For most of my life I was not an avid reader. I read when I had to, for school, college, work, church and life. Like everyone else. But I didn't love reading. Then, in 2007 I became enthralled by some devotional reading that awakened a hunger for learning, for history and for great writing. In the years since then I have read a few hundred books from classics like Homer's Iliad to new tech books like "Automate This" (a pop/tech book about how algorithms have taken over our world). I've certainly read a good share of history and Christian literature, but also fiction and human stories. I am often encouraging people to read various books I found helpful or insightful. Others ask me to recommend books to them. Nothing is more discouraging than putting in the energy to read a lengthy book only to feel as though your time was wasted. Out of these ideas (and concerns), I wanted to post a list of great books that would be excellent for anyone to read.
While some books would have been great to include in this list because of the significance and quality of the writing, I chose to leave them off the list because I felt their general interest and application would be less certain to the average audience. Books such as "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" (E. Gibbon) and "Wealth of Nations" (A. Smith) are remarkable works, but are obviously going to be broadly passed over by most (unless they are on your college reading list). I also left off what I consider the most important and impactive piece of literature in history- the Christian Bible- because it is likely not only already on everyone's "queue" to read but probably being more read by more people than any other book on the planet.
In my opinion, the following list of books are what I consider the "top 10" (plus 5) that you should consider as "must reads" before you complete your reading for a lifetime. Each book links through to a review I have written as well, so you can get a short preview of the content and impact of the books.
Top 10 Books of All Time (in order)
- The Weight of Glory (sermon) / CS Lewis
- Divine Conspiracy / Dallas Willard
- Man’s Search for Meaning / Viktor Frankl
- Simply Christian / NT Wright
- History of the World / JM Roberts
- The Origins of Political Order / Francis Fukuyama
- The Cave & The Light: Plato vs Aristotle / Arthur Herman
- The Road To Serfdom / FA Hayek
- Confessions / Saint Augustine
- Exclusion and Embrace / Miroslav Volf
- The Making of Modern Economics / Mark Skousen
- The Epic of Eden / Sandra Richter
- Guns, Germs and Steel / Jared Diamond
- Daring Greatly / Brene Brown
- The Shack / William P Young
I hope you enjoy finding something in this list that engages your mind, strengthens your heart and inspires your spirit.