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Every year at this time, I go back through my Amazon orders, my Audible subscription, and my bookshelf to reflect on everything I’ve read. It is a fantastic exercise to see what has occupied your mind over the past twelve months. Reviewing also helps me form a loose plan for what I want to dive into in the coming year—focusing more on the topics I’d like to explore further. This review always helps me curate a list of my favorite reads. I’ll keep the intro short and jump straight into the books with a brief description and a few thoughts on each. Biography Each year, I try to tackle one long biography. My previous lists have often included works by the poet T.S. Eliot; I keep his Four Quartets on my nightstand. This year, a friend gifted me a two-part biography of Eliot’s life. Since there are no rules for reading, I started with the second volume, which chronicles Eliot’s later life and conversion. Eliot After The Waste Land by Robert Crawford Crawford explores T.S. Eliot’s life and work from the publication of The Waste Land onward. Rather than treating Eliot as a figure frozen in modernist despair (the primary theme of his earliest and most well-known work), Crawford shows a poet continually changing—emotionally, spiritually, and artistically. The book traces Eliot’s conversion to Anglican Christianity, his evolving views on culture and society, and the development of later works such as Ash-Wednesday and Four Quartets. Crawford presents Eliot as a disciplined craftsman seeking order, tradition, and meaning after personal breakdown and cultural fragmentation.Host Note: It’s a long read, but one of my suggestions for reading is to find a writer you like and read absolutely everything they’ve written—and everything written about them. I’ve been on an Eliot binge for a few years now.Study on the Theology of the Body In 2025, I’ve been working on a new book project that I hope to share more about in early 2026. As part of my research, I have been reading extensively about health, fitness, and a theology of the human body. For such a universal topic, it is surprising how rarely Christians think about it deeply. There is often a subtle "Gnosticism" that imagines the spirit as sacred while the body is just physical material to be replaced by something better. That isn’t actually what Christianity teaches. While I’ve read many books on this topic this year, these four were particularly helpful: The Theology of the Body by Jean-Claude Larchet Larchet presents a distinctly Orthodox account of the human body grounded in patristic theology. He argues that the body is not a temporary shell for the soul but an essential, God-given dimension of the human person. Drawing on Scripture and the Greek Fathers, he explores creation, the fall, illness, ascetic practice, and resurrection.Host Note: It is a very small book, but Larchet makes a concise case for why Christianity should value the physical body more than any other religion.The Body: A Study in Pauline Theology by J. A. T. Robinson This is the most academic book on the list—a monograph from the 1950s. Robinson examines the Apostle Paul’s understanding of the body against common misconceptions of Christian dualism. He argues that Paul does not oppose body and soul but views the human person as an integrated whole. The book traces how sin, redemption, and resurrection are worked out in and through the body.Love Thy Body by Nancy Pearcey Pearcey critiques modern cultural views that separate the "self" from the body. She argues that contemporary debates over sexuality, gender, and bioethics are rooted in a dualistic worldview that treats the body as disposable. As she does so well, Pearcey contrasts this with a Christian

Doug Basler is married to his wife, Katie, and is the father of Addie, Jackson, and Isaac. He currently serves as pastor of Union Park Presbyterian Church in Des Moines and First Presbyterian Church of Grimes. His pastoral ministry has also taken him to congregations in Aberdeen, Washington, and Cooke City, Montana. Doug recently completed a Doctor of Ministry in the Sacred Art of Writing at Western Theological Seminary and holds degrees from Westmont College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He is the author of All Swirling and Weaving: Reflections on Reading Fiction and Growing in Faith, a work that explores how attentive engagement with literature can shape Christian imagination and spiritual formation. A lifelong sports fan, Doug roots enthusiastically for the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago Bears, and the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Author Tommy Brown joins me to talk about his new book, The Speed of Soul: Four Rhythms for a Quiet Life. We explore what it means to love deeply, live quietly, mind our own affairs, and work with our hands. We all feel like the speed of life is accelerating, but how does the Bible call us to a different way of living?Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Janet Kobobel Grant is the President and Founder of Books & Such Literary management. She is also an experienced writer and has experience within top publishing positions.Janet and I have had the privilege of working together on several publishing projects. She joins me on the podcast to talk about developing a great book proposal and why the hook is so important to publishers. She also shares details on a new writing initiative her agency is launching to help authors take the next step in their publishing career. You can learn more at booksandsuch.com/writing-intensive.