After some years of aiming for different goals, I started 2023’s reading with some more deliberate and intentional things that I was aiming for:
- Read 150 books. // Done, with room to spare
- At least 20% by non-white authors. // Missed. 23 books were either by or edited/co-authored by non-white authors. 13.14% = requires intentional improvement.
- At least 30% by female authors. // Missed. 36 books were either by or edited/co-authored by women. 20.57% = also requires intentional improvement.
- Write and publish, on blog or elsewhere, 50 reviews, of which at least 25 should be of books not written by white men like me. // Done. 51 reviews, and matched the 25 goal.
- Read more than 50,000 pages.// Done. At the time of writing, Goodreads tells me I’ve read 66,217 pages, which doesn’t include a couple of books below that aren’t on that site (though is probably counterbalanced by the fact I tend to not read indices, and skim bibliographies, which is also counteracted by the unnumbered/roman numbered pages at the front of lots of books)
I’ll have another blog post digging in to that a bit more, and thinking about what I’m reading or planning on reading in 2024. For now, though, in rough order of reading them from January to December, here is the full list of what I read in 2023. You might also enjoy my post about the 20 best commentaries I read, or my Top Ten Books of 2023 [both not live as at 21/12/23].
Below is a sentence or two about each book, a link to the review where I’ve written one, and a star rating out of five.
1. First finish for 2023 was a fiction book, Dan Abnett’s Horus Rising – first in an enormous series. Probably the 4th time I’ve read it and it still gets me. Great book. 5/5
2. First non-fiction finish was a niche but enjoyable history of the first 100 years of the Society for Old Testament Study. Some fascinating nuggets. 4/5 (would have liked more reflection on ideological stuff) Read my review of SOTS at 100, edited by John Derick here.
3. Wendell Berry’s What Are People For? Well this was rather marvellous. Not perfect but some gems to revisit, some reminders, some provocations. More Wendell Berry for me in the future I think. 4/5
4. I. H. Marshall’s NIGTC on Luke’s Gospel, which I started in 2022. Marshall on clear and fine form. Showing its age (older than me!) but still fresh at times and certainly thorough. A model of scholarly calm writing. 4/5
5. Carl F. Henry, God, Revelation and Authority Volume VI: God who stands and stays. The last third a hangover form ‘22 – this final volume has been the best I think. Wide ranging and robust. Dated but also prophetic and prescient. Glad that Crossway is keeping it available and in print. 5/5
6. I enjoyed rereading for work purposes a recent NSBT volume, Biblical Theology According to the Apostles, by Chris Bruno, Jared Compton and Kevin McFadden. Published in 2020, I found it still persuasive, and perhaps an NSBT most worth preachers investing in and reflecting on. 5/5
7. Ben Counter’s Galaxy in Flames in the aforementioned Horus Heresy series. Reread and enjoyed again. A great yarn. 5/5
8. John Goldingay’s Genesis was my first experience of Baker’s Exegetical COmmentary on the Old Testament, having been a big fan of the NT series. Goldingay is good value, making a long (725pp plus almost 100 back matter) single volume commentary on Genesis both readable and engaging. Idiosyncratic but illuminating. Occasionally theologically frustrating. Nicely produced by Baker, you can read my review here. 4/5
9. Susan Campbell’s Dating Jesus. A Christ-haunted, beautifully written, painful memoir. Oh, what pain the church can cause! Sobering, entertaining, and fascinating. Food for thought as a father of girls. 4/5
10. Christopher Landau’s Loving Disagreement. I have mixed views about it – see my review in Christianity Magazine! Calm, crisp writing though. 3/5
11. Kirsten Page’s The Wonders of Creation. A brilliant but infuriating book. Too short. Too close to being transcripts. Too many glimpses of what could have been. If it had just been a bit more ‘booked’ then it could have been perfect. Great content and some wonderful turns of phrase. I thought Emily Mcgowin’s response was 5/5, but overall the book is a 4/5 for me. Read my review here.
