My Top Ten Books of 2024

     I archive my books on Goodreads. I also review each book I read. In 2024, I read 50 books totaling 20,571 pages, an average of 430 pages per book. The shortest book I read at 92 pages was C. I. Scofield's book on the Holy Spirit. The longest book I read at 1500 pages was the John R. Rice Reference Bible. Today's post contains my top ten books for the year. For those who are interested, I also maintain a recommended reading list here; it contains hundreds of recommendations spread across a couple of dozen categories.

     Enjoy.

The Treasurey of David, Volume 1, Parts One and Two, C. H. Spurgeon - As a long-time pastor, I have often sampled from these volumes in preparation for one sermon or another. But in preparing to teach an extended series from the psalms (one Sunday School lesson on each psalm) I decided to read them in their entirety, beginning to end. I have found them as rich in reality as they are in reputation. The staggering amount of content, good content, is matched only by Spurgeon's peerless ability as a wordsmith. It isn't often that I read a book/commentary on the Bible and think to myself, "Well, there isn't anything else left to say." This is one of those rare cases where I feel that way.

In the edition I have the print is tiny and the pages thin. It makes for laborious reading yet I have found myself more than amply repaid. I am quite sure that to whatever extent you read them - sampled here and there or read as I am doing straight through - you will come to the same conclusion I have.

Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson - Isaacson has done it again. He has shown us a man, and in showing us the man has shown how/why that man has changed society, and why it matters that he has changed society. Well written, as always. Mostly kept himself out of it, except for the occasional left-leaning criticism. Strikes me as fair i.e. even-handed. He praises Musk in some places; in others, he takes him to task, not personally, but historically, so to speak. The only fault I can really find in this as biography is that it was written too soon. The tale of Musk's life is not yet told. Mid-life biographies are always sketchy things.

Isaacson does an outstanding job tracing the arc of Musk's life from gritty South Africa in a broken family to Canadian immigrant to dot com millionaire to risk taking space pioneer. It is a marvelous tale, and an insightful one. You come away with a sense that you understand what makes Musk tick. It contextualizes the Musk you see in interviews and on Twitter. I know I'll never look at the guy the same again.

As for Musk. Wow. I've read biographies of all of the robber barons of the 19th century, trains, oil, banking, etc. I've read biographies of the movers and shakers of the internet era, Brin, Zuckerburg, Bezos, Thiele, etc. Musk is more impressive than any of them save Rockefeller. And he matters more than Rockefeller. I told my wife, "If Musk lived 2000 years ago, he would be on the back of an elephant leading an army conquering Rome." He risks everything. Constantly. It has produced big wins and big losses both, but more of the former b/c it is generally intelligent risk.

Musk the person/man is much less impressive. Foul mouthed. Serial adultery/practical polygamy. As horrible to work for or more than Steve Jobs. OTOH, I can't see him falling into a second juvenile childhood like Bezos is doing. He will press hard to the end, I think.

Back to the book... I think we need to read books like this b/c we need to understand the forces shaping our society. You must understand that to know where we are going next. With Musk, I feel terrified encouragement. What he has done for the cause of free speech alone is enormously important in the medium term. Much less so, with electric cars. Much more so, with space. And who knows what he will do next?

My compliments to Isaacson. He has done society a great favor to peel the mask back and show us the man.

When Pride Still Mattered, A Life of Vincent Lombardi, David Maraniss - This is my first Maraniss book, and my first bio of Lombardi. Together, they became an interesting discovery. Maraniss writes clearly here, following a mostly chronological order, but resisting the impulse to turn this into a dissection of football/football games. It isn't. Oh, he discusses both and in some detail, but this is absolutely a biography rather than a sporting history.

As a biography then this work stands or falls. And stand it does. Maraniss shows us Lombardi's neighborhood/family milieu, his education, and the influence of his church. He spends substantial time on his college career at Fordham, weaves in his marriage, and then relays his early struggles to find his footing. Then we see his coaching career, high school, West Point assistant, NFL assistant, the legendary years in Green Bay, and finally the sudden sunset in DC. Throughout, Lombardi's family plays an integral role in the book as it would have in his life.

Good biographies are measured on two things, in my mind. First, do they hold my interest? Second, do they give me a flavor of the age and a sense that I really know the man? Maraniss does both well here.

Sports biographies are not my usual forte. Glad I stepped out of my comfort zone for this one.

The Frontiersman, Allan Eckart - What a delightful discovery this book was. I've read thousands of history books. Eckert wrote history in such a way that it seems a series of connected short stories ala Louis L'Amour. And he did a staggeringly good job of it. This particular work traces the settlement of Kentucky and Ohio, and the Indian wars in which they were birthed. Eckert does this via a focus on two individuals primarily, Simon Kenton on the American side, and Tecumsah on the Indian side. In the process we see religion, warfare, technology, torture, economics, geo-politics, geography, massacre, and nature. Most of all, we see the human interest side of it all. What a generation that was, a generation of struggle and loss and triumph.

I finished it this morning. As I sit here, the superlatives that come to mind are many. I will resist the urge to spill them across the page. I read fifty books, give or take, in a typical year. Suffice it to say, it is the best book I have read so far this year. Simply superb.

Nuclear War: A Scenario, Annie Jacobsen - As an author, Annie Jacobsen was a delightful surprise. As a book, Nuclear War: A Scenario was terrifying. I've read more books than I can count, and while I have read sadder books and deeper books and more important books, I have never read a book that scared me more than this one. In my life.

