My Top (Twelve) Books of 2025

I did my best to narrow it down!

I’ve kept a record of the books I read each year for several years now, but this year I was surprised when I looked back at my list for three reasons:

1. I’d forgotten I read many of the books!
2. I was disappointed that I didn’t read as much fiction this year. I generally read fiction at night after I climb into bed. But between all of the regular responsibilities of being a wife and a mom, planting a church, and the required reading and coursework for my Master’s degree, I conked out most nights after reading just one or two pages. I decided to remedy the situation quickly, so I have a fresh new P.G. Wodehouse on my bedside table, awaiting me.
3. I have more unfinished books this year than usual. I notoriously have several books going at the same time, but this year, I put several aside and didn’t pick them up again. They are on my list to finish in 2026.

I began sixty-two books and finished fifty. I’m not a slow reader, and I’m also not a lover of audiobooks. Call me old-fashioned! I also read a few substantial books that required slower, more deliberate reading and re-reading in parts. In years past, I have utilized audiobooks when I have a lot of car time. This year, my car time dramatically reduced due to a few different life changes.

I already have a large stack of books I want to read in 2026, and I keep adding to it as I see others post their favorites from 2025!

I had a tough time narrowing down my favorite books from this year, but here is my attempt, in no particular order:

1. The Other Worldview by Peter Jones – There is always a book about worldview in my rotation somewhere. One of my podcast guests, Will Spencer, recommended this book to me. Jones proposes that there are really only two worldviews (oneism and twoism) and demonstrates how “postsecular pantheism” has grown over the past several decades. Have you noticed “spirituality” on the rise? Many more people talking about God? What God are they talking about? There is only one Truth, and every other worldview is a lie. He pulls no punches and calls the church to discernment and transformation, to speak clearly, and to stop conforming and compromising by integrating parts of other worldviews into ours (syncretism). He delivers some devastating blows, and I was tempted to sink into discouragement about the state of our country. But he did not leave me there – he pointed me to Christ, reminding me of Who He Is, and of His transformative power. An important book!
2. The Return of the Dragon by Lewis Ungit – A great companion book for The Other Worldview, Christians need to educate themselves about Psychedelics. My pastor recommended it as began a semi-deep dive into learning about psychedelics this year because it will increasingly be something Christians need to understand and know why they should say no to them. Scripture forbids pharmakeia, and Ungit demonstrates why this is the case. Our medical establishment is moving into microdosing psychedelics, and many veterans are already using them. You should be alarmed by this reality! You can listen to my podcast episodes with Will Spencer and Pastor Tim Pasma to learn more.
3. The Message of Isaiah by Barry Webb. My pastor also recommended this commentary to me, as I knew I would be spending a significant amount of time in Isaiah this year. Confession: I am not finished reading it, but I am so close to being done that I had to add it to the list. This one reads more like a book. Isaiah is one of the hardest books of the Bible for me to understand, and I appreciate how Webb brings it down to earth.
4. The Crook in the Lot by Thomas Boston – This one may actually be my favorite book of the year. It is a fantastic little book that helps us understand the wonders of God’s sovereignty amid affliction. Affliction is one of the most challenging things for us to walk through, and we must have a robust theology of suffering and affliction to endure it well. Affliction is an opportunity to know the Lord more, and He always only has good purposes in it.
5. The Radium Girls by Kate Moore – A page turner and terribly sad story that has the potential to arouse (hopefully righteous) anger. “The Curies’ newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of the First World War. Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these “shining girls” are the luckiest alive—until they begin to fall mysteriously ill…”
6. Trauma Redeemed by Julie Ganschow – This is a practical book for biblical counselors, pastors, and anyone who wants to walk alongside someone who has endured catastrophic suffering. Dr. Ganschow explains the secular theories and approaches for dealing with what the world classifies as trauma, holds them up to God’s Word, and finds the claims wanting. But she doesn’t leave you there. She points her readers to Christ and teaches how to lead those suffering to dependence on Christ. She does a fantastic job of demonstrating, through a case study, how God’s Word speaks to even the most horrendous situations and how, because it is living and active, it has the power to transform lives.
7. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson – I listen to this each year with my kids. If you’ve not read or listened to it, add it to your Advent list! I recommend listening because the narrator is fantastic. It’s a short and powerful book that has the potential to bring you to tears one minute and laughter the next.
8. The Great Love of God by Heath Lambert – I don’t know what else to say other than this is excellent, I have a note on page one that says, “Tears on the first page!”, and… go get a copy!
9. A Christian Manifesto by Francis Schaeffer – What a great man. I grieve when I read Schaeffer’s work and inevitably always have the same question, “Why didn’t more people listen to him?” This book will light a fire under you, and if you’ve not read much about worldview, it is a great place to start. I love how he begins the book, and it sums up why we are where we are today: “The basic problem of the Christians in this country in the last eighty years or so, in regard to society and in regard to government, is that they have seen things in bits and pieces instead of totals.” Get thee a copy!
10. Boasting in Weakness by Rick Thomas – I have a funny story behind this book: I have no idea who gave it to me. I took a class this summer in which we self-counseled and posted all of our stuff for the entire class to see over the course of three months. A classmate (or professor, for all I know!) anonymously sent it to me. When I opened it, I laughed! I’m so thankful for this little book, will use it in the counseling room, and am grateful to whomever my mystery sender is! The Lord ministered to me greatly through it.
11. Discipling a Fool’s Heart by Daniel Berger II – This book is fantastic. I’ve been a parent for eighteen years, and I have seen things dramatically shift in the church to the point where new parents lack a theology of parenting, don’t understand their role as parents, and also don’t ask for help. Dr. Berger lays out a strong theology for Christian parenting that has been lacking: he teaches a biblical anthropology, “the only wise strategy of grace,” and warns about the danger of foolish parenting. He threads throughout the book the reality that the goal of Christian parenting is to lead a child into a covenantal relationship with Christ through faith. A must-read!
12. Teaching Your Child to Pay Attention by Daniel Berger II – I had the honor of endorsing this book, and I believe it would benefit many churches to turn this book into a Sunday school curriculum. It’s imperative to have a theology of parenting and children, but then you need to build on it. Using Proverbs 4:20-27, Dr. Berger demonstrates that, “From the start, Proverbs both establishes the high priority of learning to pay attention and states the clear truth that everyone’s direction in life derives from one’s preferred, treasured, and sustained objects of attention.”

Here is my endorsement:

“Christians today urgently need to return to God’s sufficient wisdom in every area of life, especially in developing a truly biblical theology of parenting, which includes a robust biblical anthropology of children. We are witnessing, in real time, the consequences of the world’s false and destructive wisdom applied in parenting, particularly in the area of inattentiveness that children naturally struggle with. In Teaching Children to Pay Attention, Dr. Berger skillfully points his readers back to Scripture, showing that a child’s inattentiveness is not abnormal but part of their immature, foolish nature, thus revealing the condition of their spiritual heart. He demonstrates from Proverbs that a parent’s God-given responsibility is to lovingly direct and train their children to give their attention to things that, with the Spirit’s help, will cultivate a heart that treasures and trusts God, thus shaping mature, godly character. Demonstrating the supreme wisdom of Scripture and the shortcomings and false claims of secular approaches, Dr. Berger equips his readers with wisdom, practical how-tos, discernment, and a renewed awe of the sufficiency of God’s Word.”

As mentioned, I have a growing stack of books for 2026, starting with a few I hope to finish from 2025. My eyes are often bigger than my stomach!