12 + 15***. Walter T. Wilson’s two volume commentary on Matthew, in the Eerdmans Critical Commentary series. My first experience of this series. Format clear and consistent. Quite a lot of Q! Wilson occasionally dropping some truth bombs, but also often asserting with minimal evidence. Overall a solid commentary with a lot of application for preachers and discipleship. Critical stuff seems largely secondary/footnotes. Again a lovely physical book. You can read more thoughts in my review of both volumes. 4/5
13. Another Horus Heresy novel, Galaxy in Flames captures the scale of two things well – a galaxy at war and the human dynamics of betrayal. 4/5
14. Daniel J. Harrington’s The Gospel of Matthew in the Sacra Pagina series. An interesting commentary experience. Pub. 1991, but updated 2007. Fine layout apart from slightly annoying bullet point notes on text. Mostly the Roman Catholic interpretative angle doesn’t get in the way – this evangelical reader found the!Q stuff more irritating. 4/5
16. James Swallow, The Flight of the Eisenstein. Another Horus Heresy finish. Probably my favorite of this part of the series – epic scale, great characters, excellent writing that really captures the tension and other emotions. 5/5
17 + 22. Eugene Carpenter’s two volume commentary on Exodus, in the Lexham Press ‘Evangelical Exegetical Commentary’ series. Impressive in it’s detail. I appreciated the biblical-theological and devotional-application comments. Slightly clunky layout and huge footnotes! Technical but useful. I found Carpenter’s second volume better than the first – tighter writing, and good commentary on ch. 35-40 in particular. Still not convinced by EEC format – will try an NT book. But lots of detail esp. on language issues. 4/5
18. Adele Berlin, Poetics and Biblical Interpretation. Lots of good stuff in this little older book. Helpful on Ruth and some quotes/points will make their way into advice to authors for sure. Annoying to have endnotes but otherwise a pleasure to read. 4/5
19. Race for Justice, edited by Richard Reddie. An informative and eye-opening book. Wanted a concluding chapter and more time on Wales/Scotland/Ireland. Mixed bag of essays – I wrote a short review here. 3/5
20. Graham McNeill, Fulgrim. A fiction finish. One of the characterization high points of Horus Heresy. Not just the titular character but various others. Superb insight into human flaws and great action. It’s excellent. 5/5
21. Christopher J. H. Wright’s Exodus in the fairly new Story of God commentary series from Zondervan. Wright writes brilliantly and there are some gems here. I have mixed views on the StoG format – it works but occasionally feels forced. Interested to see it with another genre of biblical book. A good commentary on Exodus – though my pick remains Desi’s AOTC. 4/5
23. A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the Old Testament, edited by Miles V. Van Pelt. From a self aware, winsome and helpful Reformed perspective, this is a superb resource from Crossway. A vital resource for preachers in my opinion – it’ll go on the ‘editing commentary’ shelf right next to my desk. You can read my short review of it here. 5/5
24. Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive. First library book of the year. It’s really rather brilliant, in its way. A helpful prompt to run more and keep reading. Anything. Honest, painful, purposeful writing. 5/5
25. R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark, in the NIGTC. A good book to finish on a Sunday before church! Marks Gospel is punchy and fascinating – I’d not gone through it with a big commentary before and it was a delight. France still holds up. As ever a lovely physical book from Eerdmans. 5/5
26. Mitchel Scanlon, Descent of Angels, in the Horus Heresy series is a cracker. Great action, backstory and account of a world changing. 5/5
27. Nobuyoshi Kiuchi’s Apollos Old Testament Commentary on Leviticus is excellent – in my not QUITE as readable as Wenham’s classic NICOT, BUT quirky take on holiness makes sense of Lev. and his NT/BibTheo work is excellent. A superb commentary from – perhaps overlooked but worth a read (and 30 years more recent than Wenham) 5/5
28. A Biblical-Theology Introduction to the New Testament, edited by Michael J. Kruger. Another gem from Crossway. Another solid building block for a preachers library and a solid example of how edited collections and the reformed tradition are brilliant. Another short review here. 5/5
29. Dan AbneTt, Legion. A Horus Heresy finish that has improved with re-reading. Serpentine and winding, it works well and introduces new characters brilliantly. At its heart this is a book about relationships, betrayal and loyalty – but not always clearly. 5/5
30. David Lyle Jeffrey, Luke in the Brazos Theological Commentary. A perfectly readable but unexciting commentary – however some moments were great and Jeffrey occasionally waxes lyrical in ways that inspired my devotional reading. That’s why it’s 4 stars not 3. 4/5
