2020 has been a whirlwind year but in the midst of all the highs and lows, reading has been my safe place. According to my tracking via GoodReads, I read 109 books although I am certain that I forgot to put some books on GoodReads. Some of the books were memorable and some were "meh", but all in all it was good year for reading. Here's to more books in 2021!
Best Non-fiction: The Dark Side of Our Digital World while written by a librarian can be read by a general audience and was eye-opening regarding how nefarious technology and the digital world really is.
Best Memoir: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. While not a new book, this book had been on my Kindle for sometime and I decided that I should read it before going to the movie. I am so glad I did as it was very eye-opening to the plight of the disproportional number of African-American men on death row and provided a lot of details the movie left out.
Best Biblical Studies: The Gospels as Stories opens your eyes to reading the Gospels and was particularly enjoyable as it used a variety of literary theory in addition to Biblical studies.
Best Bible study/Missions: Mission 3:16 by Paul Borthwick will blow open your understanding of John 3:16 and is a great resource for a small group or a sermon series.
Best Spiritual Formation: Be Kind to Yourself and A Feast for the Soul are two very different books but both are amazing. These are both books that I look forward to returning to during the coming year.
Best Biography:A Life of Alexander Campbell by Douglas Foster is required reading for anyone interested in the Stone-Campbell/Restoration Movement or American religious history and Becoming Elisabeth Elliot is required reading for anyone interested in missions.
Best Social Justice: Beyond Hashtag Activism is a wonderful book if you want to put your hands and feet to work regarding the issues that face our world today.
Best Business/Leadership Book: The Art of Being Indispensable at Work is a book that should be read by everyone who works with others.
Best Diverse Book: The Book Collectors
Best Historical Fiction: This is a very hard choice as historical fiction is my primary genre. However, The Prisoner's Wife, a riveting WW II story takes top billing with A Most English Princess as a close second and particularly if you enjoyed Victoria.
Best Political and Best Overall: Compassion (&) Conviction was a refreshing and marvelous read during this tumultuous election year. I highly recommend it to any Christian who engages with politics in anyway which should be everyone.
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