Stephen Barkley
I’m addicted, and I’m okay with that. Reading is a habit I cannot live without—it’s meditation for me. The 64 books listed below are what filled my mind and kept the mental gears turning over the past year. Fun fact: seven of them were audiobooks I listened to while running. They’re marked with the headphone icon (🎧).
There are some clear shifts in my 2023 list. After reading The Pastor’s Bookshelf, I determined to read more literature—thus Banville, Buechner, and Steinbeck. They’re all worth your time. I listened to various audiobooks (Christie, King, El-Mohtar and Gladstone) while searching for a new epic fantasy series to fill my long runs. The Malazan Book of the Fallen series should fit the bill nicely. Finally, my role as a practical theology professor has prompted a shift in my reading from Bible and theology to more practical leadership-oriented material.
This year was a big one for me: I published my first book, Pentecostal Prophets, in April. I’m currently working on a new book that will take some of the ideas from my academic work and translate them for the benefit of the church. If you’d like to keep in touch with my latest writing projects, please fill out the short form in the footer.
Bible & Theology
- The Hebrew Bible translated by Robert Alter
- Pentecostal Prophets by Stephen Barkley
- The Exodus by Richard Elliott Friedman
- Power in Weakness by Timothy G. Gombis
- Did God Kill Jesus? by Tony Jones
- A Free Humanity by Luciano Lombardi
- Essential Truths edited by Van Johnson, et al.
- The Bible by John Riches
- Can “White” People Be Saved? edited by Love L. Sechrest, et al.
- On the Lord’s Prayer | Tertullian, et al.
- The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts by Max Turner
- Introduction to Spirituality by Gary Tyra
- A Christian Theology of Science by Paul Tyson
- The Book of the People by A. N. Wilson
- Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview by Randy S. Woodley
There’s no question who leads the pack here. Alter’s translation of The Hebrew Bible is unmatched. Rather than deign to explaining the Hebrew text in the English language, Alter re-presents it in its original glory. His copious translation notes are a delight for anyone seeking to explore the vast literary connectedness of the Hebrew Bible.
Runners up in this category are Tyson’s A Christian Theology of Science and Woodley’s Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview. Both of these books presented big ideas that challenged the way I think. Tyson boldly urges Christians to recover theology as our first-truth discourse in contrast to the empiricism, rationalism, and physical reductionism that ruled the modern era. Woodley presents a grounded theory study of indigenous communities across North America. The (unsurprising) verdict? The ten qualities of indigenous culture known as “the harmony way” resonate more closely with the Kingdom of God than Western culture.
Fiction
- The Infinities by John Banville
- The Sea by John Banville
- Brendan by Frederick Buechner
- 🎧And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
- 🎧Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson
- 🎧The Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
- 🎧This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
- The Short Novels of John Steinbeck by John Steinbeck
- 🎧Fairy Tale by Stephen King
- 🎧Firestarter by Stephen King
- 🎧The Institute by Stephen King
- The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
- Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
- The Once and Future King by T. H. White
- Empire of Grass by Tad Williams
- The Heart of What Was Lost by Tad Williams
- Into the Narrowdark by Tad Williams
- The Witchwood Crown by Tad Williams
Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible follows the family of a Baptist missionary who relocates to the Belgium Congo on the eve of its 1960 independence. There’s so much to admire here: family dynamics, meditation on (dis)ability, enculturation, clashing ideologies, and the pain that comes with single-minded fundamentalism.
Runners up in this category include two radically different works. Irish author Banfield’s The Sea is a Man Booker Prize-winning lyrical meditation on aging and coming-of-age. On the other hand, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone’s This is How You Lose the Time War is a mind-bending science fiction work of art, following two enemies across existence as they seek to undermine each other’s mission while developing profound ties. The weird fiction here would make Jeff VanderMeer proud!
Leadership
- Following by Jason Byassee and Andria Irwin
- The Pastor’s Bookshelf by Austin Carty
- The 21st Century Pastor by David Fisher
- Leading Small Groups that Thrive by Ryan T. Hartwig, et al.
- My Body is Not a Prayer Request by Amy Kenny
- Redeeming Power by Diane Langberg
- Toward a Pentecostal Theology of Preaching edited by Lee Roy Martin
- Trauma-Informed Pastoral Care by Karen A. McClintock
- Deep Work by Cal Newport
- The Resilient Pastor by Glenn Packiam
- The State of the Evangelical Mind edited by Todd C. Ream, et al.
- Red Skies edited by L. Rowland Smith
The Pastor’s Bookshelf is a lovely little book. Great literature does more than just inform our minds, claims Carty, it forms our character. Supporting this big idea, Carty provides chapters full of practical advice written in impeccable prose.
Runners up include Kenny’s My Body is Not a Prayer Request and Newport’s Deep Work. The big idea in Kenny’s work is contained in the title: stop treating people with disability as projects or people waiting for healing. Kenny’s irreverent voice cuts through the platitudes of triumphalist Christianity, providing first-hand experience that packs a punch. Newport’s work is something completely different. You can think of it as a more practical variation of the theme of Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows. We train ourselves to live on the surface and stay distracted. With the rise of artificial intelligence, those who thrive will be those who can think and work deeply.
Spiritual Formation
- Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by Aimee Byrd
- The Art of Solitude by Stephen Batchelor
- The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
- Hymns of Repentance by Romanos the Melodist
- How to Inhabit Time by James K. A. Smith
Smith mashes up Husserl and the Qohelet, phenomenology and the wisdom tradition, in How to Inhabit Time. This book has stirred my thinking to the point where it prompted a couple sermons. If you’re anywhere near mid-life, this book is especially poignant.
Biography
- The Sacred Journey by Frederick Buechner
- Focault by Gary Gutting
- Impossible Love by Craig Keener and Médine Moussounga Keener
- Ghandi by Bhikhu Parekh
- Miz Lil and the Chronicles of Grace by Walter Wangerin
Keener and Keener for the win! Impossible Love is a memoir in two voices. Craig Keener speaks (mostly) from this side of the Atlantic while his to-be spouse Médine is living the life of a refugee in her war-torn country. You may recognize Keener from his voluminous academic works—Spirit Hermeneutics in particular. This book shows a different side of the prolific writer. His dependence upon the Spirit—especially the gift of prophecy—is inspiring.
All the Rest
- Noise by Daniel Kahneman, et al.
- Beyond this Dark House by Guy Gavriel Kay
- The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman
- Small Teaching by James M. Lang
- George MacDonald in the Age of Miracles by Timothy Larsen
- Alone against the North by Adam Shoalts
- Longitude by Dava Sobel
- The Voice of Canada edited by A. M. Stephenson
- Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken
Ultra-Processed People is the sort of book that will upend your understanding of food. Van Tulleken tells the history and science of ultra-processed food along with what it’s doing to our human physiology.
So there you have it. Another year, another few feet worth of occupied book-shelf space. If you’re curious, here are my Reading Retrospectives from former years:
