My favorite books of 2023
Last year I wrote a post at the end of the year with my favorite books. It was so fun looking back and creating a record of what I read. It made me review my notes and key takeaways. I’ve gone back and referenced it so many times since I wrote it last year. And some of my friends and other people I know reached out and sent me their list of favorite books which was great because some of those books helped shape my reading list for this year. So I decided to do another favorite book list for 2023!
This might have been my favorite year of books ever. You’ll notice a ton of biographies and non-fiction books of historical events. Voltaire said it like this, “History never repeats itself. Man always does.”
C.S. Lewis on why we need to read more old books: “It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books."
I’ve heard it said before, “If you want to learn something new, then read something old.”
These books this year have helped me learn about perspectives I didn’t have before, learn things I didn’t know, and even connect with people I otherwise wouldn’t have known. In no particular order here’s my list of my favorite books I read in 2023:
Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation by Collin Hansen
I have always been a huge fan of Keller’s writing and have learned so much from him on how to reach people who are far from God in large urban cities. This book not only tells about his early life growing up, but also gives context to the people and books that shaped his theology and his spiritual understanding. I loved reading about how his development and formative years at Bucknell University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and then later at Westminster Theological Seminary helped develop his burden for major city centers like New York City and the crossroads between faith and culture. This book contains hundreds of references to other books, giving tons of insights to the books and authors that shaped Tim Keller.
The Problem with Pain by C.S. Lewis
The number one question that atheists and unbelievers ask is, “If God is good and all-powerful, why does he allow his creatures to suffer pain?” Lewis addresses that question in his signature way of writing with compassion, wisdom, intelligence and wit. This is a masterclass in apologetics. Anytime I read something by C.S. Lewis it takes me a little longer because I feel like I constantly have to read and then reread to understand, but it’s worth every minute. I’ve heard it said that we don’t remember books, we remember sentences. Here’s two sentences form this book I won’t ever forget:
“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
“Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free-wills involve, and you find that you have excluded life itself."
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
Goldsmith is one of the top executive coaches in the world. He has coached more CEOs of Fortune 500 companies than anybody else. What he’s learned from these top leaders he’s worked with is that the habits and behaviors that made them so successful are now the things that are holding them back from growing in their leadership. He describes some of the behaviors all great leaders have and how it actually hurts the people they’re leading. This book was an eye-opening, convicting, game-changer for me. Sometimes it felt like he was reading my mail. I love books like this that make you stop and self reflect and figure out how to begin to immediately apply the insights I’m learning about. One of my favorite quotes from the book, “When somebody has an idea or makes a suggestion you’re either going to learn more or learn nothing. But you’re not going to learn less. So you might as well hear them out.”
This book is why I love reading so much. There was one idea in this book that solved a problem I had been wrestling with on my own team for months. If I got nothing else from this book it was worth it for that one idea. This book uses the analogy of a Formula One pit crew and teamwork and speed that is required to function at a high level. And then applies that speed to organizations. Often times there is a myth that moving quickly means you have to lose quality, but that’s not always the case. This book helps breathe life into that.
Learning From a Legend: What Gardner C. Taylor Can Teach Us About Preaching by Jared E. Alcantara
Garner Taylor is a legendary preacher from Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn, NY who died in 2015. This book tells his life story and shares the lessons he’s learned using six different lenses: pain, redemption, eloquence, apprenticeship, context and holiness. Pastoring in New York City for many years Taylor understood the importance of contextualizing the gospel. He said, “One does not have to make the gospel relevant to a time. The gospel is relevant. On one side of the continuim is the timelines of the gospel for all humanity. On the other side is the timelessness of the gospel for particular communities at particular parts of time. Many of us know how to negotiate the timeless, all-humanity side of the continuum. We need more help negotiating the timely, locally contingent side of the continuum.”
