My Five (or Maybe Six, or Seven) Best Reads from 2024

 

Make sure to read the big reveal about my book at the end of this post!
 
I read many fewer books in 2024 than I usually do. This was on account of my wife’s illness with glioblastoma, and her death in May. I didn’t read a single book that entire six-month period. Since then, slowly at first, but eventually often, and with pleasure, I began to read again. Here—from my shorter than usual 2024 list are five of my favorites from 2024, rather than the ten I usually offer. Though I couldn’t help but sneak a few more in on the fringes.
 
ONE: I’ve been reading and rereading many books about the history of Yahweh, the God of Israel, and about the history of Judaism and monotheism. I’ve come to the conclusion—widely shared in scholarly circles—that although monotheism is written “back” into the Hebrew Bible, it was actually a late invention. While monotheism might have been a minority view at the time Judah went into exile, it did not win broad support until just before or during the Hasmonean era.
 Last year Yonatan Adler’s The Origins of Judaism: An Archaeological-Historical Reappraisal, made my list, and I would still recommend it as a must read for all ministers and interested lay people. I read it again in 2024 just for the pleasure of it.
 
I also reread Jurgen van Oorschot and Markus Witte (eds) The Origins of Yahwism. It brings together many scholars, each with a slightly different take on where and when Yahweh became a god (one among many) in Israel’s orbit. But all the scholars agree that somewhere along the line, a tribal god became Israel’s special God, and eventually the seed out of which Jewish monotheism evolved. Even though both books were 2024 rereads, they were still two of the two most engaging books I read this year. 

TWO: Science fiction is my go-to, get-away-from-it-all, escape reading. I’ve enjoyed Jame’s Corey’s Expanse series, though after about five books I tired of it. Now Corey comes out with a new series, titled “The Captive’s War.” The first book, The Mercy of Gods, was fabulous. Great character development, great plotting, and even some Hebrew Bible memes related especially to exile. Very intelligent. 
I have a runner up in this category. Riley August’s The Last Gifts of the Universe, is a lively, often silly, fun take on staring down an apocalypse. You will encounter spaceships and ancient artifacts, a dark, dark enemy and a very nice cat. This book doesn't take itself too seriously, doesn't engage in tons of speculative description of tech or engage in long, boring descriptions of battles. And yet . . . the end is coming. 

THREE: My kids buy me books sometimes. Usually, I think they do so in order to expand my reading beyond my favorite niches. The last such book was Torrey Peters’ Detransition, Baby. It wasn’t really a fun read—the subculture Peters describes definitely has its “downs,” along with its highs. But it was a compelling story, well-told, and it invited me to see things from something other than my cis-liberal comfort zone.

FOUR: My fourth book is Dave Warnock’s Childish Things: A Memoir. Warnock details his life as a minister in a very conservative evangelical church. He also explains why he eventually left the ministry and lost his faith. I liked this one for the insight it gave me about a kind of evangelicalism I had little experience with as an evangelical minister myself. In fact, it was very difficult for me to identify with nearly anything in Warnock’s tradition—including the fact that he became a minister without any formal training. However, Warnock’s struggles with faith, with a God who could but does not answer prayers, with children enmeshed in toxic churches, and with abusive ministers—all of it was fascinating and illuminating.

 
FIVE: Finally, are looking for a book about something that you never thought much about? Perhaps a book full of fascinating insights about a time long ago? Try Richard Manning’s, Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization. It is a review of the layered and complex interaction between Hunter-Gatherer cultures and Agricultural cultures in our ancient past, and how those interactions still influence our lives today. 

 
AND DON’T MISS: The best book of 2025 will my new novel, Inyoni and the Pale Man, to be published by Archway Press, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. This historical novel tells the story of Pieter, a young Dutch schoolteacher who gets mixed up with Boers, girls, and Africans on the eve of the Boer-Anglo-African War. Pieter wants to be a good man, but discovers this is impossible. Look here—and on my Facebook page—for more information. I’ll keep you informed!