Third year in a row of
Top 10 Reads—it’s officially a tradition!
After the general dumpster fire that was 2020, it’s nice to have an
uplifting list of good books to look back on.
I studied for two of my
PC(USA) ordination exams and took a C.S. Lewis class this year, so prepare to
see that reflected below.
I also found some great novels and interesting autobiographical reads, so if you’re into
those, these are a few I’d highly recommend!
Happy New Year, and
here’s to finding more good books in 2021!
1. Animal,
Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver
“It’s hard to reduce
our modern complex of food choices to unifying principles, but this is one that
generally works: eating home-cooked
meals from whole, in-season ingredients obtained from the most local source available
is eating well, in every sense. Good for
the habitat, good for the body.”
I love Barbara
Kingsolver’s novels (
The Poisonwood Bible is one I hope to revisit
sometime soon), but it was fun to read something from her actual life as well.
This is a “food memoir” of sorts—an account
of her family’s experiment in eating only home-grown or locally sourced food
for an entire year.
She shares personal
stories about growing and raising food, data-driven commentary on American food
culture, and helpful information on supporting local agriculture.
It’s not just for “foodies,” but anyone
interested in healthier, more compassionate eating.
And it includes seasonal recipes… you’re
welcome
😉
2. I’m
Fine and Neither Are You, by Camille Pagán
“I loved my
husband. I loved my kids. I mostly liked my life. But I was so damn tired.”
Camile Pag
án
has become my go-to author for quick, witty, and eerily relatable stories.
This is a simultaneously heartbreaking and
hilarious novel about a woman named Penelope who realizes that her life is
taking place around her while she somehow feels barely in control of it.
In her words, change is
“a privilege
reserved for people whose families didn’t rely on them for food, shelter, and health
insurance.” Sound familiar? But when
an unexpected loss rocks her “normal” world, Penelope decides to reevaluate her
marriage, her job choices, and who it is that
she ultimately wants to
be.
3. The
Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss
“My name is Kvothe… I
have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left
with both my sanity and my life. I was
expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed
in. I tread paths by moonlight that
others fear to speak of during day. I
have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels
weep. You may have heard of me.”
This one’s for all my
fantasy nerd friends (or anyone who wants a great introduction).
Think of it as
Lord of the Rings meets
Game of Thrones—world-building, intrigue, and magical storytelling at
its finest.
It’s the wayward tale of a
mysterious hero named Kvothe, told in his own words.
This book and its sequel,
The Wise Man’s
Fear, are part of the
Kingkiller Chronicles trilogy (the third of
which is still in the works, so it may be wiser to hold off if you can’t handle
the wait!).
They’re decently long, but
so compelling that I flew through them both in a matter of weeks.
What can I say?
I’m a sucker for magic and marvel.
4. Maybe
You Should Talk to Someone, by Lori Gottlieb
“No matter how open we
as a society are about formerly private matters, the stigma around our
emotional struggles remains formidable.”
Lori Gottlieb is a
therapist.
And she’s funny.
This book is what we get
when the therapist realizes
she needs a therapist—a select combination
of client stories, personal confession, psychology lessons, and candid humor.
She normalizes the struggle of merely
being
human and writes about understanding and accepting oneself while attempting
that monumental (and often miserably comical) task of changing oneself for the
better.
5. This We Believe: Eight Truths
Presbyterians Affirm, by Stephen W. Plunkett
“…I am reminded that
God calls me not to be successful, but to be faithful.”
Out of all the books I
read in studying for my Reformed Theology ordination exam, this one came to the
top of my list.
It is a concise,
accessible, and informative summary of the basic tenets of the Reformed faith—the
branch of Christianity built upon the teachings of John Calvin (a 16
th
century contemporary of Martin Luther during the Protestant Reformation).
The book begins with a broad overview of
Scripture, and then lays out eight core beliefs that Reformed theology teaches.
If you belong to or have ever been curious
about the Presbyterian tradition, or wonder what buzzwords like “sovereignty,” “election,”
“total depravity,” and “sanctification” mean, this is a phenomenal read.
It was very encouraging and made me grateful
to have been called to ministry in the Presbyterian church.
