Book recommendations are one enduring blessing of blogs. I appreciate seeing what others like and do not like, which helps me curate my reading list. At the end of each month, I try to pick out a few books I’ve read to recommend. Here are some of the books I enjoyed in May.
Slow Productivity, Cal Newport. Several years ago, Newport’s book Deep Work, helped me identify the type of work I want to do and a path to do it well. After reading, I remember saying, I will read everything this guy writes. His subsequent books, Digital Minimalism and A World Without Email, were valuable contributions the conversation of how to do Deep Work. I was excited to receive this book and sink my teeth into it. In this book, Newport argues that there is a pseudo-productivity that appears busy but is not building anything lasting or that we’d be proud of. It’s just busy. Instead, Newport lays out a plan for slow productivity – which is principle-based intentionality. It emphasizes working at a natural pace, says yes to fewer things (priorities), and obsesses over the quality of the work. In many ways the book is a natural implication of the Deep Work framework. The only critique I have of the book involves the style. The book is filled with stories to illustrate the points being made. I thought the points stood on their own, and the stories, while interesting, weren’t persuasive. The book would have been about 50% shorter without the stories. And I don’t think it would’ve lost much. Nevertheless, I love the principles laid out and recommend the book.
A Prophet Song, Paul Lynch. I saw this book won the Booker Prize last year and picked it up at my library. I’m glad I did. A dystopian novel set in a time of political and social unrest in Ireland, the author shows the real-life implications for a regular family caught up in the consequences of authoritarianism. The main character, a wife and a mother, desperately tries to save her family throughout. The conflict in the book continues to rise until its conclusion is nearly complete. In one sense, the events in the book seem like they could never happen. But, in another sense, they seem completely plausible. Coming out of the COVID years, readers will likely nod and grimace as the author describes most unpleasant scenes.
Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age, Rosaria Butterfield. In this book, Butterfield provides a diagnostic of our current times and shows how some foundational frameworks are false and anti-Christian. Most of this relates to the sexual revolution and the LGBTQ+ agenda. The author, herself a former proponent of what she now opposes, dissects the lies using the Bible and reason. I found the chapter on envy to be most helpful and challenging. Butterfield takes a firm stance on issues some Christians have been more squishy on. When thinking through the difficult issues of our day, readers will be helped by engaging this book and prayerfully considering how to honor the Lord and love their neighbors.
Holiness, J.C. Ryle. I’ve read and reread this book several times, and it convicts and challenges me each time. Ryle is a surgeon with a pen. Using a biblical passage, Ryle unpacks the principles of the text and then highlights various implications in the lives of those who follow Christ. He also presses upon those who might say they follow Christ, but their lives are not characterized by holiness. Finally, he regularly appeals to unbelievers to believe in Christ. I’ve read this book myself and with others. I’ve never come away without some encouragement and conviction. Pick up Ryle’s Holiness, a true classic if you want a summer read.
One or Two, Peter Jones. The book works out the truth and implications of Romans 1. As Jones describes it, one-ism is the belief that everything in the world is one and shares the same essential nature. Two-ism, maintains that there is a Creator-creature distinction. The latter reflects biblical Christianity and the former historic paganism. Once the clunky descriptions are set aside, the reader is set up to interact with the concepts. I found it helpful when preparing to preach on Romans 1.
Some Previous Recent Reads
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022