My 2025 Favorites

As another year comes to a close, I’m continuing a tradition I started in 2009, listing my favorite books I read during the year and my favorite albums and movies of the year. I make these lists to help me remember what I’ve enjoyed, and I share them in case they help someone else discover something meaningful and good.

Favorite Books I Read in 2025

This year felt like a real abundance of good books, several of which came out of a book club I’m in, where we pick one work of fiction to read and discuss each month. My three favorite books I read this year came from it: Theo of Golden, Island of the World, and Watership Down. Through these stories, I was drawn into fascinating worlds and met strong but flawed characters who called me toward something better.

This year, I also made my way through all of Wendell Berry’s Port William stories. I’ve loved the journey and plan to revisit them often.

I’ve also tried to shift some of my reading habits based on sound advice from Alan Jacobs (from The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction). He encourages us to enjoy the book in front of us instead of reading simply to have read (I'm often guilty of this), to reread favorites instead of always chasing what could be great (I loved rereading East of Eden and Harry Potter this year), and to give up on books occasionally rather than forcing our way through (even though I'd heard great things, I gave up on Red Rising and Little Fires Everywhere about halfway through). 

Leaning into this has brought more freedom and enjoyment. Maybe one day I'll be able to heed his advice and stop making lists. Until then, these were my favorites I read this year:

Fiction

1. Theo of Golden by Allen Levi (2023) - brief review
2. Island of the World by Michael O'Brien (2007) - brief review
3. Watership Down by Richard Adams (1972)
4. The Wild Birds by Wendell Berry (1986) - brief review
5. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (2011)
6. The Monster in the Hollows by Andrew Peterson (2011)
7. The Warden and the Wolf King by Andrew Peterson (2014)
8. A Place in Time by Wendell Berry (2012) - brief review
9. A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin (1991)
10. Stoner by John Williams (1965)

Nonfiction

1. The Gift of Being Yourself by David Benner (2004) - brief review
2. Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe (2021) - brief review
3. The Mythmakers by John Hendrix (2024)
4. Steps by John Ortberg (2025) - brief review
5. Rembrandt Is in the Wind by Russ Ramsey (2022)
6. On Writing by Stephen King (2000)
7. The Life You Save May Be Your Own by Paul Elie (2003)
8. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845)
9. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (2005)
10. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs (2011)

Favorite Music of 2025

Like reading, I also found this year to be really good for music. My two favorite albums this year came from Jon Guerra and John Van Deusen. I’ve loved both artists for a while, but they've both outdone themselves.

Jon’s album has been such a gift to me since it came out earlier this year. It’s simple and beautiful, and the album as a whole carries a message I need: Do not worry or fear, for God loves you, will provide for you, is with you now, and will be with you always. And getting to see and connect with him at a small house show in April was a delight.

Then John Van Deusen dropped his latest in early October, and I’ve been listening to it nonstop since then. A review I highly recommend reading calls it “a unique, valuable, and tremendously earnest work of worship, one that stands out starkly from its peers.” I very much agree.

I created a playlist of my favorite songs of the year (Apple Music and Spotify). Below are my favorite albums and EPs:

Albums:

1. As Long As I Am In The Tent of This Body I Will Make A Joyful Noise, Pt. 1 by John Van Deusen
2. Jesus by Jon Guerra
3. Everything Must Go by Goose
4. m us eum by Citizens
5. This Is Not The End by The Gray Havens
6. 77 (Pt. 1) by Colony House
7. RUSHMERE by Mumford & Sons
8. When the War Is Over by JOHNNYSWIM
9. The Way of Love by Tenielle Neda
10. All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade by Of Monsters and Men

EPs:

1. Miracle Service by Andy Squyres
2. MATIN: Home by Jess Ray
3. Living is proof. by Citizens
4. The Great Exchange by Will Carlisle
5. Asaph’s Arrows II by Kings Kaleidoscope

Favorites on the Screen of 2025

I didn’t watch much TV this year, with the exception of the second season of Severance, which was pretty good. Below are my favorite movies and docs I watched from this year:

Movies:

1. The Ballad of Wallis Island
2. Hamnet
3. Sentimental Value
4. One Battle After Another
5. Train Dreams
6. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
7. Superman
8. Souleymane’s Story
9. Roofman
10. David

Docs:

1. Billy Joel: And So It Goes 
2. It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley
3. Look & See: Further
4. Counting Crows: Have You Seen Me Lately?

