My 23 Favorite Books from 2023

Sir Francis Bacon’s observation that “Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly” remains sound even today. Avid readers sometimes publish a list of their “top books of the year,” but I will list my favorite books I read for the first time instead (I annually re-read many excellent books) in hopes that a few might prove to be good food for your soul in the next twelve months.

There may be better books to note in the variously represented fields, but these were the ones I found especially helpful and enjoyable during our most recent journey around the sun. They aren’t necessarily new books; some have been around for a while. Moreover, there are some excellent 2023 books I’m still waiting to read (I’m perpetually behind!). But next up, I see you, Andrew Wilson, and Esau McCaulley; I’m sorry, some really fine books will have to wait on next year’s list.

Here we go.

History

And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle, by Jon Meacham (Random House). This is a deeply illuminating and altogether readable biography of one of America’s greatest leaders. Meacham brilliantly illuminates Lincoln’s times and applies those lessons to today. https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03...

Dynasty, by Tom Holland (Abacus). The renowned British historian (and ardent cricket fan) knocks it for six with this superb overview of Caesar and his line. Meticulous, colorful, and often witty, it is a must-read for understanding the emergence of one the Roman Empire’s greatest single leaders, indeed, one of history’s most significant figures. https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04...

The Earth Transformed, by Peter Frankopan, (Knopf). This is the most fascinating book I read in 2023. Frankopan is an Oxford Historian (his other works are equally good!), and this account of how climate changes have impacted history, from the emergence of humanity and the formation of continents to the rise and fall of empires and the outcome of climactic battles, is incredibly detailed and brilliantly told. It has 200 pages of endnotes! If you love history and the weather, you can’t miss this great book. https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03...

The Reformation as Renewal: Retrieving the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, by Matthew Barrett (Zondervan). This is a brilliant account of how the Magisterial Reformers both distinguished their movement from the Radicals and challenged Rome to secure the renewal of the One Historical and Apostolic Church in which they all saw themselves as members and servants. Lengthy, but the detail is rewarding to the committed reader.

https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08...

Theology

Son of Man: Early Jewish Literature, vol 1. Richard Bauckham (Eerdmans). Baukham is one of the finest theologians of our generation and offers profound, challenging scholarship in a lucid and engaging style. I think his conclusions in this volume warrant attention. No spoilers. https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o00...

Union with the Resurrected Christ: Eschatological New Creation and Biblical Theology, by GK Beale (Baker). Beale’s volume is a brilliant treatment of one of the most overlooked yet vital doctrines within the field of soteriology, and he does this in relationship to the whole of the Biblical narrative in his typically comprehensive style.

https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08...

The Atonement, by Jeremy Treat (Crossway). This new book is from the “Short Studies” series from the publisher, and it's an invaluable addition to every Pastor’s theological sharpening on this central doctrine and Biblical truth. Jeremy Treat has brought us an up-to-date treatment that rings with ancient wisdom in a very accessible text. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09...

Systematic Theology: Volume 1, The Doctrine of God, by Katherine Sonderegger (Fortress). As an Augustine, Calvin, and Bavink-rooted pastor, I will have differences with this author in places. I’m also going to learn a great deal from her. As far as I know, this was the first Systematic Theology written by a woman in the history of Christianity; it is vital to read on that note alone. But Sonderegger’s work on God’s unity expressed as the Trinity and encountered in creation, redemption, and the Church is powerfully written and worthy of serious reflection. https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00...

Christian Formation

You Are Not Your Own, by O. Alan Noble (IVP). Professor Noble is one of the best American authors writing on the intersection of faith, culture, and spiritual formation. In this brief but essential treatment of this often neglected dimension of redemption, Noble makes a case for rising with Christ above the narcissism of contemporary Western societal ethics and demands to find our life in union with Christ. Please don’t take my word for it. Tish Warren, Micheal Wear, and Karen Swallow Prior commend it as well. https://www.amazon.com/You.../dp/0830847820/ref=sr_1_1...

The Secret Place of Thunder, by John Starke (Zondervan). Starke draws on the soul-enriching lessons he learned in a wilderness of weariness, finding recovery by meeting God in what the Psalmist calls “the secret place of thunder” (Psalm 81:7). I tweeted several comments on the chapters in this valuable book. It is a balm for the weary soul, and I commend it to all. https://www.amazon.com/Secret.../dp/0310139848/ref=sr_1_1...

Unveiling Mercy, by Chad Bird (1517 Publishing) blends Chad’s profound knowledge of the Hebrew text with his Biblical and deeply Pastoral insights to create a warm daily devotional read for those who’d love to go a little deeper into the Old Testament text. Chad applies the Scriptures to the Gospel and the Church with Gospel grace and mercy. https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09...

Literature & the Life of the Mind

The Evangelical Imagination, by Karen Swallow Prior (Brazos). The “Notorious Dr. KSP” has deployed her remarkable gifts again in this superb book that, rooted in Charles Taylor and James KA Smith, opens up the challenge of the way we do (or don’t) understand the power of image, metaphor, and story in our own view of reality and truth - especially Biblical ideas. Her work on the “social imaginary” is central to her thesis about how we tend to encounter the world, evil, and social structures. Again, this is a very important book for those who wish to shape what it will mean to be an evangelical in the coming years. https://www.amazon.com/.../dp/1587435756/ref=sr_1_2_sspa...