The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley by Jimmy Soni
I’m a huge fan of books on start ups and Silicon Valley. There is so much gold in some of the wild ideas that have produced those incredible companies. At the beginning of PayPal their team included Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, Reid Hoffman, Julie Anderson and others. That is basically the same people who have gone on to be a part of ultra successful other businesses like Tesla, SpaceX, LinkedIn and a ton of others. They were all on the same team at one point and the story of how PayPal began and evolved is remarkable. There are so many lessons on what to do and what not to do when building an organization. I admire their scrappiness and get it done mindset that so many of these successful Silicon Valley start ups have. There are some wild stories in here. One of my favorites is when PayPal was first starting and they had tons of fraud issues they got one of the founders sisters who lived in Wisconsin to gather some friends at her house and become the customer service support team.
The Meaning of it All: Thoughts of a Citizen by Richard Feynman
Feynman is considered the master of 20th century physics. And even today you have probably used the Feyman technique for learning without even knowing it. This book focuses more on his human side rather than his physicist side. This book is based on a three part lecture series he gave at the University of Washington in 1963 that addressed the political, social and religious issues of the day and how he was processing them. He’s a brilliant writer and thinker so it’s an easy read and has a ton of his humor and wit packed in. I definitely don’t understand most of his physics insights, but I appreciated this book reading how he wrestled with these major issues of the day (and today) in real time. He talks about the age old conflict between science and religion and even dabbles into politics and gives his reasons why we distrust politicians as a society. I love reading books like this that stretch my thinking and make me see things in a different way.
The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Tim Keller
After reading the biography of Tim Keller all of his other books make even more sense to me now. This particular book is probably Keller’s most read book (at least by non Christians and spiritual seekers and even skeptics.) The first part of the book Keller introduces questions and beliefs that he has gotten over the years in his Sunday night Q&A in New York City. He used to hold these at his church and invite anyone to come and ask him questions about faith, God, religion and other topics relating to Christianity. In part one of the book he introduces these topics, things like: The Church has caused so much injustice, science has disproved Christianity, how can a loving God send people to hell? Then in part two of this book Keller addresses these ideas using historical evidence and giving a clear explanation of the Gospel and what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. New York City is one of the world’s major cultural, financial and commercial hubs. And after living in the city I have such a burden and conviction that revival in that city is a key to unlock what God wants to do across our world today. In the book Keller uses real life examples and stories from people he has interacted with in the city to illustrate what doing ministry in an urban area like NYC is like. One of Keller’s core beliefs if the thought of there being a third way- not just the left or right. He says this in the book, “The Biblical view of things is resurrection- not a future that is just consolation for the life we never had but restoration of the life you always wanted.”
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord
Fascinating book that gives a play by play description of the 12 hours that the Titanic sank and the aftermath. This book was written in 1955 and has quotes and stories collected from 60 passengers who were actually on board the Titanic when it hit the iceberg and eventually sank. This happened over 100 years ago, but there still seems to be a fascination with the story. This was the ship that was said to be “unsinkable.” This book shines light on the the social issues and dynamics that our world is still wrestling with today- on the Titanic, the passengers were divided into classes – first class, the middle-class second class, and the working-class third class. It also describes the difference in responses in the two boats that were nearby when the Titanic was going down- the Californian and the Carpathian. So many fascinating lessons. Once again, “History does not repeat itself, but man does.”
Leadership in Turbulent Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin
This is a book that has been on my shelf for a few years and I finally read it this year. Wow! Goodwin won a Pultizer-prize for this book and she is considered the best writer of presidential history ever. Can’t believe I’ve never read this book until this year. I can’t recommend it enough. In this book she uses the lives of four presidents- Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson to give a masterclass on leadership. She uses stories from their upbringing, tragedies they faced, favorable breaks they recieved and their sufferings to give insights on things like- where does ambition come from? Are leaders made or born? The book goes into detail each of the iconic things they faced as leaders- Emancipation Proclamation, The Great Depression, the Coal Miners strike in 1902, assassination of JFK and Franklin D. Roosevelt developing polio. A few quotes from the book:
Abraham Lincoln said, “I must die or be better.”
On crisis management Theodore Roosevelt said, “It is never well to take drastic action if the result can be achieved with equal efficiency in less drastic fashion.”
Goodwin closes the book with this, “Scholars who have studied the development of leaders have situated resilience, the ability to sustain ambition in the face of frustration, at the heart of potential leadership growth.”