Jacobsen, who has clearly done her homework, writes a bit like the early Tom Clancy back when he was good. There are lots of acronyms, albeit explained. There is tension, then mesmerizing tension, then horrifying tension, then terror, and each of these are carefully attached to what comes before. Intellectual honesty compels me to mention that she stretches her scenario nearly to the breaking point in order in order to write it. The Soviets are really going to launch all out war even though they know the Americans know it was North Korea that struck them? Really? China is just going to throw in at the last minute because several hundred thousand of her people died on the border? Neither of those are believable to me. But all else was eminently believable, and I do not doubt her analysis of the results at all. Additionally, I think this is precisely the type of profound thought exercise national leaders should engage in, and I dearly hope they will read this book.

It is a good thing I am a Christian. That grounds me and contextualizes such fears with the sovereignty of God and the great arc of redemption in Christ. But if it were not for that, this book would give me an untreatable ulcer for the rest of my life.

What a book. Wow.

The Other Side of Calvinism, Laurence Vance - I came to this work at the tail end of a several year personal study of Calvinism. In the course of that, I read works both pro/con for intellectual integrity's sake, though I freely confess I am certainly not a Calvinist. I saved it for last because, frankly, it is massive. Took me most of a year to plow through. I'm glad I did.

Vance opens the work with an almost 200 page history of the primary players (Augustine, Calvin, Armenius) and the arc of the development of Calvinism as a doctrine. The next 400 pages are spent on a deconstruction of Calvinistic doctrine. The final 200 pages are appendices, bibliographies, footnotes, and indexes. And may I say in relation to this latter section, I don't think I have ever read a more scrupulously detailed and cited doctrinal work in my life. There are thousands of footnotes. It is one of the clear strengths of the work.

I have given it here a five star rating. The writing itself does not deserve that. Vance repeats himself in places, and in others allows his personal animosity/snark too much reign. He also functions as if more arguments for his position are better even if they aren't better. Though grammatically correct, the book could have used a strong editor. Having said that, the work still deserves a five star rating for several reasons. First, the sheer volume of work that went into it. Second, his approach includes hundreds of quotations from respected Calvinist writers to establish the truth of his claims regarding their positions. This helped me immensely, being largely ignorant of those writings for the most part. Third, he fearlessly tackles both the large and small, the forest and the trees. He discusses the overarching failures of the structure, and the apologies offered for it, but he also delves into the individual passages and words in great detail.

I have no doubt that Calvinists have a negative view of the work. That does not concern me. What does concern me, what drove me in fact, was my search to find a detailed, heavily cited defense of an anti-Calvinist position. Well, I can stop looking and so can you. This is definitely it.

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space, Adam Higginbotham - Adam has done it again. This is as good as his book on Chernobyl, at least. Though the scope is smaller (a tragedy vs a civilization threatening event) the approach is similar. He traces the biography of the individuals involved, how the technologies evolved, and how the culture of political and performance pressure produced man-made errors. His blow-by-blow narration of the event itself kept me on the edge of my seat even though I already knew the result. Finally, he discusses the follow-up investigations, and how the truth came to light. 

For me, this book has moved Adam up into the rarified air of the must read historian. Writing an outstanding book once is remarkable. Doing it again is awesome. My compliments, Mr. Higginbotham.

The Wide, Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook, Hampton Sides - Hampton Sides has done it again, a balanced historical account written in an absolutely compelling fashion. If Sides is not on your must-read list as a modern historian I don't know who is. 

In this work, we find the dramatic account of the last voyage and death of the great British seaman and explorer, James Cook. Sides gives us some context, but largely confines the story to exactly that. We see the ships, the men, the officers, the food, the medical issues, the map issues, all of it. We travel with Cook into the Pacific, partake of the baleful delights of Tahiti, bump into the Hawaiian islands, and taste the useless Arctic quest for the Northwest Passage. Finally, we are back to Hawaii for the gripping account of Cook's reception as a god and murder thirty days later. Lessons abound, in morals and economics and religion and leadership and hubris. 

If you haven't read Sides, start. Anywhere, but this work is as good any. And keep reading. He makes history come alive. 

1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus, Charles Mann - I picked up this book with some trepidation. I do not have much use for revisionist history, especially of the left-leaning woke variety. And much of what gets written about this era of American history recently is precisely that. To my surprise and gratification, this wasn't. Rather, it was a thought-provoking and absolutely balanced view of a wide variety of aspects of this era of history. 

Mann does a staggeringly good job of bringing up the original historical take, tracing that historical take along its development, and then applying modern information to that take. It isn't revisionist near as much as it is corrective - of left-leaning revisionism. Whether the discussion is disease or archaeology or economics or politics or weapons or transportation or communication or ethnology or demographics, Mann does an excellent job of showing us the Americas prior to Columbus. The picture that emerges is much more complex than our childhood textbooks showed us, and yet humble at the same time. 

Good book, and earned a rare five stars from me.

My Top Ten Books of 2023

 

We begin the year with what has become a traditional post for me, my top ten books of 2023. Years ago, in an effort to stop buying the same used books repeatedly, I archived all of my books on Goodreads. I still use it frequently to track my books owned/read. I also review each book I read, and participate in their annual reading challenge. For 2023, my year in review shows I read 54 books totaling 21,757 pages. My shortest book completed was 50 pages (Riley Barrett’s Not The Exception.) My longest book completed was 2,368 pages (The Strand Study Bible.) Average book length was 402 pages. My most shelved book, Killers of the Flower Moon, is on 745,000 other shelves. My least shelved book, a biography of William Biederwolf, is only on my shelf. Along with this annual post about my reading, I also maintain a list of books I recommend in general. You can find it here at Brennan’s Book List. It currently contains 423 recommendations spread over 41 different categories.

Without further ado, in no particular order, here are my top ten books for 2023:

 

The Graves Are Walking: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People by John Kelly

As a direct descendant of Irish immigrants who fled Ireland to escape this event, I have a natural interest in it. This is by far the best book I've read on the subject. Kelly does an outstanding job of telling us the story in context rather than just relating dreary statistics. There are statistics, of course, appalling ones, but he frames them well within the overarching story. In the process we learn about the Irish climate, economics, and farming practices. We discover how the peasants and landlords of that time lived and were viewed. We see how philosophy shaped relief, and the uninenteded massive consequences of laws passed attempting to fix things. Perhaps the most compelling part of a compelling book was the discussion of the flight via ships to North America, and how the Irish were received in Canada and the United States.

