Each year, I keep a record of the books I've read, along with a rating and short description. Below are fifteen of my highest rated from 2021. Perhaps one or two can make their way into your life this year.
For help with incorporating more reading into your life, I wrote an article that describes some ways I get more reading in: nateholdridge.com/blog/how-to-read-more-books.
Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life by Donald Whitney: One of the most accessible and cogent books I've ever read about the spiritual disciplines.
Christianity and Liberalism by Machen: Written in the early 1900s, it could have been written today. Machen was used mightily by God to push back against an entirely un-Christian strain in his denomination.
Run With Horses by Eugene Peterson: Peterson masterfully picks lessons out of Jeremiah's life and writings. A great accompaniment to your devotional life.
Surprised By Joy by CS Lewis: Lewis' autobiography. Each sentence is a work of art, and the tales of his childhood are a delight.
Finding Truth by Nancy Pearcey: An amazing reframing of apologetics by using Romans 1 as a way to analyze every worldview. Identify the idol. Identify the idol's reductionism. Does it contradict what we know about the world? Does it contradict itself? Replace the idol.
Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth by Thaddeus J. Williams: A balanced look at injustice. He brings up valid points on how to think through the issues that have been mainstreamed over the past couple of years.
Gentle And Lowly by Dane Ortland: A poetic and masterful recommunication of Puritan works on the character and nature of Christ. Such a refreshing reminder that will bolster anyone who has drifted from grace—and who hasn't?
Prayer by A.W. Tozer: When you are ready to be challenged, read a book on prayer. Or a book by Tozer. But Tozer on prayer will decimate you in the best way.
Outdated by Jonathan Pokluda: Great resource on dating (especially geared towards young adults).
The Rise And Triumph Of The Modern Self by Carl Trueman: I liked the Matrix movies. I also like this book. The feeling of being in over your head is similar during both, but at least the book explains how our culture got to where it is today.
Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin: A condensed and teen-friendly version of her previous work. Solid as always. Anything by McLaughlin is stupendous. And she quotes from Harry Potter a lot.
Adorning The Dark by Andrew Peterson: An artful book by an artist on producing art as a believer. Anyone who is a musician, writer, poet, or "creative" (he says we all are) should read this one.
The Age Of Opportunity by Paul David Tripp: Tripp on anything is great—he has a way of seeing the bigger picture and how the gospel interacts with the subject at hand. So Tripp on raising teenagers is excellent.
Secular Creed by Rebecca McGlaughlin: A breakdown of how Christianity offers a better version of the neighborhood yard signs that declare, "In this house, we believe that: Black Lives Matter / Love Is Love / Women’s Rights Are Human Rights / We Are All Immigrants / Diversity Makes Us Stronger."
The Hobbit by Tolkien: "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."