My Top 10 Books of 2024

 Honorable Mentions:

The Book of Psalms by Alabaster Co.—Just a pretty psalm-book; it spoke to my soul!

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone—A fun sci-fi read, one part Romeo and Juliet, one part Edge of Tomorrow

 

10. The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin—I read the whole series. I loved reading a sci-fi work from a different cultural perspective.

9. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann—This book hit me pretty hard, especially the last quarter of the book. The history of the Osage Nation is one I vaguely knew, but the broader picture of how native oil wealth was suppressed and stolen, and that many wealthy natives were murdered is heavy but important.

8. Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman—An excellent corrective for anyone who has a system of time management or uses productivity apps or is just a type-A. Recognizing limits is freeing!

7. Low Anthropology: The Unlikely Key to a Gracious View of Others by David Zahl—I stuck this book next to Four Thousand Weeks, because it opens some of Burkeman’s points up to our relationships, including with ourselves. We humans have limits, and so does everyone else, what do we do now?!?

6. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman—This was a really fun read, senior citizens solving crimes in rural England. I intend to read other books in the series.

5. 11/23/63 by Stephen King—I don’t often read King, but I’m glad I read this book. King returns to Derry where IT took place, he play with temporal mechanics, and we get to experience a love story involving the Kennedy assassination.

4. A Guidebook to Progressive Church by Clint Schnekloth—I’ve been following Clint since I was a 19 year old Freshman in college. He’s one of the most thoughtful Lutheran voices out there, always practical, always faithful. Even if you disagree with Clint, this is a useful and important book!

3. Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford—I read this book based on a recommendation, and I’m so very glad I did. A hard-boiled detective story, an alternative history, a reflection on hybridity, syncretism, and Native American dignity.

2. A Declaration of Right of Magicians  by H. G. Parry—This is another book that came out of the blue. I’d purchased it for my kindle years ago, and never got around to reading it. Then I started, and read it and its sequel in no time flat. This book asks the question: How would the English Abolitionist movement, Haitian Independence, and the French Revolution have looked different if magic existed? Finding this book just sitting there on my Kindle, and then discovering just how good it was, felt like grace! An unearned unexpected joy!

1. Hunting Magic Eels: Recovering an Enchanted Faith in a Skeptical World by Richard Beck—A book recommended by the same person who pointed me toward Cahokia Jazz (Thanks Keith!) it was another unexpected gem! This book, and Beck’s framing of Enchantment/Disenchantment, has rocked my world! It has caused me to re-think how ministry works these days!