31. Michele Saracino, Christian Anthropology. A rather strange book. Caught between a devotional and academic style, and genuinely bizarre at times. Some nuggets amongst the dross, but not strong overall imo. 3/5
32. Gordon Wenham’s Numbers in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary. This mornings devotional finish is a gem. It’s a classic for good reason – extraordinarily readable whilst doing a lot, including some quite causal but firm source criticism. 5/5
33. John G. Gager, Reinventing Paul. Gager writes well – though annoying to have endnotes not footnotes – and is provocative. Apparently a classic in some schools of thought – I can see way and it had me going back to the text. I need to read more about Paul next year! 4/5
34. Ben Counter, Battle for the Abyss. Another of my favorite HH books. Great action at micro and macro levels, superb betrayal and relational dynamics – and it’s got spaceships. 5/5
35. The Arts as Witness in Multifaith Contexts, edited by Roberta R. King and William A. Dryness. Mixed bag – as can be the case with edited collections. Some strong essays, some too descriptive to be much more use than as a historical record imo. Nicely produced by IVP-USA – good spread of cultures and images. Will be of more interest to others I imagine. Short review here. 3/5
36. Anna Reid, Borderland: A Journey through the history of Ukraine. This has been a fascinating read. An exemplar of publishing – first in the 90s, updated mid 2010s, I picked up a battered paperback in the library. Gripping story, writing and deeply haunting reading it in February 2023, as Russia’s invasion continued. 5/5
37. Graham McNeill, Mechanicum. Re-read McNeill’s ‘Mechanicum’ from the Horus Heresy and found it improved for me – more appreciative of the sub-plots and the way characters develop. Also TITAN* BATTLES. 5/5 (*for the uninitiated titans are enormous robots. So pretty cool if, like me, you are basically 12 inside).
38. Lore Ferguson Wilbert, A Curious Faith. A really rather nicely written book, with a great core message, personable personal narrative, and a haunting familiarity with pain. Some quibbles, but overall recommended. I reviewed it for Premier Christianity. 4/5
39. Edward W. Klink III, John, in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. A really good commentary on John, and for a longer book the ZECNT format works well. Definitely one to keep close by and pretty laser-focused on exegesis and application/useful theology. Nicely produced by Zondervan in a physical format that grew on me. In my review I revisited it and was even more impressed. 5/5
40. Edward J. Woods, Deuteronomy, in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary. Good for being concise, clear and calm. Leans a lot on McConville’s AOTC – but is more accessible overall. A good intermediate commentary with some real nuggets. 4/5
41. Julia Boyd & Angelika Patel, A Village in the Third Reich. This has been a sobering, fascinating and deeply informative read. Highly recommended. Will go on to read ‘travellers’ by the same author, I think. 5/5
42. Mike Lee, Fallen Angels. Another Horus Heresy finish. Great example of two threads related in one narrative. 5/5
43. L. Scott Kellum’s Acts in the Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament, from B&H Academic. The EGGNT looks to be a really helpful tool for keeping gk. going, and Kellum’s volume is also a helpful commentary and library builder/research tool. I reviewed it here. 5/5
44. Ajith Fernando’s Deuteronomy in Crossway’s Preach the Word series. Underwhelmed by this – nicely produced and some good writing, but also bloated (700 pages!) and quite a lot of assertion without reason. Not quite sure who it’s for or whether I’ll keep it or give it to someone else. Interested in alternate opinions too, so let me know in the comments if I’ve got this wrong! 3/5
45. David F. Firth, Joshua, in Lexham’s Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary. Absolute gold. A great commentary, and an excellent book. Right, focused, practical and technical. I was a Firth fan before but he’s opened up Joshua for me in a way I hadn’t appreciated before. Superb publishing from Lexham. Read my review for more about why it is so good. 5/5
46. Graham McNeill, A Thousand Sons. Finished this entry in the Horus Heresy for the first time on the third attempt – well worth persevering. Great action and lore, some excellent characters and good writing that makes you empathize with the antihero. 4/5
47. Richard Lints, Uncommon Unity. An interesting book from Lexham Press. Not what I expected at all – but has left me thinking. Great to see Lints being theological for a variety of topics (I loved and reviewed his NSBT back in 2014). Very American centric. 4/5
48. David Brown, Reconnect Your Church. Really practical, readable and clear – I think this would be a good read for most leaders/teams post-Pandemic, as well asl for revitalization projects. 5/5 – and I wasn’t necessarily expecting that for a book I was only aware of from working for the publisher!
