Each year I keep a list of the books I read all the way through, typically with brief notes, as a way of tracking my thoughts and a way to look back on each year and see some of what influenced me. So, in this post I have drawn from that list some of the best books I read this year with slightly edited versions of the notes I jotted down after reading them.

I selected a Top 11 from the books I read this year. These 11 aren’t listed in a particular order, and they made this list for various reasons ranging from sheer enjoyment to level of impact on me. Following the Top 11 are some more books I enjoyed reading this year (in no particular order) as well as some disappointing ones.

I realized that in this list are two series in which a hard-nosed detective is also a deeply committed Baptist, shaped by those principles, one in 19^th century England (the Barker & Llewellyn series) and the other in 20^th century America (the Swagger series).

Top 11 (couldn’t get it down to 10!)

1. Nights Under a Tin Roof: Recollections of a Southern Boyhood, James A Autry – I saw this book on my parents’ shelf through the years, so, after my mom died this year, I read it. It is very good, and I see why it was one of my mom’s favorites. Her writings, “pieces”, as Autry calls them, are in this same vein as they reflect on life growing up in rural Mississippi. I also read Autry’s follow up, Life After Mississippi, which was also good, though not as good as the first one. He is right to say, “important things come without background music, that life is largely a matter of paying attention.”
2. Recollections of a Long Life, Theodore Cuyler- I was on a run of reading books from Cuyler after reading and publishing a new edition of his wonderful book for pastors. This one is particularly fascinating! Cuyler met and interacted with the leading poets, pastors, and statemen of his time as he travelled the world. It really is amazing the breadth of his interaction. Much wisdom here to be gleaned and he writes so beautifully. (see another of his books listed below)
3. The Art of Divine Contentment, Thomas Watson- Excellent! Important truths stated well. I decided I’ll plan to read all his books on Christian living.
4. Reading Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness, Richard B Hays- a great read. Very stimulating. I think he is spot on hermeneutically, that we should learn to read the Bible like the Gospel writers did. It is sad then to see where he went in his most recent book.
5. Clash of Visions: Populism and Elitism in New Testament Theology, Robert Yarbrough- This was a second read, this time with a class. Yarbrough does an excellent job of demonstrating the 2 different approaches within biblical studies, essentially the believing approach and the unbelieving approach. Powerful. A must read for anyone engaging in academic study of the Bible.
6. The Watchdog: How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War Two, Steve Drummond- Really well done. I have some idea of how challenging it is to amass a lot of data and then weave that into a compelling story. Many books of history don’t do that well, but Drummond did that very well here. Engaging and fun to read, while also informative, careful, and balanced.  A fascinating bit of history that I did not know. A good example of the old adage that the best preparation for tomorrow’s work is to do today’s work exceptionally well.
7. The Lessons of Tragedy: Statecraft and World Order, Hal Brands & Charles Edel- Great book on the value of history and our need to learn from it or be doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. The first part of the book which recounts the Greeks and makes this point about history is the strongest (the intro is amazing). The latter part when he applies this to early Europe, WWI, between war period, WWII. Is also very good. The portion of 16-17^th century Europe made clear reasons why I do not favor any sort of return to a wedding of church and government. The point about “tragedy” is to recognize how easy it is for things to fall apart and thus not to get lazy, overconfident, or presumptuous.