As the Irish said, "God sent the blight but the British sent the famine." I do not necessarily agree with that, nor does Kelly, but after finishing this book I certainly understand better why the feeling existed. If your heritage is the Irish diaspora in America you owe it to yourself to read it. And you won't be sorry. 

 

Ravensbruck: Life and Death in Hitler’s Concentration Camp for Women by Sarah Helm

 This has to be one of the most difficult if not the most difficult books I have ever read. This is not because of the writing. I have no complaint there. It was well written. But the content - which was painstakingly reconstructed and is pure history - is savage, vile, and heartrending. I've read other works on the Holocaust, I've watched the documentaries and movies, I've been through the Holocaust Museum in DC, nothing affected me like this book did. It is not a book I will remember; it is a book that will haunt me.

Evil exists in this world, and it is good and right to fight it, tooth and claw. My deep gratitude for Sarah Helm's work here. If it was difficult to read I can only imagine how difficult it was to research and write. We owe her, no, strike that, we owe the tens of thousands of women who were enslaved and tortured and murdered there not to forget.

...so read it. As difficult as it will be to read. Because you will not forget.

 

The Trial of Jesus from a Lawyer’s Standpoint by Walter M. Chandler

 I would liken this book in my mind to mold. It grew on me slowly as I read it. And I had to read it slowly. This particular edition has print that is not tiny, it is infinitesemal. It was more than just a pain, it was a serious handicap to reading the book. But I plowed ahead and I'm heartily glad I did. Divided loosely into two main sections or volumes, one discusses the Jewish examinations of Christ and the other the Roman.

Chandler as an author is not necessarily fantastic, but he quite clearly knows his stuff, both historically and legally. He does not compare the trials of Christ to trials in our own day for such would be pointless. He painstakingly and damningly compares them at all points with the Jewish and Roman law of Christ's own day. He does not work on theory or probability but strictly on law. The book is true to its title. Though narrow in that sense, it is a highly valuable thought exercise overall. It's the kind of book you can lean on. It is patently reliable in its knowledge, logic, and argument. I had heard all of my life that Jesus' trials were illegal; after finishing this work I am utterly convinced of it. 

 

The Incomparable Christ: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ by J. Oswald Sanders

 This is my second Sanders work, and this one excels his more widely known and praised work on spiritual leadership. As a pastor, it is apparent to me this work was the result of a series of messages Sanders preached about Christ. It makes the book no less impressive for all that. He walks us through aspects of Christ's character, strengths, and attributes before finishing with an examination of the seven sayings on the cross. Each chapter is short, and would serve marvelously well as the foundation of a lesson or series of lessons. Along the way Sanders gives us not just pithy comments, which he does in spades, but downright enlightening ones.

I really, really liked it, and on the basis of this book will move Sanders up in my estimation and willingness to read him. 

 

Cobalt Red: How The Blood Of The Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara

 Kara's work, while not flawless, is nonetheless searing. Recent. Painstakingly sourced, at risk to his own life and limb. Damning. A century and a half ago, it was Belgium raping the Congo; now it is the Chinese - and, by extension, their American customers. I've read King Leopold's Ghost; this is like the mad sequel made 150 years later. Truly, the Apostle Paul was right when he said, "The love of money is the root of all evil."

The task Kara set for himself was simple: to match the pledges made by tech companies in relation to the cobalt in their supply chain with the situation on the ground. The kindest word Kara uses in the whole book is "fiction." Which is precisely what they are. Focusing essentially on (badly named) artisinal miners, he shows how men/women/children labor in life-threatening conditions for practically no pay, and are exploited at every possible turn. Children under the age of ten digging in tunnels 18 inches high, left to rot by the dozens when the tunnels collapse. Teenage girls sexually abused, lives wasted away before their 18th birthday. Soldiers shooting children for the high crime of wanting to find another buyer for their precious sack of heterogonite. Politicians looting their homeland of tens of millions of dollars. Incalculable environmental damage. Organized crime. It goes on and on and on.

Kara's work is not flawless, as I said. He gets too emotional, though I can hardly blame him. He inserts himself into the reporting entirely too often, though even that helps us understand how he functions and how he came by his information. What he does do is research the industry, the economy, and the technology. He rests his case on countless interviews with ordinary, everyday, impoverished Congolese. He is at his best when telling their tales. You catch yourself looking at your 21st century American life entirely differently.

This is a book that cries out for answers, for solutions, but the problems are so deep-seated and so complex I am rather at a loss. At the end, it seems so is Kara. This is not the tale of a past crime. I have read those by the score. It is the tale of a present, on-going crime, one facilitated by my desire for inexpensive electronics.

This is a sobering work, and one I hope is widely read. 

 

The Crisis by Winston Churchill

 It is not often that you read a book thirty-five years after the first time you read it, and find it to be just as achingly beautiful as the first time. But today I have. It has been my custom to read to my children all their lives. Today, I read the last chapter of this book to my now adult daughter. What a book to end on.

I do not know why America history has forgotten this Winston Churchill. I find his writing illuminating, compelling, haunting even. It is historical fiction of the greatest variety, showing us both great character studies and perfectly drawn portraits of the age and place in which they live. No book has shown me the South better than this one.

I read almost zero fiction anymore. But walking through this book with my daughter over the last year or more was like walking with a dear friend, one I hadn't seen in decades. If you like historical fiction, I cannot possibly recommend Mr. Churchill highly enough. He will make you see. And think. And feel. He will stay with you. And when you meet him again, you will be glad.

