Depending on which source you consult, between 300,000 and 328,000 books are published in the U.S. every year. Worldwide, 2.2 million new titles roll off the presses annually.
How do you decide what to read next?
Years ago, I resolved to keep track of the books I read. Since then, Goodreads has come along and made keeping track a whole lot easier. (If you’re on Goodreads, let’s connect here!)
If you need a few recommendations to begin your reading year with a bang, I’ve listed my favorite books from my three favorite genres below. {Each link is an “affiliate link,” which means, if you click the cover image and buy it, Amazon will pay me a few cents for recommending it to you, but you will not be charged anything extra.}
If you read any of these, I’d love to know what you thought!
Memoir
If I had to pick a favorite genre, it would be memoir. This year I heartily recommend three. None of them are new releases, but each one is beautifully written and had a powerful impact on me.
I hear about this story back in 2016 when the literary agent gave a little teaser about this profoundly redemptive story. But I didn’t know the first tragic scenes took place just a few hours from my house in a town I visit several times each year.
From the back cover: In 1928, 16-year-old Minka was on a picnic in the woods when she was assaulted and raped. And suddenly this innocent farm girl―who still thought the stork brought babies―was pregnant. The story that follows has been almost a hundred years in the making. After a lifetime of separation, Minka whispered an impossible prayer for the first time: Lord, I’d like to see Betty Jane before I die. What happened next was a miracle. Written by Cathy LaGrow (Minka’s granddaughter), The Waiting brings three generations of this most unusual family together over the course of a century in a story of faith that triumphs, forgiveness that sets us free, and love that never forgets.
Fire Road: The Napalm Girl’s Journey through the Horrors of War to Faith, Forgiveness, and Peace
Fire Road was recommended by a reader after I posted by 2018 list. It only took me two years to get to this one, and it did not disappoint. I remember seeing this iconic photo when I was growing up. Now I know it’s origin and “the rest of the story,” as Paul Harvey might have said.
From the back cover: Get out! Run! We must leave this place! They are going to destroy this whole place! Go, children, run first! Go now!
These were the final shouts nine year-old Kim Phuc heard before her world dissolved into flames―before napalm bombs fell from the sky, burning away her clothing and searing deep into her skin. It’s a moment forever captured, an iconic image that has come to define the horror and violence of the Vietnam War. Kim was left for dead in a morgue; no one expected her to survive the attack. Napalm meant fire, and fire meant death.
Against all odds, Kim lived―but her journey toward healing was only beginning…
Fire Road is the true story of how she found the answer in a God who suffered Himself; a Savior who truly understood and cared about the depths of her pain. Fire Road is a story of horror and hope, a harrowing tale of a life changed in an instant―and the power and resilience that can only be found in the power of God’s mercy and love.
Peace Child: An Unforgettable Story of Primitive Jungle Treachery in the 20th Century
Kurt’s cousin has been telling me about this one for years. When I was looking for a Christian memoir for my boys to read this summer, she recommended it again. It was a beautiful reminder that the gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for every tribe and nation. Christ has already laid the inroads to the human heart, and he empowers willing servants, like Don Richardson, to explain the gospel in culturally meaningful ways. My 15-year-old son especially enjoyed it.
From the back cover: In 1962, Don and Carol Richardson risked their lives to share the gospel with the Sawi people of New Guinea. Peace Child told their unforgettable story of living among these headhunting cannibals who valued treachery through fattening victims with friendship before the slaughter. God gave Don and Carol the key to the Sawi hearts via a redemptive analogy from their own mythology. The peace child became the secret to unlocking a value system that existed through generations over centuries, possibly millenniums, of time. This new edition of Peace Child will inspire a new generation of readers who need to hear this unforgettable story and the lessons it teaches us about communicating Christ in a meaningful way to those around us.
Nonfiction
Yes, I know, Memoir is nonfiction, but here are two Christian nonfiction recommendations I simply couldn’t leave out.
Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers
Strangely, this book was recommended to me by Amazon. It was in that long line of “customers who bought this book also bought…” I rarely pay attention to those, but this title kept popping up. I don’t remember what stood out that made me click “buy now.” Perhaps it was simply God’s grace because Gentle & Lowly was hands-down the best book I read this year, and probably the best one I’ve read in a decade. If you read my October post, The Gospel According to Halloween, then you’ve already heard me gush.
Some books make you want to change yourself or change your world. This book mades me want to kneel in adoration and worship Christ.
From the introduction: This is a book about the heart of Christ. Who is he? Who is he really? What is most natural to him? What ignites within him most immediately as he moves toward sinners and sufferers? What flows out most freely, most instinctively? Who is he?
This book is written for the discouraged, the frustrated, the weary, the disenchanted, the cynical, the empty. Those running on fumes. Those whose Christian lives feel like constantly running up a descending escalator. Those of us who find ourselves thinking: “How could I mess up that bad—again?”