Faith and Culture

American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church, by Andrew Whitehead (Brazos Press). I’m a committed opponent of the cult of Christian Nationalism, and Whitehead’s book is a good introduction to the issues involved and the threat this movement poses. https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02...

The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?, by Michael Graham, Ryan Burge, and Jim Davis. It's a must-read for church leaders across the Christian scene in North America. The research is thorough, the findings shocking, and the writing engaging. https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08...

The Genesis of Gender, by Abigale Faval (Ignatius), is part autobiography, part philosophical theology, and part apologetics. Framing her arguments for a Christian view of human sexuality, the author traces her movement from radical feminist to orthodox Christian in a compelling and profoundly helpful, informative style. Its the most important book I read this year in the field of sexuality and anthropology. https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08...

The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, by Tim Alberta (Harper). Part memoir, part first-rate journalism, Alberta opens up the tragic specter of misguided political extremism and its unhappy consequences for the Church in the US. I know some of the people and situations in the book first-hand. I can add my own personal “Amen” to Alberta’s critically acclaimed and necessary - if painful - reminder of the danger the Church faces in the coming year. https://www.amazon.com/dp/006322688X?psc=1...

Faith and Science

Evolution and the Fall, by William Cavanaugh and James KA Smith (Eerdmans), tackles new discoveries from the human genome project and, together with numerous contributors, considers how these interact with the Biblical view of humanity as God’s creation. You might not like all the authors have to say, but you will be challenged and helped by it. https://www.amazon.com/Evolut.../dp/0802873790/ref=sr_1_1...

Culinary

The Tucci Table: Cooking with Family and Friends, by Stanley Tucci (Gallery Books). Tucci’s TV series on the Regions of Italy and their food is a must-see, and it inspired me to buy this book and try some of his recipes. It helped me improve my game of Italian cuisine, and I’d recommend it to all. https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02...

Commentaries

How to Read and Understand the Psalms, by Bruce Waltke and Fred Zaspel (Crossway): this is the finest book on the literary and theological structure of the Psalter I’ve read in several years. I don’t handle teaching or preaching the Psalms without looking here first. It’s not comprehensive in dealing with every Psalm, but it's thorough in its summaries of the Psalms' major sections and genres. https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00...

Galatians (EBTC), by Matthew Harmon (Lexham Academic). I used so many fine commentaries this year, especially on Galatians. But I returned again and again to Harmon for his brilliant treatment of the text, insight into the period's history, and his ability to keep in step with the Pauline narrative rather than chasing more modern theological problems and issues. He’s more than familiar with those, and they are given their proper due, but he keeps the student firmly in the text of Paul’s letter. It's a superb commentary. https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05...

Reading Genesis Well: Navigating History, Poetry, Science, and Truth in Genesis 1-11, by C John Collins. Beginning with an incisive and cautionary note that “One’s view of the biblical texts depends on one’s interpretive approach - and generally the interpretive approach is assumed rather than warranted”, Collins quickly notes inadequate approaches and then ingeniously brings to the table Oxford University Literature C.S. Lewis as an instructor in the proper reading of texts. Lewis’ careful analytical process rebukes our (often) lazy approach, our “conventionality,” before the supposedly easy texts and introduces us to the methodology for work on the manifestly difficult. The result is a tour-de-force of language and communication theory essential to all serious late-modern readers and teachers of the Bible that concludes with the demolition of a shallow approach to genre and context as hermeneutical grids. Collins closes the introductory section by noting the “imagistic” power of “poetic language” and what is entailed in “good-faith communication,” namely grasping how language works that is quite contrary to the wooden literalism that beclouds the meaning of the text. Rebuking the lack of reflection on the poetic (exalted prose) form of many Scriptural passages handled by some, Collins lays out the way the Biblical writers communicate about the rising of the sun, the origin of rain, and the organization of a “three-decker universe” to highlight the necessity of doing so. Collins concludes by noting that Christians cannot ignore Genesis as it is “the front end of the big story that defines them,” concluding that “the faithful are invited to affirm that the way Genesis 1-11 tells the story gives them the divinely approved way of picturing the events that the pictures refer to. This treats fairly both the common tradition of Christian thinking and the kind of literary material we have in this part of Genesis.” (https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09...

Biography

Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation, by Colin Hansen (Zondervan). We lost a titan this year when my colleague Tim Keller left us for glory. His development in the faith and the story of Tim and Kathy’s courtship, marriage, and work in the ministry are beautifully written for us in this moving and intelligent volume from Colin Hansen. I’m so glad Colin wrote this book, and it is one to which one can frequently turn for inspiration and encouragement. https://www.amazon.com/Timoth.../dp/B0B5K2M9J4/ref=sr_1_1...

My Knotted-Up Life, by Beth Moore (Tyndale). This work by my friend Beth Moore is one of the best books of this past year. With her usual clarity and warmth, Beth unfolds the painful chapters of her past, including the terrible abuse she suffered, always pointing us to the beauty of Jesus and the hope of the Gospel. For all who seek to gain a clearer grasp of a woman’s pain, especially as it has too often been experienced within the evangelical community, this book should be a starting place. https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02...

I hope one or more of these titles might prove helpful to you in your reading next year. Stephen King observed that books are “portable magic,” and they certainly can cast a spell. May your 2024 be filled with such charms.