For the past two months I’ve been seeing “best of 2023” posts. Now that the year is finally winding down, I’ll share my picks in different categories. Obviously, I can’t cover the breadth of other review publications. The books here are ones I reviewed in 2023. It was quite wonderful to review my reading and think back on the wonderful works in a number of different genres that I had the opportunity to read this year.

Best Book of the Year

The Man Born to be King (Wade Annotated Edition), Dorothy L. Sayers, edited by Kathryn Wehr. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2023. Kathryn Wehr has brought Dorothy L. Sayers’ play cycle on the life of Jesus from 1942 to a new generation of readers. Wehr has extensively annotated a work that is handsomely laid out. Review

Best Non-fiction:

Elaine’s Circle, Bob Katz. Madison, NJ: Munn Avenue Press, 2022. I loved this beautiful story, sensitively written, of a skilled and compassionate school teacher, a courageous child facing a deadly disease, and a class that encircled him with love. I loved the fact that this came out of an indie press. Review

Best Science Book:

The Song of the Cell, Siddhartha Mukherjee. New York: Scribner, 2022. Mukherjee offers this eloquent account of the wonder within every one of us, the cells that compose our bodies and sometimes invade them, the ways things may go badly wrong, and cutting edge science of the cell. I wrote that the author’s writing sings, joining in chorus the song of the cell. Review

Best Biography:

King: A Life, Jonathan Eig. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023. Eig, drawing on recently available sources, offers not only a narrative of King’s exceptional leadership of the civil rights movement, but a nuanced portrait of the complicated man King was–his religious faith, his moral compromises, and his struggles with depression. Review

Best History:

The Wager, David Grann. New York: Doubleday, 2023. Grann tells a riveting story of a sea journey attempting to round the tip of South America under horrendous conditions, how order falls apart despite of a captain’s attempt to hold it together and fulfill his mission, and how 30 of 400 managed to survive. Review

Best fiction:

Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver. New York: Harper Collins, 2022. Published late in 2022, I got to this book during this year. Kingsolver re-tells the David Copperfield story in rural Appalachia–a story of the dark side of foster care, career-ending football injuries, opioid addiction, and the resilience of a young man who struggles against all of these. Painful realities and powerful writing. Review

Best Poetry:

Angels Everywhere, Luci Shaw. Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press/Iron Pen, 2022. I loved Shaw’s use of language like “plangent” and “frisson” as well as the awareness of how the transcendent confronts us in the ordinary of our lives. Review

Best Children’s Book

Saint Patrick the Forgiver, Retold and Illustrated by Ned Bustard. Downers Grove: IVP Kids, 2023. Using a simple rhyme scheme, Ned Bustard retells the story of Saint Patrick, accompanied by his exquisite woodcut illustrations. This follows a similar re-telling of the story of Saint Nicholas. Review

Best Book by an Ohio Author:

The Political Transformation of David Tod, Joseph Lambert, Jr. Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 2023. David Tod was known to me as an early leader in the industrial transformation of Youngstown. Joe Lambert’s book acquainted me with Tod’s political life, including his term as governor of Ohio during a critical period of the Civil War and how that changed him. Review

Best Religious Publication:

First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament, Terry M. Wildman, Consulting editor, First Nations Version Translation Council. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2022. This is an English translation of the New Testament in the idioms of the indigenous peoples of North America. I was taken in the vwry first pages as “Blessed are those who mourn” was translated “Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who walk a trail of tears, for he will wipe the tears from their eyes and comfort them.” As I read through this translation, I felt I was reading the New Testament for the first time, with fresh eyes. Review

Best Christian Life/Formation Book

An Invitation to Joy, Daniel J. Denk, foreword by Christopher J.H. Wright. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2023. Reflections on how God invites and leads us into joy, written by a man fighting his own battle with cancer even as his wife was dying of the disease. Review

Best Theological Book:

Divine Love Theory, Adam Lloyd Johnson. Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2023. Christian morality is often based on the idea of “divine command theory.” This work offers a compelling argument for rooting morality on the love within the Trinity. Review

Brst Biblical Studies Book:

Treasuring the Psalms, Ian J. Vaillancourt. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2023. An orientation to both lay readers and churches on how to read and appropriate the Psalms, approaching them canonically, Christologically, and personally. I found this one of the most helpful books on the Psalms I’ve read. Review

Best Christianity and Culture Book:

Biblical Critical Theory, Christopher Watkin. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2023. A breathtaking work that surveys the biblical narrative from beginning to end to offer a critical analysis of late modern culture. Review

It’s been a great year in books. There are a number of very good books not mentioned here, some still on my TBR pile. I hope in singling these few out I’ve pointed you to some books you’ve not yet discovered. Others, of course have been widely praised and my inclusion of them simply adds my own voice confirming their quality. Hopefully, this comes to you in time for your Christmas, or after-Christmas shopping!