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.