Books I Read in 2023

Another year has come and gone, and another book list is published. It’s the circle of life for a reader.

It’s funny to me that this annual list is among my most popular posts each year. You people like to know what I read!

Looking over this year’s list, I notice a few things. I added in some new interests, like science. I think that’s related to watching the entire series of The Big Bang Theory, which is a hilarious show. I also re-read several books from years past. Some of my reading was influenced by what I was working on at the time. I taught several seminars during the summer months, so I read several books on the topics. It’s neat to go back and remember what was going on in my life at the time. I also read more “big books” than normal. If you told my high school self that I would grow up and read things like this, my Sparknotes-For-Every-Assigned-Reading self would not have believed you.

Anyway, I hope you find some new things to read in this list. I have a rule with my personal library that you can borrow any book you want, but when you return it, you have to discuss the book with me. Maybe I’ll do the same with this list. If you read something off of it, let me know. I’d love to discuss it when you’re finished.

Now, a few notes before you get started:

• The list isn’t in any ranking. I look at what I read in chronological order and then put it in either the best or the rest category and list it here. So the last of the best is not the worst, just the last I read.

• My reading is a bit eclectic, as I think everyone’s should be. You’ll find works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and theology. You’ll find different thinkers and influences. It’s the way I like to read.

• I separate the list into “The Best” and “The Rest". By no means do I intend to communicate that “The Rest” aren’t good—quite the opposite. I try to be discerning about what I read. Life is too short not to be. But some books rise above the others. Maybe I leave some out of my best list that you would include. That’s what makes these lists so fun.

• “The Best” means the books I enjoyed the most this year. It doesn’t include re-reads, and some classics I read for the first time don’t make it. If they’re a classic, they should probably be on the list, but whatever. I reserve the right to like what I like, just as you do.

• Some of “The Rest” were re-reads, and many likely were on “The Best” lists of prior years. But since it’s not a new read for me, I don’t include them in “The Best.” So if you see one that you would think I would put in “The Best” section, it’s probably a re-read.

• If you have some book recommendations for me this year, leave a comment. I’m always on the lookout for a good read.

• All the links are Amazon affiliate links, so if you buy it from that link, I get some money from the purchase.

Now, on to the list!

The Best

I love Westerns. My family laughs at that. I make them watch old John Wayne movies with me. Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone and all the spin-offs are so entertaining to me. Surprisingly, my four-year-old daughter is the child who shares this interest the most. She loves to watch “the bad guys” receive their outlaw justice.

I don’t have a cowboy hat because, living in Nashville, I couldn’t wear one and not look like a tourist, but if I lived almost anywhere else, I’d wear one regularly. My family owns a 350-acre farm with about a hundred head of cattle. We have a farm hand who looks after them and, honestly, he has my dream job.

Instead, I read and watch Westerns. Thankfully, the Western has had a long, glorious run as a genre, and I don’t think it’ll die anytime soon.

The Sisters Brothers was one of the first books I read in 2023, and it was one of my favorites. It’s not a typical Western. It includes far more humor than most. The story is 100% Western, though. It’s plenty violent. It has the good guys and the bad guys, and it’s hard to tell who is who most of the time. If you’re looking for an entertaining novel, Western or not, this one will scratch that itch.

Christopher Watkin’s Biblical Critical Theory is the best book I read this year. I’ve recommended it to several people, and I plan to revisit it often. It’s a big book, but it doesn’t feel like it to me. Reading it, I didn’t want it to end. I wished it kept on exegeting our modern culture for a thousand more pages.

A lot of people might be turned off by the title, thinking it’s some woke thing. It’s not. Watkin helps us see that what we think we know about modern life and culture finds its grounding and reality in the Bible. The scriptures help us understand everything, and with Watkin’s guidance, we can start to understand that in new ways.

If you’re looking for a book that helps you understand our world through the eyes of the Bible, this is the book for you. Don’t be intimidated by its size or title. Instead, dive in head first. You’ll come out wiser than before.

There isn’t enough space to write about Tim Keller’s influence on me. I wrote a little about it on the day he died.

I was really looking forward to Colin Hansen’s “biography” of Keller since I first heard about it some time last year. I put biography in quotes because it’s not the kind of biography you’re used to. Yes, it tells the story of Keller’s life, but it is, fittingly, not Keller-centric. Rather than focusing on Keller himself, we learn about the people who influenced him. We see how he became who he was and how he was formed spiritually and intellectually.