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From the Graveyard of the Pacific to the paradise of the Polynesian Islands…This is the true story of a journey with real people, real places, and the adventures that inevitably follow.Katherine and Andrés leave lucrative jobs and a stable life to accomplish his dream of sailing the world.She worries what awaits them beyond the horizon: Failure? Pirates? Poverty? Will they make it to the South Pacific, and will they survive the voyage? (Better yet, will their marriage?)The epic expedition puts them face-to-face with waves that threaten to take their lives, whales that take their breath away, and strangers who show serendipitous hospitality.Katherine, a natural storyteller, invites you aboard to experience first-hand an immersive, multimedia journey that places you on deck as they cross the world’s largest ocean.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

These days, brokenness feels more comfortable to discuss than holiness. It’s easier to say that we are messy than holy, that healing is a long way off. To say that we are holy seems like one step away from holier than thou, and no one ever wants to be that.Holiness Here offers practical and inspiring ways to transform your life by helping you see the holiness within your ordinary, everyday life. Holiness isa warm invitation to a new and better way to livea calling for our lives in Scripturea search that marks the life of a Christian (even when we don’t live fully into that reality)a most basic urge―to live and love differently that we did before―because what we believe changes the way we actAs a fellow pilgrim on the journey, Karen Stiller weaves together captivating stories, theological insights, and spiritual reflections to help you discover holiness in the mundane moments of your life. With her engaging style and accessible voice, Karen invites you to embark on a journey of spiritual growth, discipleship, and wisdom. You will explore holiness from a fresh perspective, from the importance of community and the role of the church to ways to cultivate a deeper relationship with God and live out your faith. Karen also explores topics like the fruit of the Spirit, money and work, hospitality, and humility.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Life in the Negative World:Learning how to live in today's new social and cultural environment will require examination, trial and error, and adaptation over time. But there are ways to live with integrity and follow Christ today, even in a negative world.From a peak in church attendance in the mid-20th century, Christianity has been on a trajectory of decline in the United States. Once positive toward Christianity and Christian moral teachings, cultural shifts toward the mid-90s led many to adopt a more neutral tone toward the Christian faith, seeing it as one option among many in a pluralistic public square. Today, however, Christianity is viewed negatively, and being known as a Christian often means a lower social status in elite society. Christian morality is openly repudiated and viewed as a threat to the new moral order.In Life in the Negative World, author Aaron M. Renn looks at the lessons from Christian cultural engagement over the past 70 years and suggests specific strategies for churches, institutions, and individuals to live faithfully in the "negative" world—a culture opposed to Christian values and teachings. And since there is no one-size-fits-all solution, living as a follower of Christ in the new, negative world and being missionally engaged will require a diversity of strategies.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we close out the year and finish our Christmas shopping amidst a flurry of holiday parties, I took a moment to reflect on my reading over the past twelve months. Each year, I enjoy compiling a list of my reads, as it helps me appreciate the work and thoughts that have shaped my year. I reviewed the shelves in my office, scrolled through my Audible purchases, and checked my Amazon cart history.It’s fascinating how the books I’ve read encapsulate my growth and development over the year.This year was particularly focused on completing and releasing my second book, A Sharp Compassion. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has purchased the book since its release in September. If you’ve read it, I would love to hear your thoughts—perhaps you might consider leaving an Amazon review.Additionally, I completed my final year of the Doctor of Ministry program in the Art of Sacred Writing in 2024. This program involved extensive reading over the past three years, alongside my work on a novel. I’m still figuring out what that book will cover, so stay tuned for updates.Toward the end of this year, I’ve also been working on an exciting new YouTube project that I look forward to sharing with you soon. All this to say, it’s been a uniquely busy year. Despite the hustle and bustle, I’ve discovered some remarkable books that I want to share in my annual list of best reads.