Favorites from 2024

Favorites from 2023

Favorite Books from 2022

Favorite Content from 2021

Favorite Content from 2020

My Favorites in 2024

I love reading end of the year lists (David Zahl, Brett McCracken, Ross Byrd have been my favorites this year) and I always enjoy creating and sharing them myself. Here are my favorite things from 2024. 

Favorite Music of 2024

Discovering and listening to new music has waned for me over the years. I find myself listening to less overall and also listening to more from years past. Manchester Orchestra, Andrew Peterson, John Van Deusen, and Jess Ray were the artists I listened to the most. The last two had new albums this year that were great. 

These were my favorite albums of 2024:

1. Anthem Sprinter by John Van Deusen - I've come to really enjoy John's unique style and song-writing over the years. This isn't his best album, but it was the one I listened to and enjoyed the most this year. Favorite Songs: Before You Fade Away, Comeback Writer, Trebuchet. 
2. MATIN: Rest by Jess Ray - Jess has become a staple in our house and on car rides, especially after first seeing her live with Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb tour a few years ago. She had a few shorter albums released this year, but this was my favorite. Favorite songs: Morning Song, Lilies & Sparrows, His Eye is on the Sparrow
3. When I Was Younger (10 Years Later) by Colony House - This is technically the re-release of an album from 2014, but somehow I missed it back then so I'm counting it. A mixture of fun and sweeping epics. Favorite songs: Waiting for My Time to Come, Won't Give Up, Moving Forward, Lose Control

Favorite TV of 2024

Not much TV again this year, but I loved the latest season (5) of Fargo. I've enjoyed most seasons of Fargo, particularly 1-3, but this last season might be the best. Amazing cast and well-told story. And I agree with David Zahl, who says, "Those closing minutes rank up there with the most profound, well-earned, and well-executed grace notes I’ve seen televised this side of Friday Night Lights." 

We also watched the final season of The Crown (season 6). While solid, it was probably my least favorite season in a show that has been one of our favorites in recent years.

Favorite Movies I Watched This Year

I wasn't blown away by any movie this year (outside of re-watching a couple of older movies, Arrival and Magnolia). Typically, I get to the end of the year and have a few I thoroughly enjoyed and several I'm anticipating seeing. That's not really the case this year, but these were the movies from the last two years that I appreciated and enjoyed the most:

1. Anatomy of a Fall (2023)
2. The Wild Robot (2024)
3. Wicked (2024)
4. Perfect Days (2024)

Favorite Books I Read This Year

As the previous categories were lower in numbers, this one was higher than normal as I was able to read more this year than any other (55 books). And my love of reading continues to grow, thankfully, due to some really wonderful books out there. 

I'm near the end of my multi-year journey through all of Eugene Peterson's books and I'm back in to Wendell Berry (his fiction, essays, & poetry) after taking a few years off. I ending up reading three books about sailing adventures/disasters and as a family, we made it through 2.5 books of Andrew Peterson's great Wingfeather Saga. And one of my favorite discoveries of the year was Libby, where I can borrow books that get delivered straight to my Kindle (where I do about 30% of my reading)! Not sure how I missed that before.

Here are my favorite books that I read this year:

Top 10:

