“A room without books is like a body without a soul.” – Cicero
My 2023 reading list has finally been tallied and it contains 97 books read in the past year. Though electronic media dominates, there is a special value to the slower pace and tactile experience of reading a book. For pleasure or knowledge, the engagement of mind (and soul) and eyes and fingertips with the paper and the binding and the slipcover creates a bond with yourself and the ideas contained within. This intimacy is also why bad books are especially offensive to us; the personal investment we’ve made in the selection and the purchase and the preparation to read the book spins up our expectations to the point where bad writing is an insult. One of the most valuable permissions that I’ve received in life is to not finish books. Life is brief and forcing yourself to finish something that turns out to be of little value is a waste of your time. Pass the book on and select another from the ever-growing pile of yet-to-be-reads.
I purchase a good many of my books used (yea Thriftbooks!). Apart from saving money, the book you receive has a story to tell. Many have never been read, like they had been languishing in someone else’s yet-to-be-read pile before being abandoned. The dust jacket may have a faded spine, but you still get to enjoy the satisfaction of opening the covers for the first time, feeling that resistance as the cover and spine loosen up for the first time, ready to share the author’s insights with an excited reader. It’s a delight to receive copies used by note-takers like myself. Do I agree or disagree with the marginalia? I’ve discovered heartfelt prayers and prayer lists in the front and back covers from and for people I’ll never meet but I feel apart of as I read them, wondering how they were answered. Few underline with pencil and ruler as I do. Some freehand with ballpoint pen, or worse, use garishly colored highlighters. Here too is a telling practice. When nearly every sentence is highlighted, which of the author’s thoughts were truly valuable?
“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.” – Henry David Thoreau
I record each book in my journal as I complete it, writing the date of completion and my rating in the front cover before placing it into my library. My rating system is simple. Books rated 5 of 5 are the best, memorable pieces of writing that deserve to be read, notated if applicable and thought about. Those rated as 4s are also worthy of reading and notation, but perhaps just once. Threes are just good books and there an awful lot of those. Those rated as 2 or below come with a warning. Don’t waste your time. Also, don’t ask to borrow these books as they do not have a home in my library. You will notice a handful of books at the top of the list rated as 10. These are invaluable books and ideas that I would recommend to anyone and everyone interested in their topics. You’ll notice a number of titles in the list followed by a notation like (2x). This means that the book was reread during the year. How many books do you have that fall in that category?
| Title | Author | Rating |
| Fresh Encounter (3x) | Blackaby | 10 |
| The Gospel Precisely (2x) | Bates | 10 |
| Why the Gospel? (2x) | Bates | 10 |
| Missional Church | Gudder | 10 |
| Be My Witnesses | Gudder | 10 |
| No Easy Road (2x) | Eastman | 5 |
| Simply Good News (3X) | Wright | 5 |
| King Jesus Gospel | McKnight | 5 |
| Becoming the Gospel (2x) | Gorman | 5 |
| A Praying Church (2x) | Miller | 5 |
| The Mission of God | Wright | 5 |
| Bearing God’s Name | Imes | 5 |
| How to Hear God | Greig | 5 |
| A Community Called Atonement | McKnight | 5 |
| Fan the Flame | Cymbala | 4 |
| The Travelers Gift | Andrews | 4 |
| 48 Laws of Spiritual Power | Viola | 4 |
| Smarty Brevity | Vande Hei | 4 |
| Sin, The Savior and Salvation | Lightner | 4 |
| The Grace Message | Farley | 4 |
| The Coffee Bean | Gordon | 4 |
| Church Revitalizer as Change Agent | Cheyney | 4 |
| The Psychology of Money | Housel | 4 |
| Salvation by Allegiance Alone (2x) | Bates | 4 |
| Romans ZECNT | Thielman | 4 |
| Beautiful Resistance | Tyson | 4 |
| Revitalize (2x) | Davis | 4 |
| How to Start a Riot | Storment | 4 |
| Courage is Calling | Holiday | 4 |
| Creating a Missional Culture (2x) | Woodward | 4 |
| Missional Theology (2x) | Franke | 4 |
| Missional Renaissance (2x) | McNeal | 4 |
| Subversive Mission | Greenfield | 4 |
| Flickering Lamps | Blackaby | 4 |
| Case for Keto | Taubes | 4 |
| Status and Culture | Marx | 4 |
| Built from Scratch | Marcus | 4 |
| 6 Habits of Growth | Burchard | 4 |
| Punk Paradox | Graffin | 4 |
| How I Built This | Raz | 4 |
| The Perfectionists | Winchester | 4 |
| Measure of a Man | Getz | 4 |
| The Permanent Revolution | Hirsch | 4 |
| The Faith of Leap | Frost | 4 |
| Radical Praying and Preaching | Ravenhill | 4 |
| Cues | Van Edwards | 4 |
| The Power of Group Prayer | Carney | 3 |
| Can These Bones Live (2x) | Henard | 3 |
| Mercy | Baldacci | 3 |
| Enjoy Your Prayer Life | Reeves | 3 |
| Our Iceberg is Melting | Kotter | 3 |
| Racing the Light | Crais | 3 |
| Longing for Revival (2x) | Choung | 3 |
| Praying for One Another (2x) | Getz | 3 |
| Prayer | Bunyon | 3 |
| Go | Hunter | 3 |
| Bully Pulpit | Kruger | 3 |
| Passion in the Pulpit | Vines | 3 |
| How to Change | Milkman | 3 |
| The Magnificent Journey | Smith | 3 |
| Put Your In the Chair | Pressfield | 3 |
| Life Together in Christ | Barton | 3 |
| The Eye Test | Jones | 3 |
| Habits | Sincero | 3 |
| There’s Hope | McIntosh | 3 |
| What About Lordship Salvation | Bing | 3 |
| Romans BECNT | Schreiner | 3 |
| Investigating Lordship Salvation | Weierbach | 3 |
| Hearing God’s Voice | Blackaby | 3 |
| Faithful Faith | Moore | 3 |
| Breaking the Curse | Kinner | 3 |
| Introducing the Missional Church (2x) | Roxburgh | 3 |
| No Plan B | Child | 3 |
| The Mission of Theology & Theology as Mission | Kirk | 3 |
| The Church’s Mission | Leeman | 3 |
| Storyworthy | Dicks | 3 |
| Insights on Communion | Renner | 3 |
| City on Fire | Winslow | 3 |
| Come to the Table | Hicks | 3 |
| The Present Future (2x) | McNeal | 3 |
| Knowing Christ | Fargo | 3 |
| It’s Not How Good You Are | Arden | 3 |
| The PARA Method | Forte | 3 |
| Prayer Revolution | Smed | 3 |
| Gather God’s People | Croft | 3 |
| Sentness (2x) | Hammond | 3 |
| Holy Spirit | Young | 3 |
| Into the Void | Butler | 3 |
| Soundtracks | Acuff | 3 |
| The Lighthouse Effect | Pemberton | 3 |
| Hunting Leroux | Shannon | 3 |
| Free Billy | Winslow | 3 |
| Help Thanks Wow | Lamott | 3 |
| Freaky Deaky | Leonard | 3 |
| The Upper Room Discourse | Henry | 2 |
| Lifeless to New Life | Brown | 2 |
| Greatness Mindset | Howes | 2 |
LOVE | ACCEPT | FORGIVE 