2018 Book reviews: 30 books reviewed in two sentences each

My top four reads of 2018 are highlighted at the bottom of this post.  All books receive a meagre 2 sentences by way of review!

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, by Jordan B Peterson.

"Read" on audible so as to best appreciate his engaging manner, Peterson presents his cultural analysis of the present moment in 12 candid theses (dressed up as rules).  His use of ancient texts/myths is a masterclass on how to engage an audience with ideas they'd be suspicious of if communicated in a more progressive/activist manner, but the ideas themselves were less convincing.

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Island Home, by Tim Winton.

Read by the beach, while soaking up the landscape of my Island home.  A wonderful reminder that what at first may look like a wasteland, may actually a dazzling wonderland: an insight that is often as true for ideas as it is for landscapes.

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Work & Leisure in Christian Perspective,  by Leland Ryken.

Read as a spur to thinking through what it might look like to think theologically about the place of "leisure" (whatever that is!) in the Christian life.  A helpful primer, some great ideas, but lacking when it came to expressing a coherent theology that one may be able to build upon.

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Of Leisure,  by Seneca

Read as a classical foil for thinking through the scripture's teaching on rest.  Sort and punchy.

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The Pleasures of Leisure, by Robert Dessaix

Not a pleasurable read.  The prose promised insight that never came.

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Leisure and Spirituality: Biblical, Historical, and contemporary perspectives,  by Paul Heintzman

Read a little like it was a dissertation rushed into the form of a book.  Paul's manner was warm, but the content was far more weighted towards "leisure studies" than either Biblical or Contemporary analysis.

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Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief,  by Jordan Peterson

Don't read if you are after a more in depth version of 12 Rules.  The book gave me valuable insight into why Peterson chooses to use myth, ancient stories, and familiar scripture to persuade his readers to embrace his psycological insights. Interesting that Peterson is confident that the literary form of scripture still has plausibility, even if he doesn’t believe the truth of them.

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On Prayer: Conversation with God,  by John Calvin

Really great (and short) little compendium of Calvin's writing on both the theology and practice of prayer.  Loved both some of the strategies Calvin suggests for encouraging his readers in prayer, and his use of pre-written prayers!

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 Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God,  by Timothy J. Keller

Pleasingly this book relied heavily upon some wonderful resources from traditional reformation theologians, and less upon Keller's own personal insights (which I find always stimulating, but less often enduringly convincing).   The "experiencing Awe and Intimacy" aspect of prayer was helpfully qualified and critiqued more than I had expected from the title: Keller's usual fascination with experiencing "transcendence" made very little appearance.

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A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World, by Paul Miller

Wanted to enjoy this book, but felt more disconnected with each personal story that Miller told about his own experience of prayer. Ultimately I'm not convinced by the model that Miller employs for discerning God's answers to our prayer.

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Prayer and the Voice of God, by Philip Jensen and Tony Payne
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​Few of the books about prayer that I read (re-read) in 2018 had the scriptural clarity and modest care of expression that this book does. I was surprised by how helpful this book was in keeping my thinking focused as I read more widely on the topic of prayer. 

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Prayer, by Ole Hallesby

The warmest and most stimulating book on prayer that I've ever read. It got me noticing (and delighting in) some of the most obvious truths about prayer:  truths that left me wondering "have I really not noticed that before?"

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The Two Kingdoms: A Guide for the Perplexed, by W. Bradford Littlejohn

Already reviewed this book  HERE 
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The Peril and Promise of Christian Liberty: Richard Hooker, The Puritans, And Protestant Political Theology, by W. Bradford Littlejohn

Already reviewed this book  HERE

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The Good Life in The Last Days: Making Choices When the Time is Short, by Mikey Lynch

One of the very few books that takes seriously both the goodness of this world God has called us to live within, while also exhorting us to anchor our hope firmly in the life to come.
I plan to read it again in 2019.

