Jesse Koepke

We’ve come to it at last: the 10th reading list of our time.

Ahem.

When I started keeping track of my reading in 2010, I never pictured what it would look like to have ten years worth of books tracked. Having arrived, I love the feeling of having history behind me, in my own small corner of the world.

I’ll be doing a retrospective of my reading trends and favorite books over the last decade, but first, I need to write the final reading list of the decade.

So, without further ado, here are the books I read in 2019.

1. 7/1/18-2/19: Cambodia’s Curse, by Joel Brinkley (ebook/print)
2. 12/3-1/23: The Art of Adaptation, by Linda Seger (ebook)
3. 1/3-6/4: 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, by John C. Maxwell (audiobook)
4. 1/4-2/15: Evil and the Justice of God, but N.T. Wright (ebook)
5. 1/5-2/18: No-Drama Discipline, by Daniel Siegel and Tina Bryson (audiobook)
6. 2/11-7/4: Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day, by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky (ebook)
7. 2/18-2/20: First Things First, by Stephen R. Covey (audiobook)
8. 2/25-5/4: Tolkien and the Great War, by Garth John (audiobook)
9. 3/1-NOT YET FINISHED: The Emotional Craft of Fiction, by Donald Maas (ebook)
10. 3/27-4/15: Making Vision Stick, by Andy Stanley (audiobook)
11. 3/27-4/2: What Makes An Effective Executive, by Peter Drucker (audiobook)
12. 4/10-: Every Good Endeavor, by Timothy Keller (ebook/print/audiobook)
13. 4/15-5/4: I Promise, by Gary Smalley and Nathan Larkin (audiobook)
14. 5/3-5/31: The Freelance Manifesto, by Joey Korenman (ebook)
15. 6/1-20: Starting Out Right, by Larry Burkett (ebook)
16. 6/27-8/3: Mindful Discipline, by Shauna Shapiro and Chris White (ebook)
17. 7/7-17:  Being a Dad Who Leads, by John MacArthur (audiobook)
18. 7/18-8/26: How to Write a Script with Dialogue that doesn’t Suck, by Michael Rogan (ebook)
19. 7/19-8/8: The Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks (audiobook – almost 27 hours! I’ve never been able to do this. Thanks, 2x speed:)
20. 8/4-20: The Language of Sex, by Gary Smalley & Ted Cunningham (audiobook)
21. 8/22-27: Sometimes the Magic Works, by Terry Brooks (audiobook)
22. 8/31-9/5: The Spark and the Grind, by Erik Wahl (audiobook)
23. 9/10-9/18: The Romanov Ransom, by Clive Cussler and Robin Burcell (audiobook)
24. 9/27-10/13: Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century, by Stephen Kaufmann (ebook)
25. 10/3-12: The Lost City of the Monkey God, by Douglas Preston (audiobook)
26. 10/12-21: The Debt-Free Spending Plan, by JoAnneh Nagler (audiobook)
27. 10/21-31: Dream Hoarders, by Richard V. Reeves (audiobook)
28. 10/22-NOT YET FINISHED: Deep Work, by Cal Newport (ebook)
29. 11/11-12/28: The Emperor’s Blades, by Brian Staveley (ebook)
30. 11/18-NOT YET FINISHED: Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson (audiobook)
31. 11/16-12/9: The Common Rule, by Justin Earley (audiobook)
32. 12/10-18: If Only He Knew, by Gary Smalley (audiobook)
33. 12/15-NOT YET FINISHED: Write a Novel Outline from Scratch, by Andrew Butcher (ebook)
34. 12/20-12/30: The Five Love Languages For Men, by Gary Chapman (audiobook)

Trends

Last year I read primarily on my phone, but after my thumbs started getting stressed I switched to primarily using my Kindle. And I have loved it! The look of the “page” feels better, my thumbs are less stressed, and it feels really great to read on a singular-use device.

Looking over the list, I realized that audiobooks were the majority of my books this year. Well, wait a minute—it turns out they were last year as well, by a large margin! It makes sense; if it’s a short audiobook that I can listen to at double speed, I can get through it in about a week.

I expect this trend to grow in 2020, as my wife and I just discovered Scribd. It’s a monthly subscription of $9.99, but unlike the one book a month that Audible gives you, Scribd gives you access to the whole catalog. I’ve looked at a few websites like this before, but they have never had the catalog that Scribd has. I highly recommend giving it a try. (Disclosure: we do get a small kickback if you use our referral link.)

Last year I started anxiously reading more and more, until my wife intervened. (Thank you, babe!) The funny thing is, I read about the same number of books this year! I did start to intentional slow down whenever I felt that anxious search for the next book, so I think the key is being intentional with my choices and reading books that are actually engaging for me.

So in all these books, which ones stand out?

