** Editorial note: I wrote this post nearly a year ago (early 2025), but I never ended up posting it. I will be posting follow-up posts for 2025 books (spring and fall) over the next few months.
I had an idea! I want to make a list of books I’ve read recently, along with a few reflections from each. I have a few reasons for doing this:
- First, this is not meant to be a proud retelling. Some people I know read far more than I do (ahem Leigha); some read much less. Any time you list what you’ve read, you’re in danger of unintentionally shaming those who read less than you do (or propping yourself up for reading ‘so much’). I wish I read far more than I do, and hopefully the below points will show that I have other good reasons for writing this.
- By doing this once, I hope I will start a precedent and have reason to write similar posts in the future.
- Looking back at the books I’ve read reminds me how much I care about reading and how much more I want to read. I find that looking at my TBR list and walking through a library or bookstore both have a similar effect — they instill an almost visceral sensation of wanting to read. I think if I spent even 10 minutes in a library every week, I would read more. (And I think part of the reason I’ve read more in the last 6 months than in the last few years combined is more time spent in libraries!)
- Although I do track what I read (currently via Goodreads, moving to StoryGraph), I’ve never tried writing reviews for what I’ve read. In general, I don’t spend enough time reflecting on what I’ve read (and reflecting in general), and this is one way to do so.
So, the format:
Book Title and Author: [ ]
My Short Summary (optional): [ ]
My thoughts: [ ]
Rating: [ ]
I will put the books the order I read them, from earliest to latest. A few books will be grouped into a series, because it’s not worth talking separately about each one.
Notes on ratings: 5/5 means it was wonderful and I will keep thinking about or reflecting on it for a while. 4.5/5 will be more common for fiction that I loved but which didn’t leave much for me to keep thinking on / learning from. 4/5 means I enjoyed it but had some bones to pick. 3.5/5 or 3/5 means I appreciated it enough to finish it but probably won’t read it again. I hope I don’t finish books that I would rate 2/5 or 1/5, because that would mean it isn’t really worth my time to be reading.
Mistborn Era 2 (The Alloy of Law, The Shadows of Self, the Bands of Mourning, The Lost Metal) – Brandon Sanderson
Summary
Sanderson continues developing the world he created in the first Mistborn era — a world where metal rules and people are imbued with strange powers seemingly randomly at birth. In this era, gunslinger Waxillium seeks to navigate a fine line as both a city lord and a dangerous vigilante-of-sorts. Wax, as he’s called, simultaneously must solve some high-profile crimes and work through his own inner turmoil.
Thoughts
Not the first time I’ve read these, except the last book in the series. I love the idea of a world that develops technologically (drastically) while you’re reading about it, which is one of the core concepts for Mistborn — the first era is medieval, the second is western/industrial, and the third will be space-age. If you like epic fantasy and haven’t read Mistborn, you’re missing out. That said, I find the second era far inferior to the first, and I don’t anticipate rereading it for a long time. I enjoy the theological undertones of most of this series, as Wax wrestles with what it means to follow a seemingly omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent god — but still to face evil and suffering. The books try too hard to be lighthearted, I think, whereas era 1 had a more thoroughly grim tone — and those handled it better than these.
Rating: 4/5
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1-4) – Douglas Adams
Thoughts
I enjoyed it at first but eventually lost interest. I’m still not sure if the novelty of Adams’ style just wore off after a bit. I think these are of a love-it-or-hate-it style, and I’m definitely closer to the latter than the former. There is lots of snarky or tongue-in-cheek commentary, but the snarkiness pulls me out of sincere reflection on some of the themes, and I’m left not being sure why I read it in the first place.
Rating: 3.5/5
Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds – Brandon Sanderson
Summary
A man creates mental personas (“hallucinations”) which each have a skillset or field of study and allow him to solve crimes and generally be brilliant.
Thoughts
Fun read. A fascinating exploration of illness-as-superpower. Engaging enough I blasted through it in like two days. Not much to reflect on long-term, though.
