If you’re like me, you may have had a few more hours at home in 2020 than what you had anticipated at the start of the year. With travel plans cancelled and major events postponed, our family found that we suddenly had more time in the evenings for game nights and walks in the neighborhood. And … more time to read.
This spring, I was introduced to the Libby app. Libby connects to your local library and offers millions of e-books and audiobooks for free. With Libby, I’ve listened to more audiobooks than ever before. Here are some of my favorite books from this year:
Slowing Down
- The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: Between sports and travel, springtime in the Greer household is often one of the busiest seasons of the year. But in The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, John Mark Comer shares practices to counteract the chaos of our culture and fight for rest. Even when our lives return to “normal,” our family will be putting habits in place to intentionally slow down.
- Get Your Life Back: Written by John Eldredge, Get Your Life Back helped our family seize the gift of getting outside, exploring nature, and seeing glimpses of our Creator. It’s about working hard to find rest in our frenzied world. The One Minute Pause is just one of the concrete, practical takeaways this book has to offer.
- Every Moment Holy: While I’ve had Every Moment Holy on my bookshelf for quite some time now, I’ve never opened it up as much as I have this year. This book gives words to prayer when I haven’t known what or how to pray.
Family
- Love or Work: André and Jeff Shinabarger wrote this book based on over 100 interviews and research conducted by the Barna Group. The Shinabargers candidly welcome us into their story, as they explore the joys and challenges of doing life together and navigating the tension between love and work.
- The Path Between Us: This book from Suzanne Stabile applies the Enneagram to relationships—and Laurel and I have had some of the most significant breakthroughs in our marriage by using this framework to better understand the way we both are wired. (The Road Back to You, by Ian Cron and Suzanne Stabile, is a great precursor to this book.)
- Marriage Conflict: In this 31-day devotional series produced by Steve Hoppe, there are concrete, biblically based action steps for healthy communication in marriage.
Succession
Shameless plug: Over quarantine, Doug Fagerstrom, Brianna Lapp and I wrote a book called Succession (and yes, I know we didn’t nail it with title creativity)! In researching for this book, I read several other books on the subject, including:
- The Succession Solution: What does it look like to plan well for the moment we pass on the leadership baton? Bradley Franc’s book, The Succession Solution, offered keen insights about how to build a mission, culture, and team that outlasts the current leader.
- Hero Maker: In Hero Maker, Dave Ferguson and Warren Bird explore five leadership practices evident in Jesus’ ministry. His role in empowering and commissioning disciples is an example to us in how we can elevate others and multiply our ministry.
- Succession: Drawing on decades of experience working with boards and CEOs, Noel Tichy gives a clear framework for planning effectively for transition—regardless of the organization’s size or stage of growth.
Racial Reconciliation
- Called to Forgive: Written by Anthony Thompson, whose wife was brutally murdered in the Charleston Church shooting, Called to Forgive reveals the power of Jesus-centered forgiveness in changing lives and transforming communities.
- The New Jim Crow: As we work toward liberty and justice for all, I recommend The New Jim Crow, authored by Michelle Alexander. This book gives an insightful history into racism in the United States and helps readers to better understand mass incarceration and criminal justice reform.
- The Underground Railroad: This is a painful, yet crucial read in the fight for racial justice and reconciliation. Colson Whitehead’s novel packs the historical scourge of racism into a personal account of a young girl named Cora. This book invites us into a compelling, honest, and heart-breaking reflection of slavery.
Resilience & Purpose
- Grit: In Grit, Angela Duckworth identities the primary factor that makes the difference in those who succeed from those who do not. She shares about the unique blend of passion and persistence in everyone from West Point cadets to finalists at the National Spelling Bee. Then, she shares how to develop this grit in ourselves and others.
- The Resilience Factor: Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte, Ph.D., join forces in The Resilience Factor to share seven keys to overcoming life’s hurdles. With a quantitative assessment tool, this book offers suggestions for navigating crises, coping with grief and anxiety, and bolstering optimism.
- Option B: How can we recover and rebound after life-shattering experiences? In Option B, Sheryl Sandberg shares how she and her kids navigated life after her husband’s passing. Her raw vulnerability and grief processing give us a better understanding of how to help others in crisis and build resilience.
- Being Mortal: Atul Gawande’s book takes issue with the current practices of modern medicine and confronts the challenge of ending well. Being Mortal brims with stories and struggles from Atul’s own profession as a surgeon (including the death of his father) and teaches us about living and dying well.
- Living in Bonus Time: In Living in Bonus Time, two-time cancer survivor Alec Hill, president emeritus of InterVarsity, shares about his journey with cancer. His account is a stirring reminder of how to steward well the opportunities in front of each of us. This book, while similar in theme to Being Mortal, is full of Gospel-centered hope.
- The Fellowship of the Suffering: Throughout history, the way Christ-followers have responded in times of hardship have been a witness to the world. Together, Paul Borthwick and Dave Ripper write how they’ve witnessed God’s Kingdom advance through pain and suffering, and they encourage us to lean in as we share Christ’s love with a broken world.
- Mere Hope: Written by Jason Duesing, Mere Hope explores the book of Romans with an emphasis on hope in our current moment. This short book encourages Christians to embrace a hopeful perspective in an age of cynicism, disappointment, and despair.
- The Road to Character: I’ve been a fan of David Brooks for years, and The Road to Character gives an opportunity for us to look into the lives of people who discovered purpose and meaning. This book distinguishes resume virtues from eulogy virtues and shows us how to live today for what matters most.
- The Second Mountain: The Second Mountain is David Brooks’ “coming to Jesus” book. It was especially remarkable to learn how writing The Road to Character impacted him in a way that helped him see lives of authentic faith. I’m especially grateful for Brooks’ intellectual honesty and bravery that’s woven into this book.
- Talking to Strangers: In his latest book, Malcolm Gladwell argues that because we don’t know how to talk to strangers, we have fostered conflict and misunderstanding. We simply must get better at listening to each other. I highly recommend the audiobook version, where you hear the voices of the people he interviewed and re-enactments of court transcripts.
Christ-Centered Development
- A Dream and a Coconut Tree: Written by Chris Crane and the Edify team, A Dream and a Coconut Tree shares the origin story of Edify and how lives and communities change when entrepreneurs are empowered to start schools.
- $4.83: In the stories Lance Wood and Jenn Tarbell share, we hear how a simple investment and encounter with Christ transforms lives and impacts children. This book sharpens our perspectives, inviting us to consider what it takes to change a child’s life—and perhaps ours—forever. (And, this book is remarkably generous in how they talk about HOPE International.)
Which books should be added to my list? Share more book recommendations with us in the comments. Happy reading!