1. The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry (1974) - My seventh of Berry's Port William fictional series, and probably my second favorite behind Jayber Crow. Through his writing, Berry helps reshape my imagination by depicting the beauty of being rooted to a place, interconnected in community, along with all the pain and joy of life (brief review)
2. Endurance by Alfred Lansing (1959) - About the incredible voyage of Ernest Shackleton and his men trying to reach the South Pole in the early 1900s, this is now one of my favorite narrative non-fiction books. I was mesmerized by the perseverance of these men in the face of such hardship. And I loved the leadership of Shackleton, whose confidence was said to "set men's souls on fire." (brief review)
3. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (2013) - I never saw the movie and I'm not sure I want to now. This book was so good on it's own. I've thought about it a lot since reading it early this year, about the beauty and pain of rowing, about the camaraderie, synchronization, and trust needed to row with excellence, about the personal adversity many of these young men went through, and about the incredible feat they all pulled off together. 
4. Faith, Hope, and Carnage by Nick Cave (2022) - Before this book, I had little knowledge of Nick Cave. And in trying to listen to a few of his songs early on, I discovered his voice and musical style were not really for me. However, Nick's thoughts and story in this book, which is a series of interviews between Nick and journalist Sean O'Hagan, changed all that. The Red Hand Files is now one of my favorite newsletters and I've loved listening to his 2019 album Ghosteen, the album he wrote shortly after his son Arthur tragically died. Nick has profound thoughts about grief's role in our lives, how pain can draw us to God, the transcendent power of music, and the wonder and preciousness of life.
5. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt (2024) - After The Righteous Mind and The Coddling of the American Mind, this is my third Haidt book and I consider them all must reads. This one is a must read for parents of young kids. Here, he's discussing how Gen Z has become the anxious generation because of how phones and social media dominated their childhood. I appreciate how he insightfully diagnoses the problem, but doesn't leave the reader without hope as he provides four clear reforms we can collectively take to reverse the trend. And I love that how this book is tangibly making any impact around the world.
6. What Are People For? by Wendell Berry (1990) - An excellent collection of essays by one of my favorite writers. The strongest essays are in the last half of the book: Economy and Pleasure, The Pleasures of Eating, The Work of Local Culture, Why I am not Going to Buy a Computer, and Feminism, The Body, and the Machine. (brief review)
7. Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer (2000) - A great, short book on understanding our vocation, what we were meant to bring to the world. I love how Palmer calls out the difference between our ego, that looks for identity and vocation externally, and our true self, a deep identity rooted in the image of God within each of us. Instead of asking ‘What ought I to do with my life?, he encourages us to ask 'Who am I?'. This deep self-understanding can lead to a fuller life for yourself and others, echoing what Frederick Buechner says about vocation, "the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need."
8. Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer (2024) - I think I slightly preferred Comer’s previous two books (Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, Live No Lies), but there was a lot of good stuff here. Great thoughts on how spiritual formation happens and the importance of paying attention to the way of Jesus’s life. I think what I’ll remember most is how Comer defines contemplation as looking at God, looking at you, in love.
9. Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne (2010) - After re-reading Lonesome Dove this year, this was a great read to better understand the context for the creation of the Texas Rangers and why the Comanches were so feared. This book does a good job of describing the complicated history of Americans displacing natives from their land out west while also showing the brutality that the Comanches displayed in pushing back against this effort, in large part due to their mastery of being able to fight while on horseback. 
10. How Far to the Promised Land by Esau McCaulley (2023) - beautifully written and moving memoir.

Next 10:

    11. Home by Marilynne Robinson (2008)

    12. Remaking the World by Andrew Wilson (2023)

    13. A World Lost by Wendell Berry (1996)

    14. The Angel Knew Papa and the Dog by Douglas Kaine McKelvey (1996)

    15. Habits of the Household by Justin Earley (2021)

    16. Bury the Chains by Adam Hochschild (2005)

    17. In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick (2000)

    18. Tell It Slant by Eugene Peterson (2008)

    19. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (2020)

    20. Lila by Marilynne Robinson (2014)

Favorite Books I Re-read This Year

1. Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry (2000) - I think re-reading this for the 2nd time cemented this as my favorite book ever. I love the world and characters Berry creates here. It's hard to read this book and not want to give up on the hurriedness of our technology-saturated lives, to be immersed in a more restful existence, where community and the land hold more value, and where "getting ahead" is rarely considered.
2. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (1985) - This one is also of my favorite books. McMurtry's writing style is simple yet he's created characters here that are relatable, flawed, and have great depth. It's a remarkable book about friendship, relational longing, and being on mission together. 
3. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard (1974) - I appreciated this more the 2nd time through, but to quote an NYT review, "I honestly do not know what she is talking about at...times." I do love how she marvels at the world around her and encourages the reader to pay attention to the beauty, intricacy, and extravagance of the world around us.

Favorites from 2023

Favorite Books from 2022

Favorite Content from 2021

Favorite Content from 2020

My Favorites in 2023

As another year comes to a close, I'm here again doing one of my favorite things: compiling a list of my favorite books and other media I enjoyed during the year and sharing it with others. See below for my favorites in 2023.

Favorite Album of the Year

I didn't listen to a lot of new music this year. The only stand-out album for me was Jon Guerra's Ordinary Ways. While I didn't love at as much as his album Keeper of Days from 2020, it was still excellent. 

Favorite TV of the Year

I also didn't watch a lot of TV this year, but I thoroughly enjoyed the latest seasons of The Bear and The Crown.