The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society by Henri Nouwen
Nouwen is one of my favorite writers. His writing has gotten me through some very difficult seasons. Someone once told me that when you find a stream that’s feeding your soul, keep drinking. That’s what Henri Nouwen’s writing is to me. If you’ve ever served in ministry in any capacity, weather a volunteer or full time staff member you understand the depths of pain that often come with a ministry assignment. This book will encourage you and remind you that often it’s the suffering that is actually the starting point for what God wants to do through us. Nouwen says, “it’s an illusion to think that a person can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there.” It’s so easy to think we’re leaders because we lead a team or lead a project or a new idea at our church. But Nouwen reminds us, “We are leaders because we face the world with eyes full of expectation, and with the expertise to take away the veil that covers its hidden potential.”
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, on How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel
Thiel is one of the original founders of PayPal and Pantir and considered one of the greatest entrepreneurs and venture capitalist of the last twenty years. He was one of the first investors in Facebook and also has funded companies like SpaceX and LinkedIn. The concept of this book is every time we create something new we go from 0 to 1 and if we don’t continue to build something new and just continue using “best practices” of what we know then we will eventually fail. He discusses how it’s hard to develop new things in large organizations and it’s even harder to do it by yourself. The premise of the book is to continually have a start-up mindset and that you need to work with other people to get stuff done, but you also need to stay small enough that you actually can get stuff done. He says, “From the Founding Fathers in politics to the Royal Society in science, small groups of people bound together by a sense of mission have changed the world for the better.” Sound familiar? :)
What’s So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey
This is a book that has been on my shelf for years, but this past summer my church did a series on grace that sparked me to read it and I’m so glad that I did. Yancey grew up in an ultra conservative, legalistic church environment and once he grew older and grasped the real grace that God wants to extend to each one of us he couldn’t keep it in. He opens the book with a story of a prostitute from Chicago who was in a dire situation with her kids and needed help and someone suggested she go to the local church and ask and her response was, “The church? Why would I ever go there? I am already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse.” This book hits home the fact that you don’t have to be a Christian to build houses, feed the hungry or provide relief. But there is only one thing the world cannot do. It cannot offer grace. The church is the only thing in the world that can provide what every single one of us need and what God sent his son to die to give- GRACE. And if the church isn’t a place where people can find grace then we have failed.
Levels of the Game by John McPhee
This is the first book I’ve ever read by McPhee and it won’t be my last. The book was written in 1969 and tells a narrative of a tennis match between Arthur Ashe and Clark Grabber from the U.S. Open. He gives a brilliant description of their mindset and what they’re thinking during each point. He describes each of their very different backgrounds, childhoods and socio ecomonic statuses and how they have played into the way they approach tennis and this particular match. These guys were friends, but had completely different worldviews, different political views and different places in society in 1968 when this match was played. I originally wanted to read the book because I love tennis, but it turned out to be so much more about human psychology than tennis.
Fierce Leadership by Susan Scott
I wrote about Scott’s other book Fierce Conversations last year, and this book was just as good. She describes the methods in this book as “a bold alternative to the worst “best” practices of business today.” She says, “If you want to become a great leader, gain the capacity to connect with your colleagues and customers at a deep level…or lower your aim.” One of the practices she talks about in the book is getting rid of 360 degree anonymous feedback surveys from our employees and instead practice what she calls “365 face-to-face feedback” which is simply just having face-to-face conversations with those people we work with 365 days a year. She says “organizations are webs of relationships, and relationships are forged one conversation, one meeting, at a time.” This entire book has practical ideas on how to run better meetings, clarify roles and responsibilities, delegate, give vision, have 1:1 meetings and so much more. She speaks to how to do each of those things better by building better relationships with those people around us.
The Cross of Christ by John Stott
This is a long, slow read but worth every minute. Reading this made me stop every few minutes and try and wrap my mind around the depth of what was accomplished for us on the cross. He organizes the book into four parts- Approaching the cross, The heart of the cross, The achievement of the cross and Living under the cross. Then, much like Tim Keller’s books there is a huge reference list at the end of the book of articles and other books that Stott pulled from to write this. Here’s a few quotes from the book:
“The cross demonstrates with equal vividness both his justice in judging sin and his mercy in justifying the sinner.”
