I probably don’t need to tell you how much I love books in general, and Christian books in particular. One of my favorite times to be a reader is in mid-December when people begin to share their picks for the top books of the year. I usually collect a good number of these lists and scour them to see if there is any consensus. I have done that over the past few weeks and am ready to share the results.
To be honest, though, the results are perhaps a little disappointing because there really wasn’t a single standout book this year. There were, though, several that appeared on a number of lists—the closest we will get to anything like consensus. Here, in alphabetical order, are the five that appeared the most times:
- Biblical Critical Theory by Christopher Watkin
- Bully Pulpit by Michael Kruger
- Forgive by Tim Keller
- Seasons of Sorrow by Tim Challies
- The Thrill of Orthodoxy by Trevin Wax
And that’s about the extent of it. Rather than list all of the other books that got a nod (something that would make a very long list), I’ll simply link to all the individuals I follow who compiled a list, so you can run through them yourself:
- Kristen Wetherell
- For the Church (lists from 10 different people)
- Amber Thiessen
- David Kaywood
- Bob Kellemen
- Wes Bredenhof
- Trevin Wax
- Cindy Matson 1 and 2
- Kevin DeYoung
- Nitoy Gonzales
- Aaron Armstrong
- Renee Zou
- Rory Shiner
- Jon Coombs
- Cole Newton
- Darryl Dash
- SOLA Network (focused on Asian-American writers)
- The London Lyceum
- 9Marks
You may also like to consult these two lists, though it’s worth pointing out that they are done differently: publishers must nominate books and pay a fee in order to have their books considered.
Let me add a word about methodology. The only lists I include are the ones that are published by people I follow anyway. I follow perhaps 250 to 300 blogs and sites, so that provides a significant group to draw from. That said, I tend to follow people with whom I have broad doctrinal alignment, so I suppose there’s a pretty significant bias involved. So be it!
