| Desiring God | Piper, John | 5/5. Reread. Still one of the best books for understanding motive in the Christian life. |
| The Inner Way – Enhanced Version | Tauler, John | 2/5. Mariolatry on steroids. |
| Seeing Beauty and Saying Beautifully: The Power of Poetic Effort in the Work of George Herbert, George Whitefield, and C. S. Lewis(The Swans Are Not Silent #6) | Piper, John | 4/5. Wonderful chapters on Herbert, Whitefield and Lewis. |
| A Testament of Devotion | Kelly, Thomas R. | 3/5. Reread. The first chapter on continuous communion is unmatched. The odd Quaker views in the other chapters detract. |
| Revelations of Divine Love | Julian of Norwich | 2/5. It is hard to read this kind of mysticism and not suspect insanity on the part of the author. |
| Great Expectations | Dickens, Charles | Shelved, as it didn’t meet mine. |
| Imagine the God of Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God’s Revelation, and the Love You’ve Always Wanted | Burke, John | Shelved |
| Preach: Theology Meets Practice | Dever, Mark | 3/5. A decent, solid book on preaching. The section on sermon reviews is helpful, but I’ve found that only trained preachers are able to conduct helpful reviews of each other’s sermons. Without training in preaching, most don’t know what to ask or critique. Also helpful reminder to preach larger sections of Scripture. |
| Judgment Of The Nephilim | Pitterson, Ryan | 3/5. Some good insights, and mostly similar to Heiser’s views (though Pitterson rejects the book of Enoch, for the most part). A bit speculative on “the Assyrian” as a Nephilim, but still retains a measured tone throughout. Rather odd predilection for commentaries from the 1800s. |
| Pictures at a Theological Exhibition: Scenes of the Church’s Worship, Witness and Wisdom | Vanhoozer, Kevin J. | 3/5. Great insights on the imagination. Chapters are a bit eclectic. |
| Rembrandt Is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art through the Eyes of Faith | Ramsey, Russ | 4/5. An illuminating tour through the lives and works of a few chosen artists, interpreted from a Christian perspective. |
| Mastering Stage Presence: How to Present to Any Audience | Long, Melanie M. | 3/5. A comprehensive course for public speaking and acting. |
| Sing Like Never Before: A Creative Look at Vocal Technique & Pedagogy for Singers & Voice Teachers | Stoney, Justin | 4/5. Enjoyable, colourful and simple guide to the physical and mental components of singing. |
| The Love of God: A Canonical Model | Peckham, John C. | 4/5. Peckham’s canonical approach commends itself with a willingness to let texts speak for themselves, without the hovering shadow of a philosophical-theological system forcing texts into its mold. His position avoids the extremes of the remote, impassible God of classical theism and the suffering, evolving God of process theology. He lands in a somewhat Arminian position, arguing that God’s love is free, evaluative, partly passible, and foreconditional. |
| Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History | Telushkin, Joseph | 4/5. Comprehensive, and yet each entry is digestible and well-written. Here and there, his information or interpretation of Christianity felt partial or skewed. Mostly, a great resource, and powerful account of anti-semitism. |
| On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons | Broadus, John Albert | 5/5. Perhaps one of the most comprehensive treatments of sermonising, from exegesis through to public speaking. Broadus’ sense of propriety and dignity is lovely to read and a corrective to preaching that cares only about manipulating listeners for results. |
| Tuck (King Raven, #3) | Lawhead, Stephen R. | 4/5. An enjoyable, and plausible version of Robin Hood. |
| Love Walked Among Us: Learning To Love Like Jesus | Miller, Paul E. | Shelved |
| Dune Messiah (Dune, #2) | Herbert, Frank | Shelved |
| Timeboxing: The Power of Doing One Thing at a Time | Zao-Sanders, Marc | 3/5. I’m not sure this needed an entire book. The concept is great, and it works, but I feel Cal Newport said it in a few paragraphs in his book “Deep Work”. |
| The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction | Earley, Justin Whitmel | 4/5. Earley’s suggested habits are helpful, and grounded in generally wise thinking. A few flaws detract from the book, but they do not ruin it. |
