic texts and Jesus to highlight the priestly.
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy - Really long.
Power in Weakness - Tim Gombis - Everyone else who read this seemed to love it, I sorta felt like its message was, “Paul was a Christian, you should be one too.” In my defense I don’t really read books like this.
At the Wolf’s Table - Rosella Postorino - Interesting to read this one along with “The Taster.” Both had high and low points.
Bullies and Saints - John Dickson - A fun and informative read. Excellent history and well balanced approach.
Narrative of Sojourner Truth - Truth - A must-read.
Salvation by Allegiance Alone - Bates - I put this one off for a while because everybody was reading it. Glad I finally joined the club!
Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved - Kate Bowler - Stumbled across this one and I’m so glad I did! Funny, witty, emotional, brilliant!
Welcome Holy Spirit - Gordon T. Smith - This was an introduction to Smith for me. So glad to know him!
The Gospel Precisely - Bates - A good short book that I fear is most helpful only if you’ve read a lot of long books.
The Collected Sermons of Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Ed. Isabel Best - Bonhoeffer had such a prophetic voice which still speaks today. He thinks in such different ways than I do that it was an important read.
House on Endless Waters - Emuna Elon - Picked this up just because I liked the title, so glad I did! Only book that made me cry this year.
With the Clouds of Heaven: Daniel in Biblical Theology - James Hamilton - More of an overview of Daniel than the theology I was hoping for.
The Taster - V.S. Alexander - See above on “At the Wolf’s Table.”
Year of Wonders - Geraldine Brooks - I really like Brooks. I took it as a good sign that I was finally mentally healthy enough to read her book about the plague.
The Secret of Chimneys - Christie - One of her more confusing books…who was that guy again?
Discovering Isaiah - Andy Abernethy - An excellent ‘prequal’ to Abernethy’s “The Book of Isaiah and God’s Kingdom.”
What Christ Thinks of the Church - Stott - I mean, is there anyone better than Stott?
The Challenge of Jesus - N.T. Wright - One of my favorites. I’ve read this one several times; alone, with one another, and now with a small group.
The Signature of All Things - Elizabeth Gilbert - At times brilliant…but only at times.
The Making of Biblical Womanhood - Beth Allison Barr - There’s a reason this book won awards this year. An excellent work of history and theology. Really helpful.
Abraham’s Silence - Richard Middleton - One of my great reading delights this year was being introduced to Middleton. He is a fascinating thinker. To comment merely on his thesis would be to miss the joy of interacting with his method.
The Trinity: An Introduction - Scott Swain - Not the best book I’ve read on the Trinity but it is short, accessible, and very helpful in defining several oft-used terms.
We the Fallen People - Robert Tracy - Another award winner. Really good history but the political theory was over my head.
The Kingdom of God and the Glory of the Cross - Patrick Schreiner - Very well done, a great overview of scripture but if it’s Kingdom of God you are looking for, I would recommend Nick Perrin.
The Beekeeper of Aleppo - Christy Lefteri - Another tear-jerker. A beautiful and painful narrative of the real world all around us.