Here’s my annual annotated list of books I read for the year:
1) Avengers/X-Men: Bloodties by Bob Harris, Fabian Nicieza, Roy Thomas, Scott Lobdell, and Ben Raab.
This was a fun read and the crossover was well conceived and the interactions fun. The story was decent with lots of building action, but not all that clever. It was a fun read and I’d read it again, but I wasn’t blown away by it.
2) Shame Interrupted: How God Lifts the Pain of Worthlessness and Rejection by Edward Welch
Easily the best book I have read on shame. So detailed, comprehensive, and practical. Dr. Welch writes with such insight and compassion and his consistent exposition of Scripture opens up new ways to use the Scriptures in addressing shame. I loved this book!
3) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, and Tom Waltz
A really good story. Moving, sad, action-packed. I was impressed with the way that Eastman and Waltz brought the TMNT story to a conclusion. A beautiful and epic finale for what has been a huge franchise.
4) Overcoming Addiction by Brad Hambrick
Krista and I were invited to endorse this book and we were super thrilled to get an advanced copy of it. I’ve been using Brad’s material for years but to see it finally in print is exciting. This is a fantastic workbook that gives clear guidance to those wanting to change. It is as comprehensive as can be expected and provides gospel-grounded hope for change. It is designed to be used in support groups and is a tool I plan to incorporate into our recovery ministry ASAP!
5) Joshua: No Falling Words by Dale Ralph Davis
I read as many of Dale Ralph Davis’ commentaries as I can. The man is masterful at explaining the text and drawing helpful applications for the preacher. This was a great volume on Joshua. I especially appreciated how often Davis would remind the reader of the larger point of the book of Joshua even as he exegeted a specific section of Scripture.
6) Counseling Skills for Working With Shame by Christians Sanderson
This was just okay. The book has some good suggestions and provides useful guidance. Nothing that was so unique or profound as to make it stand out. Ultimately, for me, the book was just so dry as to make it difficult to work through.
7) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Reborn, Vol. 3 by Sophie Campbell
The psychology of this book and the emotional intelligence in the story is all very interesting, but it feels so forced that it makes the book feel more like a PSA than a comic.
8) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Reborn, vol. 4 by Sophie Campbell
I like the idea of this series but it just hasn’t taken off. The plot often feels too slow and plodding.
9) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Reborn, vol. 5 by Sophie Campbell
By far the best volume in the series yet. The intensity levels ratcheted up in this one. The story took some interesting turns with the inclusion of Dr. Barlow and the mad science he is doing. Great storytelling and lots of action.
10) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Reborn, vol. 6 by Sophie Campbell
Not as good as the previous volume, but it had its moments of endearment. The volume as a whole had the feel of space-filler; like it is getting us ready for the next climactic event but not necessarily moving the story along with any pace. The plot development matters in this volume, but it feels slow again.
11) The ACT Workbook for Depression & Shame by Matthew McKay, Michael Jason Greenberg, and Patrick Fanning
A useful workbook with some really handy exercises for counselees. The exploration of the “Defectiveness Schema” that sufferers develop was particularly helpful. This is not a Christian resource so there are obvious points of disagreement between me and the author when it comes to the larger picture and some of the explanations of problems, but I found this to be a good tool.
12) X-Men: Mutant Genesis by Jim Lee, Scott Lobdell, and Chris Claremont
What a great story about much beloved characters. The story begins with Magneto’s own evolution and ends with Wolverine’s rediscovering his past. If the dialogue suffers at points, the story itself is full of action and keeps the reader engaged. Lots of fun in this one and loved the inclusion of the villain Omega Red.
13) Shame & Grace: Healing the Shame We Don’t Deserve by Lewis Smedes
This was a really wonderful book on navigating shame from a Christian perspective. I don’t agree with everything that Smedes writes here, but he offers a faith-based approach that has much to commend itself to Christians.
14) The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement by David Brooks
The book has some interesting insights about the way in which we are made for socializing and the impact of socializing on us. But, I’ll be honest, I didn’t care for the format. The fictional story often felt like it was belaboring points instead of simply making them. It was an overly ambitious idea on the part of Brooks to explore psychological development through the life’s story of fictional characters, and it falls flat in my opinion.
15) I Have PTSD: Reorienting After Trauma by Curtis Solomon
This is a short but powerful guide for walking through the aftermath of trauma. Solomon focuses his writing on the disorienting nature of trauma and offers guidance on dealing with triggers, grieving losses, and regaining hope. An excellent read. It’s sensitive, informed, and Biblically faithful.
16) Loving Someone with Suicidal Thoughts: What Family, Friends, and Partners Can Say and Do by Stacy Freedenthal
A fantastic and accessible guide for loved ones. Dr. Freedenthal provides help for loved ones to understand what suicide is, evaluate their own biases and responses to a loved one’s struggle, and engage with their own emotions, fears, and thoughts. This is probably one of the most useful books on this specific topic.
17) Made for People: Why We Drift Into Loneliness and How to Fight for a Life of Friendship by Justin Whitmel Earley
An absolutely brilliant book. Insightful, fantastic prose, and practical. Earley gives readers both a real understanding of why we feel lonely and practical steps to address it, and all within a Biblically informed sociological outlook. An important read on the subject of friendship.
18) The Great Sex Rescue: The Lies You’ve Been Taught and How to Recover What God Intended by Sheila Wray Gregoire, Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach, and Joanna Sawatsky
A fantastic resource on helping couples reevaluate their intimacy. The authors not only expose the faulty, biased, and unbiblical approaches to intimacy that have dominated the Evangelical landscape for decades, but they also propose a constructive way forward. They emphasize mutuality, respect, and relational intimacy as keys to healthy sexual intimacy. A fantastic read and important corrective to the church’s bad theology and practice as it relates to sex.
19) Helping the Suicidal Person: Tips and Techniques for Professionals by Stacy Freedenthal
Freedenthal is excellent on this subject and this book provides a massive amount of tips and techniques for counseling professionals to use in caring for those struggling with suicidal ideation. While not a Christian resource and while I do believe that Christianity offers more robust foundations for hope and change, nonetheless there were a ton of practical tips that are worth reading. I would highly recommend this resource to all counselors.
20) I Just Want to Die: Replacing Suicidal Thoughts with Hope by David Powlison
This is an okay little booklet. I don’t agree with Powlison’s assessment of suicide as purely selfish. It was a surprise to me to see him frame the issue that way as I think suicide is often more a response of desperation and hopelessness than of selfishness.
21) Relationships: A Mess Worth Making by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp
Lane and Tripp have written a fantastic guide for developing and maintaining friendships. The work centers on personal self-reflection and growth and is grounded in a Biblical framework.
23) Courageous Love: A Couple’s Guide to Conquering Betrayal by Stefanie Carnes
A really helpful guide for couples who are attempting to rebuild their trust and intimacy after betrayal has rocked their marriage. Carnes does not write as a Christian and there are obvious ways in which I would, as a Biblical Counselor, want to offer more than just what she provides in this workbook. Nonetheless, it is a really useful tool and offers some good guidance.
24) The Biblical Counseling Movement After Adams by Heath Lambert
This was an excellent analysis of the history and development of the Biblical Counseling movement. While still being charitable, Lambert examines some of the weaknesses of the movement’s founder, Jay Adams, and some of the shortcomings of the counseling he practiced and taught. He shows how the movement has progressed under the leadership of David Powlison, Ed Welch, and Paul David Tripp and how it has strengthened in a number of key areas. I am not sure that Lambert would still view CCEF as a faithful institution today (though I certainly would!), but this was an excellent read.
25) Prayer: How Praying Together Shapes the Church by John Onwuchekwa
This is a wonderful short book on the values and contributions of prayer in the life of the church. While Onwuchekwa does not give practical suggestions on corporate prayer or offer up a “how-to” guide, he does give readers the encouragement to utilize prayer in the life of the church. This was a wonderful and simple read that our elders enjoyed going through together.
26) Why Do We Feel Lonely At Church? by Jeremy Linneman
A short but insightful book. Linneman is, in my opinion, better at diagnosing the problem then he is at offering a way forward. He gives good encouragement to individuals, but when the problem is cultural those solutions are a small part of the solution. Still, this was a good little read.
27) Shades of Loneliness: Pathologies of a Technological Society by Richard Stivers
A profound sociological study on the ways in which our culture breeds loneliness.
28) No Greater Love: A Biblical Vision for Friendship by Rebecca McLaughlin
A beautiful exploration of the major elements of Biblical friendship. McLaughlin is particularly keen to emphasize the role that friendships play in our spiritual development, and she does a great job of detailing that influence. She also does a great job of speaking the importance of inclusion in friendships, as opposed to the sort of cliquish tendency that many of us have. A great contribution to the subject.
29) Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation by Collin Hansen
An absolutely wonderful book. More than a biography, this work explores specifically, as the subtitle says, the shaping of Keller’s spiritual and intellectual life. We get an exploration, then, not merely of Keller’s life and thought, but of the great influences of his life. The book was both insightful and inspiring, as all good biographies should be. Well-written and encouraging, I loved this book almost as much as I loved Keller himself.
30) Made for Friendship: The Relationship that Halves Our Sorrows and Doubles Our Joys by Drew Hunter
While it was as thought-provoking as Made for People by Earley this was still a really good analysis of friendship. It does a great job too of engaging with various voices from history who spoke to this topic. For that reason alone, I was really blessed and enlightened by this work.
31) I Prayed and Nothing Changed: What God is Up to in the Silence by Ste Casey
My choice for best book of the year! A wonderful and insightful look at Paul’s thorn in the flesh, which gives us a framework for facing our own disappointments with the Lord and yet still cultivating faith in Him.
32) The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Tim Keller
I know I am late to this party, but what a phenomenal book. A masterful example of cultural apologetics!
33) The Martyrdom of Polycarp
In preparation for my upcoming course on Christian biography I read several of these early martyrdom texts. This is a true classic and while the style leads to many questions about veracity, it is nonetheless an important document. In particular it serves to inspire Christians to face persecution with boldness and conviction.
34) The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity
Such an important work in that it showcases the ways in which early Christianity embraced women. Unlike ancient cultures or other religions, this work shows that the testimony and martyrdom of women was influential and inspiring for the rest of the church. In addition, the equality displayed between Perpetua and her servant Felicity highlights the transforming power of the gospel in the early church. Another important work from the early church.
35) The Life of St. Anthony by Athanasius
While I am not a huge fan of this particular work, it does give some context to the rise and development of monasticism within the early church.
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