Books I've Read in 2024 - Dr. Jason Garwood

It’s time for the annual publication of my (underwhelming?) reading list for 2024. In 2024, I spent a lot of time focused on the development of our church, part of which meant patiently working through a long series in First Corinthians. I read about 8 commentaries all the way through but didn’t include them here in the list. Also, I started a new business which consumed quite a bit of time. Thus, I didn’t spend as much time reading the books this year. Alas!

Here’s what I did read:

1 – The War of the Priesthood by Uriesou Brito — A really helpful explanation of the armor of God and how to use it in our daily lives.

2 – Calvin’s Doctrine of the Word & Sacrament by Ronald S. Wallace — A phenomenal resource. A truly remarkable summary of Calvin’s views.

3 – Paul in Conflict with the Veil by Thomas Schirrmacher — A balanced treatment, but also a serious defense of the quotation theory. Highly recommended.

4 – Savage Church by Garrett Craw — Great insight and helpful story-telling.

5 – Glorifying and Enjoying God by William Boekestein, Jonathan Landry Cruse, & Andrew J. Miller — A devotional walk through the Westminster Shorter Catechism. This is a useful tool for introducing these doctrines to a teenager or perhaps someone young in the faith.

6 – Switch On Your Brain by Caroline Leaf — Overall, a pretty helpful resource on neuroplasticity and the renewal of the mind both physically and spiritually.

7 – Life in the Negative World by Aaron M. Renn — A helpful analysis. Some of his ideas regarding cultural engagement leave much to be desired.

8 – Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter A. Levine — After writing my book Health for All of Life, I have been constantly intrigued and fascinated by the concept of trauma, specifically the body’s physiological response to emotional and/or psychological stresses. Levine is by no means a Christian but the book has some very interesting stuff in it. Trauma is very real and we ought to consider how accidents, stress (and even sins), can affect our physical makeup.

9 – Unveiling Paul’s Women by Lucy Peppiatt — A really solid treatment of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. I’m not on the same page with her egalitarian perspectives, but much of what she says about the men being the problem in Corinth (my thinking too) and Paul’s clear dialogue with them in the passage (I’m in agreement) is worth considering.

10 – Proof as Moral Obligation by Douglas Wilson — A short but helpful examination of presuppositionalism and its relationship to proof–proof being (definitionally) a moral obligation to believe.

11 – Leadership and Emotional Sabotage by Joe Rigney — Excellent. Short and to the point. A huge help for navigating difficult situations and people.

12 – Killing the Witches by Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard — Fascinating history of the Salem Witch Trials and the founding of this nation.

13 – O Sacred Head, Now Wounded: A Liturgy for Daily Worship from Pascha to Pentecost by Jonathan Gibson — Yet another great resource which goes with the others in the series.

14 – Creator: A Theological Interpretation of Genesis 1 by Peter J. Leithart — It’s heavy, but Leithart sure does well engaging the ancient philosophers, and even Thomas: where they’ve gone wrong and what they may have been on to. The book is not for the faint of heart but the latter half is a fun march through Genesis 1. He could have subtitled the book, ‘A Theological & Philosophical Interpretation of Genesis 1’.

15 – Israel and the Palestinians by Willem J. Ouweneel — Helpful historical analysis. Definitely disagreed with some theological statements regarding Bible prophecy; it needs more preterism.

16 – Sketches from South African History by Peter Hammond — A helpful history of South Africa; the U.S. certainly shares a common history with S.A., and having been there a couple of times, this book helped me gain a better understanding of their current problems.

17 – The 5 Hour School Week by Aaron & Kaleena Amuchastegui — A curious little book reimagining the homeschool life.

18 – The Minister as Shepherd by Charles E. Jefferson — A good reminder for pastors and their responsibilities. Definitely recommend.

19 – Devote Yourself to Prayer by David T. Irving— A small but delightful read challenging pastors (and everyone, really) to be committed to prayer.

20 – The Lord’s Prayer by Keven DeYoung — Overall, a solid little book. It’s a great introduction to some of the key concepts of prayer as outlined by our Lord.

21 – A Simple Way to Pray by Martin Luther — Written for Peter, the “Master Barber,” Luther expounds on the Lord’s Prayer & the Ten Commandments, helping us pray with passion and intelligence.

22 – How to Pray by C.S. Lewis — An outstanding collection of Lewis’ thinking and musings about prayer. Refreshing!

23 – The Birth of Christ by John V. Fesko — A concise but helpful treatment of Christmas.

24 – On Writing (and Writers) by C.S. Lewis // Whimsical. Helpful. Lewis is always a joy.

25 – C.S. Lewis: A Life by Alister McGrath // A mere biography. It was outstanding. Couldn’t put it down.

26 – For Signs and Seasons: A Primer of the Church Calendar by Duane Garner // A short but helpful summary of, and resource for, the Church calendar.

27 – C.S. Lewis and the Art of Writing by Corey Lara — Somewhat biographical somewhat practical. Was underwhelmed but pulled some good tidbits.

28 – Reconstruct by J.M. Wilson — A helpful summary of, and introduction to, reconstructionist ideas.

Books I’m working on right now:

—Compelling Reason: Essays on Ethics and Theology by C.S. Lewis
—C.S. Lewis Essay Collection: Faith, Christianity, and the Church by C.S. Lewis
—Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray
—Christ’s Churches Purely Reformed by Philip Benedict
—Christian Nationalism by Stephen Wolfe (I started it but stopped, now I’m going to finish it.)
—Haunted Cosmos by Brian Sauvé and Ben Garrett
—The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (Never really read the whole thing at once.)
—The Cultural Mind by Douglas Wilson
—Every Thought Captive by Richard L.. Pratt, Jr.