Favorite Books

FICTION

Having read the same 3-5 fantasy authors over the years, I really wanted to try new authors this year. Those turned out to be Terry Brooks and Brian Staveley. The Sword of Shannara is one of those standard fantasy books I’ve always seen but never read, so it was nice to finally read it. It was a bit derivative of Lord of the Rings, but the ending took on its own shape.

Brian Staveley’s The Emperor’s Blades turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The pace is slower, similar to Jack McDevitt, but each chapter ends with a new revelation and moves the story along well. There is hard language throughout one of the character’s scenes and there are two adult scenes, so consider that in your reading. It was right on the cusp of crossing my personal content line, but there is no question that Brian can write.

NON-FICTION

I read more history this year, which was really fun, and I also branched into a new genre: economics. Stephen Kaufmann’s summary of Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century was a fascinating read about today’s economical disparities, and Dream Hoarders by Richard Reeves was a great addition.

On the history side, The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston was absolutely fascinating. Finding a lost city in the modern day? Yes, please.

Lastly, N.T. Wright’s Evil and the Justice of God delved into why evil exists and more importantly how God responds to it. Wright’s style is conversational and he had some really great insights.

MARRIAGE/FAMILY

Purely by accident, Gary Smalley turned out to be my favorite marriage author this year; I read three of his books without realizing it. They are all good, and If Only He Knew is going on my list of Books To Read Every Year. It has some many foundational paradigms for loving your wife well year after year, and I know I’m going to need frequent reminders of them. I Promise is also so good, as well as The Language of Sex—you know, just go read all of his books. You won’t be disappointed.

Mindful Discipline, by Shauna Shapiro and Chris White, shared some really great insights on gentle parenting. Its approach was from a meditation/non-Christ mindset, so the exercises need to be taken with a grain of salt, but the basic skills and strategies felt really in line with how my wife and I want to lead our children.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

I read several development books this year, and many of them deserve honorable mentions, such as First Things First by Stephen Covey, Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller, and The Freelance Manifesto by Joey Korenman. But there were three that have really stuck with me.

First is Make Time, by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky. We live in a day of bottomless distractions, or “infinity pools” as they describe it, and this book gave really great strategies on staying focused and making time for the things you value.

Second is Deep Work, by Cal Newport. I have heard a lot about this book over the years and finally got to read it. I wasn’t able to finish it before my library loan ran out, but it almost immediately impacted the way I work. I realized I don’t stay very focused when working, and the book laid a strong case for why focus is so important—especially in today’s world. I can’t recommend this book enough.

Third, The Common Rule by Justin Earley was revolutionary for me in how it approaches habits. Rather than on building them to improve productivity, Justin proposed establishing daily and weekly habits that help us better love God (the 1st commandment) and love people (the 2nd commandment). As the new year approaches, I want to look at how I can implement some (if not all) of the habits Justin proposes.

WRITING

Okay, last genre, I promise. I only read a handful of writing books this year, but the stand-out by far was The Emotional Craft of Fiction, by Donald Maas. I actually haven’t finished it yet, but right off the bat it started impacting my writing. Donald lays out specific actions to add emotion and I’ve never heard anything like it.

This isn’t a writing craft book, but I finally read Tolkien and the Great War, by Garth John. It’s a bit of a dense book, but also full of so much detail about Tolkien’s time in World War I. I’ve read a few of his biographies, but none have covered this time period in such detail. If you want an in-depth look at this earlier part of Tolkien’s life, this is your book.

Reading in 2020

I will definitely continue reading on my Kindle this next year. I also want to continue branching into different genres and read a wide spread. Economics turned out to be really interesting, so I might try to find a few more books on that subject.

I’d also like to actually start reading a certain list of books every year, perhaps one each quarter. So far my list is:

• Q1: Wild at Heart, by John Eldredge
• Q2: Cherish, by Gary Thomas
• Q3: 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, by John Maxwell
• Q4: If Only He Knew, by Gary Smalley

These books have such foundational truths in them that I think I could gain a lot if I read them frequently.

Lastly, here’s the (on-going) list of books I am (fairly) certain I want to read in 2020:

• Your Money or Your Life, by Vicki Robin
• Sacred Marriage, by Gary Thomas
• 5 love languages of kids, by Gary Chapman
• Dallas Willard
• Guy Gavriel Kay
• Star Wars (starting with Heir to the Empire, by Timothy Zhan)
• Decision Points, by George Bush
• Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, by John Mark Comer

Whew! As I read more genres, these posts get longer to recap. But I’ve come to enjoy the retrospection at the end of the year, as well as looking forward to the next year.

I hope you find some of these books useful, and that you are able to read and grow in 2020! And if you’re a fan of audiobooks, give Scribd a try.