My Top Books of 2019

Well, you know what time it is. Time for me to poke my head out just long enough to share my favorite reads from this past year. Last year the goal was to read a hundred books. I figured if I read a bunch of books, I’d catch up on my reading list. On the contrary, the more I read the more I found to read. This year I didn’t set much of a goal for myself. I figured I’d just read and see where it took me.

As I reflect on this year, I don’t feel like my reading was as diverse as last year. I still read a bit about feminism and true crime, but this year found me reading a lot of memoirs, personal essays, and biographies. I read a lot on presidents and, because of my job, various books on theology, leadership, and team dynamics. Perhaps, more surprising, is that I didn’t read a whole lot on the church. Of the 115 books I read (116 if you include the Bible), about 40 of them were by women, 14 of them were fiction, 6 of them were fables, and a little over half were audiobooks.

Already I anticipate things decreasing in 2020. Because I’ve been so bent on finishing books, I haven’t made space for podcasts. I’d like to change that in the coming year. Also, I want to a better job at drawing connections between the stuff I’m reading and the work that I’m doing. Sometimes I’m able to do this through verbal processing, but I’d like to be more intentional with it in the new year. Also, Baby Wilkerson is due in June and I imagine productivity will change a bit then. But who knows? I’m a 2w3, which means I do enjoy achieving quite a bit.

In keeping with tradition, here are my top five in no particular order.

Edit – 12/30/2019 @ 10:42 PM: After posting the initial list, I spent the rest of the day agonizing over whether or not I chose the right books. After some consideration and deliberation, I’ve rearranged the books to fit the categories that feel truer to my gut.

1. Becoming – Michelle Obama

There’s a reason this book has been everywhere. It’s breathtaking. You come away feeling like you really know Michelle Obama. But I think what resonated with me most was the sense we (you and I) were witnesses to history. Of course, we knew that as it was happening, but watching her play it back for us helped me see the magnitude of it all. I remember the Jeremiah Wright controversy, the Obama’s crusade against obesity, the comic strips denigrating the Obama, and of course Donald Trump and the birther scandal. What a time to be alive. This book deserves more than a movie. It deserves a mini-series where we don’t miss a thing (including the college years and the boyfriend who wanted to be a clown). Also, can we talk about how beautifully she writes about Barack? Their relationship might actually be the cutest thing in the world (sorry, Baby Yoda).

2. The Locust Effect – Gary Haugen

Some people write books because they love to write. Some people write books because they merely want to call themselves an author. Still, others write books because they have something to say. Gary Haugen, to me, fits in that last category. He’s not prolific by any stretch of the imagination, but he writes books from a place of deep conviction birthed from a life on the front lines of battle. The Locust Effect is prophetic and heart-wrenching, eye-opening in the best possible way. In a time where it’s tempting to be myopic about America and its woes, Haugen reminds me there are others around the world with greater problems. It’s a clarion call to remember the poor and most vulnerable in our world.

3. Educated – Tara Westover

Sometimes books that don’t deserve critical acclaim receive it. Educated is not one of those books. It deserves every bit of fame and recognition it gets. Westover would probably never see herself as a hero for having overcome the things she has, but that doesn’t make it any less true. As I wrote on Goodreads, “This book highlights the complex nature of human beings and our relationships. How much easier it would be if we were entirely good or entirely evil, but the reality is that we are capable of both tenderness and torture.” Westover doesn’t allow us to hate her family and refuses to exalt herself. Both are fascinating choices in my eyes. There were a lot of things I expected this book to be about. It was about none of those things. And for that I’m grateful.

4. Destiny of the Republic – Candice Millard

This book gets my “Random Book of the Year” award. I’m sure part of why this book was so good was because I had no prior interest/knowledge in the subject. From the very outset, it was shockingly good. And because I know almost nothing about history, it read like a novel to me and I had no idea of its ending. Millard strikes a goldmine here. Not only is the story interesting, riddled with all sorts of twists and turns but Millard is a masterful storyteller, introducing threads and characters early only for them to reappear at just the right moment in a grand reveal. Every book I read on presidents and presidencies after this was a result of this book.

5. Go Ahead in the Rain – Hanif Abdurraqib

Another one of those books that took me completely off guard. I’m not a huge fan of A Tribe Called Quest. I have a deep admiration and respect for them of course (you kind of have to), but I don’t think I could name five songs from them if you asked me to. Still, you don’t have to be familiar with their music in order to appreciate this book. It truly is a love letter to an era. Abdurraqib is a poet and his mastery of the craft shines in his prose. I found myself in this book and my own relationship to Jack’s Mannequin, how it seems certain artists were put on this earth just for you. Somehow you grow with them and they provide a soundtrack to your life. This book inspired some writing I did later in the year.

