I managed to read 80 nonfiction books this year. My piles of books I need to read continues to grow faster than I can read them. Of the nonfiction books I read this year, these were my favorites. I’ll make just a brief comment about each.

Andrew Judd, Modern Genre Theory – Since I’m teaching classes in Old and New Testament now (which are outside my primary academic field) I’ve felt the need to expand my knowledge. This was a nice introduction to what genre is and how it works.

Steve Cuss, The Expectation Gap – I’ve been listening to Steve Cuss’s podcast for years and found his previous book, Managing Leadership Anxiety to be helpful, so I thought I should read this one. I was not disappointed. It’s focus is on the “gap” Christians feel between what they experience of God and what they think they ought to be experiencing.

Yuval Levin, American Covenant – If we lived from the Constitution the way Levin explains it things would be much better in our country. For me the question isn’t so much whether he interprets the Constitution rightly but whether given actual American humans it’s possible to do so.

Keith Payne, Good Reasonable People – Payne’s book works from the fact that we naturally assume we are “good reasonable people,” a belief that inclines us to believe that those who differ from us must be evil and stupid.

Alan Noble, On Getting Out of Bed – If you’ve ever dealt with any degree of anxiety, depression, or lethargy, this short book will be a help.

Jason Staples, Paul and the Resurrection of Israel – I first encountered Staples’ work via podcast interviews. If you’re a student of the Bible, particularly of Paul’s writings on the place of Jews & Gentiles, Staples’ arguments are worth your consideration. If you balk at the traditional Calvinist reading of Romans 9-11 you’ll especially find it helpful.

Sunstein & Sharot, Look Again – This is an exploration on the power of habituation, for good or for ill.

Matthew Lynch, Flood and Fury – I’ll be using this one in my Introduction to Old Testament this semester. It offers a helpful approach to violence in the Old Testament.

Musa al-Gharbi, We Have Never Been Woke – AL-Gharbi offers a sociological account of the phenomenon that’s come to be known as “wokeness.” If you take a dogmatic approach to the phenomenon, whether in favor or against, you probably won’t like his dispassionate study.

Jeff Manion, Dream Big, Think Small – I don’t usually read “devotional” books (yes, that might sound strange coming from a pastor/professional Christian). I was slow to pick this one up. When I did, I found it very encouraging and helpful – at a time I needed the encouragement.

Kelly Kapic, You’re Only Human – I’m happy to discover Kapic’s work – I’ll be going back for more. This is a brief look at Christian anthropology, particularly what it means to live as beings created in God’s image, beings that are limited and finite, yet have a call to a great and significant purpose.

AJ Swoboda, Subversive Sabbath – If I only read books that provided provocative analysis rather than personal conviction of the way I was (mis)living my life, I would have skipped this one. My life needs subversion sometimes.

Dru Johnson, Understanding Biblical Law – This is another book I read in preparation for courses I teach. It offers a beginners account of what law (Torah) is about in the Old Testament and how it functions.