Favorite Movies I Watched This Year (from the last two years)

I was able to watch a few more movies this year than I typically do, including playing catch up on some great movies from last year. Here are my favorites:

1. Living (2023)
2. Past Lives (2023)
3. Oppenheimer (2023)
4. Tar (2022)
5. The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
6. The Holdovers (2023)
7. Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
8. Glass Onion (2022)

Favorite Books I Read This Year

I was not as diligent at keeping up with book reviews this year, so I'll be abstaining from having a dedicated post for my favorite books. However, I was still able to get to 46 books and enjoyed quite a few. Here are my favorite books that I read this year: 

1. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk (2014) - brief review
2. The Genesis of Gender by Abigail Favale (2022) - brief review
3. Living Into Focus by Arthur Boers (2012) - brief review
4. Remembering by Wendell Berry (1988)
5. Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson (2004)
6. Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck (1962)
7. Surrender by Bono (2022)
8. The Other Half of Church by Jim Wilder & Michel Hendricks (2020) - brief review
9. A Testament of Devotion by Thomas Kelly (1941) - brief review
10. How to Stay Married by Harrison Scott Key (2023)
11. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (2014)
12. Timothy Keller by Colin Hansen (2023)
13. Where the Light Fell by Philip Yancey (2021)
14. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (2009)
15. Under the Unpredictable Plant by Eugene Peterson (1992)
16. A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan (2023)
17. The Second Mountain by David Brooks (2019)
18. Anam Cara by John O’Donohue (1997)
19. Mansions of the Heart by Thomas Ashbrook (2009) - brief review
20. The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor (1971)

Favorite Books from 2022

Favorite Content from 2021

Favorite Content from 2020

I will miss Tim Keller

I had the opportunity to meet Tim Keller on Easter Sunday 2009. I was visiting New York City with some good friends, and after his sermon, I walked up on stage to introduce myself, thank him for his ministry, and thank him in particular for how his 2002 sermon "Blessed Self-Forgetfulness" had been life-changing for me. What I most remember about that interaction is that after I said who I was, he stopped to spell my last name, to see if he could get it right (he did). 

Over the last 19 years, Tim had become one of my heroes. His teaching, through his books and sermons, had a profound impact on me. His Galatians study opened my eyes to the pervasiveness of idolatry in my own life and the bounty of God's grace. His Prodigal God sermon and book helped me understand God's love in a deeper way. His book on marriage was a helpful primer as Lauren and I began our life together. And more recently, I've appreciated his articles on race & justice, the state of the church in this post-Christian world, and his insights into not aligning the Christian faith with a political party. 

But I think it's something beyond his teaching and wisdom that I most appreciated about him. When I learned about his death on Friday, through tears, I began reading different people's stories of their own interactions with Tim. Over and over, I read about the same self-forgetfulness that he preached about and even modeled with me in our brief interaction in 2009. 

I think this is what I'll miss most about him, his way of being in the world. The way he seemed to go out of his way to care about others and encourage them. The way he handled criticism with grace. The way fame and success did not seem to de-form him. The way he winsomely spoke about Jesus to skeptics. Traits that are rarer than they should be. 

I will miss his voice and presence in the world. And I'll be forever grateful for his well-lived life. 

Favorite Books I Read in 2022

Curating this end of the year 'favorite books' list is a labor of love. I don't always enjoy taking the time to review books as I read them, because I often have trouble trying to summarize why I liked a book. However, I am always thankful for my past self for doing so, not just so I can more easily put together this list, but also because I would have a hard time remembering why I was impacted by some of my favorite books otherwise (my memory, sadly, is not quite what I wish it was).

And I also enjoy sharing book recommendations with others, in part because of how much I have benefited from others' lists of recommended books. With that said, see below my favorite books I read in 2022:

1. Run With the Horses by Eugene Peterson (1983)

I didn't want this book to end. Such profound wisdom and a compelling vision of a life of faith. By looking at the life and work of Jeremiah, Peterson reminds us that crowds, celebrity, and success are poor indicators of a life well lived. As he says, "There is little to admire and less to imitate in the people who are prominent in our culture. We have celebrities but not saints. Famous entertainers amuse a nation of bored insomniacs". We're reminded that to be truly human, to be truly alive, is to start with and center ourselves in God, who "knows us and reveals to us the truth of our lives."

Quote: “The larger the crowd, the smaller our lives…If we can’t do it well, we make it larger. We add dollars to our income, rooms to our houses, activities to our schedules, appointments to our calendars. And the quality of life diminishes with each addition. On the other hand, every time that we retrieve a part of our life from the crowd and respond to God’s call to us, we are that much more ourselves, more human. Every time we reject the habits of the crowd and practice the disciplines of faith, we become a little more alive.”

