My Favorite Books, Podcasts, and More from an Unexpected 2021
Last New Year’s Eve we anticipated relief after ten months of unrelenting bad news. The vaccine was coming. Schools were reopening. Life would get back to normal.
Well, not so much.
The year 2021 failed to live up to the expectations we foisted upon it. If last year we were foolish for thinking a change of the calendar was all we needed to make things better, a different temptation confronts us this year.
The temptation to cynicism.
Cynicism says, “We’ve been here before, nothing will change, so why even try?” It treats hope as a delusion and ultimately declares life meaningless.
For the professing Christian cynicism wears the garb of spirituality: “this life doesn’t matter, I’m living for the next.” But under those impressive robes are the old and tattered garments of gnosticism, the ancient idea that the material world is evil and that good exists only in the realm of the mind, of the spirit.
Gnosticism is not Christianity.
Genesis 1 could not be more clear: the material world is good, good, good, good, good, very good. And Revelation 21–22 show that at the end of all things we will exist forever with the Lord … in a physical world.
So much for eternally disembodied spirits.
This world matters and this life matters.
Yes, a new world and a new life are coming, for which we long. But the eternal Son of God took a human body in this world, during this life, a body he will animate forever.
We have great cause for hope—not in the change of a calendar, but in the incarnation of Jesus.
He will make all things new.
This year I altered my reading plan in a few significant ways.
For one I went back to my roots and read some serious theology. This year marked the first time in a long time that I read a systematic theology from cover to cover.
It was glorious!
I also decided to read more female authors and writers of color. My spiritual and theological formation largely reflect majority culture evangelical voices in twentieth and twenty-first century America. In order better to understand God, his work in the world, and his wildly diverse people I broadened the range of authors I read, as you’ll see in the lists below.
And I believe I am much the better for it.
Finally, please note that many of the links to books below will take you to pages connected to the Amazon affiliate program. Participating in this program in no way influenced my recommendations.
So without further ado, here’s my Best of 2021 list.
Biographies and memoirs
3. A. Scott Berg, Wilson
Great overview of a controversial figure from the early 20th century, Woodrow Wilson.
Perhaps inevitably Berg too eagerly defends Wilson’s flaws. (After all he set out to write a biography of Wilson, it’s reasonable to conclude that he chose someone he likes.)
Though I disagreed with some of Berg’s observations, I found Wilson to be accessible and surprisingly applicable to our own day.
2. Barack Obama, A Promised Land
This is the first volume of Obama’s presidential memoir, a genre I always find interesting.
The text plods along in places, but there is a lot to his story that was new to me. A Promised Land concludes with the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011, so the forthcoming volume has much to cover.
1. Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–63 and Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963–65
I managed to read two of the three books in Branch’s trilogy covering the King years.
An amazing story, told exceptionally well. Even if you lived through the civil rights movement, I highly recommend your reading these books.
Fiction
3. Marissa Meyer, Cress (book 3 of The Lunar Chronicles)
I almost finished all four books in the series this year. (There are two other side stories that complement the arc of the four main books.) Though I still have to finish Winter, my favorite so far has been Cress.
Meyer presents a fresh take on some classic fairy tales, but set in a futuristic dystopian universe. A great series. I’m glad my family encouraged me to read it.
2. Louise Penny, All the Devils Are Here
For the past three years or so Louise Penny has been my go-to vacation read.
Her tales of Quebecois Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, his family, his department, and his village are intricate, riveting, and beautiful. This book was my favorite of the two I read this year.
I still need to go back and start at the beginning of the series, much less read the two she published this year, one co-authored with Hillary Clinton.
1. Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun
My goodness. What a story.
Ishiguro transports us into the future and confronts us with the question of what it means to be human. I want to read this again because I am sure there are depths of meaning I have yet to discover.
Beautiful.
Theology
All three books in this category deserve to be #1.
3. Allen Dwight Callahan, The Talking Book: African Americans and the Bible
Callahan’s exquisitely researched and documented account of African American experience with the Bible answered so many questions I had about the Black church. It’s a great primer to understand how MLK’s famous indictment (“the most segregated hour in America is 11 o’clock on Sundays”) came about.
2. James Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree
As you might guess from the title,The Cross and the Lynching Tree is a sobering read. One of the great benefits of this book is its bold retelling of a story often buried in American history—the cruelty, torture, and injustice of lynching.
