Here we are again, winding down another year and looking ahead to a new one. I know I haven’t posted since the last year-in-books book review, but it’s time for another post of my books of the year!
By way of intro, I have been keeping track of all my reading in Goodreads. Head over there and follow me to see all my reviews and what I’m currently reading. After blowing past the goal I set in my Goodreads 2023 challenge, I set a realistic goal of 40 this year. I ended up setting a new record of 48 books this year, so with that, let’s take a look at the highlights!
Best Fiction Book(s)
I ended up reading a good amount of fiction this year, even with finishing a Master’s degree and starting a Doctoral program. I have found that my brain needs a change of pace so that I can wind down in the evenings. I also tend to read a book or two on breaks between semesters, so that raises my total fiction count.
I reread the Lord of the Rings trilogy this year. Those are classics and everyone should read them at least once! Maybe I will write a whole post on classic works by J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. For now, just know they are still in the rotation.
A new read, however, was A.G. Riddle’s Lost in Time. I was introduced to Riddle’s work back in 2020 with “The Long Winter” Series. I needed something new at the end of the year, so I went back and picked up some of his other works. Lost in Time is a stand-alone sci-fi book that mixes together science fiction, time travel, and a murder mystery. It starts off really fast-paced and throws several twists in at the end. It’s a well-done book for those who enjoy sci-fi and time travel!
Most Thought-Provoking Book
The most thought-provoking book I read was Carl Trueman’s Crisis of Confidence. I read this to write an academic book review for the Biblical Higher Education Journal, so hopefully that will be published in the spring (in which case, I’ll link to it here). But I was excited to read and review this book, and it didn’t disappoint. Carl Trueman has written several other cultural critiques recently, and this book hits home for those in the American Church. He begins by laying out the case as to why modern culture has a negative posture towards declarations of faith such as the ancient creeds. What it comes down to is the individualistic nature of society today is rejecting any source of external authority and increasingly turning inward in search of truth and stability. Trueman then lays out the case for returning to the orthodox creeds and confessions as the foundation of our faith. Ultimately, these creeds line up with the Biblical command to “Follow the pattern of sound words…” (1 Tim. 1:13) and can reorient us as believers toward an orthodox “faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).
I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Crisis of Confidence as you head into the new year. It is not a long read, and it will cause you to critically evaluate your faith (in a good way!)
Most Fun Book Series for the Family
Over the summer, we read The Wishmaker and its sequel The Wishbreaker out loud as a family. I’ll resist going off on a tangent about reading out loud to your kids, but just suffice it to say my girls (10 and 7) loved it! It was fun to follow along with the kids in the story who were trying to accomplish their quest by making wishes of their newfound genies and suffering the consequences of those choices. If you want a good series to read aloud to your kids, this was a fun one! And your kids will enjoy listening to you try to read all the various rhymes and riddles… especially if you get into it with different voices!
Honorable Mention
It feels bad giving this the “honorable mention,” but I had already given the “most thought-provoking” award, and couldn’t come up with another category for The Anxious Generation. This was a dense read, and I’m thankful I got it on audio. Jonathan Haidt dives deep into the reason GenZ and Gen Alpha are experiencing a mental health crisis. He traces it back to what he calls “the great rewiring” in the 2010’s when childhood shifted from primarily play-based to primarily “phone-based.” There is a lot in here and it would do it an injustice to try to summarize it all in one paragraph. The bottom line, however, is that parents, schools, and governments need to work together to protect children from the damage that can be done by allowing so much unprotected screen time and so little free play. I am thankful my school already has gone phone-free and I am more convinced than ever that delaying my children from receiving devices until well into their teenage years is the right move!
Fun Statistics
I’d love to write a short review on all the books I read this year, but this post is already almost 1,000 words, and I want people to actually read this! So let’s just wrap up with some fun stats and then call it a day. And don’t forget to head on over to Goodreads and give me a follow to see the list and follow along with my reading in 2025!
First book of the year: The Warden and the Wolf King (I wrote about this series in last year’s reviews. We loved it so much we bought the whole series for our kids this Christmas! It’s worth it to get the hardback boxed set!)
Shortest book: Mind your Writing– 97
Longest book: Quantum Radio– 562
Total pages read:15,055 (only counting completed books)
Total books read: 48
Nate Deck 