2020 was a good year to be reading and I found myself coming back to the same themes over and over. Here is a list of my favorite 12 reads of the year.
Book of the Year
When Did We Start Forgetting God: The Root of the Evangelical Crisis and Hope for the Future
by Mark Galli
Galli's writing has always appealed to me, and this book delivered a helpful critique. His honesty at waking up to realize his faith was an important part of his culture but that he didn't really love God all that much caused deep introspection. Galli's personal mission to seek to love God more, and to also understand what is so wrong with the evangelical church (and indeed all of Western Christendom) caused him to examine what it looks like when someone (also a church, a culture) loves God. This part was deeply inspiring for me, reading about Cane Ridge and other movements that were culture changing. He also tackles what happens when a church loves social justice or missions and not God. Inspiring, convicting. I read it twice and will have to read it again.
A Really Close Second Book of the Year
by Rachael Denhollander
I blogged my review of this one here.
Best Kids Read Aloud
by Margaret McAllister
I have one kid left who will let me read aloud to her while she works on creative projects. She loves animals and this series about a kingdom of hedgehogs, squirrels, otters and moles was our favorite. So though not technically "one" book, the whole series was spectacular, a great story with meaningful characters and thoughtful lessons on leadership and sacrifice. You might recognize a little C.S. Lewis influence here.
Best in Non-Fiction
When the Church Was Young: Voices of the Early Fathers
by Marcellino D'Ambrosio
A book I loved so much, I'm on my third reading as I put together lesson plans for a high school course for Ben. The miracle of the early church's growth under fire, the development of doctrine and practice, the first apologist, and the controversies and challenges of doctrinal and personal disputes. This book has this and so much more. D'Ambrosio is an excellent writer; this is thoughtful material while not being difficult reading.
by Saint Augustine
After reading James K. A. Smith's On the Road with Saint Augustine (last year) and Ambrosio (see above), and remembering my love of Confessions in college, it was time to tackle City of God. This is a heady read, and honestly, required re-reading of most paragraphs several times. Chapters were short, and I loved walking through history with Augustine (which is what he does). I didn't always agree, but I came away feeling like I could have some really good conversations with Augustine about our disagreements and still be friends.
Sex and the City of God: A Memoir of Love and Longing
by Carolyn Weber
Sense a theme? I read this book because I loved Weber's Surprised by Oxford and ended up just continuing my Augustinian-themed reading. Weber holds a D.Phil. from Oxford and she is masterful at weaving together words and themes. This is not really a book about sex as much as it is about love, in particular about eros in all its seasons. E.g. The man she named "TDH" (tall, dark & handsome) in her first book is now bald.... And there is a lot of love (and four kids) in between. Thoughtful, rich, and full of literary references, I can't wait for another Weber book.
Veritas: A Harvard Professor, a Con Man, and the Gospel of Jesus' Wife
by Ariel Sabar
Masterfully written, this book was just supposed to be a simple article. The author didn't fail to ask questions, follow any trail, and search for motive in this true tale of a con and the trap of believing what you want to believe.
Fear Less: Real Truth about Risk, Safety, and Security in a Time of Terrorism
by Gavin de Becker
The author wrote this in the wake of 9/11 but it was frighteningly relevant to 2020. Once again, people will trade freedom for security and most public measures are designed to make people "feel safer" but won't actually make them safer. This book was actually extremely helpful for some of my anxieties and really has helped me "fear less."
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
by Erik Larson
Erik Larson states he had the idea for this book when he moved to New York shortly after 9/11 and in talking with his new neighbors discovered how skewed his ideas of what it would have been like to have lived through the 9/11 attacks really were. He started wondering if his ideas of living in London during the Blitz might be equally unfounded. Initially, I did not love this book quite as much as the The Last Lion but then realized Larson's objective was not a deep dive into Churchill, but a cinemascope of the effect Churchill had on his countrymen. This book left me aching for the kind of leadership Churchill brought to England during crisis. And it was a fascinating read.
Best in Fiction
by Emily Ruskovich
One of the best modern novels I have read, this puts muscle to the term "page-turner." I could not put it down. Told from the perspective of the second wife, this tale of a family tragedy and loss is ultimately about love, deep, real, and gritty.
by Robert Harris
Historical fiction that made me go back and research everything I could on the Munich Conference of 1938. Two central characters (one British, one German) seeking to prevent the famed Munich Agreement and thwarted by politicians on both sides. I came away with a different view on Chamberlain's motive for entering the ill-fated agreement.
The White Rose Resists: a Novel of the German Students Who Defied Hitler
by Amanda Barrett
Clearly, I had a theme this year. Like Munich, this has me researching the White Rose movement, particularly Hans and Sophie Scholl, who in a 2003 German TV poll took fourth place by viewers asked to name the "Greatest Germans." This novel was a good reminder that not everyone was silent; there were those who stood up, and paid with their lives.
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