I was recently listening to one of my new favorite podcasts, The Literary Life Podcast, and the hosts were talking about their 2021 reading challenge, called 19 in 2021. I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to level up to that, but here’s my running list of what I’m reading this year.
I Am Restored by Lecrae. At the end of last year, I read Lecrae’s first book,
Unashamed, and thought it was awesome. While I couldn’t really identify with his experience growing up, I did (and still do) identify with his spiritual journey and think his story needs to be heard in contrast to the whitewashed testimonies that often get the podium. His second book is another one that needs to be heard, especially in the aftermath of a year categorized by a racial reckoning and a church racked by political partisanship. Lecrae is much more than a stereotypical celebrity musician and his insightful commentary on his experience with a mainly white evangelical church is as balanced as it is convicting. If you’re an Audible subscriber, he narrates his own book, which like his first one, is an added bonus.
Walking on Water by Madeline L’Engle. Yes, in the one and a million chance that you actually looked at my reading list from last year, I read it again. Like Andrew Peterson’s memoir Adorning the Dark, this book spoke to me so much so that shortly after I finished it last year, I read it again. One of the best works on “Christian art” that I’ve ever read.
Atomic Habits, by James Clear. What better time than a new year to read a book about building habits to be the kind of person you want to be. I’ve had this book in my “to read” pile for a long time. It’s been all over the business and entrepreneurial ecosystem where I spend most of my working hours these days, so it kind of feels like required reading. I benefitted greatly from some other books on behavioral economics over the past couple years, notably Daniel Khaneman’s,
Thinking Fast and Slow and Charles Duhigg’s,
The Power of Habit. What I really like about Atomic Habits is how Clear takes some of the concepts and makes them very actionable. There are a handful of exercises and ideas that I’ve taken from the book and been trying to implement in my day to day life. I kind of feel like Atomic Habit’s is the Millennial generation’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, another great read.
Phantastes by George MacDonald. Towards the end of 2020, I listened to several podcasts that we either about George MacDonald himself or about some of his stories and what a profound influence they were on C.S. Lewis, especially Phantastes. So for my birthday in December, my wife bought me a copy. It also happened that this was about the time I stumbled upon
The Literary Life Podcast and saw that they had 5 episodes (71-75) going through the book. While I confess that I’m already inclined to fairy tales and myths, and I get it that not everyone is, I think that going through this along with Angeline Stanford and Cindy Rollins was an absolute delight and will help think through the many themes MacDonald is exploring, which I think are beneficial to just about anyone. I’m pretty well primed at this point to dive into much more George MacDonald this year.
Greenlights, by Matthew McConaughey. My guilty pleasure, as if I needed to justify my reading of some non-serious literature! One thing I’m learning about myself is that memoirs are becoming one of my favorite reading genres. I was already pre-disposed to like Matthew McConaughey, first of all because he’s a pretty awesome actor and second because people tell me all the time that I sound like him when I talk or do video voice-overs. Then I heard him on
Donald Miller’s podcast a few months ago promoting his book. So since I was between books and not sure what to read, and needing something a little on the lighter side, I downloaded this on Audible, where he narrates his own story. To say McConaughey has lived a colorful life is an understatement. This book is hilarious! We’re almost exactly the same age, so there was so much about his growing up experience that I could identify with and he tells story after story of his life, many of which left me laughing out loud.
Till We Have Faces, by C.S. Lewis. I’ve been a C.S. Lewis fan most of my adult life, but as I am now ashamed to admit, the only fiction of his that I’ve read was the Narnia series. Well, I take that back. I have read Screwtape and the Great Divorce, but they are more directly allegorical than Till We Have Faces or the Space Trilogy, so I’m not counting them. I actually went through this one while simultaneously listening to the series episodes on
The Literary Life Podcast, which they covered in episodes 61-68. This made all the difference for me and took what probably would have been an interesting but confusing novel and made it an amazing experience where Lewis’ genius was on full display. You probably know this is a modern retelling of the Cupid & Psyche myth told from the perspective of Psyche’s sister Orual. An absolutely amazing story on multiple levels.
Out of the Silent Planet, by C.S. Lewis. Recently when talking to a friend about having read Till We Have Faces, she asked if I’d ever read Lewis’ Space Trilogy. I’d heard of it, of course, but had no idea where these books fit into the Lewis chronology and no sense of what they were about. But after being blown away by Till We Have Faces, and because the trilogy is free on Audible (at least at the time I’m writing this), I decided to go ahead and experience them. This first story chronicles the protagonist, Dr. Ransom, as he’s basically kidnapped and taken to Mars. There he experiences a world contrasted to earth where his perspective on where he (and we) fit into the universe is turned inside out. Once again in his writings, Lewis is contrasting modernity with mythology and exploring which tells the truer truth. I loved this book. It’s an excellent setup for the next adventure on Perelandra.
Perelandra, by C.S. Lewis. This was definitely my favorite of the Space Trilogy, but it was also, for me, the hardest one to read on an emotional level. For those of you who haven’t read it, the premise goes something like, “What would it be like if the fall of man in the Garden of Eden didn’t happen?” In this 2nd book of the Space Trilogy, Dr. Ransom travels to a virgin Venus where he finds himself standing between Venus’ Eve and Satan’s serpent in the form of Dr. Westin. C.S. Lewis is just a genius and I don’t know why I haven’t ever read the Space Trilogy before!
