Words

I’m trying to calm my anxiety that this year is nearly over. Late November and I never even decided what I wanted to do. I know I had planned to spend more time having coffee and lunch with friends. See more bands. Maybe return to Uganda or India. Go to church more.

Looking at the year from this side of it, I definitely worked more than ever. Took more call nights and weekends. Visited zero new vacation spots. Took fewer days off. Watched more reality TV.

I did read a lot though.

I mean a lot. And I’m not sure why. One hundred six books so far this year. And I just picked up four more from the library. So maybe reading has been my theme of the year. It has kept me grounded and sane. In this season of thanks I am grateful for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and Barnes and Noble for keeping me up to date on the newest releases. For several book reading friends who either know me well or have similar taste or both. And for the writers themselves. Fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, all of it.

One hundred six is too many to review in this short piece. Friend me on Goodreads or StoryGraph to see them all. But here are twenty-two of my favorites that I would recommend to any of you. Also, although I haven’t read Paula’s book yet, at least ten nurses at St Luke’s Hospital, all fans of romantasy, have taken my advice and loved it. So it is certainly a recommendation as well!

⁻       The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi- Wright Thompson (Fills in a lot of details that I didn’t know about Emmett Till’s murder)

⁻       What You Are Looking For is in the Library- Michiko Aoyama

⁻       The God of the Woods- Liz Moore (spooky and well-written)

⁻       Tell Me Everything- Elizabeth Strout (I’m forever grateful to a friend who introduced me to this author. She is her own category for me at this point. I have read four so far)

⁻       How to Love Better- Yung Pueblo (surprisingly good)

⁻       Broken Country- Claire Leslie Hall

⁻       Waiting on the Moon- Peter Wolf (From the J Geils band. He knew everyone)

⁻       The Antidote- Karen Russell- (top five of the year- just read it)

⁻       Dream Count- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ( I just really love Africa)

⁻       The Golden Road- William Dalrymple (Changes what you think you know about India and history)

⁻       Sister, Sinner- Claire Hoffman (Great biography about my distant relative Amiee Semple McPherson)

⁻       The Dream Hotel- Laila Lalami (another top five- dystopia but not really- it’s coming)

⁻       Everything is Tuberculosis- John Green (Even more important since US Aid has been dismantled)

⁻       Beautyland- Marie- Helene Bertino (definitely top five- don’t read anything about it- just read it)

⁻       The Second Chance Convenience Store - Kim Ho-yeon (in the absence of good current Christian writing, the several gentle Korean and Japanese novels I read this year make me feel expansive and open and connected)

⁻       Are You Mad at Me? - Meg Josephson (I read two books about fawning that really struck a chord)

⁻       People Like Us- Jason Mott (so clever and thought- provoking)

⁻       Vera, or Faith - Gary Shteygart (top five- I love this so much)

⁻       All the Way to the River- Elizabeth Gilbert (really resonated- I was surprised- so good)

⁻       Buckeye- Patrick Ryan (yes, worth the hype)

⁻       The Greatest Possible Good- Ben Brooks- (top five- a much better version of the book I wrote)

⁻       Sonic Life- Thurston Moore- (my favorite of the several really good rock memoirs I read this year) 

Next year I plan to read less and live and think more. Maybe journal. Work less and take fewer nights of call. We’ll see what happens though. Life is anything but predictable.

Holy One,

Thank you for our minds and our hearts. For the written word. And for writing’s ability to inspire, inform, uplift and share experiences. Amen

Brandon is a member of Peace Church and is going to come to worship in person more often in 2026.