It is for that increasing suspicion that God’s patience with us is wearing thin. For those of us who know God loves us but suspect we have deeply disappointed him. Who have told others of the love of Christ yet wonder if—as for us—he harbors mild resentment. Who wonder if we have shipwrecked our lives beyond what can be repaired. Who are convinced we’ve permanently diminished our usefulness to the Lord. Who have been swept off our feet by perplexing pain and are wondering how we can keep living under such numbing darkness. Who look at our lives and know how to interpret the data only by concluding that God is fundamentally parsimonious.
It is written, in other words, for normal Christians. In short, it is for sinners and sufferers. How does Jesus feel about them? (Ortlund, Dane C. (2020-03-17T23:58:59). Gentle and Lowly . Crossway. Kindle Edition.)
Everyday Faithfulness reminded me that nourishment from God’s word is more like the steady drip of an IV than an occasional shot of steroids to cure what’s ailing you. Marshal cites real life examples of women who remained faithful to Christ through the hardships and long season of life.
Tim Challies, a pastor, author, and blogger who recently and suddenly lost his son, wrote, “Learn your doctrine in peacetime so you can deploy it in war. When you know who God is you can trust him for what he does.” Glenna Marshall’s book embraces that sentiment.
From the back cover: What does Christian faithfulness look like when life feels unpredictable, hard, or just plain ordinary? We want to follow Jesus, but it’s easy to become more focused on our present situation than on a long view of faithfulness. Working through the unique challenges that come with seasons of waiting, caretaking, suffering, worry, spiritual dryness, and more, Everyday Faithfulness delves into practical ways to build habits into everyday life that will aid in spiritual growth throughout a lifetime.
Fiction
Neither of these would be categorized as “Christian Fiction,” but in both stories, the characters wrestle with the circumstances God inexplicably allows. Both books were beautifully written. And in keeping with my knack for choosing stories that emerge from tragedy, these two offer heartbreak, redemption and surprise.
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek: A Novel
From the back cover:
The hardscrabble folks of Troublesome Creek have to scrap for everything—everything except books, that is. Thanks to Roosevelt’s Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, Troublesome’s got its very own traveling librarian, Cussy Mary Carter.
Cussy’s not only a book woman, however, she’s also the last of her kind, her skin a shade of blue unlike most anyone else. Not everyone is keen on Cussy’s family or the Library Project, and a Blue is often blamed for any whiff of trouble. If Cussy wants to bring the joy of books to the hill folks, she’s going to have to confront prejudice as old as the Appalachias and suspicion as deep as the holler.
Inspired by the true blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the brave and dedicated Kentucky Pack Horse library service of the 1930s, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one woman’s belief that books can carry us anywhere—even back home.
From the back cover:
In the summer of 1932, on the banks of Minnesota’s Gilead River, Odie O’Banion is an orphan confined to the Lincoln Indian Training School, a pitiless place where his lively nature earns him the superintendent’s wrath. Forced to flee after committing a terrible crime, he and his brother, Albert, their best friend, Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own.
Over the course of one summer, these four orphans journey into the unknown and cross paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, This Tender Land is an enthralling, big-hearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole.
Your turn!
What were your favorites this year? Comment below, or email me!
I’ve just finished the 4-book “Sensible Shoes Series” by Sharon Garlough Brown. It was recommended by a friend and I’m so thankful she did. It’s a combination story and spiritual direction. 4 women attend a 1-day spiritual retreat and continue to meet on their own. The spiritual disciplines are explained through the book so you can use them also.
That sounds like a fresh approach to explaining the spiritual disciplines!
I enjoy and re-read all of DEE HENDERSON’S books. Especially the O’Malley
series. But all are good and the LORD is brought in during the reading and thier dependence upon HIM.
I’ve heard of Dee Henderson but I don’t think I’ve read any of her books…yet 🙂 Thanks for the recommendation!
Best book I read in 2020 was THE POWERFUL PURPOSE OF INTROVERTS by Holley Gerth. It really opened my eyes about the science behind being an introvert.
With fiction, my favorite book tends to be the one I’m reading now. Or if it isn’t that great, the last one I read.
FYI–I just looked up THE POWERFUL PURPOSE OF INTROVERTS on Amazon. The Kindle version is $1.59 right now!!
Love those Kindle bargains!! 🙂
Sounds interesting! I haven’t heard of that one yet.
I’m the same with fiction. If it’s a good story, I usually love it 🙂
My favorite book in 2020 was “Relentless” by Michele Cushatt. Her story is incredible and she weaves so much encouragement through her own life experiences tied in with scripture and Biblical lessons. She also gives reflection and journal prompts at the end of each chapter that have you look for God’s faithfulness and relentless care in your life. Highly recommend it, especially if you’re going through a difficult season in life.
I heard her give an interview about “Relentless.” She is a really gifted communicator. Thanks for the recommendation!