Top Books from 2024
Here’s my annual listing of the Top Ten books I read in 2024, with some honorable mentions and a few more page-turning details. I hope you’ve got the spine to continue reading. I’m sure you’re bound up with suspense and your excitement speaks volumes to me. This post is one of a series (see below for past years’ entries). If you’re a reader and enjoy book recommendations, these posts may help you stumble upon your next favorite book!
A word to you, my subscribers, if you’ve read a book that was recommended in the past, or if you find posts like these valuable, please let me know in the comments!
Goodreads
If you are a reader and don’t use Goodreads, you need to pause this entry and click over and set up an account now! It’s a fantastic way to track your reading and receive recommendations as well as see what your friends are reading. I’ve discovered some wonderful reads as a result of seeing a connection on Goodreads comment on a book.
Also, I encourage you to always write a review (2-3 sentences) on good books you’ve read! It helps the rest of us, and reviews from friends go a long way. They also encourage self-published authors! (nudge nudge, wink wink).
Here we go…
I set a goal of 40 books this year. Here’s the pretty graphic from Goodreads (link here lets you see each individual book), but keep scrolling for my top 10 books of 2024 and commentary about them.
Here’s my top 10 books I read (with 1 being the best):
Fire in the Streets: How You Can Confidently Respond to Incendiary Cultural Topics by Douglas Groothius
In digestible and relatable writing, Groothius deftly addresses some of the most controversial cultural topics and offers biblical perspective and historical context. Critical race theory, socialism, capitalism, free speech, and other topics are explained and contrasted in a way that even those who get a bit cross-eyed hearing such issues debated will understand and be equipped to respond in an intelligent way.1
The Force of Magic by Hunter Chadwick
Hunter is a friend, and in spite of our friendship, 😉 I really enjoyed this delightful book that is the first in a series of three. The storytelling is straightforward and unadorned, yet most of the character development is takes place through dialogue.
Daws: A Man Who Trusted God by Betty Lee Skinner
If you don’t have a biography planned for reading this year, read this one! The life of Dawson Trotman reveals a zeal for discipleship and an unrelenting passion to urge people to follow Christ with all their hearts. This book reveals the cracks in Daws’ persona but also demonstrates the Christ that filled the flaws and used Daws as a catalyst for influencing his generation and beyond. When you consider that he founded the Navigators and significantly influenced Jim Rayburn of Young Life, Bill Bright of Campus Crusade, Billy Graham and Wycliffe Bible Translators and Youth for Christ, you grasp just how broad and profound his influence was.
Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher
I had seen this series (Codex Alera) recommended on Goodreads and added it as “to read” a long time ago. I was pleasantly surprised. The action was rich, the characters believable, and the overall premise of struck me as very LOTR-like. I will definitely be reading more in the series.
Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good by Steven Garber
This book made me think deeply. I’m grateful for that. Answering the question, “What will you do with what you know?” is one of the most profound exercises of a guided life. Worth reading and pondering. But more fully, once read, act on what you know. In spite of the tragedy and brokenness of the world, step in, engage and do something “proximate.”
Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools: An Invitation to the Wonder and Mystery of Prayer by Tyler Staton
Inspiring and encouraging toward prayer. It is a bit silly in places - but I appreciate that. The author reveals a sense of humor that is self-deprecating. However, in a few places, it was distracting.On the whole, this is a wonderful resource to fuel the flame of your prayer life. It is NOT a lecturing message of you “ought to,” but it is a beautiful invitation to intimacy with a loving God. Guaranteed to prompt your grateful prayer.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
One of my favorite fiction books is Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Clare. I grabbed this book at the library when I noticed she’d written it. I was blown away. It is a wonderfully written, haunting piece that leaves you guessing as to the magical house that the characters inhabit. Its ending leaves you longing for a sequel.
Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up by Abigail Shrier
I reviewed her book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters which profoundly addressed and exposed the modern transgender movement as being a social contagion in adolescent girls here.) This book is a must-read. It offers a disconcerting and head-nodding assessment of our therapeutic culture that has inhibited the development of our kids. I found myself seeing scriptural truths and tie-ins to her findings and conclusions throughout. If Shrier continues along the pathway of discovery in future research, she may realize that the worldview that she exposes (and that she names as evil) is perfectly countered and explained by the Christian worldview.2
Waiting Isn't a Waste: The Surprising Comfort of Trusting God in the Uncertainties of Life by Mark Vroegop
This was one of the last books I read. I wished I hadn’t waited so long. But it wasn’t a waste. 😉 It’s so good (and short) that I have already bought several copies to give away! Any book that combats our addiction to hurry and thoughtlessness is a need to read. But a book that offers waiting as an opportunity and demonstrates its biblical normalcy is one which should be widely read. Don’t wait to read it!
Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda by Megan Basham
When I read the last page of this book,3 I put the book down with gratitude - not because I finished a hard-to-read book, but for the courage and grace of Megan Basham to write and communicate in a way that always, always placed the importance of the truth of the Gospel above personalities and leaders - no matter how vaulted and renown they may be. This will go on a short list of book I claim as “must-reads” for Christians seeking to be like the men of Issachar in 1 Chronicles:
"…who understood the times and knew what Israel should do…" (1 Chronicles 12:32)
Honorable Mention
Here are a few more that are also compelling and fantastic reads, but just didn’t make the Top 10 list.
Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart by Michael Reeves
Reeves is one of my favorite theological writers, and this book may become the most recommended book I give to those in ministry leadership. It’s better than Calling Out the Called and also Dangerous Calling. Reeves gives joyfully challenging counsel to those in ministry, urging them to serve from intimacy with Jesus. Only that brings authenticity.Prayer: How Praying Together Shapes the Church by John OwenachewaA surprisingly superb little book on corporate prayer in the church that will enrich your expectations about how good it can be when we pray together. This is the book. This is a better book to read than Praying Church by Paul Miller. Not only this book readable, but it has a perfect sprinkling of wit and realism that make it enjoyable AND challenging.
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
How did he do it? We know Lewis was a master storyteller. His Narnia series is a classic. Yet, in this short book, he communicates some of the most sorrowful and wonderful truths about heaven and hell in an allegory of a bus ride! It’s both entertaining and sobering. The insights into the human heart that Lewis had are piercing.Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense by Gad Saad
This Canadian university professor wades into the woke stream and builds a dam of reason, common sense and thoughtful perspective. It’s a must-read book for understanding the source of “idea pathogens” as coming from the university. My one significant disagreement is the author’s embrace and evolutionary theory as unquestioned fact. He’s a bright guy but his book is a bit diminished by his espousal of this intellectually imaginative concept.Deacons: How They Serve and Strengthen the Church by Matt Smethurst
I recommend this because it’s so readable and helpful. It helps explain that distracted elders in a church are most often the result of an absence of biblical deacons.
Here are some series that I read:
Some of the following could have made the Top 10 list, but I track them here. If you enjoy reading good series, I’d encourage you to check some of these out.
The Bloody Cup and Warrior of the West by M.K. Hume (King Arthur Trilogy #2-3) continued the Arthurian tale. It’s a wonderful take on the legend.
Winter’s Fury by Tom Threadgill (Jeremy Winter Thriller #3) –FBI agent Jeremy Winter continues his detective work! Unfortunately, it’s the last in the series.
Walk the Wire by David Baldacci (Amos Decker, Memory Man #6) These stories about a former NFL player, now FBI agent with a photographic memory are memorable.
If you’re familiar with my reading at all, you know I’ve read through the Dirk Pitt series. The Corsican Shadow by Clive Cussler (#27) was this year’s entry (and the last to be published so far).
The Death Factory and The Devil’s Punchbowl by Greg Iles (Penn Cage #3 and a novella) – when I read the first installment back in 2023 of this legal thriller series set in Natchez, Mississippi, I was struck by the quality of writing and the truly wonderful characterizations. I’m hooked, and I’m now reading the fourth.
What the Devil Knows by C.S. Harris (Sebastian St. Cyr #14) Set in London in the early 1800s, these detective stories have been good brain candy.
The Burning Land by Bernard Cornwell (The Last Kingdom #5) These books about King Alfred and Uhtred set in the mid-8th century are so good. Many believe Alfred was the basis for the King Arthur legends.
Separation of Power by Vince Flynn (Mitch Rapp #5) Working outside the CIA to solve terror crises before they happen, this continuing saga of Mitch Rapp is riveting.
P.S.
You can click over to my 2024 books page at Goodreads and see my reviews on many of the other books I didn’t mention here.
What did you read this year that you’d recommend?
Ibid.