'20 Reads

The ten books below are not ranked; you’ll not find here “the best books of the year according to Lianna,” “a list of books I endorse,” or even “my favorite books I read this year.” Instead, my list is comprised of a handful of books that drove themselves into my thinking and changed me this year.

Surprised by Joy, by C.S. Lewis

The poignant and reflective spiritual autobiography of C.S. Lewis

Union with Christ, by Rankin Wilbourne

How a doctrine that can be overlooked brings comfort and power to the Christian life

Taking Hold of God, edited by Joel Beeke and Brian G. Najapfour

A rich look at the Puritans’ practice of prayer

Joy: Poet, Seeker, and the Woman Who Captivated C.S. Lewis, by Abigail Santamaria

The life of the Joy Davidman, who would become C.S. Lewis’s muse and encourager

The Soul of the American University, by George M. Marsden

Traces the fall of American higher education from its Protestant foundation to secularism

The Life of God in the Soul of Man, by Henry Scougal

Calls the Christian away from mere knowledge to the life of God deep in the soul

Who Is an Evangelical?, by Thomas Kidd

Kidd’s perspective on the history, doctrine, and cultural expressions of evangelicalism

Keeping the Heart, by John Flavel

How and why to guard the heart as the source of Christian spirituality

Nehemiah: A Pastoral and Exegetical Commentary, by T. J. Betts

Scholarship and pastoral wisdom combined to provide guidance for church life, leadership, and faithfulness

Practicing the Present, by John Koessler

An exploration of how the present is not a transition from past to future, but the time when God works with us