In his opening to the book, An Experiment in Criticism, C.S. Lewis contrasts two groups of readers: the majority and the literary. The majority treat reading as an afterthought. It may be something they do to kill some time, but it is something “they turn to as a last resort.”1 Even “when they have finished the story or the novel, nothing much, or nothing at all, seems to have happened to them.” The literature they engage with is really entertainment rather than anything substantive or formative.
The second group of literary people are prone to many faults (as Lewis discusses further in the book), but for this group, books are essential. If denied the silence and leisure to read “even for a few days they feel impoverished.” For the literary, books are a “main ingredient in our well-being.” Something which the former groups treat as only “marginal.”
There was definitely a time in my life when (for the most part) I fell into the majority category. To a large degree, the majority of my life so far would be classified in that category. Things started to change in 2018 when reading both fiction and non-fiction became a much different type of thing for me than it was in the past. And almost seven years later, I’ve got my sixth list of my Top-5 non-fiction books of the year. As always, this list does not necessarily reflect the overall merits of the book, but my overall experience with reading them.
5. Jesus Wins: The Good News of the End Times by Dayton Hartman
This wonderful little book is a perfect place to start researching different views on the end times. And I’m not exaggerating about it being little. It could easily be read in one sitting or two by even a novice reader. This, of course, is a strength as it is immensely approachable. That said, it is still well written with poignant conclusions and observations such as, “The purpose of our eschatology shouldn’t be voyeuristic fascination with destruction, but rather hopeful anticipation of restoration.”2 Jesus Wins can function as a perfect framework for thinking through or rethinking one’s eschatological views.
4. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
This is my second experience with reading Haidt, and once more he offers a compelling argument. We all know that smartphones are changing us, but as Haidt makes clear, we aren’t sizing up the risks appropriately, especially as it relates to children. Without being anti-tech, The Anxious Generation highlights the alarming mental and societal health consequences related to children, smartphone usage, and social media. This is an important conversation and all readers can benefit from the cautions given about the overuse and dependence we have on our technology, as well as Haidt’s exhortations to live in the present moment and embrace our embodied experiences.
3. The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton
Chesterton’s book Orthodoxy is one of my top reads ever. The Everlasting Man has been on my list for a while, and it did not disappoint. And how could it, when C.S. Lewis stated: “The contemporary book that has helped me the most is Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man.”3 Although I personally couldn’t say it is on the exact same level as Orthodoxy, it is well-worth engaging with this brilliant mind and has profound insights on diverse topics such as materialism, paganism, pluralism, the subjective side of history, and, of course, Jesus Christ. Chesterton’s early discussion on cave-men and our highly speculative interpretation of them was enlightening.
2. The Air We Breathe: How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality by Glen Scrivener
Until I took an online cohort where Glen Scrivener was a speaker, I had almost no familiarity with him. I’d maybe read an article or two, but I couldn’t have put the name to any of the ideas. That said, I found his lecture to be one of the best in the cohort, which drew my interest to this book. Scrivener does an excellent job of providing an overview of how many of our favorite modern values, like freedom, kindness, progress, and equality are utterly dependent on the Christian worldview working its way through our world’s history. His writing style and arguments are crisp and smooth, making it the type of book that is difficult to put down and easy to consume.
- What It Means to Be Protestant: The Case for an Always Reforming Church by Gavin Ortlund
As anyone familiar with this blog will know, I’m a bit of a Gavin Ortlund fan. Despite the unwarranted criticism he has received this year, Gavin just keeps doing his thing. What It Means to Be Protestant won Christianity Today’s book of the year, and for good reason. There is popular appeal and pull within younger Protestant circles toward the rich heritage of both Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. A handful of years ago, I felt this pull myself. That said, the arguments within this book robustly (and better) defend my own views as to why I’m still Protestant. As is always the case with Ortlund, he is both gracious and irenic, while still holding firmly to his convictions, and compellingly so. For any Protestant feeling the attraction toward a different tradition, this is an approachable book that is worth a read before making the leap.
Happy New Year! Now go pick up a book and read it well!
Previous Years:
Notes:
- All Lewis quotes are from: C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 2-3
- Dayton Hartman, Jesus Wins: The Good News of the End Times (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2019), 12
- C.S. Lewis, “Cross-Examination” in God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics (1970; repr., Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014), 288
Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash
Moore Thinking 
Interesting post! As we approach the New Year I hope to read The Air We Breathe: How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality, by Glen Scrivener. Thank you for your recommendations!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You won’t be disappointed!
LikeLike