I love reading through all the books that other people have read over the past year because it is absolutely the best way to find things to read. I am, however, terrible at actually reading them as I end up reading all sorts of other stuff instead. But I have a fascinating wishlist! In this post I’ve only added books that are new to me as there are several I’ve added previously but still haven’t read. I’ve tried to be disciplined and choose just one book from each set of lists.

Here are the books that if I had nothing to do but read I would read and who recommended them.

Origen’s Revenge

Here’s what Leah Libresco had to say about it:

I read this on the recommendation of Mrs. Psmith, and I really enjoyed it as a mapping of Hebrew, Greek, and Christian thinking on male-female complementarity. How do you get away from the idea of women as slightly defective men? Or of maleness and femaleness just being shallow skins on generic humans? Acknowledging our differences quickly feels dangerous, because we have trouble trusting others to treat us fairly if we can’t demonstrate our sameness.

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Theo of Golden

Trevin Wax had this as his book of the year and said,

This book wrecked me. The mystery of the storyline captured my imagination, but it was the characters who pushed their way into my heart. I was drawn as if by fire to the central character, whose sanctity gently exposed my innate selfishness and inability to see—really see—people God puts in my path. I wept at the end, stirred with compassion for others, longing for growth in love and holiness. I knew when I closed the book I was unlikely to find another this year that would top it. Nothing else came close. O to be a saint!

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One with my Lord

Andrew Wilson (and by the sound of it his wife Rachel as well) recommended this:

Probably the best (and simplest) book I have ever read on union with Christ. Rachel and I fought over it on holiday.

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Tunnel 29

This is from Ryan Holiday’s list. He says,

Like, so good that I sometimes had trouble reading more than a few pages at a time–I would have to get up and walk around or just snack on something to calm down. It’s the story of a German graduate student who escapes into West Berlin…and then despite having no family or loved ones on the other side, spends thousands of hours–at great risk to himself–digging a 442-foot tunnel back to East Berlin to help others escape. So much good Cold War history here, but more than that, just a riveting story. I love narrative nonfiction, as you know, but this one is written by a TV journalist so it has a very unique feel to it. I don’t think I’ve read anything like it before. Just LOVED it.

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They Flew

Kevin DeYoung recommended this one saying,

You might not expect a Yale history professor to write an academic book about levitation and bilocation. Even more surprising, you wouldn’t expect such a book to lean in the direction of concluding that these supernatural events may have really happened. While I don’t think Eire presents early modern Protestants fairly, the underlying premise of the book is fascinating. Without deciding one way or another whether people can float and be in two places at the same time, Eire presents undeniable evidence that many, many people in the past believed they were witnesses to these things. Eire argues that at the very least we should question our own assumptions about what is possible as much as we question the assumptions people made in the past.

What Can a Body Do?

Recommended by Brad East

In contention for my favorite book I read this year. Certainly the best book-about-technology I read this year. Sara is a rock star.

Nuclear War: A Scenario

Recommended by Tyler Cowen:

By Annie Jacobsen, a very good book.  What would happen if a nuclear weapon actually were launched at the United States?  On the ground?  In the chain of command?  Organizationally and otherwise?  A good book, sadly still of relevance.  Full of drama throughout, and tactically astute.

The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper

Recommended by Austin Kleon

Roland Allen’s The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper, a book that felt like it was written just for me.

Feminism Against Progress

Recommended by Jez Field:

This book is amazing. It makes a case for the impact and importance of sex differences between men and women and, as with ‘The case Against the Sexual Revolution’ points out how much of the ‘progress’ focused feminism denies essential differences between men and women and tragically is peddling to women a less satisfying vision of what it means to live well. 

Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls

Recommended by Tim Suffield who said of it:

My book of the year. A compelling antidote to a lot of the ‘leadership’ books that float around for Pastors, clearly stating what a Pastor is supposed to be doing, through the eyes of the Church Fathers.