That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis. This is the 3rd book in the Space Trilogy and continues Dr. Ransom’s adventures, but this time on earth, pitted against the diabolical organization called the N.I.C.E., which I thought was pretty ironically hilarious. This story is totally different than the first 2 books of the trilogy, but it’s still awesome. Unlike the much more sci-fi like predecessor books, this one has a much more dystopian feel and is a weird mashup of Arthurian legend, Illuminati conspiracy, horror, psychological thriller and marriage counseling. I liked it, but the difference between this book and the others was kind of jarring when reading them in rapid succession. This one left me thinking about Elisha and the account of the Aramean war in 2 Kings 6.
The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis
Pilgrim’s Regress. by C.S. Lewis
Culture Care, by Makoto Fujimura. I first ran across Makoto Fujimura listening to Libby John’s
Art and Faith podcast. He’s an internationally recognized artist from New York and most recently has been the Vision Director of the Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts at Fuller Theological Seminary. His discussion in the podcast of generative living and his keen insights into art and faith really challenged and encouraged my thinking about artists roles in the culture and in the church. Rather than thinking in terms of culture wars, which I think is the default for many Christians, Makoto challenges Christians, particularly artists, to see their role as one of culture care.
Art and Faith, by Makoto Fujimura. Mako’s first book Culture Care was so impactful to my thinking that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Art and Faith, a Theology of Making. In this book, which is super awesome and challenging, he’s building on his vision of generative living and culture care and further developing his theology of making. I think that his is a voice that needs to be heard in evangelical circles, particularly his emphasis on how artists and makers, in the broadest sense of the terms, are participating in the re-creation of our culture and the world. While much of the church seems to be, in his assessment as well as my experience, focused on “the end,” Fujimura challenges readers to focus on the new beginning that Christ inaugurated at the cross and to which all of history is moving towards. This is a book that has and will challenge and inform my thinking from here on out.
The Green Ember, by S.D. Smith. The Green Ember series has become one of our all time read-aloud favorites.
Ember Falls
Ember Rising
Ember’s End.
The Last Archer.
The First Fowler.
The Archer’s Cup.
The Book of the Dun Cow, by Walt Wangerin.
The Importance of Being Earnest, but Oscar Wilde
Short Stories
The Machine Stops, but E. M. Forster
How Much Land Does A Man Need, but Leo Tolstoy
Graphic Novels
Moon Knight by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. Captain America. Wolverine. Spider-Man. There’s nobody you’d want to have your back more than this trio of mighty Avengers. So who better for Moon Knight to call upon to lend a hand? The trouble is, they’re all in Moon Knight’s head — the latest splinters of Marc Spector’s shattered psyche! And as Spector battles his own mind to find balance in his new home of Los Angeles, a powerful criminal mastermind makes his deadly move — trafficking Ultron’s temporarily inert robot body!
I Am Restored by Lecrae. At the end of last year, I read Lecrae’s first book, Unashamed, and thought it was awesome. While I couldn’t really identify with his experience growing up, I did (and still do) identify with his spiritual journey and think his story needs to be heard in contrast to the whitewashed testimonies that often get the podium. His second book is another one that needs to be heard, especially in the aftermath of a year categorized by a racial reckoning and a church racked by political partisanship. Lecrae is much more than a stereotypical celebrity musician and his insightful commentary on his experience with a mainly white evangelical church is as balanced as it is convicting. If you’re an Audible subscriber, he narrates his own book, which like his first one, is an added bonus.
Greenlights, by Matthew McConaughey. My guilty pleasure, as if I needed to justify my reading of some non-serious literature! One thing I’m learning about myself is that memoirs are becoming one of my favorite reading genres. I was already pre-disposed to like Matthew McConaughey, first of all because he’s a pretty awesome actor and second because people tell me all the time that I sound like him when I talk or do video voice-overs. Then I heard him on Donald Miller’s podcast a few months ago promoting his book. So since I was between books and not sure what to read, and needing something a little on the lighter side, I downloaded this on Audible, where he narrates his own story. To say McConaughey has lived a colorful life is an understatement. This book is hilarious! We’re almost exactly the same age, so there was so much about his growing up experience that I could identify with and he tells story after story of his life, many of which left me laughing out loud.
That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis. This is the 3rd book in the Space Trilogy and continues Dr. Ransom’s adventures, but this time on earth, pitted against the diabolical organization called the N.I.C.E., which I thought was pretty ironically hilarious. This story is totally different than the first 2 books of the trilogy, but it’s still awesome. Unlike the much more sci-fi like predecessor books, this one has a much more dystopian feel and is a weird mashup of Arthurian legend, Illuminati conspiracy, horror, psychological thriller and marriage counseling. I liked it, but the difference between this book and the others was kind of jarring when reading them in rapid succession. This one left me thinking about Elisha and the account of the Aramean war in 2 Kings 6.
The Machine Stops, but E. M. Forster