49. Thomas R. Schreiner, Romans (2nd. Edition), in Baker’s Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. A fine commentary on Romans, nicely produced by Baker Academic, Schreiner seems to me fair in his approach to the text, and this volume balances readability and depth well. Not 100% convinced by some formatting decisions either, but a good resource. 4/5
50. Natalie Brand, Priscilla, Where are you?. A fine little volume from Union Publishing. Well worth picking up for the encouragement and vision of theology and joy that Brand shares. Not just for women! 4.5/5
51. Laura A. Smit and Stephen E. Fowl, Judges and Ruth in the Brazos Theological Commentary. A mixed bag. Smit on judges is solid and careful – 4/5. Fowl on Ruth is odd – more concerned with defending the Theological Interpretation of Scripture/the idea of the BTC than doing the job! 2/5 Overall 3/5 which is annoying as Smit’s work is stronger. The challenge of paired volumes! You can read my review here.
52. Anthony Thiselton, 1 Corinthians: A Shorter Exegetical and Pastoral Commentary. This book is a gem. It’s like sitting in a room with Thiselton. His bigger (magisterial) NIGTC is in the background, and it’s the kind of commentary one thinks Paul would appreciate. An excellent example of the fruits of scholarship being helpfully distilled and disemminated. 5/5
53. Nijay K. Gupta, Tell Her Story. A very readable and calm little book on a big topic from Gupta. Unlikely to convince hard complementarians, a useful call to examine the text, and a good counterpart to some other books. Will be one I recommend as an aspect of a whole-Bible egalitarian approach. 4/5
54. David G. Firth, 1&2 Samuel, Apollos Old Testament Commentary. This is a fine and very readable commentary on 1&2 Samuel. Firth is on solid form, writing well and with the depth I’d expect from the AOTC. One I’ll refer back to – particularly the parts I disagreed with! 4.5/5
55. John Calvin and Evangelical Theology, edited by Sung Wook Chung. This has been an enjoyable read – with a few essays sparking ideas and further avenues for my own thinking. A mostly very good edited collection – good mix of scholars and also classic/newer topics. 4/5 You can read a short review here.
56. George H. Guthrie, 2 Corinthians in the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. BECNT is generally good format but this example felt a little long-winded. Slightly uneven level (sometimes very technical, sometimes less so) stops it being five stars. That said, Guthrie showed me 2 Corinthians afresh and I’m more excited about the epistle now! 4/5
57. Rose George, The Big Necessity. I thoroughly enjoyed George’s book on shipping. This, on sanitation and human waste was similarly engrossing. Well written, sobering in terms of the justice issue, and eye-opening-ly human. 5/5
58. Timothy S. Laniak, Shepherds After My Own Heart. This IS a gem. Traces the theme through the texts and let’s the text dictate what it teaches. This is biblical theology for the church. Excellent. No wonder it’s a bestselling classic for Apollos in the NSBT series. 5/5 Doubly poignant to read a copy belonging to a late friend who was a wonderful pastor.
59. Lissa M. Wray Beal, 1&2 Kings, Apollos Old Testament Commentary. Wray Beal’s AOTC on 1&2 Kings is excellent. Published well before I worked at IVP, so I reviewed it here and hope that review will persuade some folk to read it! 5/5
60. N. T. Wright, Galatians, Commentaries for Christian Formation. A genuinely entertaining read. It’s definitely Wright on Galatians – the intro nearly put me off – but there are some gems in a very readable and formation-focused commentary. Interesting new series from Eerdmans, I plan on reading Goldingay’s contribution on Proverbs in the New Year – and am intrigued to see what’s next. 4.5/5 You can read my review here.
