I’m ashamed to say I didn’t read as many books as I would’ve liked to this year, especially given all of the “down time” that lil miss pandemic gave us. I did have a lot of reading to do for a couple seminary classes over the summer, and definitely started some other books, but I couldn’t quite manage to be as regular in the reading department as I knew I could be.
Normally I would’ve been able to give a number of solid recommendations by pulling from the at-least-5-at-one-time books I was reading. But I’ve learned to have grace as I reflect on that fact, because it was just that my brain was expending energy in a way that it wasn’t previously used to. And that’s okay.
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A quick note:
Speaking of brain power, this article about how covid and culture shock feel the same to your brain was actually really useful in helping me navigate why the simplest of things - like reading books - seemed to take up so much energy that I couldn’t seem to expend. Reading lots of books in 2020 was totally doable, again, especially with the lack of go-go-go that this year offered. (I even know someone who read nearly 3 dozen books this year. Three dozen.) But the books I tend to choose are quite the thinkers, not the kind you can escape into, and I think that’s why I couldn’t seem to do it as well as I could before. That article gives a lot of interesting insight!
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Anyway, no need to lolligag. Here are just five of my favorite you-must-read-these books from 2020 (in the order in which I read them). They’ve each shaped my life in big ways in 2020!
Get Out of Your Head - Jennie Allen
This book came out at the beginning of 2020 and boy was it timely for the year we had, as we fought all sorts of toxic thoughts and anxieties. But even pre-pandemic, it’s timely for our culture as a whole. Using both Scripture and scientific research, Jennie Allen talks about the battle of our minds, of spiritual warfare, and how we have a choice in the matter. We have the ability and the tools needed to fight back. She helps to uncover ways that we’ve been believing false things that affect our behavior & also gives practical ways to overcome them. This is not your classic new age, manifestation, positive-thinking, wishy-washy, can-only-go-so-far self help book. Trust me. It’s saturated in Scripture, and the truth of Scripture is confirmed over and over as Jennie incorporates proven scientific research that affirms what the Bible has been saying all along. We have a choice. We must fight back, and we can. We can destroy lofty arguments and strongholds & make our thoughts obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5-7). This book got me so hyped. I dare you to keep track of how many times it makes you wanna stand up from your chair/bed/wherever you are and run a lap around your home. Not that I did that.
Doubtless: because faith is hard - SHelby Abbott
This one is particularly special and personal to me because my friend Shelby Abbott allowed me to read this book about five months before it even came out. I talked in my 28 Things post about how I had my first real (& kind of scary) wrestle with doubt this past year. As the Lord would have it, Shelby was finishing up his book on this very topic. I devoured it in one sitting. It might’ve even made me a little teary. Doubt can be a scary thing. It can cause questions of “is this even okay?” or “am I losing my faith?” and many others. Shelby’s words, rooted in Scripture, were a balm to my soul in the midst of the wrestle. I knew I needed to bring other people into it. I needed to cling to tangible truth when my feelings were saying something different. And even though I was asking the question of “what if this thing that I’ve given my entire life to is all fake?”, it was a comfort to know that there was space to ask questions, space to doubt, and tangible and valid reasons to keep on trusting in the One who is the object of my faith. Doubt isn’t the absence of faith. It doesn’t have to lead to a complete resignation of everything you believe. Doubt presents an opportunity for faith to get some real bones & be strengthened. It’s normal, it’s all throughout Scripture, some of the biggest heroes of the faith had doubts, & it would do some good to spend more time talking about that.
Delighting in the Trinity - Michael Reeves
I think every Christian should read this book. Okay. I think every Christian should read all of these books. But out of all of these topics, I think the Trinity would be the one most people would bypass. The Trinity is a bit of a weighty concept, and we can’t fully wrap our minds around it, nor are we supposed to be able to. But so often, Christians dismiss talking about or diving into more about the Trinity because “we just can’t understand it”. What I really appreciated about Reeves’ writing is that it points out that we do know the Trinity. There’s proof in the songs we sing, what we say we believe, and proof after proof in the Scriptures we read. What we say we believe doesn’t work without a Triune God. The Gospel doesn’t work without a Triune God. The other thing I love is that, given such a complex topic, the book is fairly short and easy to read. I had to read it for a seminary class, but it’s not at all overly academic. I was in tears before I even got through the introduction, and I also laughed out loud at how Reeves communicated certain things. (I later found out he’s from the UK and thought oh, no wonder.) Doctrine matters. Theology matters. Get a hold of this book to spruce those up in your life.
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry - John Mark Comer
We certainly learn a lot of theology and ethics from looking at the life of Jesus and how He interacted with people in the Gospels, but John Mark Comer specifically focuses on how very unhurried and unbothered Jesus is - something I hadn’t really zoomed in on previously. Jesus was busy, for sure, yet never hurried. No one was a nuisance to Him. This book also looks at the spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude, and incorporating a weekly Sabbath. For real, why don’t Christians incorporate an actual Sabbath? Similarly to what Jennie Allen did, Comer also looks at different statistics and scientific research to further the fact that we need to slow down and that something needs to change. So many things that we have in our culture that were designed to make them better are actually making our brains worse. We all know it. We all feel it. I was really convicted by this book and really appreciated the practical application throughout. John Mark also writes in a way that is super casual and feels like you’re just sitting down to talk to him. Full disclosure, I still need to get into a better habit of having a weekly Sabbath, and I think this will definitely be one of those books that I revisit to get some fire under me for why that’s so critical.
Gentle and Lowly - Dane Ortlund
This is another one that incredibly shaped my view of Jesus & His heart, because it expands on the one statement Jesus explicitly says about His very heart: that He is gentle and lowly. If you’ve known Jesus or a while or are familiar with Christianity, you’ve likely heard these famous words from Matthew 11:28-30, where Jesus invites those who are weary and heavy laden to come to Him for rest. And I knew that I could go to Him for rest - a rest that is a rest for my soul, not one that necessarily eliminates my hard circumstances. That truth is good on its own, but diving into the actual heart of Christ took it to a new level. This hasn’t been a book that has been quick for me to read through, because I found myself with each chapter going to my Bible to take a look for myself at the things Ortlund brought up in each chapter. I needed to take each thing and meditate on it, allowing the Holy Spirit to reshape the areas where I wasn’t trusting, didn’t believe, or simply just didn’t previously see the truths that are so critical about the heart of Christ and therefore God Himself. One of the main things Satan is always going to want us to question (coming full circle from Get Out of Your Head) is the character of God, which is why it’s vital to have a correct view of who He is. Please get your hands on this. I recently was in a conversation (srsly I talk about this book any chance I get) with someone who has also read it. I remarked that it was one of the best books I’ve read all year, and he responded that it’s the best he’s read in the last twenty. So that’s a pretty big deal.
You can click on any of the images to direct you to amazon so you can get ‘em in your cart!
If you’ve read any of these or have a rec that I should try out for 2021, drop a comment!