Books for 2023
Every year in the past I have read between 20 and 25 books. At the beginning of 2023, however, I made the lofty goal of reading 50 books for the year. And, I did it!
Some of these were re-reads, some were related to projects/classes I was involved with, and several were brand new to me. I had a bit of inspiration from my friend and colleague, John Beeson, and his 50 Books that Changed My Life list. I decided to tackle his list and get through all of them over the next two years, and I think I got through about half of them this year.
For the purposes of this blog, I will first list my recommendations for church leadership. These are must haves for any leader’s library:
The Dynamics of Church Leadership, Aubrey Malphurs, 1990
Spiritual Leadership, J. Oswald Sanders, 1967/2007
Advanced Strategic Planning, Aubrey Malphurs, 1999/2013
They Smell Like Sheep, Lynn Anderson, 1997
Building Leaders, Aubrey Malphurs, 2004
Strategic Discipleship Making, Aubrey Malphurs, 2009
Church Elders, Jeramie Rinne, 2014
Gospel Eldership, Robert Thune, 2016
Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Mark Dever, 2000/2013
And, here is the complete list of 50 books read in 2023. The books in bold were my favorites.
Cherish: The One Word That Changes Everything for Your Marriage , Gary Thomas, 2017 (240 pages)
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë, 1847 (433 pages)
Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Mark Dever, 2000, 2013 (3rd edition) (277 pages)
Whisper: How to Hear the Voice of God, Mark Batterrson, 2017 (189 pages)
The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan, 1678 (339 pages)
The Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis, 1942 (209 pages)
Spiritual Warfare: Christians, Demonization, and Deliverance, Karl I Payne, 2011 (226 pages)
The Bondage Breaker, Neil Anderson, 1990/2000 (284 pages)
The Invisible War: What Every Believer Needs to Know About Satan, Demons, and Spiritual Warfare, Chip Ingram, 2006 (187 pages)
The Adversary: The Christian Versus Demon Activity, Mark Bubeck, 1975/2013 (194 pages)
Half Time: Moving from Success to Significance, Bob Buford, 1994/2015 (209 pages)
This Present Darkness, Frank Peretti, 1986 (376 pages)
Seeing the Unseen: Preparing Yourself for Spiritual Warfare, Revised, Joe Beam, 2000 (326 pages)
The Dynamics of Church Leadership, Aubrey Malphurs, 1999 (150 pages)
Advanced Strategic Planning, Aubrey Malphurs, 1999/2013 (360 pages)
The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom, 1971 (269 pages)
The Secrets to Deliverance, Alexander Pagani, 2018 (148 pages)
Shattered Dreams, Larry Crabb, 2001 (206 pages)
The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness, Timothy Keller, 2012 (46 pages)
Fear and Trembling, Soren Kierkegaard, 1985, (251 pages)
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, 1960 (255 pages)
Building Leaders, Aubrey Malphurs, 2004 (255 pages)
Strategic Discipleship Making, Aubrey Malphurs, 2009 (182 pages)
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck, 1937 (118 pages)
Confessions — Saint Augustine, edited by Tom Gill, 2003 (426 pages)
Counterfeit Gods, Timothy Keller, 2009 (177 pages)
Vessels of Fire & Glory, Mario Murillo, 2020 (145 pages)
This Means War, Greg Locke, 2020 (168 pages)
They Smell Like Sheep, Lynn Anderson, 1997 (218 pages)
Church Elders, Jeramie Rinne, 2014 (122 pages)
Gospel Eldership, Robert Thune, 2016 (129 pages)
Encountering Jesus in the Real World of the Gospels, Cyndi Parker, 2021 (157 pages)
Mere Christianity, CS Lewis, 1952 (227 pages)
Getting Naked, Patrick Lencioni, 2010 (217 pages)
Spiritual Leadership, J. Oswald Sanders, 1967/2007 (206 pages)
Heaven, Randy Alcorn, 2004 (492 pages)
A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens, 1870 (394 pages)
Orthodoxy, GK Chesterton, 1908 (168 pages)
Created for Connection, Sue Johnson & Kenneth Sanderfer, 2016 (286 pages)
The Imitation of Christ, Kempis Thomas, 1441 (299 pages)
Bold Love, Dan Allender and Tremper Longman, 1992 (318 pages)
The Courage to Be Free, Ron DeSantis, 2023 (254 pages)
Weapons of Our Warfare, Greg Locke, 2021 (259 pages)
The Basics of Christian Belief, Joshua Strahan, 2020 (204 pages)
Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1866 (551 pages)
How to Day Trade for a Living, Andrew Aziz, 2020 (338 pages)
Accessing Your Anointing, Greg Locke, 2021 (128 pages)
The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1937 (304 pages)
Victory over the Darkness, Neil Anderson, 2000/2020 (212 pages)
The Great Divorce, CS Lewis, 1946 (146 pages)