On this, the first day of 2019, a post by James M. MacKnight caught my eye: 2018 Reading List. He categorized and commented on the stand-out books he read in the past year. This seemed like a good way for me to reflect on what I’ve read this past year too—thus this post. (Thanks James!) (Edit: I just learned that Caleb Courtney published his own 2018 Book List too.)

I read about a book a week, a practice I’ve maintained since I returned to Seminary in 2000. My reading journal, which began in a paper notebook in 2000, moved online in 2008. You can read my thoughts on all the books I’ve read in the past decade (if you want to).

A couple notes before we begin. The categories are not perfect but they’ll do the job. I do read odd books from time-to-time that don’t fit in any one category. All the books are linked to my book reviews if you’re curious. Finally, for the OCD among us, each section is alphabetized by the author’s last name.

Fiction

• The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi
• The Cloven by B. Catling
• Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
• The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
• Revival by Stephen King
• Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie
• The Complete Peanuts 1965 to 1966 by Charles M. Schulz
• Amazing Spider-Man: Great Power by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
• Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Man No More by Stan Lee & Johnny Romita
• Anathem by Neal Stephenson
• The Strange Bird by Jeff Vandermeer

This category is a bit of a mixed bag—full of weird fiction, dystopian novels, and comics I like to read with my kids. Neverwhere is the stand-out entry of the bunch. Gaiman succeeded in writing a fairy tale for adults. Think Narnia, but with much more danger.

A close second to Gaiman is Hawkins’ Library at Mount Char. I bought this one on a whim at Indigo purely because of the title and the back cover write-up. I have never read a writer so capable of moving from the day-to-day to the cosmic scale before.

Philosophy, etc.

• Poststructuralism by Catherine Belsey
• Psychology by Gillian Butler & Freda McManus
• Phenomenology and the Crisis of Philosophy by Edmund Husserl
• Metaphysics by Stephen Mumford
• Absence of Mind by Marilynne Robinson
• The Aeneid by Virgil
• Event by Slavoj Žižek

One glance will tell you that this isn’t a pure philosophy category but hey, I needed to fit Virgil in somewhere and he felt more at home here than in the weird books above. The biggest standout this year is a slim little volume on Poststructuralism by Catherine Belsey. This choice is purely subjective. Poststructuralism is one of those ideas I never grasped until I read this book. Oxford’s Very Short Introduction series does a great job introducing massive topics in a small package—without dumbing them down.

The runner-up in this category would have to be Husserl’s Phenomenology. I had done a significant amount of reading in 2017 on phenomenological research methods. It was good to hear the voice of the master himself! This book contains two papers selected from the beginning and end of Husserl’s life.

Theology

• A Pentecostal Hermeneutic by Kenneth J. Archer
• On the Incarnation | Athanasius
• Jesus is the Christ by Michael F. Bird
• Abusing Scripture by Manfred T. Brauch
• Faith, the Fount of Exegesis by Ignacio Carbajosa
• Narratives and Numbers by Mark J. Cartledge
• On the Unity of Christ by Cyril of Alexandria
• Theosis by Michael Paul Gama
• Missional Church by Darrell L. Guder, ed.
• Honoring the Son by Larry W. Hurtado
• The Scandal of the Incarnation by Irenaeus and Hans Urs von Balthasar
• Christology by Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen
• Regeneration by J. D. King
• A New Kind of Christianity by Brian D. McLaren
• Pentecostal-Charismatic Prophecy by Samuel W. Muindi
• Foolishness to the Greeks by Lesslie Newbigin
• Pentecostal and Postmodern Hermeneutics | Bradley Truman Noel
• Flame of Love by Clark H. Pinnock
• A Distinct Twenty-first Century Pentecostal Hermeneutic by Harlyn Graydon Purdy
• The Holy Spirit in Worship Music, Preaching, and the Altar by Josh P. S. Samuel
• Thinking in Tongues by James K. A. Smith
• The New Canadian Pentecostals by Adam Stewart
• Biblical Interpretation by W. Randolph Tate
• The Challenge of Jesus by N. T. Wright

You can tell by the sheer volume of books in this category that theology lies close to my heart! The most interesting book I read in this category would have to be Archer’s Pentecostal Hermeneutics. He argues that meaning is discovered and created by a threefold dialogue between Spirit, Scripture, and Community.

The runner-up in this category is Thinking in Tongues by James K. A. Smith. Everything I read by this man is intellectually stimulating. This book—a combination of pentecostal history, philosophy, and theological reflection—is no exception.

This category is so large, surely it deserves a third selection! I would be remiss not to highlight Athanasius’ On the Incarnation. This book is passionate and pastoral, intellectual and inspiring. Don’t let it’s age fool you! There’s a reason it’s a classic.

Spiritual Formation

• A Hobbit Journey | Matthew Dickerson
• The Sin of Certainty by Peter Enns
• Divine Echoes by Mark Gregory Karris
• That the World May Believe by Hans Küng

I wasn’t sure whether these four book deserved a section of their own. I called them “Spiritual Formation,” but I find most of my spiritual formation in the theology category! These are more popular-level Christian books. My favourite of the four is Enns’ The Sin of Certainty. Enns is honest and thoughtful about his own spiritual journey and the freedom of uncertainty. This is a helpful reminder for any pastor or would-be theologian.

Non-Fiction

• The Healthy Small Church by Dennis Bickers
• Pope John XXIII: A Life by Thomas Cahill
• Good to Great by Jim Collins
• Coaching Changes Everything by Luciano Lombardi
• Elastic by Leonard Mlodinow
• Sibir by Farley Mowat
• Unstoppable by Maria Sharapova

Finally, let me present the non-fiction non-theological books that didn’t fit in any other category—mostly biographies and leadership books. Since I’m allowed to make up the rules on my own website, I declare this category a tie between Sharapova’s Unstoppable and Mlodinow’s Elastic. I had virtually no interest in tennis before I heard Sharapova’s interview on Tim Ferriss’ podcast. Her life and work ethic was so fascinating that I asked for her autobiography for Christmas. It doesn’t matter if you’re a tennis fan—Unstoppable is the inspiring biography of a very high-achieving person.

Mlodinow is a physicist who worked with Stephen Hawking. He also writes popular books on science that hit the sweet spot of scholarly and fascinating. Elastic explains how the brain works based on the latest empirical research. It turns out the analytic style of thinking I’m most comfortable with is not always the best approach.

So there you have it—everything I read in 2018 categorized and evaluated. Have you read any of these books? What do you think? What would you recommend? Feel free to let me know in the comments.