And because, it’s hard to read 116 books and keep your list to five, here are some honorable mentions that very easily could’ve made it in the top five:

6. Can’t Hurt Me – David Goggins

Most self-help books today inspire us to act by appealing to our positive characteristics. The reason why we don’t achieve what we’re capable of is because we don’t believe that we’re inherently awesome. The second we wake up to this reality, the sooner we’ll achieve. The more we believe it, the more we’ll achieve. Goggins spits in the face of all that. His achievements stem from a more realistic (if not negative) view of self: he achieves because he feels like he isn’t worth anything and has yet to do something that justifies his existence. The reason we don’t achieve is because we’re lazy and we don’t want it bad enough. I found myself recommending this book out of the sheer absurdity of it all. David Goggins is actually crazy and I’m willing to bet so is anyone who is willing to settle down with him. I would never tell someone to ascribe to his philosophy, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think he has a point.

7. On Reading Well – Karen Swallow Prior

I had the privilege of hearing Prior speak on virtues at a conference earlier this year and knew instantly that I had to read her book. Book aside Prior is interesting to me. Not only was she a professor at Liberty University, but she’s also part of the Southern Baptist Convention and has ties to the Gospel Coalition. I’m ashamed to say it, but upon first learning this I judged her for it. Then she spoke and she won me over. I’ve had a mild interest in virtues for a while (even if my reading list hasn’t reflected it) and she broke them down in a way that made them accessible and practical. But more amazing is that she does so through the lens of classic literature. In her analysis, you understand not only understand virtue, but you also understand her as someone who loves books and reads them deeply. I don’t know if I would do well in her English class but I would have a blast learning from her.

8. Little Fires Everywhere – Celeste Ng

That’s right! A fiction book has made the cut. Between this and American Marriage, I almost started a book club JUST so I could unpack this book with someone/anyone. As I wrote in my Goodreads review, if I was an English teacher, I’d assign this book. Ng doesn’t just tell the story of one or two characters but a whole town. There are so many threads running through the novel that by the end you see she’s woven a tapestry. While the story begins and ends with little fires everywhere that coalesce into a conflagration, really the title could be used to describe all the drama in this story: Little fires everywhere that ultimately become something great and all that’s left are ashes. Part of the suspense is that you as a reader know what’s happening while none of the characters get the full picture. Ng reminds me that while I may occasionally have an idea for a fictional story, I’m definitely not a fiction writer. Not like this.

9. Heavy – Kiese Laymon/Thick – Tressie McMillian Cottom

I know these are two different books about a host of different things, but I can’t bring myself to separate them. Both fit in that hard-hitting nonfiction/memoir/personal essay genre and I couldn’t recommend them strongly enough. Their titles work on multiple levels. Not only is Heavy a reference to weight but the subject matter itself is heavy. You don’t come away feeling triumphant or resolved. You come away feeling sobered by the brokenness of the world. Thick is the same. For a slim book, it’s dense. Jay-Z opens “Ignorant S***” by talking about how he gets hailed as the greatest rapper of all time when he raps about ratchet stuff but gets questioned all over again when he writes about conscious matters. He then tells the key to the song: he’s about to give you both in the same song. Cottom does the same in the intro. She pulls the biggest okey-doke by setting you up to believe you’re just in for another series of personal essays, but she’s every bit as scholarly as she is personal. She then proves it time and time again.

10. Creativity, Inc. – Ed Catmull

There is so much to love about this book. Not only is Catmull pulling back the curtain a bit on the success of Pixar and creative work culture, but he also does so by telling the story of animated movies that have shaped the past three decades. Time and time again, he’ll casually mention a movie or a person responsible for the development of a movie only for you to realize how absurd Pixar’s run has been. When discussed one after the other, you realize Pixar really is unmatched in the world of animated movies. The only people who come close are the ones directly connected to them.

Honorable Mentions of the Honorable Mentions (yes, because this year’s reading list was just that good. Any one of these could’ve been honorable mentions, which is to say any of them could have been in the top five):

11. Team of Rivals – Doris Kearns Goodwin
12. The New Jim Crow – Michelle Alexander
13. This Will Be My Undoing – Morgan Jerkins
14. A Black Theology of Liberation – James Cone
15. Insight – Tasha Eurich

*Initial List consisted of Becoming, The Locust Effect, The New Jim Crow, Educated, and Destiny of the Republic as top reads, Go Ahead in the Rain, Creativity, Inc., Insight, Heavy/Thick, and A Black Theology of Liberation as honorable mentions, and This Will Be My Undoing, Little Fires Everywhere, Team of Rivals, Can’t Hurt Me, and On Reading Well as Honorable, Honorable Mentions.