Cone weaves the story of the Black church with the horrific fate of so many Black men, women, and children and insightfully identifies connections between the cross of Jesus and the lynching tree.
You might not agree with all of his theological conclusions about the meaning of the crucifixion. I didn’t. But it is well worth your time to listen to this important voice.
If you know who Rosa Parks is but don’t know who Emmett Till is, you need to read this book.
1. Katherine Sonderegger, Systematic Theology: The Doctrine of God (volume 1)
In a word this book is a prayer.
Sonderegger mediates on the meaning of God’s oneness, his omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence, and his love, interacting frequently with Aquinas and Barth, as well as Augustine, Calvin, Hodge, and more.
I regularly found myself working hard through four or five pages, trying to follow the argument. And when she came to her conclusion, I would just sit back and say, “Wow. What a God.”
I’m looking forward to reading volume 2 in 2022.
Church history
3. Thomas Asbridge, The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land
An extensive history that attempts to tell the story of the Crusades from all perspectives—Jewish, Christian, and Muslim.
I found it a helpful prism through which to understand the later Middle Ages, a period well known for Richard the Lionhearted, Francis of Assisi, the Fourth Lateran Council, the aforementioned Thomas Aquinas, and a whole lot of popes.
2. Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation
No doubt you’ve heard of this one! Jesus and John Wayne seems to be an everyday topic on my Twitter feed, from admirers and detractors.
I’ve often heard that the reason evangelicalism grew post-WWII while mainline churches shrank is that the former believed the gospel while the latter departed from it. That may be true, but Du Mez offers a different hypothesis: that the rapid growth of the evangelical church stems from its reliance on suburbanization, American patriotism, and a muscular kind of masculinity.
You might not agree—I think she’s on to something—but her work merits your attention.
1. Allen Dwight Callahan, The Talking Book: African Americans and the Bible
See above.
Personal growth
3. Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile, The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery
A good book and a helpful introduction to the enneagram.
2. Ed Catmull, Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
The story of Pixar, with management lessons sprinkled in along the way.
1. Madeleine L’Engle, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
How did I not know about this book? What a treasure. Definitely worth a reread, though next time I hope to go through it with my kids.
For the soul
3. St. Augustine’s Prayer Book
I used its Morning Office for prayer almost every day, and its Evening Office fairly often. Both forms are shorter than the ones presented in the Book of Common Prayer. And the offices in St. Augustine’s Prayer Book offer a little more space for freeform prayer—directed yet open-ended. I found it really helpful this year.
2. Cranmer’s Psalms plan (free pdf)
Cranmer created a plan that takes you through all 150 psalms in thirty days.
No, I did not read through the Psalms 12 times this year. But most mornings and many evenings I found benefit from It’s a great way to learn how to pray, no matter how long you’ve been a Christian. And it’s a great way to listen to Jesus pray, since he prayed these psalms all his earthly life.
1. Fleming Rutledge, And God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament
Just a fabulous collection of sermons on the Old Testament. Rutledge pastored here in NYC back in the 80s and 90s and the messages are just as relevant now as they were then.
A fabulous devotional read.
Podcasts
5. Jerry Falwell Jr. and Liberty University (season 3 of Gangster Capitalism)
If you think Jesus and John Wayne drastically overstates the thirst for political power within conservative evangelicalism, this podcast should give you pause.
I’m grateful for the women who bravely told their stories and pray for justice on their behalf.
Sadly, their mistreatment is just one part of a very dysfunctional situation.
4. How to Reach the West Again
Last year Tim Keller released a short, free ebook under this title. This year City to City released a podcast based on the book that brings in ministry leaders around the globe to talk about Tim’s ideas applied to real-world contexts.
Each episode begins with Tim reading part of his book. Then Brandon O’Brien interviews two global leaders on that topic. It’s a thought-provoking way of engaging with lots of challenging subjects.
(Disclaimer: I work for CTC, the publisher of this podcast.)
I have three podcasts I listen to as soon as new episodes drop. This is the first.
My friend Ben DeHart and his friend Nick Comiskey began this podcast during the pandemic to help “prep you for praise.”
Season 1 began with Advent last year, and each episode covered the collect of the week from the Book of Common Prayer. Now they’re in season 2 and they’re discussing the psalm appointed for each Sunday through the church year.
