The start of the stack for 2023
An Annual Tradition
Happy New year! This is always one of the most fun things to write every year. It doesn’t receive my best writing efforts and it probably isn’t the most insightful piece of prose I put together, but I love books. I love reading. So writing about what I’ve been reading is pretty easy to get excited about.
I don’t read as much as I would like; I think my reputation as a reader among my friends is overblown by the fact that I am always thinking about what I’ve read, so it spills into conversation constantly. But I have grown steadily in my reading over the years, and maybe I’ll put a post together someday on some of the strategies I use to help myself in that area of life. That’s not this post, though.
Caveats before we get to the goods; these aren’t books published in 2022 (for the most part); these are books I read in 2022. I also never count re-reads in my top 10, or this list would be cluttered with a lot of the same books year in and year out. There’s a reason I’m re-reading. Those books will fill the also top tier section.
Alsoly (as my son used to say): I only give each author one slot in the top 10; and the order of the top 10 is pretty much arbitrary.
#1: How to Be Free From Bitterness ; Jim Wilson
Probably the most spiritually helpful book I read all year. Not long or complicated, but absolutely soaked with Bible and down to earth application.
#2: Digital Minimalism ; Cal Newport
Newport challenges my thinking in so many areas, and I need to put more of his suggestions into practice. I’m slowly working through his books, this year I think I’ll tackle A World Without Email. But in Digital Minimalism he challenges the reader to quit using “do I get any benefit from ____?” when evaluating technology. We can almost always find some value. But, as an investment, is the particular tool or app or activity actually worth the time and energy it requires?
#3: Evangellyfish ; Douglas Wilson
I read or listened to quite a bit of Wilson this year (due in part to a friend gifting me a Canon+ subscription). Evangellyfish is the most insightful and best-written of his fiction books. They’re all fun, I always find Wilson to be a blast. But the “hero” in this book spends a good deal of time dealing with the sin in his own heart, in a way the heroes in Wilson’s other books simply don’t. I didn’t just enjoy this one, I walked away reflecting on the motivations of my own heart; which is the effect good fiction should have.
#4: 2 Samuel: Out of Every Adversity ; Dale Ralph Davis
Dale Ralph Davis commentaries are where I go when I want someone to preach the text to me as I’m prepping for the sermon. He deals with enough of the textual difficulties and historical background so that they don’t cause you to stumble as you read, but keeps his eyes laser focused on the heart of the text. Even when you disagree with where he finds the heart to be, you walk away edified.
#5: Wingfeather Saga: The Warden and the Wolf King ; Andrew Peterson
We went through this one twice this year - Andie read it to us as a family, and we listened to Andrew Peterson read it on our drive to Idaho. This whole series is just so. darn. good. If your only exposure is the Netflix series, you’re missing out. It’s cliché to say, but the books really are better. So much excitement, lots of clever sentences, and a beautiful meditation on John 12 disguised as a surprise ending.
#6: Where The Light Fell ; Philip Yancey
Yancey has long been one of my favorite writers, and this memoir only cements his place in my pantheon of “I wish I could write like that guy.” The subject matter is heartbreaking; his handling of that subject matter, exquisite.
#7: A Man Called Ove ; Frederick Backman
I’ve yet to encounter a Backman work I didn’t thoroughly enjoy. But Ove takes the cake. He is like a combination of every old man I have ever known. The Swedish film is a somewhat truncated, but still fun, rendition of the story. I’ll be curious to see how the Tom Hanks version (“A Man Called Otto”) turns out.
#8: The Moon is Always Round ; Jonathan Gibson
I don’t usually have picture books in my top 10, but I still haven’t read this one without getting choked up. If you have experienced the loss of a child in your family this book is such a gift.
#9: Maximize! ; Ron Klassen
Maybe I could be accused of sucking up here, because Ron is the executive director of the Rural Home Missionary Association, with whom Andie and I have privilege of serving. But I really don’t have the ability to suck up, and I’m just putting the book here because I was genuinely served by it. I read it at a time when I was very stressed out and discouraged in ministry; the hopeful and encouraging tone, along with the practical advice, were incredibly helpful to me.
