24 Books I Plan to Read in 2024

Taking a journey through an engaging book is a soul-nurturing, mind-stretching adventure. Charles W. Eliot contends, “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”

My appreciation for reading was slow to develop. But when it emerged, it surged. As a teenager, I perceived reading to be a nuisance and somewhat of a necessary evil to attain decent grades in school. However, at some point early in my college experience, I learned to value the gift of reading, not just for assignments or entertainment, but for personal growth and development.

As a pastor, I need to read widely to stay current and to speak with fresh relevance on a variety of topics. More importantly, I need books like I need food, to satisfy cognitive hunger and to probe intellectual curiosity. Books stimulate my thinking, exercise my memory muscles, and challenge my presuppositions.

As I grow older, I continue to find that reading is relaxing, engaging, and often inspirational. The discipline of reading not only exercises my mind, it expands my thinking.

Each year I read a variety of genres including fiction, spirituality, theology, history, and biography. Typically, I keep from three to five books going at the same time, a practice that was recommended by Opal Lovett, one of the most influential faculty members at Jacksonville State from my college years. This approach invites a variety of authors to be conversation partners in my internal dialogue.

I also intentionally read books I can’t entirely agree with. Rather than making me combative, the practice of reading opposing viewpoints challenges me to test my assumptions and it familiarizes me with a variety of perspectives. This discipline equips me to dialogue and debate intelligibly, and not just emotively.

Around the beginning of the year, I make a list of books that I plan to read during the coming year. While I expect to read 30-40 books this year, I have already compiled a list of 24 books for my reading list in 2024:

1. The Little Liar by Mitch Albom (Harper, 2023).
2. Ship Watch: A Savannah Novel by Johnathon Scott Barrett (Moonshine Cove Publishing, 2023).
3. Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry by Ruth Haley Barton (Intervarsity Press, 2018).
4. Hard and Holy Work: A Lenton Journey through the Book of Exodus by Mary Alice Whistell and Tyler D. Mayfield (Westminster John Knox Press, 2024).
5. Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt by Arthur Brooks (Broadside Books, 2019).
6. How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks (Random House, 2023).
7. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brené Brown (Hazelden Publishing, 2022).
8. Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus. Become like him. Do as he did by John Mark Comer (WaterBrook, 2024).
9. The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? By Jim David and Michael Graham (Zondervan, 2023).
10. Wresting with Doubt, Finding Faith by Adam Hamilton (Abingdon Press, 2023).
11. Remember Henry Harris: Lost Icon of a Revolution: A Story of Hope and Self-Sacrifice in America by Sam Heys (Black Belt Books, 2019).
12. Anxiety, Depression, and Jesus: Finding Hope in All Things by Aaron Hoover (Westbow Press, 2023).
13. Wounded Pastors: Navigating Burnout, Finding Healing, and Discerning the Future of Your Ministry by Carol Howard and James Fenimore (Westminster John Knox Press, 2024).
14. The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy: and the Path to a Shared American Future by Robert Jones (Simon and Schuster, 2023).
15. Walter Brueggemann’s Prophetic Imagination: A Theological Biography by Conrad Kanagy (Fortress Press, 2023).
16. Searching for Certainty: Finding God in the Disruptions of Life by Shelly Miller (Bethany House Publishers, 2020).
17. All My Knotted Up Life: A Memoir by Beth Moore (Tyndale House Publishing, 2023).
18. Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America by Russell Moore (Sentinel, 2023).
19. Dancing in the Darkness: Spiritual Lessons for Thriving in Turbulent Times by Otis Moss III (Simon and Schuster, 2024).
20. Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others without Losing the Best of Who You Are by Lysa Terkeurst (Thomas Nelson, 2022).
21. When the Moon Turns Blue: A Novel by Pamela Terry (Ballentine Books, 2023).
22. The Narrow Path: How the Subversive Way of Jesus Satisfies Our Souls by Rich Villodas (WaterBrook, 2024).
23. Along the Journey by Mark O. Wilbanks (Wilbanks Books, 2023).
24. What’s So Amazing About Grace? (Revised and updated) by Philip Yancey (Zondervan, 2023).

Whether you are a fast reader or a slow reader, a hard print reader or an e-book reader, read for quality, not quantity. Richard Steele observed, “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”

I hope your life is enriched by the books you choose in 2024!

(Barry Howard serves as the pastor of the Church at Wieuca in Atlanta. He also serves as a columnist and leadership coach with the Center for Healthy Churches.)