2025 Reading List

For a variety of reasons, I read the fewest number of books since 2020. I may try to read a bit more in the coming year. As is my practice, I posted one-sentence reviews of each book on Instagram (still available in my Highlights) and on Threads. Here I have listed all books organized under five categories and listed in alphabetical order by author. I have offered a brief comment on three highlights from each category.

(I have included Amazon Affiliate links for all the books I would recommend. If you want to read those books yourself, using the links helps contribute to my yearly book fund.)

ACADEMIC:

Books in this category are largely related to my PhD thesis or scholarly treatments of topics outside of my teaching.

The Highlight: The Pentecostal Gender Paradox: Eschatology and the Search for Equality by Joseph Lee Dutko. This is a must-read book for Pentecostal pastors and leaders arguing for the flourishing and unrestricted inclusion of women in the church. We have much work still to do.

Runners-Up: Grieving, Brooding, and Transforming: The Spirit, the Bible, and Gender edited by Cheryl Bridges Johns and Lisa Stephenson for excellent essays applying a feminist, Pentecostal hermeneutic to texts of terror, and From Land to Lands, from Eden to the Renewed Earth: A Christ-Centred Biblical Theology of the Promised Land by Munther Isaac for an exhaustive theology of land.

• Grieving, Brooding, and Transforming: The Spirit, the Bible, and Gender ed. by Cheryl Bridges Johns and Lisa Stephenson
• The Land: Place as Gift, Promise, and Challenge in Biblical Faith by Walter Brueggemann
• Wisdom Intoned: A Reappraisal of the Genre ‘Wisdom Psalms’ by Simon Chi-Chung Cheung
• Psalms 1–2: Gateway to the Psalter by Robert L. Cole
• The Identity of the Individual in the Psalms by Steven J.L. Croft
• Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible by Ellen F. Davis
• The Pentecostal Gender Paradox: Eschatology and the Search for Equality by Joseph Lee Dutko
• Anglicans and Pentecostals in Dialogue ed. by David Hilborn and Simo Frestadius
• From Land to Lands, from Eden to the Renewed Earth: A Christ-Centred Biblical Theology of the Promised Land by Munther Isaac
• Psalms in an Age of Distraction: Experiencing the Restorative Power of Biblical Poetry by Ethan C. Jones
• Bound for the Promised Land: The Land Promise in God’s Redemptive Plan by Oren Martin
• Reading the Psalms Again for the First Time: A Spirituality for Justice-Seekers and Peacemakers by J. Clinton McCann, Jr.
• Reconciling Justice: “Concepts of Justice in the Multireligious Context of Palestine/Israel” by Salim J. Munayer
• I was a Stranger and You Took Me In: Pentecostal Responses to the Refugee Crisis ed. by Lois E. Olena
• The Arrival of the King: The Shape and Story of Psalms 15–24 by Carissa Quinn
• In the Days of Caesar: Pentecostalism and Political Theology by Amos Yong

CRAFT:

Books in this category help me with my teaching and writing.

The Highlight: Wrestling with Job: Defiant Faith in the Face of Suffering. Bill Kynes and Will Kynes (Father and Son) have combined pastoral reflections and scholarly surveys in this accessible treatment of Job.

Runners-Up: The Imago Dei: Humanity Made in the Image of God by Lucy Peppiatt, a helpful survey of most proposals, and Reading the Bible Latinamente: Latino/a Interpretation for the Life of the Church by Ruth Padilla DeBorst, M. Daniel Carroll R., and Miguel G. Echevarria, which offers some enjoyable OT and NT readings.

• Listening to Scripture: An Introduction to Interpreting the Bible by Craig G. Bartholomew
• Reading the Bible Latinamente: Latino/a Interpretation for the Life of the Church by Ruth Padilla DeBorst, M. Daniel Carroll R., and Miguel G. Echevarria
• Being God’s Image: Why Creation Still Matters by Carmen Joy Imes
• Wrestling with Job: Defiant Faith in the Face of Suffering by Bill Kynes and Will Kynes
• The Imago Dei: Humanity Made in the Image of God by Lucy Peppiatt
• Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes: Patronage Honor, and Shame in the Biblical World by E. Randolph Richards and Richard James
• Hear Ye the Word of the Lord: What We Miss If We Only Read the Bible by D. Brent Sandy
• The End of Wisdom: A Reappraisal of the Historical and Canonical Function of Ecclesiastes by Martin A. Shields
• The Lost World of the Torah: Law as Covenant and Wisdom in Ancient Context by John H. Walton

EXPERIENCE:

Books in this category reflect on peoples lives and experiences as well as some historical academic work.

The Highlight: Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community by Bonnie Kristian should be required reading for Christians before they are allowed to go on the internet.

Runners-Up: The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark A. Noll, which remains valuable despite its age, and The Gospel According to Eve: A History of Women’s Interpretation by Amanda W. Benckhuysen, for an interesting history of interpretation of Genesis 1–3.

• The Gospel According to Eve: A History of Women’s Interpretation by Amanda W. Benckhuysen
• The Preacher’s Wife: The Precarious Power of Evangelical Women Celebrities by Kate Bowler
• Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community by Bonnie Kristian
• The Preacher King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Word that Moved America by Richard Lischer
• The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark A. Noll
• A Promised Land by Barack Obama
• God Forgive Us for Being Women: Rhetoric, Theology, and the Pentecostal Tradition by Joy E.A. Qualls

LITERATURE:

Books in this category include works of fiction, collections of poetry, and plays.

The Highlight: Small Things Like These by Claire Keagan, for a simple, beautiful, and existential novel which I will definitely be re-reading sometime in the future.

Runners-Up: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, which is easily by favourite thing from Hemingway, and Septology by Jon Fosse if you are brave enough to tackle this 667 page novel with no periods.

• Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
• Remembering by Wendell Berry
• The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
• Godric by Fredrick Büchner
• I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
• The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
• Septology by Jon Fosse
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• Small Things Like These by Claire Keagan
• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• The Lightning Bottles by Marissa Stapley

PROCESS:

Books in this catch-all category focus on personal growth and development.

The Highlight: Households of Faith: Practicing Family in the Kingdom of God by Emily Hunter McGowin is a wonderful corrective to some harmful parenting books from Christian writers, focussing on the function of the family from a biblical and kingdom-minded view.

Runners-Up: Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies by N.T. Wright and Michael F. Bird for many accessible insights into a Christian political theology, and The Magnificent Defeat by Frederick Buechner for a collection of truly refreshing sermons.

• Romans: Greek-English Interlinear, Paraphrase, Study Notes by Michael F. Bird
• Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies by N.T. Wright and Michael F. Bird
• The Magnificent Defeat by Frederick Buechner
• The Night Is Normal: A Guide Through Spiritual Pain by Alicia Britt Chole
• Awaken Wonder: Daily Devotions for Advent by Darrell Johnson
• Households of Faith: Practicing Family in the Kingdom of God by Emily Hunter McGowin
• Unsettling Worship: Reforming Liturgy for Rights Relations with Indigenous Communities by Sarah Travis
• Advent: The Season of Hope by Tish Harrison Warren
• The Day the Revolution Began: Rethinking the Meaning of Jesus’ Crucifixion by N.T. Wright

Past reading lists:
2024 Reading
2023 Reading
2022 Reading
2021 Reading
2020 Reading
2019 Reading
2018 Reading
2017 Reading
2016 Reading
2015 Reading