“What is common to the biblical concepts of the holiness and the wrath of God is the truth that they cannot coexist with sin. God’s holiness exposes sin; his wrath opposes it. So sin cannot approach God, and God cannot tolerate sin.”
“At the cross Jesus bore the judgment we deserve in order to bring us the forgiveness we do not deserve. On the cross divine mercy and justice were equally expressed and eternally reconciled. God’s holy love was satisfied.”
This is easily in my top 3 favorite books I read this year. When we talk about sending people to the moon we always think about Neil Armstrong and Apollo 11 in 1969. But it was actually the year before in 1968 when the United States sent Apollo 8 to the moon and they became the first human spaceflight to ever reach the moon. Kurson tells the story from the lens of the three astronauts and their families and it reads like a novel, except it actually happened! In1968 Robert Kennedy and MLK were both assassinated. There were political riots in Chicago and across the country and the U.S. was in danger of losing the space race to the Soviet Union. Attempting this was a huge risk and could have ultimately derailed NASA forever. But instead, on Christmas Eve 1968 these three astronauts became the first humans to witness the Earth rising above the moon's surface, and this ultimately led to Apollo 11 the following year. Kurson did hundreds and hundreds of hours of interviews with these astronauts and their families as well as NASA officials and other experts, and he does a masterful job of telling the story where you begin to realize how much was riding on this mission.
Issacson is the best biographer of our time in my mind. He describes details and threads of people’s lives that seem insignificant in isolation, but he has a way of bringing them together to create something helpful and meaningful for the reader. Isaacson used hundreds of personal letters written by Einstein himself to gather the information to write this book. Until reading this book I didn’t realize how much of a mess Einstein’s personal life was. Isaacson did a great job diving into that as well as his family dynamics, relationships, and political and social activism. In 1918 after being married for 11 years to his wife (who was also a physicist) Einstein wanted a divorce and part of their divorce agreement said that he had to give any future Nobel Prize money to his ex-wife. Three years later in 1921 he won the Nobel Prize and gave his wife all of the prize money. Einstein had a way of questioning conventional wisdom and an insane curiosity that set him apart and made him the greatest scientist of the 20th century.
The Motive by Patrick Lencioni
Lencioni is one of my favorite authors and I’ve read most of his books. They’re always short and easy to read with major takeaways that I can implement and get better immediately. If you’ve never read any of his books they’re written in fable format with fictional characters to tell a story and teach a lesson. Then after the fable he always closes by summarizing the points and then gives you real life takeaways to improve your leadership on whatever the topic of the fable was. This particular book focuses on the heart of the leader. He ask really hard questions about why we do what we do and what our heart posture and motive in leading people is. He reminds us that we can’t lead for reasons like trying to get the big office or trying to strive for the title or the perks of senior leadership, but it has to come from a heart to serve and make things better for the people we lead.
Yes another Issacson book on my list. He tells the story of the people who basically invented computers and started the internet- Vannevar Bush, Alan Turing, John von Neumann, J.C.R. Licklider, Doug Engelbart, Robert Noyce, Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, Tim Berners-Lee, and Larry Page. And he starts all the way back in the 1840s with a woman named Ava Lovelace who basically was the first ever computer programmer. A through line in the book is the value of collaboration for innovation to happen. All of these people were able to take ideas from people who came before them and figure out a way to adjust it or add to it to continue innovating. This book drives home a core belief of mine that innovation never happens in isolation. Another interesting note is that in the early days of computer development, men worked more in hardware and women worked in software. The book spends a lot of time talking about Jean Jennings Bartik who received many honors and awards for her role in programming the ENIAC, BINAC and UNIVAC computers which helped to launch the commercial computer industry. She was also one of the six women who created the first general-purpose computer.
