Best Books of 2021

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Of the 35 books I read in 2021, these are my top selections:

Best New Books (published in 2020 - 2021):

  1. Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters (Abigail Shrier) - Shocking analysis of how adolescent angst is manipulated into the permanent mutilation of young women. Meticulously documented by a responsible, left-of-center journalist. A must read.

  2. Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents (Rod Dreher)



Honorable Mention:

The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart (Harold L. Senkbeil)



Best Older Books (published before 2020):

East of Eden (John Steinbeck) - A tour de force by Steinbeck that plumbs the depths of human existence and the effects of original sin.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (Cal Newport) - Newport challenges assumptions on what is important and has excellent strategies for spending more time in significant work and minimizing the distractions of shallow work.

Honorable Mention:

How to Become a Bishop Without Being Religious (Charles Merrill Smith) - It’s funny because it’s true. This book is sadly out of print, but I found a serviceable paperback at used bookstore. Recommended for all pastors, and anyone who sees the sham that is church politics.



Worst Book read in 2021:

The Ragamuffin Gospel (Brennan Manning) - Antinomianism masquerading as “grace.” Smarmy writing combined with oily theology makes for the worst book you could read in just about any year.

Dishonorable Mention:

Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History Of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, And Assassins (Annie Jacobsen) - Terrific title, but not for this book. Very long on tedious bureaucratic history, combined with one or two interesting vignettes. Don’t be surprised that this book kills your enthusiasm; let it vanish from your reading list.

Best Reread:

I took a break from rereading this year.

Other Books Read in 2021:

  • What Will Happen to God? Feminism and the Reconstruction of Christian Belief (William Oddie)

  • The Black Ice (Michael Connelly)

  • The Word Remains: Selected Writings on the Church Year and the Christian Life (Wilhelm Löhe)

  • Indiscretions of Archie (P.G. Wodehouse)

  • Creating Flow with Omnifocus (Kourosh Dini)

  • The Decadent Society: How We Became Victims of Our Own Success (Ross Douthat)

  • Decision Points (George W. Bush)

  • The Head of Kay’s (P.G. Wodehouse)

  • A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons (Peter J. Leithart)

  • The Gold Bat (P.G. Wodehouse)

  • The Girl on the Boat (P.G. Wodehouse)

  • Your Future Self Will Thank You: Secrets to Self-Control from the Bible and Brain Science (Drew Dyck)

  • Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World (Tara Isabella Burton)

  • Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World (Michael Pollan)

  • The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns (John C. Bogle)

  • The Gem Collector (P.G. Wodehouse)

  • Good and Bad Ways to Think about Religion and Politics (Robert Benne)

  • Church Leadership & Strategy: For the Care of Souls (Harold L. Senkbeil, Lucas V. Woodford)

  • The Church History (Eusebius)

  • A Damsel in Distress (P.G. Wodehouse)

  • Secrets of Productive People (Mark Forster)

  • No One Left to Lie to: The Values of the Worst Family (Christopher Hitchens)

  • On Christian Teaching (St. Augustine)

  • Meditations for Lent (Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet)

  • Letters to Lutheran Pastors, Volume I (Herman Sasse)

  • The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race, and Identity (Douglas Murray)

  • God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas [reread] (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

  • The Coming of Bill (P.G. Wodehouse)

My current reading list is here.