Rating: 4.5/5
Firstfruits Living: Giving God Our Best – Lynn Miller
Summary
Exploration of Biblical themes around “first fruits,” and how that relates to tithing, generosity, etc.
Thoughts
A short book, and I’d love to find something more in-depth that really digs into everything on tithing, stewardship, etc. (Any recommendations?). A number of cool connections here. Most memorable point for me was probably that the direct context for almost all of the most famous “justice” passages (e.g. Micah 6:8 “what does the Lord require of you”, Amos 5:24 “let justice roll like a river,” etc.) is directly connected to sacrifice/giving to God. This lends extra weight to Jesus’ quotation of Hosea: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
Rating: 4/5
Elements of Christian Thought: A Basic Course in Christianese – Eugene Rogers
Summary
Eugene Rogers is a professor of religion at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. He basically adapted an undergrad religion class that went virtual during Covid into a book. The book is framed as Christian discussion (throughout history) on certain recurring topics — such as the nature of humanity, the identity of Jesus, or the meaning of salvation.
Thoughts
This is the first book in a long while that I took notes on while I read (and I’m glad I did!). An excellent introduction to a bunch of primary sources in Christian theology — helps you become more familiar with lots of big-name theologians, like Athanasius or Augustine or Barth. Really interesting to consider the metaphor of theology as linguistics — I’m particularly thinking of the idea of heterodoxy as “grammar” or the rules we use when we speak. It was also helpful to consider how one might teach Christianity at a secular university — and the linguistics metaphor was helpful here as well, as you can have “native speakers” (adherents) for whom this language (of “Christianese”) seems natural, and “non-native speakers” (skeptics) who might be working to put the pieces together, and both provide important insights into and questions about how we talk about Jesus, God, humanity, sin, etc.
Rating: 5/5
China In Ten Words – Yu Hua
Summary
Yu Hua recounts memories from growing up during China’s Cultural Revolution, while simultaneously drawing parallels to modern Chinese society. 10 essays, each on a certain Chinese word which has both historic and contemporary use.
Thoughts
Incredible book. If I’ve talked with you about books in the last 3 months, I’ve probably mentioned this book. I found the storytelling gripping (and horrifying at times), the translation impeccable (I didn’t know it was possible for cultural and linguistic nuances to be conveyed so well in a translation!), and the reflections poignant. Getting into the mindset of the Cultural Revolution — especially the distrust of authority / tradition — really threw my brain for a loop.
Rating: 5/5
The Martian – Andy Weir
Summary
Astronaut gets stuck on Mars. Has to survive. Chaos ensues.
Thoughts
Enjoyable, easy to read. Probably would have been more enjoyable or thought-provoking if I hadn’t seen the movie a couple times. (I love the movie). Look forward to trying some more books from Weir in the future.
Rating: 4.5/5
The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory – Tim Alberta
Summary
Journalistic interviews and observations of churches, pastors, and others, focused on culture, identity, power, politics, and church.
Thoughts
I got to see Alberta speak in-person at a local center for studying Evangelicalism in the US. He comes across as someone who genuinely cares about the Church and is simultaneously genuinely worried about the ways we have sought power at the expense of integrity. This book made me a bit depressed about the state of the church, which isn’t ideal; but because a lot of his interviews are with pastors, I felt like it was a helpful sort of case-study as a seminarian studying pastoral ministry and biblical theology. Hearing from pastors who really just want to teach the Bible and preach the gospel but whose congregants are often more concerned with political matters and cultural power definitely deserves reflection. His reflections on his own upbringing and ‘home’ church were also helpful.
I wasn’t always confident that he was giving enough space to truly understanding where others were coming from, perhaps a bit too quick to dismiss some congregants/views/situations as ‘crazy.’ At the same time, he had a lot more exposure to some of these realms than I have, so maybe that’s legitimate. The book also got a bit long, and was sometimes hard to read.
Rating: 4.5/5
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Cool to hear your thoughts bro! I really want to read China in 10 words…you gave a copy to someone last Christmas right? Who was that? Maybe I can find it on Libby or something.