It’s fun, engaging, and enriching.
2. The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill
I don’t even know what to say about this one. Gripping, infuriating, illuminating, disturbing, sad.
I have a few issues with how the story was told, nevertheless I am grateful that so many Mars Hill survivors had an opportunity to tell their story. We have much to learn.
No doubt. This is my #1 podcast of the year. The ladies are the queens of the podcasting world. Rightly so.
Single podcast episodes
5. Chloe Edmondson, “Happy Advent, You Brood of Vipers” on Calvary-St. George’s
Nine amazing minutes—that’s it!—reflecting on John the Baptist’s exhortations to repentance and demonstrating how “judgment paves the path to grace.” Beautiful gospel hope.
4. Ian Morgan Cron, “Healing from Past Sufferings, featuring Dan Allendar” on Typology
A fascinating interview between an enneagram expert and a narrative psychologist. Both bring their own strengths—and their unique perspectives, which do not entirely align—to the difficult work of healing from past suffering. Insightful.
3. Andrew Sullivan, “Woodward & Costa On The Peril Of Trump” and “Cornel West On God And The Great Thinkers” on The Dishcast
So I picked two Dishcast episodes because I couldn’t pick one over the other.
Sullivan is an unusual conservative voice—a gay Irish Catholic who rose to prominence as a writer for the liberal New York magazine.
His interview with Woodward and Costa covers the end of Trump’s presidency, including the insurrection at the Capitol. His conversation with theologian Cornel West was every bit as fascinating—two Christians with different backgrounds, theologies, and politics sharing their stories.
Both episodes are worth your time.
2. Steve Cuss and Jim Herrington, “Moving Past Childhood Vows” on Capable Life
I’m cheating here: this isn’t exactly a podcast. It was a masterclass that is still available for members of Capable Life.
Their conversation centers on promises we made to ourselves as children when we found ourselves disappointed, ashamed, embarrassed, or angry. As we were young these promises were critical to our survival. But if we don’t address them when we grow up, it will hinder our growth in maturity.
A fabulous conversation.
1. Mike Cosper, “The Things We Do To Women” on The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill
This one made me angry. Still does.
TV shows
5. Midnight Mass (Netflix)
Fascinating concept, held my interest for much of the season, but for me it came apart at the end. Still really good.
4. Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Fun to see Steve Martin and Martin Short on camera with Selena Gomez. Even more so to see the show set in a building my family knows well. My enjoyment waned as the season neared the end, and I found the resolution unbelievable and unsatisfying. Maybe season 2 will change my opinion. A fun show that I hope will improve.
3. The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+)
So many jaw-dropping moments in this documentary: Paul McCartney messing around until he finds the iconic chorus of “Get Back,” Billy Preston walking in because he happened to be in town but winding up recording with The Beatles, George Harrison walking out.
I must admit, I was skeptical when this came out, but I really enjoyed it.
2. Squid Game (Netflix)
Yes, there is a lot of blood. A lot. And there’s a scene in episode 4 I skipped.
Why then is it my #2 for the year? Because of its stark social commentary.
More than anything I’ve watched in a long time, Squid Game explores the plight of the working class and what can happen when the wealthy get bored. It’s hard to watch, but my revulsion over the dramatized gore exposed my relative indifference to the real-life violence so many unjustly endure. Powerful.
1. Ted Lasso (AppleTV+)
Sequels rarely rise to the level of their originals. But Season 2 of Ted Lesson was every bit as good as season 1, maybe even better.
For a gospel-oriented look at both seasons, check out this post from Mockingbird.
Movies
Yeah, you don’t want my movie recommendations. I don’t watch enough to have a good opinion.
But go see “West Side Story.” It’s fantastic.
Books I go back to yearly
- Favorite Harry Potter book I read this year: Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
Just brilliant.
- This year’s Bible translation: the New Living Translation
I had consulted but not fully read the NLT before 2021. It was a pure delight.
The prose is simpler than the NIV but the translators took great care to render the text faithfully in English.
Of course I had a few issues here and there—after all no translation is perfect. (Neither am I!) Overall it’s great.
The NLT is an excellent alternative that I think you’ll enjoy.
What were your favorites?
Drop them in the comments below, or send me an email. Just complete the form on the right to get my address.
Happy New Year!