8. Valcour: The 1776 Campaign That Saved the Cause of Liberty, Jack Kelly- This was a great book. I have read quite a bit about the Revolutionary War but did not know Valcour! So that was fun, but it also was well written. Great lessons on leadership and beyond.
9. Patton’s Prayer: A True Story of Courage, Faith, and Victory in World War II, Alex Kershaw- An excellent book. Superbly written. He provides a compelling portrait of the complexities of Patton- vain, ambitious, religious, caring, etc. The contradictions are allowed to stand, and surely we are all contradictions in various ways. Reading Kershaw it makes perfect sense that I have heard people who loved Patton deeply and others who hated him. It makes perfect sense. From the New York Times obituary cited in the book: “Long before the war ended, Patton was a legend. Spectacular, swaggering, pistol-packing, deeply religious and violently profane, easily moved to anger because he was a fighting man, easily moved to tears, because underneath all his mannered irascibility he had a kind heart, he was a strange combination of fire and ice.”
10. Front Sight: Three Swagger Novellas, Stephen Hunter- I really enjoyed this one. I like Hunter’s writing and these characters, just sometimes the story turns to more depravity than I care to read. Thankfully that was not the case here. Hunter is also smart in is writing, including pieces which connect across the three generations of characters, making off hand comments to connect back to other stories. I realize how much I enjoy such things. He’s also just a good writer, with twists and turns in the story. I like that his characters are typically noble, fighting for the down and out.
11. Leadership and Emotional Sabotage: Resisting the Anxiety That Will Wreck Your Family, Destroy Your Church, and Ruin the World, Joe Rigney- This was so good that I bought a copy for all my adult sons.

Theology/Christian Living

12.  God’s Light on Dark Clouds, Theodore Cuyler (New York: Baker & Taylor, 1882) – An excellent devotional aimed particularly at those in the midst of hard times. He alludes to his loss of a child and at the end of the book a paragraph from the local paper is included which told about the death of his 21 year old daughter. His care and commiseration are clear as is his confidence in God and His word. He gives straightforward counsel, dealing frankly with death in ways that I think would make some people today wary. He also writes beautifully. (Link is to Banner reprint).
13. Newly Enlisted: A Series of Talks with Young Converts, Theodore Cuyler (American Tract Society, 1888)- Another compelling book by Cuyler.
14. Amaze them with God: Winning the Next Generation for Christ, Kevin DeYoung- This is actually a little booklet (a chapter excerpted from a previous book, but it is excellent. The answer to reaching younger people is not gimmicks or style but being people who are genuinely caught up with God and laying out the truths of the greatness of God to them. Give them something big enough to believe in and show them what it looks like.
15. More Precious Than Gold: Psalm 19– this is a brief little book going line by line through Psalm 119 and providing other Scriptures or quotes from Christian writers that go along with each line. Very nice.
16. The Bible of Superhuman Origin, H E Watters- I loved seeing a book by this title from a former Union University president. He boldly asserts confidence in the Bible and demonstrates the integration of the Bible with various disciplines.
17. The Appearing of God Our Savior: A Theology of 1-2 Timtohy, Titus, Claire Smith- I read this in an advance reader copy in order to supply an endorsement. It is very well done.
18. Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda, Megan Basham- I expected to largely agree with this but perhaps to find her too snarky, fearing she might be over the top and too geared toward one liners and zingers. I came away impressed. I have felt the pressure she describes to soft pedal the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality, for example, and have been chided. I don’t get the pressure to soft pedal hard things in order to win an audience. My church upbringing challenged that sort of thinking from the beginning. I was taught to expect to be the odd man out, to expect the ridicule of the world and to beware of courting its favor.
19. How the Church Fathers Read the Bible: A Short Introduction, Gerald Bray- I re-read this with my Readings in Theology class. It is interesting that I mark many different things this time through than I did the first time. A very helpful introduction to the Church Fathers and hermeneutics.
20. Epitaphs for Eager Preachers, J. D. Grey- A humorous discussion of 10 bad approaches to ministry. Not much theology but some good advice. The most interesting to me was his stories from time at Union or interaction with people from there like his president J J Hurt. Though it had been several decades since his student days, the influence of his Union professors still was prominent in the thinking of this man who was one of the leading preachers of his day.

Leadership/Education

21. A Sanctifying Context: A Vision for Christian Higher Education, Stephen Lennox- Excellent! I didn’t know the author and it came from a small denominational press which I hadn’t seen before, but I got it because it was recommended. And it was great. His thesis is bold- the purpose of Christian higher education is sanctification. This is above education. Education is a step to this higher goal and everything else the school does (student life, athletics, classroom, etc.) is for this end. I am persuaded. A lot of good advice for each of these areas. Strong on the importance of a robust chapel program, one that knows the purpose of chapel is worship and resists those, even well-intended, who want to move chapel away from this specific purpose to something broader. Strong on the importance of the theological faculty. He says they must be “privileged”, that is put in the center and looked to for formation.  
22. The Five Temptations of a CEO, Anniversary Edition: A Leadership Fable, Patrick Lencioni- I like the format of a fable. Makes it very engaging. Also very insightful. I would have liked a better ending to the fable, but very helpful material on leadership.
23. Lessons in Leadership: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks- At first I was a bit put off by the book with his take on the Scriptures. However, I began to appreciate it. I still have my obvious disagreements, but engaging the Jewish reading of the Pentateuch was stimulating. There is much in the example of Moses to speak to leadership especially of the people of God. In the end I really liked it and am considering getting Sacks’s books on each of the 5 books of Moses.
24. On Power, Robert Caro- A brief, fascinating audio (2 hrs approx.) from Pulitzer prize winning author of large book on Robert Moses and massive series on Lyndon Johnson. He didn’t write these, he says, because he was interested in these men, but rather because he wanted to investigate political power, how it was gathered and wielded.
25. Becoming Great Universities: Small Steps for Sustained Excellence, Richard Light & Allison Jegla-  Some basic concepts, decent ideas, but over all pretty dull.
26. Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Demands a Pagan Ethos, Robert Kaplan- This book isn’t as provocative as the subtitle may suggest. First, many today read “pagan” as “perverse”, but the author uses it in its technical sense of “Greco-Roman.” And the Christian ethic he critiques is of a certain sort. He eventually acknowledges this. In the end, he primarily objects to those who abstract a certain personal morality and uncritically apply that to international relations. The best Christian thinking on this subject has agreed. Towards the end of the book he identifies this largely with the media which has the luxury of being moralistic and calling for simplistic responses to humanitarian crises with a utopian idea that the US should be able to resolve satisfactorily every problem. He instead says any country must consider its own self-interests, that these are complex issues where the most moral outcome is cloudy, and that political, military, and economic power is limited in what it can achieve. On all these points I agree. In his opening he makes a great argument for knowing history since he is calling for a renewed awareness of ancient history.

History/Biography

27. The Black Hand: The Epic War Between a Brilliant Detective and the Deadliest Secret Society in American History, Stephen Talty- Very interesting. I was not aware of this story though it is historically important. Insightful on the anti-Italian bias, with lessons for similar racial prejudice towards others today. Shows that this has been around and not just tied to skin color (though the darker skin tone of Italians is mentioned). Interesting on the evolution of police forces, on immigration questions, etc. Also, a compelling portrait of honesty, courage, and perseverance in Joseph Petrosino. He could have been a lead character in a Louis L’Amour story.
28. The Secret Agent: In Search of America’s Greatest World War II Spy, Stephen Talty- fascinating. I did not know about Eric Erickson and his spy work to help destroy Germany’s synthetic oil production. I knew just a bit about Germany’s shortage of oil and dependency on outside sources. It is really interesting that Erickson said the weakness in German leaders which allowed him to “get in” was their vanity.
29. Getting out of Saigon: How a 27-Year-Old Banker Saved 113 Vietnamese Civilians, Ralph White- I have read some about the government efforts to evacuate US personnel from Viet Nam but had not thought about what international businesses faced with their employees (and dependents). This is an amazing story and Ralph White tells it well. One specific thing that stood out to me was the poise of this 27 year old man. In a day when we continue to push back the expectation of maturity and responsibility, it is striking to read of Chase Manhattan Bank entrusting their Saigon branch to a young man. Furthermore, it was compelling to read of how this responsibility weighed on him leading him to stand up to high-ranking government personnel (including rebuking the US ambassador to his face!), to risk job, freedom, and life to circumvent government bureaucracy, interact with hostile forces, and design a way to rescue people who were considered expendable by others.
30. The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency, Chris Whipple- Very interesting, view from inside the administrations with many lessons for leadership. Obvious leftward bias, but I drew many specific lessons for myself at this time.
31. The Last Outlaws: The Desperate Final Days of the Dalton Gang, Tom Clavin- pretty dull. The least of Clavin’s books that I have read.
32. War on the Border: Villa, Pershing, the Texas Rangers, and an American Invasion, Jeff Guinn- Fascinating history, information. Not super in its telling. Seemed to ramble and his overall aim was not clear to me. Of course he wanted to tell the story, but to what end. There is always an end. He pointed out the mistreatment of Mexicans and Texicans, critiqued heavy-handed, jingoistic Americans, but mostly with an even hand. He did make connections to today, even the fact that people were building walls at the border then and wanting to build even more! The info was fascinating though. I knew of course about the war with Mexico, but did not realize we were so close to another war with them after the Civil War, up to and beyond WWI! I had heard of Pancho Villa as a villain but did not know more about him. I had not heard about Zappata and he made me wonder if the Lee Van Cleef movie, Sabata, was supposed to refer to him.
33. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann- I wasn’t as taken with this book as others seemed to have been. Fine but not great. I pushed myself to finish it. A decent story but didn’t stand out.
34. 1217: The Battles that Saved England, Catherine Hanley- well written and engaging. Some history I was unaware of. I have read a book on William Marshall the great knight who appears here, but I did not catch the full weight of the nobles under King John offering the crown to a French claimant to the throne due to how bad John was. I knew they forced him to sign Magna Carta and that he then reneged as soon as he could. The framing of this civil war which, with the death of John and the accession of his son, Henry, became more like a war against an invading armywas fascinating. Good lessons: John’s greatest contribution to the war was dying (so nobles could rally around a potentially better king in his son), the value of just holding on as several did like the man holding Dover castle. There seemed to be no hope for him but because he just held on, he bought time for his side, eventually leading to victory.
35. 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed: Revised and Updated (Turning Points in Ancient History, 1), Eric Cline- Very interesting. He argues that the Late Bronze Age had a globalized economy similar to the modern world, with extensive trade from Greece to Persia to Egypt. Various parts were then deeply dependent on one another so that when a series of disasters hit, the whole civilization collapsed. The fact of collapse is agreed upon. What is debated is the cause. Cline says none of the single things pointed to as cause is sufficient in itself (the sea peoples conquering lands, earthquakes, drought, famines, internal rebellions). He argues it was a “systems collapse”, i.e., due to the confluence of several different events and due to the mutual dependence of the different countries, the collapse came. Very intriguing. This would all be coming to a head during the time of the Judges based on traditional dating. I’d like to think more about how these ideas would inform our reading of the OT. I appreciated that the author took the OT seriously. He did not regard it as inspired or necessarily accurate, but he took it seriously as ancient literary evidence.

36. Ascent to Power: How Truman Emerged from Roosevelt’s Shadow and Remade the World, David Roll- very interesting due to the time and people involved. Roll makes a strong case that this was a very consequential time period- from Roosevelt’s last year until Truman won his own election. That is all very interesting. The downside is that Roll’s partisanship is clear but unacknowledged. I also didn’t trust his assessment of people. He considered comments of Truman’s as evidence of insecurity when it seemed to me as likely to be self-deprecation.  There were many other instances. He has researched this, of course, but given the evidence he shared with the reader, his “read” on various actions weren’t convincing.
37. Civilization: The West and the Rest, Niall Ferguson- Fascinating. I had not read him before. He is willing to push back on commonly accepted things and to affirm things that are often thought of as scandalous (like the benefits of empire).
38. Throne of Grace: A Mountain Man, an Epic Adventure, and the Bloody Conquest of the American West, Bob Drury & Tom Clavin- a bit of a disappointment. Their others by these authors have been so good but this one wandered, seeming like Jedidiah Smith was a pretext for writing about all the other mountain men. And despite the title, Smith’s faith is only lightly dealt with. It seemed that the authors didn’t really know what to do with his faith. They relate some good stories, but they can be found elsewhere already in print. In the latter part they began to focus more on Smith, and I enjoyed the entries from Smith’s diaries. There is still a place for a more aware and appreciative assessment of the man in light of his journals.
39. Remembering Louis L’Amour, Reese Hawkins and Meredith Hawkins Wallin- A fun read because it centers on the authors’ interaction with L’Amour. It would be better if they didn’t always simply transcribe conversations but summarized and tightened them up. Perhaps this is why the book hasn’t been given greater promotion. But I enjoyed reading about their trips together researching for books L’Amour would write. I really liked the story about Grassy Cove, TN where L’Amour would bring the Sacketts. I also enjoyed learning more about Jamestown, ND, the effort to get the Congressional medal for L’Amour, and naming of an elementary school for him the year after he died. I had never heard of the school before.

Fiction

40. The Shepherd of the Hills, Harold Bell Wright- my mom gave me her copy last month and told me this was her favorite book and asked me to read it. I had just started the book before she died. I enjoyed it a lot and could see why she loved it. Much of what she loved and longed for is here- simple country life and the truths of God revealed in the beauty of nature, the woods and hills.
41. My Glorious Brothers, Howard Fast- This book was recommended to me years ago by a student who read it in homeschool. It tells the story of the Maccabees as a first-person narration by Simon, the last living of the sons of Matthias. I seriously doubt its historical accuracy in various places, but I was captured by the story of a man and his 5 sons resisting tyranny. Their speech sounds OT, hence Jewish to me, in its cadence and forms. But, their discussion of freedom etc. sounds like the modern West. I doubt the Jewish people of this time really thought in those terms. He has them several times say, as a Jewish proverb, “Resistance to tyrants is the greatest service to God” (or something like that) which sounds more like T Jefferson or B Franklin. In fact the whole thing sounds like a set up for the American Revolution. What is shocking, is to read that Fast was a communist and that at least one reviewer at the time (late 1940s) saw this a thinly veiled exaltation of Soviet communism against American aggression! Yet, I enjoyed the story, despite the anachronisms, because it sounded like a paean to political freedom!
42. The Mark of Zorro, Johnston McCulley- the original story that started it all! I really enjoyed it. Originally published in serials in 1919. I enjoy many of the classics from this era. Interestingly Zorro’s mask here covers all his face including his mouth. Also he gathers other young caballeros to work with him and they call themselves the Avengers! He also identifies himself at the end of the book. Clearly it was intended as a one off. Popularity led the author to continue the series.
43. The Further Adventures of Zorro, Johnston McCulley- fun one again, though more farfetched. These things aren’t supposed to be reasonable, really, but the regular capture, escape, capture, escape of Zorro did get a little old, but that is probably the result of the book originally being released in serials with a cliffhanger at the end of each episode.
44.  Zorro Rides Again, Johnston McCulley- This one was better than the second one. Dragging out the waiting for the marriage is a bit much, but the story itself works very well. Interestingly it is the armed young men of standing who keep in check a would-be tyrannical government.
45. The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Novel, Anthony Horowitz- I have enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes stories since I was a kid, so I was delighted to find a sanctioned continuation. It isn’t the same, but the author did his homework and clearly seeks ot stay with the tradition.
46. Moriarty, Anthony Horowitz- I did not think this one was as good as AH’s first. I thought Anthony Jones was really Sherlock Holmes. I thought perhaps Moriarity was about. The story was intriguing and carried me along. Then, right at the end there was a complete shock with a dramatic twist that I in no way saw coming. That made it very intriguing.
47. Enemies Among Us: A Nick Reagan Thriller, Jeffrey S. Stephens- I read a review copy. Good fun. Clearly aimed at conservative audiences and working along lines of interest to us. Good drama and action. Basically clean. Sadly, though it is clearly marketed to conservatives, there seems to be no problem with the hero being sexually active with his girlfriend. This isn’t described, but the fact that it is seen as normal was disappointing.
48. The Siberia Job, Josh Haven- Fascinating story. The author says it is fiction based largely on fact. Indeed, he says, the craziest parts of the story are true. It deals with an American and a Czech trying to make money by speculating in shares of Russian business just after the Soviet Union fell apart. I can’t imagine taking the risks these men did for any money. Interesting to see how things went and another aspect of what many people go through (the lives of the Russians)
49.  The High Graders, Louis L’Amour- A fun one. I was happy to find one on audio I had not read. Regular themes but not cookie cutter. The end moves into the current day reflecting back which was new to me in a LL book and fun.
50. Passin’ Through, Louis L’Amour- another fun one. Many common themes, but unique aspects. Fun to hear a Sackett reference and to him having to leave all of a sudden because a relative was in trouble. Also includes some great lines like, “doubt rode my shoulders like an evil thing.”
51. The Cherokee Trail, Louis L’Amour- I finally found another L’Amour novel in audio that I hadn’t listened to yet! This was a good one. My hunch (not checked) is that this is a later one. It has all the regular themes and many familiar motifs, but the woman is the lead character and even does more of her own rescuing, though the place of the man is still there.
52. The Confessor, Daniel Silva- AnotherGabriel Allon story. Good one, intrigue, action, twists and turns. I also read The Kill Artist, the first of the Gabriel Allon series but I didn’t like it. Too much sensuality and moral confusion. I later tried A Death in Cornwall, a more recent installment of the series, but put it down for similar reasons.
53. Point of Impact, (Bob Lee Swagger), Stephen Hunter- fun read, enough different from the movie that I didn’t realize this was the basis of the movie until well into it. Hunter is an amazing writer.
54. The Shadow of War: A Novel of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Jeff Shaara- informative, well written. Not as much of a page turner. But, I am interested in the subject so it was interesting to read this attempt to put a human face on it. Shaara tries to give a human glimpse of an American leader (Bobby Kennedy), a Russian leader (Khrushchev), and a regular American (Russo; who apparently is a portrayal of his father). Gave a much more sympathetic portrayal of Khrushchev which makes more sense than I realized. I didn’t realize that this incident and his backing down cost him his role as leader.
55. Empire Of Lies, Andrew Klavan- My first introduction to Klavan. Very interesting story, well written. He doesn’t mind being politically incorrect. A good thriller.
56. Over My Dead Body ,Rex Stout – one of the Nero Wolfe stories. I got it because our adopted grandmother loves the series. I like older novels, and this one was written in 1940. Gives a nice picture of culture at the time. Decent story, but I prefer Sapper and much prefer Buchan. It was striking that when it appears that Wolfe had a child out of wedlock, Archie, his assistant is ready to resign from working for a man with such a scandal. What a different day.

57. Some Danger Involved, Will Thomas– This is the first of the Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn novels which apparently has become quite a series. This one was published in 2004. I had never heard of them until I saw them mentioned in an Intellectual Takeout post on books men should read. Enjoyable. Not at the level of Buchan or L’Amour but enjoyable. Great when I just want a fun listen. Sort of a what if Sherlock Holmes instead of being a drug addicted narcissist was a robust Scottish Baptist who attended Spurgeon’s church? That sounds fun! Cyrus Barker is the “private inquiry agent” (not detective) and Thomas Llewelyn is his Welsh assistant, who, like John Watson in the Holmes series, narrates the stories. I enjoyed this so much, that I listened to the first 7 in the series and am currently listening to book 8. Here are the others, with a brief note which I read this year:

To Kingdom Come, This time they infiltrate a group of Irish terrorists.