61. Jill Duff, Lighting the Beacons. An exhilarating, encouraging and exhorting book from one of the best Bishops in the current Church of England. Really good little book – provocative and wise and sensitive and bold. One to revisit. 5/5
62. Roddy Braun, 1 Chronicles, Word Biblical Commentary. Helped me to appreciate 1 Chronicles afresh – and the clunky WBC format actually helps with a book like that that has so many changes, lists and styles. Readable within its limits, now a little dated (1986). 4/5 I wrote a review of it here.
63. Phil Moore, Straight to the Heart of 1&2 Chronicles. I’m appreciate of these little STTH volumes alongside more trad commentaries. Opens up 1+2 Chron well, without getting lost in woods. A great devotional read. Solid work. 4/5
64. Peter J. Leithart, 1&2 Chronicles, Brazos Theological Commentary. Appreciated a lot of nuggets in this BTC but felt it somewhat thin as a commentary. Possibly more political than theological at points. But a useful amount of New Testament echo and pastoral allusion mean it’s probably worth getting hold of if preaching 1+2 Chronicles. 4/5
65. Peter T. O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, Pillar New Testament Commentary. One cannot give a star rating to a commentary which was removed from sale with plagiarism. However, the writing style is largely warm and devotional, and so it was nourishing whilst also being bittersweet. Like an New Testament Wenham/Motyer to some extent. Excited to read Campbell’s replacement soon.
66. Peter Thein Nyunt, Missions amidst Pagodas. Appreciated this short monograph from Langham. Pretty readable and clear for what it is, and what it is could be useful for those in Buddhist contexts or seeking to communicate the gospel to Buddhist friends and family. Not just Burma! 4/5
67. L. Michael Morales, Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord? I think this actually exceeded my expectations and the hype. Morales has done the church a service – this NSBT is a model of biblical theological scholarship. Loads of connections and riches for preachers and devotions. Stunning. 5/5
68. Hannah K. Harrington, Ezra and Nehemiah, NICOT. A thorough and helpful commentary. Slightly overdone in parts – enormous intro and some excessive excurses. But overall solid work and a good longer/heavyweight commentary to complement eg a TOTC or similar. 4/5 I wrote a longer review of this volume here.
69. Tiberius Rata, Ezra and Nehemiah, Mentor Commentary. This, however, was in my view underwhelming. Not enough depth and the overall feel was not clear in terms of intended audience or level of textual engagement in my view. So good nuggets/insights, and a good table at one one point. Will have to try another Mentor volume. 3/5
70. Sean M. Mcdonough, Philippians, Preacher’s Greek Companion. really interesting concept – breaking down the gk. with selective (ie minimalist, though some good stuff) commentary and preachers helps. A good devotional aid to keep gk. up, and possibly a good addition to a preachers library. Worth investigating. Not a full commentary. 4/5 A short review here.
71. Christopher C. H. Cook, Isabelle Hamley and John Swinton, Struggling with God. Behind a lovely cover is a complex, enigmatic and well written book. Some really helpful stuff, some slightly ambiguous or unclear fudging. Will be a useful tool for leaders, and the more theologically minded strugglers amongst us. Helpful on prayer and honest. 4/5
72. Anthony J. Tomasino, Esther, Evangelical Exegetical Commentary. This seems to me to be an excellent commentary on Esther, and a very fine example of the genre. A strong EEC from Lexham that felt ‘Goldilocks zone’ to me in terms of length and other things. I wrote a review here. 5/5
73. Ros Clarke, Human. A fantastic, sensitive and clear primer on what it means to be human. Notably, it read like she enjoyed writing it. Great stuff. 5/5
74. Paddy Ashdown, A Brilliant Little Operation. A perfectly paced, comprehensively written and very readable book on the Cockleshell Heroes raid of WW2. Impressive writing about a stunning feat of daring and leadership. One to return to. 5/5
75. Charles B. Cousar, Philippians and Philemon, New Testament Library. A slightly odd pairing – not illogical, and Cousar writes well and readably. But the sheer smallness of the volume means it feels cursory rather than thoughtful, and so rather underwhelming. 3/5
76. G. K. Beale, Colossians and Philemon, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. In this BECNT, Beale gives us a superb commentary. Theologically rich and with real care over Old Testament connection/allusion. Some of the additional notes suggest GKB thought he was writing an NIGTC. But overall excellent. 5/5
77. Christopher Ash, Out of the Storm. This from Christopher Ash remains a gem – about 14 years since I first read it. His writing is delightful and I really appreciate the way he balances humanity and awe at divinity. 5/5
78 + 81. James. M. Hamilton jr, Psalms, 2 vols., in the EBTC. A genuinely impressive and fresh Psalms commentary – Hamilton is relentless in his theological project, which makes this a really interesting read. A commentary that reads the text honestly, canonically, and with deep respect for it. It isn’t perfect – and at two (ultimately quite chunky) volumes it arguably wastes some space – but it is very, very good. Overall a 4.5/5 for me.