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The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences have, by Chip & Dan Heath

​A handful of great insights for someone like me: someone not great at celebrating and acknowledging those big, small, and precious moments that pass by quickly. This has given me a great little collection of things to work on celebrating in 2019 in both the family and ministry context...

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When: The Scientific Secrets Of Perfect Timing, by Dan Pink

It had insufficient insights or interest to warrant reading.

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Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t: Why That Is And What You Can Do About It,  by Steven Pressfield

Some great reminders for writers (of whatever sort) to not blame one's readership when they have little interest in reading your work. Would perhaps have been better as a punchy blog entry.

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The Lost World of the Flood, by John Walton and Tremper Longman III

This book was not as helpful as Walton's earlier books on the opening chapters of Genesis. It had some helpful insights on the text and context of the narratives surrounding the Flood, but felt a little too focussed upon answering the objections of the particular "6 day creationist" audience it was addressing.

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​The Mercersburg Theology and the Quest for Reformed Catholicity, by W. Bradford Littlejohn

An interesting introduction to a debate I'd previously been unfamiliar with: the debate between John Nevin + Philip Schaff, and Charles Hodge over i) what shape Reformed theology could properly take,  and ii) what continuity it might legitimately maintain with Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism.   I was left with the impression that John Nevin and Philip Schaff need not have looked far beyond the English/Continental reformers for the theological resources they needed to critique Hodge's vision of Protestantism.

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Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity,  by Kim Malone Scott

Great book on the value (and pitfalls) of Candor in management and leadership.  The book helpfully focusses on how a leader's candor can serve and benefit those who work under them.

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Personality and the Fate of Organisations,  by Robert Hogan

The book unpacks the ways in which Personality and Performance are are linked, and the way in which Personality impacts an individual's leadership ability, style, team performance, and overall organisational effectiveness: the interplay between Personality and Organisational management.

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The Meek One,  by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

A tale of how the narcissistic love of a pawnbroker drives his wife to suicide. A confronting story of a husband's self-delusion.

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The book follows the personal/professional development of Kenji, a curator who finds vintage maps easier to read than people.  As Kenji moves from Japan to the UK, US, and Europe, his changing understanding of cartography mirrors his struggle to read people in ways foreign to him.

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The Enchiridion,  by Augustine

Designed as a personal handbook to the Christian faith, it was written by Augustine at the request of a man who had written to him.  It is structured around the key theological concerns of Faith, Hope, and Love - although Augustine's structuring of these themes wasn't always immediately clear to me. 

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The Keeper, by Graham Norton

A great read.  A woman discovers that her recently deceased mother was even more of a mystery to her than the father she never knew.

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My Top Reads for 2018

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The Shepherd's Hut,  by Tim Winton

I love the way that Winton writes about men: about their insecurities, their dealings with one another, and their grappling with their own pasts. This book has all that in spades!

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Finding and Seeking: Ethics as Theology,  by Oliver O'Donovan

Best book I've read since O'Donovan's first book in this series:  Devotional, penetrating, humorous, and deeply scriptural.  I was especially gripped  by the extended treatment that O'Donovan gives to what he calls our "sin against time" - the ways we misunderstand the bible's view of past/present/future time (and the resulting anxiety so typical of our modern moment).

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Thinking through Creation: Genesis 1 and 2 as Tools of Cultural Critique,  by Christopher Watkin

One of my top reads for 2018, its the perfect book to read with those navigating the world of university or academic scholarship. Don't be fooled, this book isn't simply about Genesis: it unpacks the wonderful resources God offers us in the scriptures, for understanding ourselves, creation,  AND for assessing competing visions of our place in the world.

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How to Survive the Apocalypse: Zombies, Cylons, Faith, and Politics at the End of the World, by Alissa Wilkinson and Robert Joustra

An engaging and clear restatement and reflection upon several key themes from Charles Taylors "A secular Age" - a thesis on the shifting plausibility of faith.  I much preferred this book to James K. A. Smith's "How Not to be Secular" (another book aiming to restate Charles Taylor's thought).