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Judeo-Christian faith has long been formed by books and reading. From synagogue scrolls to circulating letters, believers have been nurtured, disciplined, and matured through ongoing conversations in the form of written words. We are people of The Book, and alongside it is an ever-growing shelf of more books.I am a reader, in large part, because I am a believer. From the literature of the Second Temple period to the writings of Lewis, Chesterton, and Peterson, books have had an incalculable influence on my life and faith. Our house shows it. We converted our formal dining room into a reading room lined with bookcases. There’s a built-in bookcase in our entryway filled with books. My home study is lined with books. And much to my wife’s annoyance, there’s usually a pile beneath my side of the bed. I’m not even counting the two-credit-a-month audible subscription I’ve kept for nearly a decade.We have a rule in my house—if my kids will read it—I’ll buy it. There’s no book budget. It’s always a yes to more books. (Thankfully our pace of reading has kept the budget in check.) For all the books we’ve purchased, my largest investment is not on my physical shelves. Since seminary, my largest book purchases have taken place through Logos Bible Software. Logos Bible Software for Families and PastorsMy first copy of Logos came on a pack of CDs, and I just pulled up my order history to confirm that my first book purchased on Logos was in March 2010. I’ve been using Logos for almost 15 years, and I use it almost every day.Over the years, I have developed a strategy for book buying. If I want to read a book straight through, usually in our reading room or lying in bed, I usually purchase a physical copy. If I may need to reference the book in the future, I buy it in Logos. My Logos library currently contains more than 2,700 books.The key to understanding the value of Logos is recognizing it’s two things: a tool and a library. Of course, there is the benefit of having access to this library anywhere I take my phone or laptop, but these days, most books can easily be purchased in a digital format. The real value is that Logos offers a suite of tools to help you organize your study of the Bible and your growing Biblical library. It’s the tools and the books that make it powerful.For pastors, I’ll go so far as to say that I think Logos is indispensable. In its early days, Logos seemed mostly designed for clergy and academics. But over the last decade, Logos has made impressive strides to make its software a tool for pastors and any individual or family serious about the Bible. Recently, I’m not the only one using Logos.Each year, my son’s school hosts a history day. Each child is assigned a famous person from the past. My son was assigned the Apostle Peter (it’s a classical Christian school). One of the first things we did was open Logos’ factbook and search for facts about Peter. I was excited to give him not only an answer to his question but also to show him how anyone can study and learn more about scripture.I think every believer and family needs to think about the resources they turn to and the value of the tools needed for serious study.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike Blackaby is a pastor and church planter in Victoria, BC, Canada. He earned a PhD in worldview and apologetics from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and was formerly a pastor to young adults and current church planter.Daniel Blackaby earned a PhD in Christianity and the arts and a Masters in philosophy, apologetics, and worldview from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He runs The Collision, a multi-media ministry equipping Christians for cultural engagement.They join me to discuss their new book, Straight to the Heart: Communicating the Gospel in an Emotionally Driven Culture.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Justin Gravitt is a disciple making leader and writer. Justin has served with The Navigators since 2000 and is the founder and executive director of the Dayton Disciple Makers Network, as well as the host of the popular Practitioners’ Podcast. He’s an avid Reds fan, loves the beach, and Dad-joking his kids. He lives in Dayton, Ohio, with his wife, Kristen, and their four children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I'm excited for today to be the official release of A Sharp Compassion. It's now available wherever books are sold. In our episode today, I'm reading from the final pages of the book and suggesting a couple of ways you can help with sharing the book. A big thanks to everyone who has already pre-ordered it. It means so much to me.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the last few weeks, I've be releasing the first three chapters of A Sharp Compassion in audio form on the podcast. I hope its been a chance for you to learn more about the book and to better understand the significance of offense in the Bible. You can learn more about the book at asharpcompassion.com.It would mean a lot to me if you would pick up a copy of the book. Buy a copy.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the next few weeks, I'll be releasing the first three chapters of A Sharp Compassion in audio form on the podcast. I hope its a chance for you to learn more about the book and to better understand the significance of offense in the Bible. You can learn more about the book at asharpcompassion.com.It would mean a lot to me if you would pick up a copy of the book. Buy a copy.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the next few weeks, I'll be releasing the first three chapters of A Sharp Compassion in audio form on the podcast. I hope its a chance for you to learn more about the book and to better understand the significance of offense in the Bible. You can learn more about the book at asharpcompassion.com.It would mean a lot to me if you would pick up a copy of the book. Buy a copy.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices