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. These are only books that I read all the way through and do not involve commentaries and reference works I’ve used.

I selected a Top 10 from the books I read this year. These 10 aren’t listed in a particular order, and they made this list for various reasons ranging from sheer enjoyment to level to impact on me. Following the Top 10 are some more books I enjoyed reading this year (in no particular order) as well as some disappointing ones.

Top 10

1. The Dawn of Redeeming Grace: Daily Devotions for Advent, Sinclair Ferguson- Excellent. I love this sort of book. Brief pieces allowing space to really ponder various aspects of a text. Really well done. Rich theologically, aware of scholarly issues in the text. Dependable and pastoral. I loved it.
2. History Matters, David McCullough- Excellent! This is a collection of McCullough essays/speeches gathered posthumously, some of which had not been previously published. I enjoyed it very much.
3. Riding with Reagan: From the White House to the Ranch, John R. Barletta- A beautiful book. I first heard of this book from its use in the Reagan movie. This is a touching portrait from a guy who got to know Reagen well after bonding with him over the shared love of horseback riding. The closing parts choked me up.
4. The Bible Among the Myths, John Oswalt- very good, particular in arguing against the positive use of the word myth and using that word to describe the bible. Very good also on arguing that the Biblical religion is strikingly different from the surrounding religions in the OT, that the difference is greater than their similarities. His treatment of history is less clear to me, though I agree with the overall point. Very helpful.
5. Men and Women in the Church: A Short, Biblical, Practical Introduction, Kevin DeYoung – very good! Good summary of most of the best arguments on key texts, and really well written pastoral application.
6. Impossible Christianity: Why Following Jesus Does Not Mean You Have to Change the World, Be an Expert in Everything, Accept Spiritual Failure, and Feel Miserable Pretty Much All the Time, Kevin DeYoung- Very good. Treatment of the idea that we can never decently obey God but just keep at it. Speaks to the issue of why David can speak confidently in places of being right with God (which Paul does as well).
7. Keep Your Kids: How to Raise Strong Kids in an Age of Therapeutic Sentimentalism,  Douglas Wilson- excellent. I wish many parents would read this book. I will give copies to my sons with children
8. Jack Hinson’s One Man War: A Civil War Sniper, Thomas McKenney- A fascinating book with a true story from middle TN which I had never even heard of. The author did a lot of research to rescue this story and then wrote this in a wonderful way. The story parallels the Patriot movie in many ways. It is a story of revenge, which never ends well.
9. The Bookseller of Inverness, S G Maclean- Very good! The author, I discovered, has a PhD in Scottish history from Aberdeen and lives in the Highlands. That makes sense! She brings the story to life and obviously knows the Jacobite history and the setting. Really well written. The story drew me right in, I enjoyed the characters and was drawn into the intrigue. (See a series by this author below).
10. The Dancing Floor, John Buchan- As will be seen below, I decided this year to begin the straight read-through of Buchna’s novels which I have contemplated for years. This novel is one of the stories dealing with Ed Leithen, and one that I had not previously read. It developed a bit slowly but  was powerful in the end. Buchan didn’t write “Christian” novels but his latent Christian beliefs come through clearly as was typical in his time (late 19^th to early 20^th century). He is simply telling a good yarn, but along the way the main character regains the Christian faith he grew up with and finds starkly exposed the power of Christ over paganism and the shallowness of modern skepticism. Here we find a worldly-wise man confronted with the stark realities of the demonic and finding the only power sufficient to answer this is the risen Christ.

Buchan seems to be seeking to engage the skepticism of his day and to challenge it. This is seen also in some of the stories in Runagate’s Club. It comes to full bloom in Witchwood (which was a favorite of C S Lewis).

Theology/Bible/Christian Living

1. Postliberal Protestants: Baptists Between Obergefell and Christian Nationalism, Hunter Baker- I really enjoyed and appreciated this one. It was timely and well argued. I think his thesis stands- Christians are put out with the traditional Baptist position of separation of church and state because of how that has been warped and this has opened the door for pining for a national church. But, history has shown this to be a dead-end road. We must maintain an independent, regenerate church even if that means we lose culturally. We must pursue discipleship not dominance. The only way to influence the populace is to proclaim the gospel and its ethical implications praying for people to be persuaded and converted. We must not rely on the sword/government.
2. Planting by Pastoring: A Vision for Starting a Healthy Church, Nathan Knight- very good. I love the vision, the portrait of pastoral ministry and the overall vision of ministry. Excellent.
3. Courage: How the Gospel Creates Christian Fortitude, Joe Rigney- Good brief book, helpful treatment of courage especially the biblical data and the issue of how both sexes are called to courage, but it typically looks different.
4. Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches, John Hammett- Helpful book. Much I agreed with but I was surprised by how often I differed. This second edition needed more updating.
5. Pastoral Theology: The Pastor in the Various Duties of His Office, Thomas Murphy- very good, much wisdom, quite long. The first few chapters were gold. The rest were good to fine.
6. The Lord God of Elijah, or The True Biblical Doctrine of God as Opposed by Evolution: A Great Question of Today, David Heagle- Great to see a vigorous defense of the transcendence of God against evolution by one who had been dean of theology at Union. Published in 1916.
7. Requiem: A Lament in Three Movements, Thomas Oden- From a very different setting than I know- almost 30 years ago, and he is in a mainline denomination trying to stay in it to turn things around. But strong critique of doctrinal compromise, liberal theology, and what became known as woke.
8. The Fountain of Life: Contemplating the Aseity of God, Samuel G. Parkison- Good, careful and devotional
9. The Household and the War for the Cosmos: Recovering a Christian Vision for the Family, C. R. Wiley- Very good, challenging
10. God Rest Ye Merry: Why Christmas is the Foundation for Everything, Douglas Wilson- Good, though repetitive, and overstated in places.
11. The Blessed and Boundless God, George Swinnock- very good. Devotional study of the character of God. Swinnock is good with his words, helping to draw out the implications of God’s character applying that to our hearts and deeds.
12. Saint J. D., James Cole & Robert Lee- I read this to learn more about JD Grey, a prominent UU alum from the mid to late 1970’s. The book isn’t really well written. It seems to try to stuff in one liners some of which don’t make sense 50 years later. Still it contains helpful info and shines at times. It reminds me that mediocre biographies are better than no biographies since at least we do have an attempt to tell a person’s story.

This gave me a better understanding of Grey. The book is hagiographic, but you can see that he was devoted to his church and city. He was a rough and tumble guy, but it seems that fit New Orleans well. I respect that he took on the gambling culture head on despite threats to his well-being. You also can see Union’s standing in the SBC at the time.

History

1. Washington’s Crossing, David Hackett Fisher- very good.
2. The Siege: A Six-Day Hostage Crisis and the Daring Special-Forces Operation That Shocked the World, Ben Macintyre- Fascinating event that I was unaware of previously. Not at the same level as his previous books, though.
3. Washington’s End: The Final Years and Forgotten Struggle, Jonathan Horn- Fairly flat in the retelling, quite focused on slavery, seems to have the air of debunking. Not great. Billed as dealing with history that is overlooked, but most of it I had read about before. I did appreciate him getting Hamilton right- conniving.
4. Standing like a Stonewall: The Life of General Thomas J Jackson, James I Robertson- very good. I listened to this because it was shorter than his well-known bio of Jackson. I did not realize this was a version intended for middle schoolers. It did not sound like it at all. Carefully researched and written, it is clear he respects Jackson, but he notes his errors as well.
5. Hunting the Jackal: A Special Forces and CIA Soldier’s Fifty Years on the Frontlines of the War Against Terrorism, Billy Waugh and Tim Keown- Autobiography. Told well. Fascinating to see his longevity, pushing for a combat assignment in Afghanistan at age 71 and getting it! (He turned 72 while there). Very active, running regularly in his sixties during his work tracking the Jackal. Full of profanity, though. Interesting his ready references to God and his use of the Bible at the beginning and end. The Bible is misused, and it is clear he isn’t converted, but true to his era the Christian God and the Bibe make up part of his mental framework, just not the center.
6. Master of War: The Life of General George H. Thomas, Benson Bobrick- I am wide open to critiques of Sherman and Grant, and it does look like Thomas was overlooked and mistreated in various ways. But the author hurts his case by being so clearly partisan. Still this was an interesting and informative read.
7. Traitor of Arnhem– Good. It started slowly but eventually really drew me in. Fascinating (in a bad way) to see the levels of treachery. Having read Ben Macintyre’s excellent book on the Cambridge 5, this was revealing to see what all trouble they caused in WWII, specifically what the author uncovered suggesting Anthony Blunt was the key reason for the failure of Market Garden, resulting in the Russians getting so much more of Europe and all that ended up meaning for the Cold War, etc. Thanks for Clint Pressley for the recommendation.
8. Monument to Healing: Two Soldiers and the Good Death, 1862, 1914, Charles Cox with Spurgeon King- This was an interesting, brief book about a Confederate soldier who died in a skirmish just south of Jackson, TN, how the grave was identified, and eventually moved to Salem Cemetery. I did not know it was there and had never heard this story. Thanks to Steve Frye for the recommendation.
9. The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West, David McCullough- McCullough just has a way with writing history. Great examples, full of the “American spirit,” nobility, industry, character, integrity, etc.
10. Quotations of John F Kennedy, John F Kennedy- I got this from the gift shop at the JFK presidential library. JFK was so good with words. Even though I have significant disagreements with him in principle, he is a reminder of the power and beauty of words put together well.
11. A Quiet Company of Dangerous Men: The Forgotten British Special Operations Soldiers of World War II, Shannon Monaghan- A good book. Not all of this tale is “forgotten” since Ben Macintyre has told parts of this in his books, but the title holds as it refers specifically to the lives of the key British soldiers in view. Fascinating to see all that these men endured in Europe and Aisa and through WWII into the Cold War up to Iraq.

Leadership/Education

1. Mission-Driven Colleges: Keeping First Things First in Christian Higher Education, Richard Langer & Scott Rae- The best book on integration of faith and learning I have read. I usually think such things fail to go all the way, but this one is excellent.

Fiction

1. As mentioned above, I began reading back through the novels of John Buchan. Here I will list the Hannay novels, all of which I re-read this year: The Thirty-Nine Steps, Greenmantle, Mr. Standfast, The Three Hostages, The Island of Sheep, Courts of the Morning. These are Buchan’s best known novels and are great fun. They are clean, straightforward, assuming basic virtues of fair play, nobility, courage, and honor. It is fun to note the cultural presuppositions in all of Buchan’s novels including a sturdy Christian worldview, moral clarity, Western preeminence, and that all his readers would catch brief biblical allusions and be able to handle random lines in Latin, German, and French.
2. The Runagates Club, John Buchan- This is a Buchan I had not previously read. I am not usually as fond of short stories, but, in the end, I did like this book. As in Buchan’s others, the references to other literature or people are quite striking- the things he expects his readers to know- esp. the Bible, Latin, Greek mythology, basic Nore mythology, as well as basic French and German. It is also striking the level of interest in the spirit world. The characters deny much interest or belief in it, but the theme of the stories again and again is to press us the think again.
3. I also read all of the Leithen novels by John Buchan: The Power House, John Macnab, The Gap in the Curtain, The Dancing Floor (mentioned above), and Sick Heart River. I really like the Ed Leithen character, who apparently is the character most like Buchan himself. AS in the Hannay novels, there is a regular concern among the leading men about growing soft as they age. The Gap in the Curtain (one I had not read before) is very interesting and profound. It doesn’t deal with time travel but with the idea of whether or not it would be good to know some part of one’s personal future. Buchan resoundingly answers that knowledge of the future would most often harm us. Instead we should put our heads down and live faithfully in the here and now and let the future take care of itself. Sick Heart River, I had read before, and once again found it to be a very interesting consideration of the meaning of life and Christian faith. Leithen, who seemed to have recovered his faith in the Dancing Floor (see above), is now facing certain death which leads to more soul searching. The breakthrough comes when he moves from the idea of an inscrutable all-powerful God and a Stoic acceptance (which did at least create a steady resilience) to seeing the kindness and mercy of God which then led to a love for others leading him in the end not just to “die on his feet” but to give his life for others. The book, which is Buchan’s last (published in fact after his death) ends with the line, “He knew he would die; but he also knew he would live.” The hope of the resurrection!
4. I read for the first time Buchan’s Dickson Mc Cunn stories:

Huntingtower– The first of the Dickson McCunn adventures. It was fun for Archie Roylance, from the Hanny and Leithen stories, to make an appearance. McCunn strikes me as Buchan’s Don Quixote. He has just retired as a grocer in Scotalnd and now sets out for romantic adventure, seriously underestimating what that means. Bumbling along he eventually becomes the hero he longed to be. But, Buchan himself several times compares his main character to Ulysses. As commonly in his novels, Buchan critiques communism (unsurprisingly), and here he specifically praises the middle class man. I noticed that early in the novel and then Buchan states it explicitly at the close.

“You will not find him in Russia. He is what they call the middle-class, which we who were foolish used to laugh at. But he is the stuff which above all others makes a great people. He will endure when aristocracies crack and proletariats crumble. In our own land we have never known him, but till we create him our land will not be a nation.”

Castle Gay– The second Dickson McCunn book. It took me a bit to get into this one because I had to realize this one was a bit of a farce. Once catching on, it was a fun yarn of intrigue on Scottish soil of leaders of a fictional European nation, Evallonia.

The House of the Four Winds– the third and last of the Dickson McCunn stories. This one took me longer to get into. The key characters end up in the midst of a revolution in Evallonia.

5. Hell Bay– Will Thomas (Barker & Llewellyn book 8)- I continued this series from last year. In some ways this is one of the best of the series. In other ways, there were things that seemed too obvious to me for the characters not to pick up. But the intrigue and action were fun. I really liked Barker’s charge to the heir who felt unprepared and sought to lose himself in drink. The “get yourself together and do your duty” speech was excellent. I also read these from the series An Awkward Way to Die, (8.5), Old Scores, (9), Blood is Blood (10, Barker’s brother shows up).
6. Lethal Pursuit, Will Thomas (Barker & Llewellyn book 11)- I will single this one out. Our heroes battle wits with their own government, the German government, an Austrian nobleman intent on reviving the Holy Roman Empire, and the Vatican over an ancient document which claims to be a fifth gospel possibly older than the canonical four. Over the last few the stories seem to “slip” more often. That is, they have places where the flow doesn’t fit as well, things to follow on as naturally, where more ready to hand solutions seem evident, etc. But, if you don’t’ worry yourself about these much, they are entertaining. The picture of Barker doesn’t hold up as well, either. His use of language doesn’t really square with a serious deacon from the Metropolitan Tabernacle, and despite repeated assertions that he seeks to avoid lying, he does it often, even at times when there are ways to avoid it. These I assume show places where the author does not share or fully understand this worldview. The writing seems like one who seeks to portray a worldview he himself does not share and thus does not truly know.

7. Dance with Death– Will Thomas (Barker & Llewellyn Series, Book 12)- The story is fine, though I admit they are losing their draw for me. The most intriguing thing is how Thomas uses historical characters, often lesser known ones, and weaves his story believably into the known fragments. The affair between the heir of Russia and a ballerina is true. In fact the ballerina is historical. Most interestingly, the Russian guard who was a black man from the American south (Jim Hercules) is historical! That is the most interesting part of the story to me this time.
8. The Shepherd, Frederick Forsyth- nice little story. Set in Cold War Britain, a pilot tries to fly home from Germany solo in a fighter plane, but his controls go out. At the last minute he is found by a plane which guides him safely in. But the plane doesn’t exist. He slowly recognizes that the plane and pilot went down back in WWII. That pilot regularly went back to find lost pilots and shepherd them safely home. Planes sent out to help planes without controls were called shepherds. There is a line of stories like this where one is helped by someone who you later find out has been dead a long time. Nice story. Not hard to find connections to the gospel here (though, by all indications, they would be unintentional).
9. Day of the Jackal, Frederick Forsyth- Good story. Intelligent in a way too few stories or movies are. Told well. I liked the movement between the different groups and places. There was no sensuality for a good while and then it showed up. Very minimal in comparison with the typical, but still more than is helpful. Good suspense. I really liked the character of the French detective who isn’t a big shot, is really looked down upon by the big shots, regular beat guy, who in the end wins the day.
10. A Clean Kill, Steven Konkoly- A bit darker than some of his other books due to featuring a serial killer. Intrigue and action as before, and focusing on corruption in government as often. Action-packed, but I don’t think I will continue this series. Though it is clean by the standards of the genre (no sensuality), more profanity and depravity than I care for.
11. The Last Trail, Zane Grey- This was far better than Riders of the Purple Sage. This was a good, fun story- brave men protecting the settlement along the borders, a love interest, men risking themselves for the people and their women. Good story.
12. True Grit, Charles Portis-a lot of biblical content/allusions. The girl is a convinced Christian who quotes the Bible and seeks to follow Biblical principles. A really well written novel, great characters. I went on to read Portis’s The Dog of the South, which I did not care for as much.
13. Mistakes Can Kill You, Louis L’Amour- Only fair. Not up to the regular L’Amour standard
14. The Eye of the Tiger, Wilbur Smith- I was in need of a fun novel to refresh my mind, and this one did the trick. It isn’t profound or deep, just a good action novel. It was fun to read one from 1975 and set in formerly British Africa. I had not heard of Wilbur Smith but discovered he wrote many novels and several of them were made into movies. The difference of that era from today were very interesting to note, and honestly mostly refreshing. While it has the typical “hero is a ladies man, gets girls wherever, though he really falls for this one,” the author is not explicit. Just good action thriller, outsmart and outfight the bad guys, ups and downs, and a redemptive arc in the protagonist. The author showed you there was a hidden bit waiting for the end, but it still surprised me.

Also, while it is not remotely Christian, the hero makes Scriptural allusions. As often noted, common Biblical passages just made up part of the intellectual furniture of the day. The author also assumes more historical knowledge of his readers than authors do in this sort of book today. E.G., the Battle of Hastings.

15. The Protector, David Morrell- Fair. It was clean, and I really appreciate that. Even the woman who works with the agent is his wife, whom he would not have dragged into the issue, but he had to. The FBI guy is identified as a Southern Baptist deacon. The story overall, though, was decent, not great. I did not continue the series.
16. I enjoyed Andrew Klavan’s Mind War trilogy (Mind War, Hostage Run, Game Over). It is aimed at teens and can be over the top. But it has good themes rooted in Christian faith. Even with some of the overdone melodrama, I wanted to keep reading. This series could be made into a good animated show. I appreciate what the author is doing.
17. Because of Love, Kelvin Moore- This is the sequel to Kelvin’s Three Noirs and a Blanc, which I mentioned in my 2023 list. I really enjoy his characters, I think partially because I can hear him in them. I also really appreciated the message he is communicating about the life giving power of real friendships.
18. Theo of Golden, Allen Levi- Heartwarming, nicely written. I like how it held back the key to understanding until the end.
19. I enjoyed S. G. Maclean’s Seeker series, at least the first four books of the series, which I read this year (The Seeker, The Black Friar, Destroying Angel, The Bear Pit). I discovered these after reading The Bookseller of Inverness, mentioned above. In this series we have an author with a PhD in Scottish history setting up essentially detective stories during the time of Oliver Cromwell’s Protectorate. I found this fascinating. I kept worrying about where she might go with the story, but the stories are clean and even handed with the people involved. Many side characters who show up are true, historical people including Dante and others. She tells a good story with intrigue and twists and turns. Murder mysteries set in Cromwell’s London. What’s not to like!

Disappointments

1. The Palace at the End of the Sea, Simon Tolkien- I bought the book because of the family connection- Simon is a grandson of J R R Tolkien. I didn’t care for the story from early on but kept going thinking it might get better. It never did. I was never won to the main character. I had sympathy for him with his struggles but couldn’t go with his continued dumb decisions. The book ends with me being exasperated with him again. I don’t really see where the story is going either. The series continues, but I did not.
2. War Against the Mafia: The Executioner (Mack Bolan series, Book 1), Don Pendleton- I get that it spawned a genre, but too sexual.  It was interesting to see the Bible quoted several times As I have said before, novels show the sense of the time. Moral ambiguity flowing from the Vietnam War is big here. Vigilante stories (movies or books) don’t seem to worry much over killing today. But this one wrestles with the moral issue deciding that to be good one must oppose evil whatever that takes. The main character several times says that there is no morality in a holy war. That’s inherently contradictory since holy is a moral category, but you can get the point- when you’re fighting evil you can do evil. But that is a slippery slope which is very clear today. This is the reasoning of Islamic terrorists. It is the easiest way to excuse evil. It is the argument used to justify torturing enemies.
3. The Art of Fairness, David Bodanis- fair, so-so, nothing all that great. The latter half when he has a sustained narrative is better reading, but it is selective reading of history at its worst. Also, no moral compass. FDR is the paragon of virtue, and we are to be glad of the inspiration he gained from his extra-marital affair.