Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash

It’s that time of year when I review what I’ve read and list out my favorite books of the year! 

Over the last few years, I’ve read fewer non-fiction books and more history or novels. It doesn’t need to be published this year to make my favorite list, just one I read during the year. 

Below is a photo of my favorite books of the year, with my favorite one on top. To see everything I read this year, go here.

If you’re curious about past years’ lists, click on the numbers: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

First, the fun books!

I read way more novels, biographies, and historical books this year.

Here are my 5 favorite novels or history books of the year:

1. The River We Remember
2. Horse
3. The Age of Vice
4. Becoming FDR
5. Red Notice

Here are my favorite books of the year. They aren’t in any order, as it was hard to nail down a favorite, but if I had to, I would say my top 3 were: Thriving through Ministry Conflict: A Parable on How Resistance Can Be Your Ally, Sage: A Man’s Guide Into His Second Passage and The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness. 

The Air We Breathe: How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality. I wish everyone had read this book. It gave words to what I’ve seen in our culture but haven’t been able to articulate. 

Resilient Ministry: What Pastors Told Us About Surviving and Thriving. This was a book that a group of pastors I met with read, and it was eye-opening. It was also comforting to know that some of my feelings are normal.

The Weary Leader’s Guide to Burnout: A Journey from Exhaustion to Wholeness. Read this book if you’re weary, tired, or burned out. This past year, I found myself feeling run down and tired, not burned out, thankfully, and this book was a godsend when I read it. 

Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue. Friedman takes the stance that to lead well in a church; you must understand the family systems of that church.  If you are leading a church in transition like I am, this book is invaluable to understand how your church functions, what the family of origin story of your church is, and how that is still impacting your church (even if all those people are gone). 

The Imperfect Pastor: Discovering Joy in Our Limitations through a Daily Apprenticeship with Jesus. Every year, I re-read a book; this year, this is the one. I read it years ago, but now that I’m older and in a different spot in ministry, it was incredibly helpful to go back through it. There are tons of insights for pastors on how to move at the pace of God.

Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents―and What They Mean for America’s Future. This is a book that all pastors and parents need to read. It gave me insight into my kids and their friends, my life, and my generation. This is the first time there are 5 generations in churches and the workforce, and it is important to understand their needs and desires and how they view the world.

The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness. This book was so insightful on what makes people happy. they have followed a group of people for over 80 years, including their kids, to see what we can learn from people’s lives. This book caused me to rethink some things in my relational world.

Thriving through Ministry Conflict: A Parable on How Resistance Can Be Your Ally. This was the first book I read for my doctoral program, and it blew me away. It is written as a fable and follows a new pastor at his church and his experiences. It so closely mirrored my experience of moving to New England; it was eerie. 

Sage: A Man’s Guide Into His Second Passage. You need to read this book if you are a man close to 40 or over 40. It helps explain what you feel physically, emotionally, spiritually, and relationally. There were a lot of aha moments for me and things to think through so that my second half is all that it can be. 

The Flourishing Pastor: Recovering the Lost Art of Shepherd Leadership. You’re probably picking up a theme in the books I read and loved this year. As I get older and watch more and more pastors quit, fail, or burn out, I’m seeing how hard it is to make it to the end and finish well, and I desire not to be a statistic.