 

Biblical Youth Work by Jim Krohn

 Every once in a while, in a great while, you walk away from a book with the realization you have just read the classic work in the field. I had that feeling after I had, at long last, put this book down. I say at long last because I read it slowly, out loud, paragraph by paragraph, with our church's youth pastor. I suppose it took us a year and a half, give or take. Along the way we discussed almost every paragraph. I was looking for something that would help him grow; what I found was a masterclass in youth pastoring.

Krohn's work is dated, in the sense that the illustrations and some of the applications are old, but the content is spot on. He is fierce, unapologetic, detailed, compassionate, thorough, wide-ranging, committedly conservative, and above all, scriptural. His many years as a youth pastor leaven the work, but they do not provide its foundation; that is biblical. Unafraid to tackle any aspect of the ministry, the value you will find here is enormous. Every independent Baptist youth worker in the world should read it. Slowly. Taking notes. And then immediately plan when he is going to read it again. 

 

The Baptist Distinctives and Why They Matter by Paul Frederick

 Paul Frederick, you have created here exactly what I wanted - a short, well-written, doctrinally accurate, easy to understand explanation of the Baptist distinctives. My compliments. I expect I will purchase/pass out many over the years. It will be a perfect accompaniment to our membership class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost A Miracle: The American Victory In The War Of Independence by John Ferling

 This is the best one volume work I've ever read on the American Revolution. It is broad without being fuzzy, and detailed without getting bogged down. It shows us the politics, geopolitics, economics, technology, morale, strategy, tactics, and differing cultures that came to bear on the outcome. It shows us army life, paints a magnificent yet balanced portrait of George Washington, and doesn't even shrink from addressing slavery. While it justifiably focuses early on New England, it pays great attention to the war in the American South. And it does all of that without being overly repetitive. In fact, it isn't boring even in spots. Above all, it refuses to accede to the modern trend of revisionism. It is just history, pure and simple, albeit very well designed and effected in its execution as a book.

If you are interested at all in American history, you owe it to yourself to read it at some point. It will clarify the Revolution for you. 

 

The Strand Study Bible by Brad Strand

Having been a Bible-reading Christian for decades, I have found myself in recent years finding new ways to read the old Book. One manner I have hit upon is to read study Bibles. I do this during my personal devotion time. There are two things I always read out loud - the King James Bible and poetry. So I read the Bible portion out loud and the notes silently. 

This year I took down from my shelf the largest study Bible I own, the Strand. I never had the privilege of meeting him, though we have numerous connections. But I do feel as if I know him pretty well at this point after reading more than two thousand pages of his Bible notes. And, for the most part, I like the guy. Further, I respect him. Indeed, respect is the best word I can think of to describe this study Bible. Strand clearly loved the Lord, studied and knew the Bible, and produced a life's work that is deeply edifying.

In giving this a five star rating, it is not that I do not have disagreements with Strand in places in his notes. I did, and some of those were rather serious disagreements. He repeatedly corrects the King James translators, for one, and embraces numerology, for another. It should also be said that I found the notes lacking in places. For example, he often seemed to throw in a random sermon outline from a particular passage. Such did little to carry the over-arching narrative arc of Scripture.

By the same token, I want to make plain I found some great strengths here as well. Strand excels at connecting Scripture with Scripture. He puts the words of the each member of the Trinity in a different color, which adds to readability and understanding. He neatly summarizes core Biblical doctrines and points of emphasis. He does an excellent job showing us where one writer quotes another from the Word of God. And he does an outstanding job tracing Bible prophecies throughout the entire volume. So well done was the latter, this book is practically an eschatology course all on its own.

I do not recommend it without reservation for the weaknesses I found cited above. But I do absolutely recommend it. No matter how long you have walked with the Lord and lived in the Book you will find some things here you have never heard before. And you will profit from it.

Brennan's Book List

From time to time, I get requests for my recommended books on a particular subject. In an effort to answer such requests more efficiently, I have decided to compile all of my book recommendations in one place. In the future, I can simply link this blog post in my response. I will continue to add to it in years to come so it remains current. Please understand three things here. First, these are not all the books I have read on a subject, but I have read each book listed in its entirety. These are the books I found above average and specifically helpful. Second, in recommending a particular book I am not recommending everything in the book. Do not swallow it whole cloth. Third, in recommending a particular book I am not recommending everything by that author. I am recommending that specific book.

 

Current number of recommendations (updated 1/4/2025) – 438

Happy reading.

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Alcohol

Bible Wines or the Laws of Fermentation, William Patton

Should Christians Drink Wine and Alcohol, Ben Sinclair

Should a Christian Drink Alcohol, Richard A. Young

 

 

Baptist and/or Fundamentalist Direction

Schizophrenic; A Diagnosis of the Independent Baptist Movement, Tom Brennan

Reclaiming Authentic Fundamentalism, Douglas R. McLachlan

The Saviour Sensitive Church, Paul Chappell

The Road Ahead; Ten Steps to Authentic Ministry for Independent Baptists, Paul

Chappell

The Danger of Change, Dennis Corle

 

 

Bibles

The Reese Chronological Bible, Edward Reese

Scofield Study Bible, C. I. Scofield

The Defined King James Bible, D. A. Waite

The Strand Study Bible, Brad Strand

 

 

Bible Survey

Digest of the Old Testament, Tom Wallace

Digest of the New Testament, Tom Wallace

Halley’s Bible Handbook, Henry Halley

The Unfolding Drama of Redemption, W. Graham Scroggie

 

 

Biography, General

Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson

Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, Jon Krakauer

When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi, David Maraniss

Gorbachev: His Life and Times, William Taubman

Alicia, My Story, Alicia Appleman-Jurman

American Caesar, William Manchester

Karl Marx, Joel Carmichael

Rebel Yell; The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson, S. C.