The Captain’s Class: A New Theory on Leadership by Sam Walker
This was probably the book that was packed the most learnings and teachings on leadership that I read all year. He conducted research on some of the dominating sports teams in history- the Chicago Bulls, FC Barcelona, San Antonio Spurs, Cuba National Women’s Volleyball team, New York Yankees, Soviet Union ice hockey team, to try and identify the key traits of the captains of these teams. The results were fascinating and often not what I was expecting. The application of the findings extend beyond sports to leadership in any context such as business, church, or anything where you are trying to bring a group of people together to accomplish something. He also references research from Carol Dwecks’s findings on our mindset and Daniel Goleman’s work on emotional intelligence and applies it to these “captains.” Here’s one snippet of ideas from the book on how the best teams communicate:
“When it came to team productivity, the MIT researchers found that a key factor was the level of “energy and engagement” the members displayed in social settings outside formal meetings. In other words, teams that talked intently among themselves in the break room were more likely to achieve superior results at work. “
“The researchers were also able to isolate the data signatures of the “natural leaders” of these productive units, whose scientists called charismatic connectors. The data showed these people circulate actively, engaging people in short, high-energy conversations. They are democratic with their time- communicating with everyone equally and making sure all team members get a chance to contribute.”
Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t by Simon Sinek
Most of you have probably read Start With Why by Simon Sinek. This book is a little different than that one because Sinek focuses more on the team component of leadership and ideas. The main idea from the book is that exceptional leaders prioritize the well-being of their team, and create an environment of trust and collaboration. He uses a combination of stories and science to drive the point home that selfless leaders are the best leaders. No one wants to follow a leader who isn’t willing to sacrifice or serve their team. He does a deep dive into the greed that has haunted businesses after the Great Depression and still continues today. He says “Our confidence to do what’s right is determined by how trusted we feel by our leaders.” He then talks about Dunbar’s number and how nothing builds trust faster than human face-to-face interaction. It’s a great read and challenged me in so many ways to be a better leader, and to work hard at creating an environment where everyone feels valued and trusted.
Greater Than Ever: New York’s Big Comeback by Daniel Doctoroff
If you’ve ever lived in New York City or just enjoy New York City, you will love this book. The author is the former Deputy Mayor of NYC who led the economic comeback after 9/11. This book is not only about the comeback after 9/11, but it also tells the story of the complete transformation of the city. So many of the new housing developments and neighborhoods and jobs in the city today were a result of this dramatic comeback. It’s crazy to think that some of the most populated, growing neighborhoods throughout the city weren’t even around before 9/11. The stories he tells remind me of the can do attitude and adventure that I grew to love about New York City. So many lessons in here on the power of unity and people coming together unselfishly to do the miraculous and rebuild one of the greatest cities in the world.
The Master: Roger Federer by Christopher Clarey
Federer will most likely go down as the greatest tennis player in the history of the sport. Watching him play tennis makes you think that’s what it was like watching Bach play the organ. It looks effortless. This book was neat to learn more about his strategic mind in his personal and business life, off of the tennis court. He signed one of the most unique and lucrative endorsement deals ever with Uniqlo a few years back and it caused a massive wave of legal issues since his RF brand was trademarked by Nike. Federer has always been a private athlete so this book was fun to learn more about his personal life. For example his entire family- wife and four kids, traveled with him year round to almost all of his tournaments. While most professional tennis players isolate themselves on the road so they can focus and be locked in for their matches, Federer has his whole family with him in the same living quarters and he still plays his role of Dad no matter if he’s at home or the night before a championship match at Wimbledon. It was also interesting to hear about some of the tragedy and loss he has had to face in his career including having to fire his long time coach and having another coach die.
Suffering is Never for Nothing by Elisabeth Elliott
In this book Elliott drives home the point that we all go through suffering and we can choose to let it devastate us and destroy us or we can choose to let the suffering lead us to gratitude and joy. She uses personal stories from her own life of her first husband getting murdered on the mission field and her second husband dying of cancer. She describes how these events helped her become more like Christ and how we can use our own suffering to learn how to trust God more. Choosing to trust God with our pain never gets easier. It’s a daily dying to self and decrease of self so that God can increase in my life. This book was so personal and helped put words to prayers on how to suffer well to ultimately bring glory to Jesus Christ.