2. Sacred Fire by Ronald Rolheiser (2017)

Such a magnificent book and one that I needed to read, especially since I've recently approached midlife. Rolheiser writes about what it looks like to move beyond what he calls Essential Discipleship (the struggle to get our lives together) and move towards Mature Discipleship (the struggle to gives our lives away) and eventually to Radical Discipleship (the struggle to give our deaths away). He's helping to call us further up and further in, to move from activity to contemplation, from doing to being, and ultimately to a deeper, richer intimacy with God.

Rolheiser presented several helpful ideas that will continue to stick with me. He calls us to ponder (transforming and purifying tension/sin) instead of being amazed (mindlessly letting the energy of the crowd flow through). He points out that the lack of silence and solitude in our lives is turning us into people who are "not very deep: not bad, just busy; not immoral, just distracted", and how prayer is the antidote to our restlessness. And finally, he talks about how the mark of maturity is blessing others, delighting in them, giving away some of our lives that others might have more life.

3. Open by Andre Agassi (2009)

I love tennis and I grew up watching Agassi and Sampras, but I was not prepared to love this book as much as I did. I was fascinated by how Agassi's outward persona was often completely misunderstood by others and was much different from the reality of his interior world. It surprised me to learn how much he hated tennis, though it made more sense after learning about the immense pressure his father put on him to succeed. I appreciated his vulnerability about his flaws and the way his pain eventually helped him identify with and seek to alleviate the suffering of others.

Quote: "But fame is a force. It’s unstoppable. You shut your windows to fame and it slides under the door...I marvel at how unexciting it is to be famous, how mundane famous people are. They’re confused, uncertain, insecure, and often hate what they do. It’s something we always hear—like that old adage that money can’t buy happiness—but we never believe it until we see it for ourselves."

4. Invitation to a Journey by Robert Mulholland (1992)

I decided to read this book after hearing that it was John Mark Comer's favorite book on spiritual formation. It did not disappoint. Having read a decent amount in the area of spiritual formation and spiritual disciplines, I was surprised by how much I learned and was helped by Mulholland's somewhat unique take on spiritual formation, namely, that it is a process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others.

I really appreciated this emphasis ("for the sake of others") as the church, me included, has unfortunately been discipled in the mindset of individualism, thinking our spiritual growth happens mostly between me and Jesus, instead of being worked out in community and for community. As Mulholland says, “There can be no wholeness in the image of Christ which is not incarnate in our relationships with others.”

5. A Burning in My Bones by Winn Collier (2021)

Ever since reading my first Eugene Peterson book two years ago, and then making the decision to start reading all of his books, he has become a hero of mine. In this biography, Winn Collier added to my fascination and appreciation for how Peterson lived his life. It's a life not without faults, but one that was uniquely gripped by God. He was someone who "longed to be more and fully human, following in the way of Jesus" and who didn't want to settle for minimalist spirituality, but instead asked questions like: "Why not be a saint? Why stop with getting rescued from hell? Why not start exploring heaven?”

Quote: “Eugene had an insatiable desire for the real, the concrete. Past any pretenses. Deeper than the surface. Beyond everything trite or theoretical. Eugene was always searching, always open to more, always on a quest for things that were true and solid. Eugene always had more questions…than answers. This is one reason Eugene was so (frustratingly) reluctant to dispense advice, why he so detested celebrity: he knew these postures of the ego-driven expert were lies and illusions. And this is why Eugene would rather pray with someone than argue theology.”

6. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (1987)

I knew (or remembered) next to nothing about the battle of Gettysburg before reading this book. I was hooked from the beginning. The narrative nonfiction style made it an engaging read and I appreciated Shaara having each chapter from the perspective of one man and how he rotated between North and South. Shaara seemed to stay away from caricatures and instead provided a nuanced depth to several men on both sides of the fight, evoking empathy for most men involved. I loved the strategy, the acts of bravery, and the camaraderie on display.

Quote: “This is a different kind of army. If you look at history you’ll see men fight for pay, or women, or some other kind of loot. They fight for land, or because a king makes them, or just because they like killing. But we’re here for something new…this hasn't happened much in the history of the world, We’re an army going out to set other men free.” - Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain 

7. Middlemarch by George Eliot (1872)

Great writing. Great story. It's now one of my favorite Victorian era novels (after Jane Eyre). Eugene Peterson's recommendation of the book (in his fantastic book of book recommendations "Take and Read") is what initially piqued my interest in this work. He says, "The tangle of spiritual intimacy and vocational pride that is the worm in the apple of the Christian life is diagnostically narrated here in an unforgettable story."