Gwynne

The Years of Lyndon Johnson (four volumes), Robert A. Caro

American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley – His Battle for Chicago and the

Nation, Adam Cohen

Madame Curie; A Biography, Eve Curie

Destiny and Power; The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush, Jon

Meacham

Hillbilly Elegy; A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, J. D. Vance

The Bonanza King, Gregory Crouch

Lenin; The Man, The Dictator, and the Master of Terror, Victor Sebestyen

Hoover; An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times, Kenneth Whyte

Frederick Douglas; Prophet of Freedom, David W. Blight

Lindbergh, A. Scott Berg

Hitler (two volumes), Ian Kershaw

Hitler (two volumes), Volker Ulrich

Boone; A Biography, Robert Morgan

Wilson, A. Scott Berg

Stalin; Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928, Stephen Kotkin

Stalin; Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941, Stephen Kotkin

The Three Lives of James Madison; Genius, Partisan, President, Noah Feldman

The Chief; The Life of William Randoph Hearst, David Nasaw

Clouds of Glory; The Life and Legend of Robert E. Lee, Michael Korda

So Help Me God, Mike Pence 

J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography, Humphrey Carpenter

The Contrarian: Peter Thiel And Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power, Max Chafkin

Margaret Thatcher: Power And Personality, Jonathan Aitken

The Patriarch; The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy,

David Nasaw

Confidence Man; The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America,

Maggie Haberman

 

 

 

Biography, Religious

Praying Hyde; A Challenge to Prayer, John Hyde

The Life and Diary of David Brainerd, David Brainerd

R. A. Torrey, Apostle of Certainty, Roger Martin

A Passion for God; The Spiritual Journey of A. W. Tozer, Lyle Wesley Dorsett

The Pursuit of God, A. W. Tozer

Billy Sunday; The Man and His Message, William T. Ellis

Billy Sunday and the Redemption of Urban America, Lyle Wesley Dorsett

Billy Sunday, Bruce D. Lockerbie

God Owns My Business, Stanley Tam

Hudson Taylor (two volumes), Howard Taylor

James Hudson Taylor; Pioneer Missionary of Inland China, Gloria G. Hunnex

C. H. Spurgeon’s Autobiography (four volumes), C. H. Spurgeon

No Man Knows My History; The Life of Joseph Smith, Fawn Brodie

Moses, F. B. Meyer

Muhammed, Karen Armstrong

George Mueller of Bristol, A. T. Pierson

Andrew Murray; One of God’s Choice Saints, W. M. Douglas

The J. Frank Norris I Have Known, Louis Entzminger

Mountain Rain, A Biography of James O. Fraser, Pioneer Missionary of China,

Eileen Fraser Crossman

The Kingdom Is Always But Coming; A Life of Walter Rauschenbusch,

Christopher Hodge Evans

John R. Rice; The Captain of Our Team, Viola Walden

Lee Roberson; Always About His Father’s Business, James H. Wigton

A. B. Simpson; His Life and Work, A. W. Thompson

A Passion for Souls; The Life of D. L Moody, Lyle Wesley Dorsett

Bush Aglow; The Life Story of Dwight Lyman Moody, Richard Ellsworth Day

God’s Man for the Gilded Age; D. L. Moody and the Rise of Modern Mass

Evangelism, Bruce J. Evensen

The Life of D. L. Moody, D. L. Moody

F. B. Meyer; A Biography, W. Y. Fullerton

J. Gresham Machen; A Biographical Memoir, Ned B. Stonehouse

The Life of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Iain Murray

Goforth of China, Rosalind Goforth

The Fundamental Man, Cindy Hyles Schaap

Builder of Bridges; A Biography of Dr. Bob Jones Sr, R. K. Johnson

To the Golden Shore; The Life of Adoniram Judson, Courtney Anderson

Charles Grandison Finney 1792-1875; Revivalist and Reformer, Keith J. Hardman

Athanasius the Hero, Harold Lynn Hough

The Most Famous Man in America; The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher,

Debby Applegate

God is Real, A Testament in the Form of an Autobiography, Dallas F. Billington

Blood and Fire; The Story of William and Catherine Booth and their Salvation

Army, Roy Hattersley

Buddha, Karen Armstrong

The Life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon; The World’s Greatest Preacher, Russell H.

Conwell

Gladys Aylward; The Adventure of a Lifetime, Janet Benge

Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts, Eberhard Busch

 

 

Character

Elements of Godly Character (three volumes), Dennis Corle

Character (two volumes), Jeff Owens

 

 

Counseling

Competent to Counsel, Jay Adams

Practical Counseling Principles for Christians, Jeff Owens

The Pastor and Counseling, Jeremy Pierre

More Than Enough, Jim Berg

Hope, Help, and Healing for the Depressed, Mark Tossell

Living Purely in an Impure World, Jim Binney

Why Am I So Depressed, Debi Pryde

Rid of My Disgrace; Hope and Healing for Victims of Sexual Assault, Justin S.

Holcomb

 

Devotionals

Streams in the Desert, Charles Cowman

 

 

Doctrine

Is the Bible the Word of God? W. Graham Scroggie

The Baptist Distinctives and Why They Matter, Paul Frederick

What the Bible Says About the Bible, Jeff Owens

God’s Bible in Spanish, Emanuel Rodriguez

Our God-Breathed Book, the Bible, John R. Rice

Final Authority, William P. Grady

Thou Shalt Keep Them; A Biblical Theology of the Perfect Preservation of

Scripture, Kent Brandenburg

Understanding and Applying the Bible, Robertson McQuilkin

Spurgeon Vs. Hyper-Calvinism, Iain Murray

Chosen But Free, Norm Geisler

The Faith of God’s Elect, John Parkinson

The Church, Jack Hyles

Dispensationalism, Charles C. Ryrie

Things to Come, J. Dwight Pentecost

Roman Catholicism, Loraine Boettner

Catholicism Against Itself, O. C. Lambert

Christianity and Liberalism, J. Gresham Machen

The Fundamentals (four volumes), R. A. Torrey

Repentance Unto Life, Dennis Corle

Christian Theology, Systematic and Biblical, Emery Bancroft

The Other Side of Calvinism, Laurence M. Vance

 