It’s a brilliant idea. To understand a person, you have to understand the people that shaped them. From C.S. Lewis to Richard Lovelace to Edmond Clowney to Barbara Boyd, you get to see the minds that shaped the mind that touched the hearts of so many of us.

Rick Rubin’s career is a long list of greatest hits. He’s worked with everyone cool, Johnny Cash being, by far, the coolest. His creative instincts are matchless. So, when I saw he wrote a book about creativity, I knew I had to read it.

The book is broken into chapters by what Rubin calls “78 Rules of Thought.” He aims to get inside the internal dialogue of the creator where self-doubt and insecurity run rampant. If you’re a creator (which Rubin says we all are), you will enjoy this book.

When I picked this book up, I thought, “What a great idea for a book!” Generations are a bit difficult to pin down. Where does one end and another begin? I’m on the front edge of Millennials, but i don’t seem to resonate with those of my generation that came after me. Does that mean I’m not one of them?

Twenge helps us understand the differences between the generations. Starting with the Silent Generation, she takes us all the way up to babies today. Each generation has its own quirks. Each has a reaction to the ones before them. Some of these things are obvious. Some are more subtle. And for people like me, kind of in the middle between the boomers and the babies, this book helps me understand that large gap of people. Of course, not everyone falls into the stereotypical generational buckets, and Twenge knows that. But she helps us understand the cultural aspects that, in part, define each group. She takes us inside their thought life, their dreams and fears, their mindset and approach to life.

If you want to better understand the people around you, this is a book that will get you there.

If it wins a Pulitzer, it’s probably a pretty good book. Kingsolver’s novel Demon Copperhead is worthy of the prize. It’s the story of an Appalachian boy born into poverty in a culture addicted to opioids. His life is representative of so many like him. There are hopes and dreams that lift and inspire, and then there is the hard reality of life in the real world that brings you back down.

Piggybacking off Charles Dickens, Kingsolver transports the Victorian novel to the American South, showing that times haven’t changed much, even if many years have passed. It’s a story that sticks with you, as all great novels should.

Taxi. Cheers. Frasier. Friends. Will and Grace. Those are classic TV shows. Those were all directed by James Burrows. To direct one of those would make a career. Burrows did all those and more.

Sometimes, you just need a nice, light read about show business. I do, anyway. I like to sprinkle one in every now and then. I’m currently reading a book about The Big Bang Theory, which, as it just so happens, Burrows directed both pilots for (yes, there were two pilots, and they are vastly different from one another).

Burrows tells his story of becoming a director and stumbling into all these great shows. Part of his luck was the right place, right time kind of thing working in the golden ages of television. Nowadays, with so many streaming options, it’s hard to imagine a show reaching the heights of any of Burrows’s greatest hits. That makes this book part nostalgia for those of us who remember those golden ages, and it’s a trip down memory lane told by someone on the inside that makes this book so wonderful.

I’m sure you watched at least one of his shows. Who didn’t in the 80s and 90s? So, I’ll go out on a limb and say you’ll probably find something enjoyable in these pages.

If anything plagues our times, depression and anxiety do. It’s been well documented. I don’t know many people who don’t struggle with one or both to some degree. So what should a Christian think about it? There have been a few books written on the topic, and I’ve read several of them, but this one was the most helpful to me, perhaps because it does not come from our times. Sometimes, it’s yesterday that can speak life into today.

Richard Baxter is best known for his book The Reformed Pastor. He was an insightful pastor himself who knew how to help the suffering. The collected wisdom of this book will help your soul sort things out if you suffer from depression or anxiety. It helped me.

Russell Moore is a gift to the Church. He’s been through the wringer, too. As a lifelong Southern Baptist pastor and convention leader, he was at the forefront of some of the toughest times the denomination ever faced. And he faced it as a Christian should, with full integrity and faith.

But that doesn’t mean it was easy. It wasn’t at all, as he explains in this book. In his own voice, Moore helps us see the problems evangelical America faces and the path forward by God’s grace.

If you feel a bit denominationally lost, this book will help you find your way. If you worry about the state of evangelicalism, this book will both affirm and comfort your worries. If you need a shot of reality, this book will give you the proper dose. It’s honest and real, and that’s what we need right now. Like an altar call, Moore invites us into a new life with God.

