FAVORITE NON-FICTION OF 2021

 

Courtesy of Enclave Publishing

Yesterday, I shared my favorite fiction books of this year. Today, I'm dealing with non-fiction. I mentioned I had a goal of reading 12 such books, and came just short of doubling that target.

Since a lot of the fiction authors I read are friends on Facebook, and I don't want any to think I like another author better than them, I put the lists in alphabetic order by author. I usually don't have that situation with non-fiction writers, I am quicker to put them in order from my favorite and down. This year, I did some debating. Partly because I do know one of the authors on my list personally and that my wife has met another. And while there might be books I want to promote and have everybody read it, this year I'm hoping you will consider getting (or at least checking out and reading) all ten of these.

I mentioned earlier this week that I reread three non-fiction books. I debated considering them in my top ten list, and if i did, all three would be in the top ten. All three of them, by the way, made my list the first time I read them.  So I decided to leave them off the list. But which books are they? I'll gladly tell you. They're, in alphabetic order by title:

1. Getting to Know The Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction (2nd edition) by Bryan Litfin. (My previous listing may have been from the 1st edition.)
2. Living The Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing by C.J. Mahaney.
   
3. The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. 

So here is my list of non-fiction for this year:

1. Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity by Alisa Childers. 
   
2. Beyond Poverty: Multiplying Sustainable Community Development by Terry Dalrymple.
3. Calling on the Name of the Lord: A Biblical Theology of Prayer by J. Gary Millar (New Studies in Biblical Theology, No. 38).
   
4. Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth: 12 Questions Christians Should Ask About Social Justice by Thaddeus J. Williams.
5. Corporate Worship: How the Church Gathers as God's People by Matt Merker (9Marks: Building Healthy Churches).
   
6. The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ by Randy Singer.
7. Facing Snarls and Scowls: Preaching through Hostility, Apathy, and Adversity in Church Revitalization by Brian Croft and James B. Carroll.
8. Faith Seeking Freedom: Christian Libertarian Answers to Tough Questions by Dr. Norman Horn, Doug Stuart, Kerry Baldwin, and Dick Clark.
9. Voice of a Prophet: Who Speaks For God? by A.W. Tozer.
10. When Faith is Forbidden: 40 Days on the Frontlines with Persecuted Christians by Todd Nettleton. 

You'll notice that unlike my fiction list, all I gave on this list is the title, author, and if applicable the series it's in. That's because in the case of nine of them, you can tell what the book is about with just the title and subtitle. The exception is #6, The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ, which has no subtitle. The book is written by attorney and pastor Randy Singer, and looks at key confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees.

If you want to know the order I placed them, yell, and I'll let you know. And if you've been a faithful follower of this blog and have been reading all the entries for at least the past four days, you'll know which one was number one.

Which books have you read and been blessed by? Which of these have you read? Which ones will be on the top of your reading list? And which one of these is written by an author that has shown up frequently on my favorite fiction lists?