6. Rewilding
the Way: Break Free to Follow an Untamed God, by Todd Wynward
“We’ve become like
domestic house pets, tamed by the twin masters of nonstop technology and comfy
consumerism. How we who follow the Way
of Jesus choose to act right now—in this “watershed moment” of history—matters
more than ever.”
As you can probably tell
by the quote above, Todd Wynward doesn’t mince words when diagnosing the state
of the church in the midst of American culture.
As someone who practices what he preaches, Wynward urges the followers
of Jesus to embrace the way of the wilderness:
accumulating less, stewarding more, and daring to follow the Holy Spirit
into uncomfortable, but transformative, spaces.
This is what the people of God—the citizens of a different Kingdom—have
always done.
Rewilding the Way is
part Bible study, part environmental guidebook.
I highly recommend it for anyone jaded by the broken Western promise of
the “good life,” and who may be passionate about reviving the faith communities
and ecological habitats in which they live.
7. The
Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis
“She immediately
stepped into the wardrobe and got in among the coats… A moment later she found
that she was standing in the middle of a wood at night-time with snow under her
feet…”
I put
The Lord of the
Rings trilogy in my “
Top 10 of the 2010s”
list, but the Narnia books belong in the same vein.
Not only were Lewis and Tolkien professors
together at Oxford, they were also very good friends—based largely on their
shared Christian faith and love of mythology.
They wrote the kind of stories they loved to read and brought new worlds
and creatures to life for the rest of us.
This was the third time
I’ve read
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
The language is a bit dated, but the marvel
of the Pevensie kids going to Narnia to defeat the White Witch was just as good
as ever… and I have more appreciation for Lewis’ theological imagination now
than I did as a kid.
Not to mention the
fact that Mr. Beaver’s line about Aslan is one of my favorites of all time:
“Who
said anything about safe? ’Course he
isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
8. Mere
Christianity, by C.S. Lewis
“If I find in myself a
desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable
explanation is that I was made for another world.”
In addition to his
creative fiction, Lewis gained a reputation in his time (and since) as a
profound Christian apologist.
Mere
Christianity is a collection of his World War II radio broadcasts, which
attempted to convey the logic of faith to a wide, war-torn British audience.
It’s an approachable Christian primer for
anyone who values reason, the pursuit of truth, and discussions of faith and
morality.
His assumption of universal
truth may chafe a bit against current postmodern worldviews, but it’s a
thoughtful text to engage with regardless.
The whole book is good, but “Book 4” (on the Trinity) was my favorite.
9. Resonate: Present Visual Stories that
Transform Audiences, by Nancy Duarte
“Ideas are not really
alive if they are confined to only one person’s mind.”
If you’re in a position
of having to craft presentations, public speeches, or even sermons, this is a
great resource!
Nancy Duarte has made a
living out of analyzing remarkable presentations (like MLK’s “I Have a Dream”
speech or Steve Jobs’ iPhone rollout, for example) and helping others who want
to change the world with their ideas create similar experiences for their listeners.
She advocates for adding narrative and emotion
back into our speeches, compelling the audience to take
your great vision
for the future and make it real.
The book
is full of good advice and tips for finding your main point, narrowing content,
creating interesting contrast, and honing your message so that it will resonate
and create lasting change.
10. Winter Garden, by Kristin Hannah
“Her name is Vera, and
she is a poor peasant girl, a nobody.
She lives in a magical realm called the Snow Kingdom, but her beloved
world is dying…”
Two young girls in modern
day Washington state have grown up estranged from their Russian mother, whose
cold demeanor would only warm when she told them fairy tales in the dark.
After a traumatic event that forces the three
of them to interact with one another again as adults, the fairy tale continues
to unfold…
This was the last book I
finished this year (a fantastic recommendation from my mother-in-law) and I’m
happy to have gotten to include Kristin Hannah in yet another Top 10 Reads
list.
Similar to
The Nightingale,
she weaves historical events—in this case Stalin’s “Reign of Terror” and the
900-Day Siege of Leningrad—into a fiction about strong women and family
relationships.
I stayed up until 2 AM
two nights in a row to finish it.
So
good… and the end will have you wonderfully shocked.
"Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are." -Mason Cooley
“It’s hard to reduce
our modern complex of food choices to unifying principles, but this is one that
generally works: eating home-cooked
meals from whole, in-season ingredients obtained from the most local source available
is eating well, in every sense. Good for
the habitat, good for the body.”