 

Ephesians

Martyn Lloyd-Jones (eight volumes)

His Very Own; Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, Norman B. Harrison

 

 

General Interest

Tact, Push, and Principle, William Makepeace Thayer

The Reading Life, C. S. Lewis

Live Not By Lies, Rod Dreher

Glow Kids; How Screen Addiction is Hijacking Our Kids, Nicholas Kardaras

12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You, Tony Reinke

Cobalt Red: How The Blood Of The Congo Powers Our Lives, Siddharth Kara

The Myth of Artificial Intelligence: Why Computers Can't Think the Way We Do, Erik J. Larson

Nuclear War: A Scenario, Annie Jacobsen

Material World: The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization, Ed Conway

 

 

General Interest, Religious

The Names of God, Andrew Jukes

The Science of the Christian Life (two volumes), Jack Hyles

Blue Denim and Lace, Jack Hyles

One Race, One Blood, Ken Ham

Letters to a Dying Friend, Dexter L. Graves

Smooth Stones Taken From Ancient Brooks, Thomas Brooks

Fourth Quarter, Don Sisk

Secret Thoughts of An Unlikely Convert, Rosario Butterfield

Heaven, Randy Alcorn

 

 

Health

The Sleep Solution; Why Your Sleep is Broken and How to Fix It, W. Chris

Winters, M.D.

The Way We Eat Now; How the Food Revolution Has Transformed Our Lives,

Our Bodies, and Our World, Bee Wilson

Bottle of Lies; The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom, Katherine Eban

Hooked; Food, Free Will, and How the Food Giants Exploit Our Addictions,

Michael Moss

Glucose Revolution; The Life-Changing Power of Balancing Your Blood Sugar,

Jessie Inchauspe

Why We Sleep; Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, Matthew Walker

The Mind-Gut Connection; How the Hidden Conversation Within Our Bodies

Impacts Our Mood, Our Choices, and Our Overall Health, Emeran Mayer

Bitten; The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons, Kris Newby

 

 

Hebrews

The Word of Exhortation; Thomas Strouse

 

 

History, General

Our Oriental Heritage, Will Durant

The Life of Greece, Will Durant

Caesar and Christ, Will Durant

The Age of Faith, Will Durant

The Renaissance, Will Durant

The Reformation, Will Durant

The Age of Reason Begins, Will Durant

The Age of Louis XIV, Will Durant

The Age of Voltaire, Will Durant

Rousseau and Revolution, Will Durant

The Age of Napoleon, Will Durant

The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Richard Rhodes

Dreadnought, Robert K. Massie

Castles of Steel, Robert K. Massie

The Gathering Storm, Winston Churchill

Their Finest Hour, Winston Churchill

The Grand Alliance, Winston Churchill

The Hinge of Fate, Winston Churchill

Closing the Ring, Winston Churchill

Triumph and Tragedy, Winston Churchill

The Greatest Generation, Tom Brokaw

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William Shirer

The Last Battle, Cornelius Ryan

The Longest Day, Cornelius Ryan

A Bridge Too Far, Cornelius Ryan

Into Thin Air, John Krakauer

Paris, 1919, Margaret MacMillan

Exploring the World of the Druids, Miranda Aldhouse-Green

Hitler’s Pope, John Cornwell

Hymns of the Republic; The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War, S.

C. Gwynne

Empire of the Summer Moon; Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the

Comanches, S. C. Gwynne

An Army at Dawn; The War in North Africa, Rick Atkinson

The Day of Battle, Rick Atkinson

The Guns at Last Light, Rick Atkinson

Chickenhawk, Robert Mason

The Looming Tower; Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, Lawrence Wright

Dreamland; The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic, Sam Quinones

The Fate of Africa; A History of the Continent Since Independence, Martin

Meredith

Tom’s River; A Story of Science and Salvation, Dan Fagin

The Boys in the Boat; Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936

Berlin Olympics, Daniel James Brown

KL; A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps, Nikolaus Wachsmann

Unbroken; A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, Laura

Hillenbrand

The Best and the Brightest, David Halberstam

Moneyball; The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, Michael Lewis

American Kingpin; The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk

Road, Nick Bilton

The Dead Hand; The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous

Legacy, David E. Hoffman

The Devil in the White City; Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That

Changed America, Erik Larson

Rise and Kill First; The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations, Ronen

Bergman

Thirteen Days in September; Carter, Begin, and Sadat at Camp David, Lawrence

Wright

In the Kingdom of Ice; The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS

Jeannette, Hampton Sides

In Cold Blood, Truman Capote

King Leopold’s Ghost; A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa,

Adam Hochschild

Flash Boys; A Wall Street Revolt, Michael Lewis

The Age of Eisenhower; America and the World in the 1950s, William I.

