2017 Reading

Wow... almost a year has passed since my last blog entry! Time again for my year in books review.

As I look back over the list of 48+ books I listened to or read this past year, my first observation is that I read several more novels than I usually do. I loved the humor of The Throwback Special, and the gritty earthiness of Bull Mountain and The North Water. The Atonement wasn’t bad, but The Girl on the Train was awesome! I liked Thomas McGuane’s Crow Fair: Stories so much that he's near the top of my reading list for 2018. However, my favorite novel for the year was by far Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s classic masterpiece The Brothers Karamazov!

In  the history and biography genre, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President. I can also recommend Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton as well as his Washington: A Life. Jon Meacham’s Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush kept my attention from start to finish, although the author seemed at times a little biased, perhaps due to being a little too close to his subject material. My favorite for the year in the biography genre was by far George Whitefield: America's Spiritual Founding Father. Highly recommend this title!

I only read three science-related books this year, but all three were eye-opening: The Gene: An Intimate History, A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Animals, and Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues. I highly recommend all three.

One area I wanted to learn more about this past year was the issue of justice and the command for us to prioritize it instead of looking the other way. I heartily recommend both Seeking Refuge: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis, and The Justice Calling: Where Passion Meets Perseverance. Other non-fiction which I found challenging and edifying included Conversations with Walker Percy, and Tim Keller’s Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism.

An important personal goal for me the past year was to re-acquire the Greek and Hebrew I studied years ago in graduate school which I for the most part neglected for 20 years as I moved on to other languages. To accomplish this, I read Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar and its companion Basics of Biblical Greek as well as worked through portions of their accompanying workbooks. I’ve still got a long way to go to get to the next level. But that’s a goal for next year.

The book formats I read this year were as follows:
27 audiobooks (ever thankful to take advantage of commuting time!)
16 eBooks (7 along with same audiobook)
10 physical books

There are always a few books I forget to input, but that’s it for the most part. How about you? Did you read any of these or have other favorites to recommend? Please let me know!

If you're interested in checking out my reviews (or those of others) for any of these books, you can click here.