My 2024 Books in Review

Each year I start with two distinct goals for my reading list, one is a number of books to read and the second a group of books I will prioritize reading. I set a goal that is attainable but not easily, and since I am a competitive person it pushes me to continue to read throughout the year. I also select books I am very excited to read, I intentionally space these out so that through the year I have at least one book I want to read which can be motivating when I am halfway through a book I am not enjoying but should finish. While I try to read a variety of books each year, there are four categories from which I read at least one book in the year.

• History (I studied history and recognize a need for me to continue to read in this area)
• Fiction (storytelling is an essential part of life and reading novels helps me grow as a storyteller and story hearer)
• Science (I enjoy reading about science and especially the overlap between science and faith, this is an underappreciated field by most Christians and needs to be recovered)
• The Bible (I like to understand what scholars say about the Bible, particularly since it so impacts my life & work)

This year for the first time I can remember I read every book that I hoped to read at the start of the year (which means I didn’t get distracted by other books). Below are extremely short reviews for each of them.

Flat Earths and Fake Footnotes: The Strange Tale of How the Conflict of Science and Christianity Was Written Into History by Derrick Peterson

Perhaps the best book I read this year, Peterson’s work is well-researched and thorough. I learned so much from this book about the history of Christian thought around science. This is a must read for Christians who are at all concerned with how their heritage has approached the sciences. perhaps this book is too technical for some but it was simply a wonderful overview of the complexity of Christian thought surrounding Biblical interpretation and scientific evidence.

Ark Encounter: The Making of a Creationist Theme Park (Early American Places) by James S. Bielo

This book was not what I was expecting, Bielo goes into great detail surrounding the artistic approach to the creation of the Ark Encounter. This book is centered on the creative team that helped bring the Ark to life and how they approached the structure. You learn that far from being a project dedicated to historical accuracy as Answers in Genesis promotes, the Ark Encounter was conceived more like a Hollywood or Disney project. The artistic flair was at least as important to this project as any commitment to the Bible or historical accuracy, and perhaps more important.

The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu

This trilogy of books is at points graphic and I would not recommend them to everyone (or perhaps many). They are very well done but physics plays a key role in the plot line and at times this element can be daunting. Overall if you like science fiction and can tolerate some graphic scenes and language the story is very good and does make the reader think about the nature of the universe and our place in it.

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

Like above this book comes with a warning for some graphic situations and content. I found it entertaining yet at points difficult. The plot revolves around a young immigrant woman as she tries to find her place in America. She is desperate to make sense of life and how her heritage and faith can fit with her lived experiences in her adopted home and career path in the sciences. Overall, this was a good book and worth the read but again may be difficult for some.

A Brief History of the Earth’s Climate: Everyone’s Guide to The Science of Climate Change by Steven Earle

This is a good overview of how scientists are able through various means to understand the Earth’s climate and it’s history. The author is not trying to go into extreme depth, and this book is very good as an introduction for someone who does not have a science background. Earle makes sense of the various tools used by scientists but does not come off as alarmist or overly political.

Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters by Steven E. Koonin

This is the only book on this list I would not recommend to anyone. The author is clearly biased against the idea of human caused climate change and as early as the introduction is making false claims and resorting to logical fallacies to attempt to justify his position. Poorly researched and argued, just not worth anyone’s time.

African American Readings of Paul: Reception, Resistance, and Transformation by Lisa M. Bowens

African American hermeneutics has a complicated relationship with Paul because he never comes out and opposes slavery, further the household codes in places like Ephesians were used to keep slaves subordinate. Yet it was surprising to me how many of these interpreters looked to Paul for major components of their theologies. Certainly, this book is worth one’s time to understand how an underappreciated group of interpreters has approached the New Testament.

The Return of Oral Hermeneutics: As Good Today as It Was for the Hebrew Bible and First-Century Christianity by Tom Steffen & William Bjoraker

This book was good but not my favorite on the topic. I learned some techniques for approaching Scripture as an oral culture does, but overall I thought it was a little disappointing.

The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going by Ryan P. Burge

There is some very good research in this book but if you follow Burge online you can already see where some of the data is already dated and has changed since the book’s 2021 publication. Had I known there was already a second edition I would have read that because I’m sure he has made some updates to the book based on COVID and other world events. Definitely worth the read, but probably get the second edition.

The Bible, Social Media and Digital Culture (Routledge Focus on Religion) by Peter M. Philips

This book was far more data driven than I was looking for, it was more about how churches are using social media and drew very few conclusions. Unless you are studying a field related to the topic I do not think it’s the book for you.