Reading Highlights From 2021
Happy New Year!
Last year, I wrote about my reading habits during the “lockdown” phase of the pandemic. I’m a pretty voracious reader, mainly because I mix shorter and longer books and audiobooks. I sometimes have three or four books going at a time.
In 2021, I read 70 books! Sometimes I don’t even know how I did.
I can’t tell you about all 70 of them — you can go here if you want to see all of them. But here are some highlights.
Plain Theology for Plain People by Charles Octavius Boothe — This landmark theology text first published in 1890 by black pastor and theologian Charles Boothe is anything but plain. In it, Boothe challenges readers to know God and His Word better. It’s as powerful today as it was 120 years ago.
You Say Potato by David Crystal & Ben Crystal — This book about accents and how they develop and change was so much fun! You’ve got to get the audiobook to hear the father-and-son authors talk about and practice different accents.
Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines & the Secret Mission of 1805 by Richard Zacks — I don’t know about you, but I never learned in history classes (even in Mr. Hood’s brilliant AP American History) about the kidnapping of 300 American sailors by North African pirates in 1801 or about the secret mission to bring them home that birthed the U.S. Marines. If you don’t know much about it, do yourself a favor and read this book.
Signs of the Messiah: An Introduction to John’s Gospel by Andreas J. Köstenberger — This quick read about the Gospel of John was so informative and led me to see this book of the Bible in a new way. I’ve gone to it time and time again in my current Growth Group, which is going through the Gospel of John.
The Story of Garfield by William G. Rutherford — This is the worst biography I’ve ever read (or listened to, in my case), hands down. And overdramatic hagiography, the author practically has James Garfield walking on water and healing the sick. It was bad enough that the narrator had to have noticed, as much as he hammed it up.
Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, 2nd ed. by Wayne Grudem — My first systematic theology. 1,600 pages. Read more about my experience studying it here.
Gimson’s Presidents: Brief Lives from Washington to Trump by Andrew Gimson — Quick, witty, insightful chapters about our first 45 presidents from renowned British historian Andrew Gimson. It’s fun to read about America’s leaders from the point of view of our cousins across the pond. As I wrote in my Goodreads review, “I didn’t always agree with Gimson’s assessments, but I absolutely enjoyed them.”
Make the Call by Mark Richt — Part autobiography and part devotional, former UGA football coach Mark Richt shares about his life and faith. I really appreciated hearing him tell his story. I also read the study guide in preparation for maybe leading a small group through it next year.
There you go!
I’m looking forward to more reading in 2022.
Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash