"Books I Read in 2017"

I didn’t set out to read a minimum number of books last year. But, I remember wanting to read more than I did in 2016. Part of the motivation came from something Matt Perman writes in his book, What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done: “Books are for insight, articles are for awareness. Give preference to books (70 percent) without neglecting articles (30 percent)” (p. 187). By the end of 2016, I knew I had been heavy on the articles and light on the books.

    To my surprise, I ended up reading a dozen books in 2017. All of them were worthy of my time. A couple or three are what we sometimes call “life changing.” So, here they are:

Fiction:

• The Three Hostages by John Buchan
• The Island of Sheep by John Buchan
• Sick Heart River by John Buchan
• Wabash: A Novel of the American Frontier by Collin Higginbotham

Non-Fiction:

• Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
• How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels by N.T. Wright
• The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited by Scot McKnight
• Living Jesus: Doing What Jesus Says in the Sermon on the Mount by Randy Harris
• To End All Wars by Ernest Gordon
• A Year with C.S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works edited by Patricia S. Klein
• For the Glory: Eric Liddell’s Journey from Olympic Champion to Modern Martyr by Duncan Hamilton
• Some Writer: The Story of E.B. White by Melissa Sweet

    So, how was your 2017 reading year? You are invited to share in the comments section.

 Grace and peace to you!