| On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature | Lewis, C.S. | 5/5. Lewis’ essay on criticism should be read by every serious critic. Literature was his forte and not a word is wasted in this collection. |
| The Beauty of the Lord: Theology as Aesthetics | King, Jonathan | 4/5. King takes a tour through biblical theology, and shows the “fittingness” of Jesus in each section. A Ph.D. thesis converts into a book, it retains its academic tone, but still has excellent insights. |
| Love and the Postmodern Predicament: Rediscovering the Real in Beauty, Goodness, and Truth (Veritas Book 28) | Schindler, D. C. | 3/5. I found the first three chapters accessible enough, but the picture become much fuzzier as the chapters went on. Still, rare and helpful to hear a modern philosopher speak on beauty, goodness and truth. |
| Scarlet (King Raven, #2) | Lawhead, Stephen R. | 4/5 |
| The Only Sacrament Left to Us: The Threefold Word of God in the Theology and Ecclesiology of Karl Barth(Princeton Theological Monograph Series Book 215) | Currie, Thomas Christian | 3/5. Barth’s threefold Word of God could be a helpful concept if modified. As it stands, it requires a thousand qualifications, and dies a slow death by them. |
| The Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text: Interpreting and Preaching Biblical Literature (Relativism; 2) | Greidanus, Sidney | 3/5. A solid combination of hermeneutics and exposition, with a special focus on the forms and features of the text. More academic than some might like, it still retains a practical focus on delivering comprehensible and relevant sermons. |
| Hood (King Raven, #1) | Lawhead, Stephen R. | 4/5 . Curious but plausible take on the Hood legend, featuring a Welsh protagonist battling Norman invaders. |
| Taliesin (The Pendragon Cycle #1) | Lawhead, Stephen R. | 4/5. Amidst a sea of dark and sticky Neo-Pagan Arthuriana, Lawhead stands out as refreshingly clean, Christian and unambiguously moral, without being trite, cliched, preachy or banal. |
| Music, the Arts, and Ideas: Patterns and Predictions in Twentieth-Century Culture | Meyer, Leonard B. | 3/5. Above my musical pay grade. |
| Devotional Classics: Revised Edition: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups | Edited by Richard Foster | 5/5. Excerpts from the greatest spiritual writers in church history. Some unevenness to the selections, but nevertheless choice sections from many of the greatest writers of Christian devotion. |
| 2,000 Years of Christ’s Power, Part One: The Age of the Early Church Fathers | Needham, Nick R. | 4/ 5. Needham’s readable style combined with attention to detail makes for one of the best church history books. Needham also points out connections in historical theology which often go unnoticed, such as the competition between Alexandria and Antioch. |
| The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God | Frame, John M. | 4/5 Frame’s lively writing style makes it possible to soldier through some heavy epistemological topics. A broad-ranging look at theological method and epistemology in general. Frame’s tri-perspectivalism certainly captures much of the truth about knowing. |
| Dune (Dune, #1) | Herbert, Frank | 4/5 Herbert’s world is rich, religious, and fairly morally clear. |
| The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had | Bauer, Susan Wise | 3/5 I like literary surveys. Knowing what novels, biographies, histories, plays, and poems are worth covering fills me both with dread (at how little time is left in my life to conquer the lists) and aspiration. Bauer’s work is great for her lists, and for her short history of each genre. Not everyone will appreciate (much less apply) her grammar, logic, rhetoric method for reading each type. I certainly can’t imagine reading almost any except the most exceptional book in the manner she suggests. It would take me forever to do, and it would feel like the comprehension tests I detested in school. |
| Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World | Newport, Cal | 5/5. Deep Work is like a good sermon: deeply convicting, strongly challenging and practically helpful. Newport delivers a rod to the back for wallowing in shallow work, shows what deep work can accomplish, and then delivers incredibly practical tools for implementing them. Potentially life-changing book. |