Hitchcock

Band of Brothers; E Company, 506^th Regiment, 101^st Airborne, from Normandy to

Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, Stephen E. Ambrose

The Indifferent Stars Above; The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride, Daniel

James Brown

Bury the Chains; Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire’s Slaves,

Adam Hochschild

With the Old Breed; At Peleliu and Okinawa, E. B. Sledge

Blood and Thunder; An Epic of the American West, Hampton Sides

Norco ’80; The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American

History, Peter Houlahan

I Heard You Paint Houses; Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran and Closing the Case on

Jimmy Hoffa, Charles Brandt

Midnight in Chernobyl; The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear

Disaster, Adam Higginbotham

The Dreamt Land; Chasing Water and Dust Across California, Mark Arax

On Desperate Ground; The Marines at the Reservoir, the Korean War’s Greatest

Battle, Hampton Sides

Destiny of the Republic; A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a

President, Candice Millard

The River of Doubt; Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey, Candice Millard

Hero of the Empire; The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston

Churchill, Candice Millard

The Fifties, David Halberstam

Empire of Pain; The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, Patrick Radden Keefe

The Everything Store; Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon, Brad Stone

Blitzed; Drugs in the Third Reich, Norman Ohler

Skeletons on the Zahara; A True Story of Survival, Dean King

The Long Gray Line; The American Journey of West Point’s Class of 1966, Rick

Atkinson

Black Flags; The Rise of ISIS, Joby Warrick

The Glory and the Dream; A Narrative History of America 1932-1972, William

Manchester

Watergate; Garrett M. Graff

The Graves Are Waiting; The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People, John

Kelly

Raven Rock; The Story of the U. S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself While

the Rest of Us Die, Garrett M. Graff

Salt; A World History, Mark Kurlansky

Cod; A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, Mark Kurlansky

Almost A Miracle: The American Victory In The War Of Independence, John Ferling 

The Nuremburg Trial, John Tusa

Enemy At The Gates: The Battle For Stalingrad, William Craig

Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage, Jeff Guinn 

Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons, Kris Newby

Raven Rock: The Story Of The U.S. Government's Secret Plan To Save Itself While The Rest 

          Of Us Die, Garrett M. Graff

Ravensbruck: Life And Death In Hitler's Concentration Camp For Women, Sarah Helm

The Graves Are Walking: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People, John Kelly

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space, Adam Higginbotham

The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook, Hampton Sides

1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus, Charles C. Mann

 The Frontiersman, Allan W. Eckert

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, Patrick Radden Keefe

 

History, Religious

The Light and the Glory, Peter Marshall

Revive Us Again; The Reawakening of American Fundamentalism, Joel A.

Carpenter

In Pursuit of Purity; American Fundamentalism Since 1850, David O. Beale

One in Hope and Doctrine; Origins of Baptist Fundamentalism, Kevin Bauder

Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul; Church, State, and the

Birth of Liberty, John M. Barry

Pagans and Christians; Robin Lane Fox

The Texas Baptist Crucible; Tales From the Temple, James Spurgeon

Going Clear; Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, Lawrence Wright

 

 

Holy Spirit

Meet the Holy Spirit, Jack Hyles

The Power of Pentecost, John R. Rice

 

 

Jesus

The Christ of the Gospels, J. W. Shepard

The Crucifixion of Jesus; A Medical Doctor Examines the Death and Resurrection

of Christ, Joseph W. Bergeron

Ben-Hur; A Tale of the Christ, Lew Wallace

Chronological Aspects in the Life of Christ, Harold W. Hoehner

The Words and Works of Jesus Christ, J. Dwight Pentecost

The Incomparable Christ, J. Oswald Sanders

The Crises of the Christ, G. Campbell Morgan

The Teaching of Christ, G. Campbell Morgan

The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ, James Stalker

The Trial of Jesus From a Lawyer’s Standpoint, Walter M. Chandler

The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (two volumes), Alfred Edersheim

The Incomparable Christ: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ, J. Oswald Sanders 

The Trial of Jesus from a Lawyer's Standpoint, Walter M. Chandler

 

 

Jude

Contending for the Faith, Dennis Corle

Contending for the Faith, Fred Moritz

Earnestly Contend for the Faith, Clarence Sexton

 

 

Leadership

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell

The Conviction to Lead, Al Mohler

Spiritual Leadership (three volumes), Dennis Corle

Spiritual Leadership, Oswald J. Sanders

 

 

Marriage

A Promise Kept, Robertson McQuilkin

When Sinners Say I Do, Dave Harvey

The Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman

Love and Respect, Emerson Eggerichs

Marriage is a Commitment, Jack Hyles

Created to Be His Helpmeet, Debi Pearl

Woman the Completer, Jack Hyles

Romance in Marriage, Bob Hooker

The Ministry of Marriage, Jim Binney

When Risque is Okay, Clint Caviness

Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas

 

 

Missions

Missionary Partnership, Ben Sinclair

Himalayan Heartbeat, Ken Anderson

Let My Heart Be Broken, Richard Gehman

Not The Exception: Philosophy Of Deputation, Riley Barrett

 

 

Modesty

Yes, It Matters: What the Bible Says about Our Appearance, Tom Brennan

Cliffs and Fences, Paul Crow

Dressing for the Lord, David Cloud

Dress; The Heart of the Matter, Shirley Starr

What in the World Should I Wear?, Cathy Corle

The Beauty of Modesty, David J. Vaughan

 

 

Money

The Treasure Principle, Randy Alcorn

Money by the Book, Dave Olson

Your Money Counts, Howard Dayton

Money Matters in the Church; A Practical Guide for Leaders; Aubrey Malphurs

The God Ask, Steve Shadrach

Protecting Your Assets From Probate and Long-Term Care, Evan H. Farr

 

 

Music

Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns; How Pop Culture Rewrote the Songbook, T.