79. Laurence Rees, Hitler and Stalin. A masterful book. Condenses vast swathes of info and history/geography/ideology etc, and in the writer getting out of the way. Sobering in it’s careful – meticulous – retelling of a period of history and two men. Challenging that the enemy of my enemy is not my friend. 5/5
80. Charlie Connelly, Attention All Shipping! A Journey Through the Shipping Forecast. Single holiday finish was a perfect read for a beach holiday. As a keen but somewhat lapsed (London, toddlers, finances) sailor this was tremendous fun – and enjoyably written. 5/5
82. Arabic Christian Theology, edited by Dr Andrea Zaki Stephanous. A worthy but mixed bag of essays in a nicely bound hardback edited collection – I’d recommend some parts more than others. Suffered from some inconsistency (stylistic/editorial) and some over-long pieces but overall am glad I read it. 3/5
83. Taylor S. Schumann, When Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough. This moving book on gun violence written by a shooting survivor is a gem of a book. Beautiful writing, very educational. Some quibbles on a few things – and I’m sure pro-gun Christian brothers and sisters would have more – but a helpful book on this divisive issue. I’m open to recommendations that are more ‘pro-gun’, too! 4/5
90. James Swallow, Nemesis. This is a Horus Heresy book I’d struggled to read before, but persistence paid off. Some slogging amidst some great action and dialogue – to finally finish, but worth it. Nice snapshot of the Emperor. 4/5
94. Knut Martin Heim, Ecclesiastes, TOTC. A superb little commentary. Heim takes an interesting angle informed by stand up/humour and critique of empire – makes for a really interesting read. I wanted it to be longer! 5/5
98. Thomas Schreiner, Hebrews, EBTC. A very readable and encouraging commentary on Hebrews. Felt like Schreiner got well into the text, and was delighted by it, and sought to enthuse the reader. My one criticism is that the BT could have been more integrated. Beautifully produced by Lexham. 5/5
102. Alice T. Ott, Turning Points in the Expansion of Christianity. I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated this book from Alice Ott. I’ve written a brief review – it’s one I’ll recommend widely! 5/5
140. David Gibson, The Lord of Psalm 23. Hiding behind this lovely Crossway cover is a superb bit of ‘deeper devotional’ writing by
150. Peter H. W. Lau, The Book of Ruth, NICOT. A gem of a commentary from Peter Lau. This new addition to the NICOT is a ‘Goldilocks zone’ book. Enough depth for most uses, readable, canonical, calm and Christological. PROBABLY my new first recommendation on Ruth. 5/5 A short review here.
170+ 171. L. Michael Morales, Numbers 1-19 and Numbers 20-36, Apollos Old Testament Commentary. This has been a labour of love for the author – and a painful privilege as an editor watching it get cut down to size! Even so, watch out for volume 1 in the Spring of 2024, and volume 2 some time in the Summer.
172. Nam Joon Kim, Busy for Self, Lazy for God. A really interesting book from a South Korean pastor that uses the book of Proverbs to challenge the way we live our lives. I recommend it warmly. 4.5/5
*also an incomplete list
**nine years ago I was an MA student, so can’t be held responsible for publishing decisions.
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