Full List (asterisks for audiobooks):

January

1. Feminism is for Everybody* – bell hooks
2. The New Jim Crow – Michelle Alexander
3. The Cross and the Switchblade* – David Wilkerson
4. Immeasurable – Skye Jethani
5. Heavy* – Kiese Laymon
6. Everybody Always* – Bob Goff
7. Sacred Fire – Ronald Rolheiser
8. Mating in Captivity* – Esther Perel
9. The Dark Night of the Soul – Gerald G. May
10. Carve the Mark* – Veronica Roth
11. Mindset – Carol Dweck
12. The Supremacy of God in Preaching – John Piper

February

13. How To Fight a Hydra – Josh Kaufman
14. Becoming* – Michelle Obama
15. Dare to Lead – Brene Brown
16. Their Eyes Were Watching God* – Zora Neale Hurston
17. White Rage* – Carol Anderson
18. Life Together* – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
19. The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison
20. Stamped from the Beginning* – Ibram X. Kendi
21. A Black Theology of Liberation – James Cone
22. The Culture Code – Daniel Coyle
23. Yellow Crocus* – Laila Ibrahim

March

24. Reviving the Black Church – Thabiti Anyabwile
25. Changeling* – Molly Harper
26. The Most Beautiful Thing I’ve Seen – Lisa Gungor
27. On The Come Up* – Angie Thomas
28. Thick* – Tressie McMillan Cottom
29. When They Call You a Terrorist – Patrisse Khan-Cullors
30. A New Model – Ashley Graham
31. Thriving Through Ministry Conflict – James Osterhaus
32. The Very Good Gospel – Lisa Sharon Harper
33. Power of TED* – David Emerald
34. The Fates Divide* – Veronica Roth
35. Sisters in the Wilderness – Delores S. Williams

April

36. Sex, Jesus, and Conversations the Church Forgot – Mo Isom
37. The Coddling of the American Mind* – Jonathan Haidt
38. Team of Teams* – General Stanley McCrystal
39. Monday’s Not Coming* – Tiffany Jackson
40. The Locust Effect – Gary Haugen
41. The Color of Compromise* – Jemar Tisby
42. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team – Patrick Lencioni
43. Sing Unburied Sing* – Jesmyn Ward
44. Can’t Hurt Me – David Goggins
45. Road to Character* – David Brooks
46. Breakfast at Tiffany’s* – Truman Capote

May

47. The Practice of Adaptive Leadership – Ronald Heifetz and Martin Linsky
48. Principles* – Ray Dalio
49. Insight – Tasha Eurich
50. A More Beautiful Question* – Warren Berger
51. A Tale of Three Kings* – Gene Edwards
52. Canoeing the Mountains* – Tod Bolsinger
53. LeadershipNext – Eddie Gibbs
54. Dreams from my Father* – Barack Obama
55. Good Leaders Ask Great Questions* – John C. Maxwell
56. An American Marriage* – Tayari Jones
57. A Failure of Nerve – Edward Friedman

June

58. Petty* – Warren Zanes
59. I Will Find You* – Joe Kenda
60. Multipliers – Liz Wiseman
61. The Righteous Mind* – Jonathan Haidt
62. Mujerista Theology – Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz
63. 5Q – Alan Hirsh
64. Team of Rivals* – Doris Kearns Goodwin
65. On Reading Well – Karen Swallow Prior
66. The Run of His Life* – Jeffery Toobin
67. Unbelievable – Katy Tur

July

68. The Alter Ego Effect – Todd Herman
69. Humilitas – John Dickson
70. Destiny of the Republic* – Candice Millard
71. Insider Outsider – Bryan Lorritts
72. River of Doubt* – Candice Millard
73. Notorious RBG* – Irin Carmon
74. Attributes of God – A.W. Pink
75. Little Fires Everywhere* – Celeste Ng

August

76. What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker* – Damon Young
77. Leadershift – John C. Maxwell
78. Born a Crime* – Trevor Noah
79. How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth – Gordon Fee
80. Educated* – Tara Westover
81. The Wounded Healer – Henri J.M. Nouwen
82. Drive* – Daniel Pink
83. You and Me Forever* – Francis Chan
84. Building a StoryBrand – Donald Miller
85. A Praying Life* – Paul Miller
86. Liquid Rules* – Mark Miodownik

September

87. Integrity – Henry Cloud
88. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark* – Michelle McNamara
89. The Sun Does Shine* – Anthony Ray Hinton
90. Creativity, Inc. – Ed Catmull
91. Chop Wood, Carry Water* – Joshua Medcalf
92. How to be a Woman* – Caitlin Moran
93. This Will Be My Undoing – Morgan Jerkins
94. The Road to Jonestown* – Jeff Guinn
95. White Fragility* – Robin DiAngelo
96. The Next Right Thing – Emily Freeman
97. Transforming Church – Kevin Ford

October

98. The Dichotomy of Leadership* – Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
99. Flow – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
100. Where the Crawdads Sing* – Delia Owens
101. Microchurches – Brian Sanders
102. The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss
103. Grace, Actually – Grace Sandra
104. The Bully Pulpit* – Doris Kearns Goodwin

November

105. They Both Die at the End* – Adam Silvera
106. Hillbilly Elegy* – JD Vance
107. Sticky Teams* – Larry Osborne
108. That’s What She Said* – Joanne Lipman
109. Call to Commitment – Elizabeth O’Connor
110. Go Ahead in the Rain* – Hanif Abdurraqib
111. Eloquent Rage* – Brittney Cooper
112. Rescuing the Gospel from Cowboys – Richard Twiss

December

113. Inheritance – Dani Shapiro*
114. Unmasking Narcissism – Mark Ettensohn
115. Embrace – Leroy Barber