The Great Influenza
by John M. Barry

An epic page-turning history of the 1918 pandemic. This put a lot in perspective for me this year.

A Time to Build
by Yuval Levin
Chronicles the loss of trust in our American Society and what we can do about it.

Anxious People
by Fredrik Backman
A poignant, laugh-out-loud novel about how things can spiral out of control and yet pull us together.

Love Your Enemies
by Arthur C. Brooks
Brooks gave the National Prayer Breakfast talk this year in February right before the start of the pandemic. If only we had listened to him and put this into practice.

Veritas
by Ariel Sabar
The unbelievable story of a Harvard professor duped by a forgery which exposes the confirmation bias in all of us.

Born a Crime
by Trevor Noah
I cried because I was laughing so hard at times. A fantastic and haunting memoir about race and South Africa.

The Evening
and the Morning
by Ken Follett
Follett’s Pillars of the Earth was (and is) one of my favorite novels of all time. This prequel is his second best.

Upstream
by Dan Heath
My favorite business book of the year about getting to the root of a problem.

Educated
by Tara Westover
Vividly written and so heart-breaking. This is a great warning of misguided theology and spiritual abuse.

The Ride of a Lifetime
by Robert Iger
Anyone who knows me recognizes what a Disney fan I am. Great stories and insights beyond a normal business memoir.

How to Find God: On Birth; On Marriage; On Death
by Timothy Keller
I read these short books right after I heard of Keller’s prostate cancer diagnosis. The one on death could be the finest eulogy on the resurrection I’ve ever heard.

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
by John Mark Comer
Before we go back to being as busy as we were before March 2020, we should read this to make sure we know what it means to be still before God.

Reading While Black
by Esau McCaulley
A faithful, challenging, convicting book about Scripture from the African American perspective.

Broken Signposts
by N.T. Wright
A creative foray into the Gospel of John through the lens of those things that point us to God.

Beautiful Resistance
by Jon Tyson
My favorite Christian Living book of the year from a NYC pastor.

Shaped by Suffering
by Kenneth Boa
Ken Boa’s depiction of the impact of Suffering through Peter’s letter continues to give me strength through the Pandemic.

Gentle Answer
by Scott Sauls
One of the best portrayals of our value of Gentle Reverence.

Run with the Horses
by Eugene H. Peterson
One of the few Eugene Peterson books I hadn’t read from long ago and now cherish. The prophet Jeremiah comes to life here through the lens of vocation.

Unbelievers
by Alec Ryrie
A chronicle of unbelief from a remarkable historian.