What have you been reading this year? As I look back at what I have read, I came up with 5 favorite books. I didn’t read as many books as maybe I would have because I have been increasingly devoting more of my free time to drawing. Making art has been an important creative outlet for me. Out of the 16 or 17 books I read, I have rated my top 5. Each of these books became somewhat of a friend to me, giving me hope and companionship. I am counting down backwards, from number 5 to number1. For each book, I write a short review followed by a quote to give a glimpse into the heart of the work.

5 Learning to Love the Psalms by Robert W. Godfrey

Have you ever paid attention to the structure of the Psalter? Have you ever wondered about the division of the Psalter into five books, and what the themes of these books might be? Have you noticed that it seems at times like there are pairs of Psalms that go together? Godfrey masterfully focuses on the structure of the Psalter, as well explaining the structure of a typical psalm, and he highlights a select portion of the psalms. As I have explained elsewhere, I write out 4 verses in the Psalms each morning, writing out the entire Psalter in two years. I started the book two years ago by reading over the introductory material.

Then I actually read about each Psalm that he discussed, as I was writing out that Psalm. So I read this book slowly over the course of two years, having just finished it a few weeks ago.  I felt like I have been able to dig deeper and understand the Psalms better in reading the book.

“The second attraction [of the Psalms] is the discovery that the more you dig into the Psalter, the more you discover. Like all great poetry, the Psalms are like a mine with ever new depths to reach and ever more gold to find. They reward abundantly whatever effort we make to know them better.” (p.3)

4 Becoming Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughn

In 2024 I read the second volume in this biography pair and wanted to circle back to the first volume.  Together they form an authorized biography. They are meticulously researched and very well written.  The second volume was a heavy read, being that Elisabeth’s third and longest marriage was also very difficult (abusive). So it took me a while to be ready to read this first volume. I was pleasantly surprised that it reminded me more of the Elisabeth Elliot whose writings have blessed me so much. Her biography is especially relevant for me as a missionary, as I found myself relating to so much of what she went through. So many of the themes we know her for–suffering, resting in the enigmatic will of God, sacrificing for the gospel–were developed from experiences that are covered in this first volume. Like Elizabeth Elliot, my years as a missionary have challenged and shaken up my underlying assumptions about who God is and how He works.

“But, like many, she believed that God would surely take her sacrifices and make them into successes for His sake . . . glorious victories that human beings could see, that could be reported to supporters back home, bringing glory to God. But in fact, Betty’s time among the Colorado Indians stripped her, in some shocking and violent ways, of her tidy assumptions about God’s will. Among the Colorados, she confronted, perhaps for the first time, the monolithic, impenetrable mystery of God’s ways.” (p. 100).

3 The Bible and Global History by Bruce Gordon.

I love the Bible. I have been studying it since I majored in Biblical Studies during college. But I don’t know that I had ever thought much about the history of the Bible–how it has been revolutionizing cultures and transforming individuals for two millennia. This is a unique book in that it following the impact of the Scriptures throughout history and in different cultures. Each chapter reads like a separate study into a unique time period and place. The author did such a thorough job and he clearly loves the Bible. He also tends to be very open to all different expressions of love for the Bible, where personally I would be more discerning.  I would suggest that not all love for the Scripture is equally transformative, as we are called to be doers of the Word, not just hearers.  It was a long book that took some amount of work for me to read through, but I was richly rewarded for the work I put into it.

“Even though Jesus’s command to go unto the whole world has been fulfilled in astonishing ways, our world remains closely connected to those early Christians who heard parts of diverse scriptures in their communities. Individuals and communities seek to hear God speak to their particular experiences and cultures…Every translation, every illuminated Bible, every app expresses a longing for the infinite. The global book remains deeply personal and local…It defines and shapes those who seek to actualize its words in their lives, to capture its model of holy living.” (p. 433)

2 The Bible and Poetry by Michael Edwards.

Through my study of the Psalms I have become interested in how the medium of poetry speaks powerfully. Basically, it is no accident that so much of God’s Word is poetry. It would be impossible for prose to speak to us the same way. I feel I spent far too many years in my Christian walk blind to this reality, believing that the content of God’s Word was all important, and the medium was somewhat neutral, and even at times a barrier to understanding the message. So I have been reading several books to help me better grasp the medium of poetry, and in the midst of this study I found this gem. The author is actually a professor of french poetry. It was fun to read a book about the Bible that wasn’t written by a theologian, but instead a literature expert. It is very clear that the author loves God’s Word very much, even though he probably doesn’t come from the same Evangelical tradition to which I belong. That actually enhanced the experience for me, as he helped me see the Bible from fresh eyes.

“Because of this complexity, poetry offers itself as a more exact and appropriate means to speak of God and of everything concerning him. We are not dealing with a system of religious ideas, but with a Person; the Bible does not call on intelligence alone, but, like all poetry, on everything that we are.” (p. 150).

1 Art and Faith: A Theology of Making by Makoto Fujimura

In keeping with my theme of learning how the art of poetry impacts the message of God’s Word, I am interested in how the arts in general help the human being face the ugly suffering in the world. It is common these days for people to assume that a person who has experienced trauma or difficulties of various kinds is in need of therapy.  However, humanity has a long history of overcoming difficulties of every kind, whereas “therapy” has a very short history. Hence my interest in how God’s Word transforms us. But along with the Bible, we also see the way God uses so many beautiful things in this world–nature, art,  relationships–to bring healing to the hurting. Sometimes I wonder if the therapy model has crowded out the time-tested ways the human being experiences healing. It is because of my interest in counseling the hurting that I chose to read this book. It turned out to be a transformative read for me.

The author is a world-renowned artist and Reformed Christian who talks about how art can bring us closer to God. As an artist himself, at times I felt like he may have over-emphasized the role of art in the life of the church. However I resonated deeply with how beauty draws us in to a relationship with Jesus, and how we can minister this beauty to one another.  As I minister to women and as I myself seek to experience Jesus in the middle of a dark world, I am deepening in my understanding of the role that beauty plays in experiencing Jesus.  This was the most impactful book for me in 2025, and I expect that I will be returning to the portions that I highlighted for a long time.

“In Mary’s devotion [in anointing Jesus with perfume], she expressed the beautiful to Jesus. What makes us truly beautiful? What makes us not just good, not just right, but beautiful? Can our churches be beautiful again, and not just promote goodness and truth?…Remember what the disciples deemed a waste, Jesus called the most necessary. We have much to learn from Mary. What is our frivolous act of devotion today? What is our ‘art’?” (p. 118).