#10: Survival and Resistance in Evangelical America ; Crawford Gribben
If you’ve been reading this newsletter long, you know that this book has occupied a lot of space in my brain in 2022. I imagine that will be the case in 2023 as well. It’s one of the few books I’ve ever purchased both eBook and real book versions of - if there were an audiobook I would have bought that, too. Not least because Crawford has a great voice for radio!
Also top tier (*denotes re-read)
Echoes of Exodus ; Alastair Roberts and Andrew Wilson
*Eats, Shoots and Leaves ; Lynn Truss
Adorning the Dark ; Andrew Peterson
*Wingfeather Saga #3: The Monster in the Hollows ; Andrew Peterson (I marked as a re-read because we read it once as a family, and then listened to the audiobook on a road trip to Illinois)
*Wingfeather Saga #2: North! Or be Eaten ; Andrew Peterson
Wingfeather Tales ; Andrew Peterson, ed.
Norse Mythology ; Neil Gaiman
How to Build a Healthy Church ; Mark Dever and Paul Alexander
A Son to Me: an Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel ; Peter Leithart
Reforming Joy ; Tim Chester
*The Great Divorce ; C.S. Lewis
*Perelandra ; C.S. Lewis
*Out of the Silent Planet ; C.S. Lewis
*The Hobbit ; J.R.R. Tolkien
*The Fellowship of the Ring ; J.R.R. Tolkien
Flags out Front ; Douglas Wilson
Ride, Sally, Ride ; Douglas Wilson
Gashmu Saith It ; Douglas Wilson
*Beowulf: A New Verse Rendering ; Douglas Wilson
Ploductivity ; Douglas Wilson
Angels in the Architecture ; Douglas Wilson and Douglas Jones
Ashtown Burials #1: Dragon’s Tooth ; N.D. Wilson
Ashtown Burials #2: Drowned Vault ; N.D. Wilson
Shepherding the Shepherd ; Lee Eclov
Anxious People ; Frederick Backman
Deeper ; Dane Ortlund
The 5 Masculine Instincts ; Chase Replogle
*Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, 4th Edition; Mark Dever (I’d read an earlier edition, this one is substantially revised and updated)
Martin Luther ; Herman Selderhuis
R. C. Sproul: A Life ; Stephen Nichols
Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome ; Barbara and R. Kent Hughes
Maybe not top tier…but definitely still worth your time
The New Testament in Antiquity, 2nd Edition ; Gary Burge and Gene Green
Darwin Devolves ; Michael Behe
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry ; Frederick Backman
Live Not By Lies ; Rod Dreher
Ernest Hemingway on Writing ; Ernest Hemingway
The Happy Rant ; Ted Kluck, Ronnie Martin, Barnabas Piper
Secular Creed ; Rebecca McLaughlin
*No Little Places ; Ron Klassen and John Koessler
Old Testament Theology ; Robin Routledge
We Go On ; John Onwuchekwa
Jesus on Every Page ; David Murray
The Gospel and Personal Evangelism ; Mark Dever
Deacons ; Matt Smethurst
If you really need more…
You can view everything I read over at my Goodreads page; I have brief reviews of most of these books, and many more.
Enjoying this newsletter? Please don’t forget to subscribe, and spread word. And feel free to hit me up with thoughts or questions, contact@willdole.com
Quotable
“If you want an indication of how much of the American gun problem is an American problem rather than a gun problem, consider the case of Switzerland, which arms its prime criminal demographic (men between the ages of 18 and 34) with splendid military weapons, which many of them keep at home, and which has a robust national shooting culture and millions of firearms in private hands. It also has a murder rate of approximately squat. Why? My answer is that Switzerland is full of Swiss people, and the United States of America is full of Americans—you know: maniacs.”
Kevin D. Williamson in his Wanderland newsletter
Things that make you, alternately, say “hm…” and “well…obviously”. https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/12/the-conspiracy-theories-were-real-and-other-revelations/