Some books are best described as a tome. This is one of those books. It is 600 pages, which, in a way, doesn’t sound like a lot, but I promise it’s a lot. Holland takes us through history, all the way back to Jesus, and shows us how thoroughly Christian our Western world is. Yes, perhaps we are secularizing in some big ways, but the light of Christianity still illuminates our thinking. The Christian ethic deeply shapes us. Where else did our modern ideas of justice, equality, science, and liberalism come from? Christianity has done more to influence, and still does more to influence, our modern world than anything else. This book explains why that’s true.

If you want to understand our world better, read this book and Christopher Watkin’s Biblical Critical Theory alongside it.

I didn’t read all this book this year. I finished this book this year. I actually started it in 2020, reading alongside a friend of mine. We would read a chapter and then discuss it over a Zoom call over lunch. Those were weird times, weren’t they?

But now that I’ve finished the book, it can finally go on the list. Here’s the best endorsement I can give of it. It’s the single best one-volume systematic theology ever written. Okay, I haven’t read all of them, but I’d read plenty, and even if I hadn’t, it would be hard to imagine a better one.

Why not buy this book and read a little each day? I promise you won’t regret it.

I don’t know how Gavin produces as much as he does, but now that he lives near me, I’m going to ask him. Maybe I’ll go watch him work because it has to be something to behold. Not only does he write a ton, but he also has a great YouTube channel with videos packed with information and insight that I couldn’t produce in a year.

I always love finding a single book to recommend on a topic. On the topic of Humility, this is the book. Every Christian should buy a copy and read it, and then buy a copy and hand it out.

You have likely heard about people leaving the church. Who are they? Jim Davis and Michael Graham, with the research help of Ryan Burge, tell us who they are. By looking at certain nuanced stereotypes and using real data to extrapolate across a wider spectrum, they show us how certain types of people view the church today. Many are leaving, yes, but not all hope is lost. It turns out that those who have left would come back if one thing happened. What is that thing? Read the book to find out.

Just kidding, it wouldn’t hold that back. The one thing is so simple it’s almost insulting to our intelligence. Most of those people would return to church if someone they knew invited them. Isn’t that amazing? You don’t need all the answers to our culture’s hot topics. You don’t need to be a great apologist. You just need to be kind and welcoming.

But, as with everything, being prepared certainly helps. This book will prepare you and equip you. It will help you understand and motivate you to make a difference. In a day when the church is losing people all the time, what if we took 2024 as the year to invite them back in?

Here’s another big book. It’s one you should have on your shelf. In his classic style, Piper dives deep into the waters of God’s providence, bringing the Bible with him. Perhaps the thing that strikes you the most as you read is how many scripture passages help us see God’s providence. If you want to understand how God works, this book will help you. It’s not one man’s opinion. It’s grounded in the Bible. Piper serves as our tour guide, pointing out all the ways we can find God’s wonderful work in this world and our lives.

Another Western. This one is different from The Sisters Brothers. First, it’s older. Second, it’s not funny. It’s the story of a famous gunman nearing the end of his life. He has cancer, and there is nothing the doctors can do. So he goes to El Paso to the one man he thinks can help and lives the rest of his days there, with enemy after enemy coming to try and do him in now that he’s weak. But he outwits them all, determining how his life ends.

It’s a classic Western story. If you like the genre, you’ll like this book.

The great thing about Jared’s writing is that there is at least one book a year, and they always make this list. Full disclosure: Jared is one of my best friends. We’ve known each other since before his first book was published. But his books don’t make my best-of lists each year because of his friendship. They make them because they deserve them.

Jared is a great writer, which undersells him quite a bit. He’s the best. And his books are always the best because they come from a heart that loves Jesus and knows him well. In this book, Jared writes about his friend Jesus and helps us revel in the glory of knowing him as our friend.

Some of us feel beat up by life. Some of us wonder if Jesus even likes us. But in the Bible, Jesus calls us his friends. If you want to know what that means, this book is for you.

If there is one man who is transforming our world more than anyone else today, it is Elon Musk. He’s an odd guy, which I think you have to be to do what he does. He’s super-smart. He takes incredible risks. He uses all he has to do what he thinks is best for the world. He’s as innovative as anyone in history, if not more so. From Tesla to SpaceX to X, formerly known as Twitter, Musk has his hands in a lot of different areas.

How did he get there? This book by the great biographer Walter Isaacson shows us how. He tells us the amazing parts, the good parts, and the bad parts. It’s an honest biography, which is all we can really ask for.

Musk is a transformative figure, and knowing those transformative figures is important, I think. So, if you’re looking for a biography to read in the new year, why not pick this one up? I don’t think you’ll regret it.