Eliott created such interesting characters, by creating great tension in them all, including in my favorite character, Dorothea. At the beginning of Terrence Malick's beautiful film, A Hidden Life, he starts the movie with one of my (now) favorite quotes, coming from this book. I kept wondering when I'd see it and it ended up being in the perfect spot, at the end. It's summarizing both the character and impact of Dorothea on the residents of Middlemarch:

Quote: "Her finely touched spirit had still its fine issues, though they were not widely visible. Her full nature, like that river of which Cyrus broke the strength, spent itself in channels which had no great name on the earth. But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for 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."

8. Answering God by Eugene Peterson (1989)

All of Peterson's books I've read so far are either directly or indirectly about prayer. And in Working the Angles, he helpfully articulated the idea that prayer is answering speech, a response to God's initiating first word. It's this idea that he takes up more fully in Answering God, helping us see how the Psalms train us in how to answer.

In this book, Peterson continues to stretch my imagination for what prayer is. He says that we won't find in the Psalms ideas about God or direction for moral conduct, but instead will "find the experience of being human before God exposed and sharpened.” Like most poetry, the Psalms "drag us into the depth of reality itself" and give us language for seeking after the best, what we most long for. And he gives clear, practical advice for how we are to mature in prayer, as most Christians in most times have done: "open our Bibles to the book of Psalms and pray them – sequentially, regularly, faithfully, across a lifetime."

Quote: “Prayer is the developing of speech into maturity…This conversation is both bold and devout – the utterly inferior responding to the utterly superior. In this exchange we become persons. The entire life of faith is dialogue. By means of the Psalms we find our voice in the dialogue. In prayer we do not merely speak our feelings, we speak our answers.”

9. Soul Survivor by Philip Yancey (2003)

I love biographies and I love hearing how people I admire are shaped by others, so this book was in my wheelhouse. With each chapter, Yancey outlines the uniqueness of each mentor and how they left an indelible impression on his life. I had not heard of some (Brand, Coles, Koop), knew just a little about others (Gandhi, Donne, Dillard, Buechner, Endo) and had already been positively impacted by the rest (MLK Jr., Chesterton, Tolstoy/Dostoevsky, Nouwen). All chapters were insightful and I appreciated the lessons along the way: love in the face of unjust suffering, the origin and purpose of pleasure, the grace and mystery of life, joy in being with the outcast, and the beauty and terror of nature.

Yancey closes with this recommendation: “Make a list of the people who have shaped your life for the better, and try to figure out why.” I think that's great advice.

10. The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt (2018)

A fascinating book about three core lies" dominating our culture right now - 1) We are fragile, 2) Your feelings should always be trusted, 3) Life is a battle between good and evil people - and how those lies are wreaking havoc on our education system, our polities, and the younger generations. The authors do a great job summarizing how these "untruths" are the opposite of wisdom and how they have created a culture of safetyism, where words you disagree with are seen as violence.

Years ago, I was blown away by Haidt's The Righteous Mind, because it did such a good job explaining why people think the way that they do - essentially, our tribal tendencies lead us to use our minds to justify our feelings, desires, decisions - and how that plays out in religion and politics. This book draws on some of this work, but I appreciated how it also draws on the work of Nassim Taleb, with the concept of anti-fragility, and on the psychological framework of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). And as a parent, it was good to be reminded of the importance of free unsupervised play for our kids and not sheltering them from all possible risk and pain.

Quote: “Many university students are learning to think in distorted ways, and this increases their likelihood of becoming fragile, anxious, and easily hurt ... what people choose to do in their heads will determine how those real problems affect them.”

Honorable Mentions:

The God of the Garden by Andrew Peterson (2021)

The Brothers K by David James Duncan (2010)

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016)

The Contemplative Pastor by Eugene Peterson (1989)

How to Inhabit Time by James K.A. Smith (2022)

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque (1928)

Where Your Treasure Is by Eugene Peterson (1985)

Sapiens by Yuval Harari (2015)

Reversed Thunder by Eugene Peterson (1988)

The Way of the Heart by Henri Nouwen (1981)

Past Years:

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011