David Gordon

Contemporary Worship Music; A Biblical Defense, John M. Frame

Can We Rock the Gospel?; Rock Music’s Impact on Worship and Evangelism,

John Blanchard

Why I Left the Contemporary Christian Music Movement; Confessions of a

Former Worship Leader, Dan Lucarini

Music and Morals; Dispelling the Myth That Music Is Amoral, Kimberly Smith

The Pied Piper of Rock Music, Dennis Corle

Big Beat Heat; Alan Freed and the Early Years of Rock and Roll, John A. Jackson

Catch a Wave; The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson,

Peter Ames Carlin

Last Train to Memphis; The Rise of Elvis Presley, Peter Guralnick

Careless Love; the Unmaking of Elvis Presley, Peter Guralnick

Shout!; The Beatles in Their Generation, Philip Norman

Drumming At the Edge of Magic, Mickey Hart

Shining Trumpets; A History of Jazz, Rudi Blesh

Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson, Bruce Conforth

Then Sings My Soul; 150 Christmas, Easter, and All-Time Favorite Hymn Stories,

Robert J. Morgan

 

 

Parenting

The Old Men: The Conversations That Help Boys Become Men, T. L. Jones

Parenting Your Adult Child, Gary Chapman

The Home; Courtship, Marriage, and Children, John R. Rice

The Christian Home, Clarence Sexton

What Every Mother Must Teach Her Children, Clarence Sexton

Passionate Parenting, Cary Schmidt

Shepherding a Child’s Heart, Tedd Tripp

Instructing a Child’s Heart, Tedd Tripp

The Pursuit of Godly Seed, Denny Kenaston

The Smart Stepfamily: 7 Steps to a Healthy Family, Ron Deal

Silk and Purple; Lessons for Wives and Mothers From Women of the Old

Testament, Cindy Schaap

A Meek and Quiet Spirit; Lessons for Wives and Mothers From Women of the

New Testament, Cindy Schaap

 

 

Pastoring and/or Preaching

Next; A Manual for Pastoral Transitions, Tom Brennan

Preaching and Preachers, Martyn Lloyd-Jones

How to Be a Team Player and Enjoy It, Matt Williams

The Hyles Church Manual, Jack Hyles

The Spiritual Leader, Paul Chappell

The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, John Maxwell

Heartbeats of the Holy, Keith E. Knauss

The Reformed Pastor, Richard Baxter 

The Art of Pastoring, David Sorenson

The Power of the Pulpit, Gardiner Spring

Lectures to My Students, C. H. Spurgeon

Why Johnny Can’t Preach, T. David Gordon

Order in the Church, Paul Chappell

Church Still Works, Paul Chappell

The Minister as Shepherd, Charles Jefferson

Biblical Youth Work, Jim Krohn

 

 

Poetry

The Odyssey, Homer

Paradise Lost, John Milton

The Inferno, Dante

 

 

Prayer

Prayer; Asking and Receiving, John R. Rice

The Discipline of Prayer, Dennis Corle

With Christ in the School of Prayer, Andrew Murray

The Necessity of Prayer, E. M. Bounds

The Essentials of Prayer, E. M. Bounds

Power Through Prayer, E. M. Bounds

Purpose in Prayer, E. M. Bounds

The Reality of Prayer, E. M. Bounds

The Weapon of Prayer, E. M. Bounds

Prayer and Praying Men, E. M. Bounds

The Kneeling Christian, Unknown

Sermons on the Prayers of Christ, C. H. Spurgeon

Quiet Talks, S. D. Gordon

 

 

Psalms

A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, Phillip W. Keller

Treasury of David (six volumes), C. H. Spurgeon

 

 

Quotes/Sayings

The New Dictionary of Thoughts, Tryon Edwards

12,000 Religious Quotations, Frank S. Mead

The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, Elizabeth Knowles

Quotations of George Washington, George Washington

Spurgeon Gold, Ray Comfort

The Quotable Spurgeon, C. H. Spurgeon

 

 

Revelation

The Revelation of Jesus Christ; A Commentary, John F. Walvoord

 

 

Sanctification

Freed From Sin; A Primer on Holiness, Tom Brennan

The Mortification of Sin, John Owen

Be Ye Holy, Fred Moritz

Christian Liberty, Dennis Corle

The Knowledge of the Holy, A. W. Tozer

Changed Into His Image, Jim Berg

So Great Salvation, Steven Barabas

Five Views of Sanctification, Melvin Dieter

The Calvary Road, Roy Hession

Holiness, J. C. Ryle

Christian Spirituality; Five Views, Gerhard Forde

No Quick Fix, Andrew Naselli

Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, Howard Taylor

In Christ, A. J. Gordon

Holiness; The False and the True, H. A. Ironside

 

 

Separation

Biblical Separation, Ernest Pickering

The Chemistry of Separation, Dennis Corle

The Tragedy of Compromise, Ernest Pickering

 

 

Soul Winning

The Biblical Philosophy of Soulwinning, Dennis Corle

Following Christ and Fishing for Men, Clarence Sexton

The Soul-Winner’s Fire, John R. Rice

How to Have a Soul Winning Church, Gene Edwards

Enemies of Soul Winning, Jack Hyles

 

 

Spiritual Warfare

The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis

 

 

Suffering

Between Pain and Grace; A Biblical Theology of Suffering, Gerald W. Peterman

Beyond Suffering; Discovering the Message of Job, Layton Talbert

If God is Good; Faith in the Midst of Evil and Suffering, Randy Alcorn

When Shepherds Weep; Finding Tears of Joy for Wounded Pastors, Glenn C.

Daman

A Tale of Three Kings, Gene Edwards

 

 

Teaching

The Hyles Sunday School Manual, Jack Hyles

The Seven Laws of Teaching, John Milton Gregory

101 Tips for Teaching, Mark Rasmussen

What Every Sunday School Teacher Should Know, Elmer Towns

Mentoring and Modeling, John Goetsch

Teaching Sunday School Teachers to Teach, Jeff Owens

May I Suggest…, Thomas J. Vogel

 

 

The Sermon on the Mount

The Greatest Sermon Ever Preached, Tom Brennan

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Martyn Lloyd-Jones

  

 

 Tabernacle/Temple

The Tabernacle, Priesthood and Offerings, I. M. Haldeman

The Tabernacle, the Priesthood and the Offerings, Henry W. Soltau

The Tabernacle, Martin R. Dehaan

Christ in the Tabernacle, Louis T. Talbot

Lectures on the Tabernacle, Samuel Ridout

The Temple; Its Ministry and Services, Alfred Edersheim