The wide variety of books that exist never ceases to amaze me. There are books on topics I’ve never even considered. This is one of those books. Amanda Ripley defines High Conflict as what happens when conflict goes from mere disagreement to us vs. them, good vs. evil thinking. Basically, it is what we see in modern politics. What we find on cable news. What we overhear in our local coffee shop, where the conservatives hang out with the conservatives and the liberals hang out with the liberals.

But it’s more than high-brow politics. It reaches across cultures. It affects street gangs. It affects how Jews in New York and conservative communities in Michigan interact (yes, that’s a real example used in the book).

If you want to understand the high conflict of our age, this is the book to explain it. I found it fascinating, and I think you will too.

I have a rule in reading. If Greg Lukianoff writes it, I read it. I don’t agree with everything he says or thinks. I don’t agree with anyone 100%. That would be too boring. But Lukianoff understands our culture better than almost anyone. He researches it. He thinks about it. He looks at it honestly and assesses it with clear eyes.

In this book, he dives into the cancel culture plaguing today's society. He shows the danger it poses and how it affects people all along the political spectrum. Conservatives are as prone to it as liberals. It’s a shocking reality that feels too common.

If you are concerned about cancel culture and want to explore how we can get out of it, this book is for you.

Have you ever read a book about math? Forget your school days. I’m talking about as an adult not taking a math class. I hadn’t until this one. I work with math all day at work. I don’t even really like math. So why would I read a book about math? Because this one is fun and entertaining and teaches you something all at the same time, and i like books like that.

The bad drawings are just a gimmick. The drawings aren’t that bad. They stem from Orlin’s teaching days where he would use his bad drawing to communicate the mathematical concepts to his students. It lightened things. It engaged them. And he’s turned that into a series of popular books and blogs on math. Fascinating.

Orlin explores why the triangle is the strongest shape and how that impacts everything we use every day, like our houses. He explains why we can’t trust statistics. He talks about Ted Wiliams, the last man to hit .400 in a season. He talks about probability and insurance and the lottery and all kinds of other things that are mathematical, even though we don’t think of them simply in those terms.

I don’t know who this book is for. I didn’t think it would be for me. So, if you’re just looking for something interesting, why not give this a try? I really think you’ll like it.

Over Thanksgiving, my friend Kelsey asked to borrow a memoir. I found the one she wanted on my shelves and gave it to her, and then she asked if I’d read Esau McCaulley’s latest book. I hadn’t, though it was on my to-read list. She told me I had to move it up the list. So I did. I listen to Kelsey. She’s wise and smart and insightful and one of my favorite people in this world.

Her recommendation did not disappoint. Esau is a great writer, and his story is one that I’m glad he told. Writing about one's life can’t be easy. There is always so much pain and sorrow, even if it’s a good life with a lot of happy moments. But those who share in a hopeful, Christ-centered way help us see that, in many profound ways, we’re all alike. We all sin. We all are sinned against. We all need Jesus, and he offers himself to everyone.

His experience as a black man in America is not my experience. He faced things I will never face. I hurt for him in those experiences. But he also shares my common humanity. He wrestles with what it means not to be defined by what we do but by who God says we are. We all have a family history that is complicated and wonderful at the same time, and it takes some people a lifetime to come to terms with it all, if they ever do. Esau shows us how we can do it.

If you want to read a great memoir this year, this is the one I recommend. Listen to Kelsey. She knows what she’s talking about.

“Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.“

“The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!”

“Here’s the pitch by Downing. Swinging. Here’s a drive into left center field. That ball is gonna be … outta here! It’s gone! It’s 715! There’s a new home run champion of all time, and it’s Henry Aaron.”

Baseball is the best. There’s just no way I won’t ever believe that. Baseball has given me more joy than any other sport ever has, and there isn’t a close second. Baseball has also given me more pain than any other sport ever has, and there isn’t a close second. I’m a Braves fan, after all.

But let’s forget about the pain. Let’s talk about the great moments. That’s what Posnanski does in this wonderful book. (Though it is ironic that the best moments are also someone else’s worst moments, but let’s not think about that right now.)

The title promises 50 great moments, but there are actually 108. Posnanski can’t help himself, and I love him for that. I wish this book were twice as long. To relive some of these moments was great. Some I never knew. Some I wasn’t born for. Some I remember like they were yesterday.

If you are a baseball fan, this book belongs on your shelf. You’ll love it. I sure did.

The Rest