Goodreads has its massive Readers Choice Awards every year. Here were the winners for 2023. I keep things simpler at Bob on Books. “Readers’ Choice” is determined by the numbers of views books reviewed in 2023 received. Here are the most viewed reviews of books in 2023. The link in the title takes you to the publisher’s page for the book. “Review” hyperlinked takes you to my full review.

10. Four (and a half) Dialogues on Homosexuality and the Bible, Donald J Zeyl. Cascasde Books: Eugene, OR: 2022. A fictional dialogue between four students representing four different interpretive approaches to the Bible regarding homosexuality and same sex marriage. Review

9. A Christian Theology of Science, Paul Tyson. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2022. Rather than simply another treatment of the way science and religion ought relate, begins with creedal Christianity, develops a theology of science, and argues that Christians treat theology as their “first truth discourse.” Review

8. The Priesthood of All Students, Timothée Joset. Carlisle, Cumbria, UK: Langham Global Library, 2023 (Also available in French and Spanish editions). Contends from historical, ecclesiological, theological, and missiological perspectives that the idea of the priesthood of all believers has been essential to the student-led, non-clerical character of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, and helps account for it global spread to 180 countries. Review

7. The Deluge, Stephen Markley. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2023. A novel imagining the interaction of accelerating impacts of climate change and the unraveling of societies. Review

6. Nobody’s Mother: Artemis of the Ephesians in Antiquity and the New Testament, Sandra L. Glahn. IVP Academic, 2023. Through a study of literature, epigraphic, art, and architectural evidence, proposes that Artemis, far from being a fertility goddess, was a virgin, who aided women in childbirth, and considers the implications for our reading of 1 Timothy 2:11-15. Review

5. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver. New York: Harper Collins, 2022. An adaptation of the David Copperfield story set in rural western Virginia, centering on a child, Demon Copperfield, raised by a single mom until she dies, the abuses of foster care he suffers, and after a football injury, the black hole of opioid addiction. Review

4. Garden City: Work, Rest, and the Art of Being Human, John Mark Comer. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015. An argument that our work is an important aspect of what it means for us to be human, setting our work in the context of the arc of God’s work taking humanity from the garden to the new garden city in the new creation. Review

3. The Cookie Table: A Steel Valley Tradition, Alice Crosetto. Charleston, SC: American Palate, 2023. The story of this northeast Ohio/western Pennsylvania wedding tradition, its beginnings and a description of the ins and outs of cookie-baking, table set-up, types of cookies, and etiquette, and some of the uses of cookie tables beyond weddings. Review

2. The Wager, David Grann. New York: Doubleday, 2023. An account of the shipwreck of the Wager, part of a naval squadron in one of England’s wars against Spain, and the effort of her captain to maintain order as the survivors struggled just to eat, and the divisions and mutiny of those who wanted to sail back to Brazil. Review

1. Ordinary Grace, William Kent Krueger. New York: Atria Books, 2013. Two boys in a rural Minnesota town encounter a series of deaths, including one within their family, and discover something of the “awful grace of God.” Review

A few concluding observations. Demon Copperhead and The Wager were also on my “Best of 2023” list. Ordinary Grace represents my “author find” of the year, William Kent Krueger. I really like his works. I can see why he was your favorite. I was delighted to see that my classmate Alice Crosetto’s book on The Cookie Table came in third. Youngstowners love their cookie tables! Garden City was kind of a sleeper, garnering views throughout the year. I was pleased that Sandra Glahn’s Nobody’s Mother, a fine piece of biblical scholarship, caught the interest of so many. And as someone partial to Ohio authors, I was pleased that two Ohioans (Alice Crosetto and Stephen Markley) made the top ten.

As I conclude, I’m reminded that you are the reason for these books being listed here. It’s nice to not just be writing for oneself! Thank you for following and engaging this blog–many of you for more than ten years!