My Favorite Reading 2010-2020

Russell Moore published a list of the best books of the last 20 years. I liked that list better than most end of year reading lists because what I think is important right now and what is actually important and lasting are often different. Instead of a list of what I've read this year, I thought I'd list my favorite books of the last 10 years. Several of them were written in the time period, others were written a long time ago. Either way, these are books I think about or recommend often.

  • Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry. I really enjoy novels like this that only makes sense when you've read the last lines. Those last lines tie everything together.
  • The Children of Men by P.D. James. I loved the movie, and then read the book and fell in love with it. I talk about it often. And I always intend to reread this at Christmas.
  • The Pastor by Eugene Peterson. This is a really important book for me in thinking about pastoring. I love this. 
  • Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This series is like mirror held up to our society. It exaggerates what is really going on and screams at us to pay attention. 
  • In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. I really enjoyed the attention paid to different types of food systems and how that affects both food and people. Plus, Pollan is a good writer.
  • Simply Jesus by N.T. Wright. I fell in love with Jesus all over again reading this. He has written more important books, but when I think about his books, this is my favorite and the one I recommend all the time.
  • Gospel by J.D. Greear. I love this book. It is so important because I am prone to think that God's love is conditional. Greear describes this as "Tim Keller for dummies." That's probably a good description.
  • Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. I quoted from this last week without knowing it. My wife was like, "That's in Pilgrim's Progress!"
  • The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat. I cried reading this book. I often wondered where it was all going because it was so long, but like a good story I got invested and rooted for the different characters.
  • Systematic Theology by John Frame. This is just a rich book with so much to think about. Read this one 5-6 pages at a time.
For fun reading, I always love Daniel Silva, Tarquin Hall, Malcolm Gladwell, Michael Lewis, and Erik Larsen. They have each written several good books in the last 10 years. 

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