The Limehouse Text, This time they interact with a Chinese mystery and the Triad. Spurgeon is regularly mentioned, but the stories are never preachy.

The Hellfire Conspiracy, A good bit darker, dealing with satanic meetings and a serial killer who kidnapped young girls, “outraged” them, and cut off a trophy.

The Black Hand, Dealing with the Mafia. Not as dark as the previous one.

Fatal Enquiry, Dealing with international intrigue and Barker’s nemesis, with more info on his time growing up in China.  Spurgeon even makes a hospital visit to Barker in this one.

Anatomy of Evil, They take on and solve the Jack the Ripper murders. Striking here how true to historical details the author is. The last two stories, though, also show that the author doesn’t completely stay true to the outlook of a “Spurgeon Baptist.” Disappointing, but the stories are still fun.

58. Solo, Jack Higgins- A good read, nicely paced. I was drawn in. A classic 1980’s adventure story- highly trained assassin who is also a world famous concert pianist who accidentally crosses  a rock-solid American military man who is now determined to hunt him down. I feared it was going to be overly sensual, but it wasn’t.
59. Damascus Station, Thomas McCloskey- Fine but not as great as I heard. I saw high praise for it in First Things, but it was just fair to me, with more sensuality than I expected.
60. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle- One of my elementary teachers read this to us. I came back across references to it, so decided to read it again and see what it was about and why it had been controversial. I think those who decried it as New Age or the like must have been seriously deprived of imagination and quite narrow in outlook. The characters who seem to portray themselves as witches explicitly say this is a persona they play at to keep away snoopers, and they are directly identified later as angels. They are majestic beings of light, at the sight of whom, in their real personas, one of the children bows in worship. But these beings eschew worship saying there is only One to be worshipped. They speak freely of God and often quote scripture, making clear which God they must be referring to. This is an explicitly Christian book. There is clear good and evil, and in the end evil is defeated not by hate but by love. The ending does strike me as simplistic, but it does faithfully portray a Christian understanding. I appreciate its clear distaste for totalitarianism.

Disappointing

61. The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene- I tried this one because a friend thought I’d like it. I didn’t at all like the previous Greene book I read, but my friend said I’d probably like this one because it is about a priest persevering under persecution. I see what Greene was doing and appreciate the idea, but I really don’t like his style. I find his manner of writing distracting and even annoying at times.
62. Godric, Frederick Buechner- I finally read Buechner, who had been warmly commended to me. I must say, I am not quite taken. He writes well, but this isn’t my kind of book. I appreciate the lampooning of pretention to spirituality, but he does it in such a way as to go into more discussion of sin than I find helpful. I’m sure it isn’t his purpose, but it almost glorifies sin or at least makes it seem not so bad. There are redeeming points in the book of course, but overall I am disappointed.
63. A Fall of Moondust, Arthur C. Clarke- underwhelming. It was fine as a story but not riveting. Perhaps it is unfair given that I am reading it 63 years after publication. The hype caused me to expect more.
64. Riders of the Purple Sage, Zane Grey – a fine story, but marred. Pales in comparison to Louis L’Amour, and this was apparently Grey’s bestselling book. The story is less cohesive than L’Amour and overdone. L’Amour has strong women characters, but Grey’s in this story are weak, flighty, and hysterical. The dialogue, in general, is overwrought.
65. No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy: The Life of General James Mattis, Jim Proser- Mattis is fascinating, but this book is mediocre in its writing. Prone to hagiography. The best lines are quotes from Mattis himself. Some good information, some slogging. If you read Mattis’s own book on leadership, you can give this one a pass.
66. Cane Ridge: America’s Pentecost, Paul K Conkin- The author taught at Vanderbilt, but he doesn’t seem to get some of the theological things he discusses. It just isn’t well-written. I had to push through to finish it.