My Favorite Books of 2025
Writing my book last year changed my reading patterns significantly. I found myself returning to the books that have shaped me most over the years. In general, the more I read, the more I find myself coming back to a few titles that have deeply impacted me and continue to do so every time I open them. I know some of these books well, but I find there is so much more I get out of them every time read them. This year’s favorite books would be very close to my all-time favorites list. I hope these books impact you as much as they have me.
Orthodoxy - G.K. Chesterton
I first read this book probably 13 years ago. I honestly think it’s one of the greatest books ever written. I find myself laughing at Chesterton’s wit and humor, as well as shocked by his direct explanations of things. In this treasure of a book, Chesterton recounts how he found God while trying to invent a new worldview for himself.
“A madman is not the man who has lost his reason. The madman is the man who has lost everything except his reason.”
“Mysticism keeps men sane. As long as you have mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you create morbidity.”
The Abolition of Man - C.S. Lewis
This is one of the greatest books ever written for the modern man. Lewis explains that the way our modern world has attacked objective value isn’t liberating us; it’s stealing our ability to recognize and love what is truly good. He says that education and ethics require true moral order, and without it, we end up chasing power instead of good. Lewis shows that when we step out of the objective moral order, we step into the void, and in the void, all manner of oppression of some men by other men results.
“Each new power won by man is a power over man as well.”
“For the power of Man to make himself what he pleases means… the power of some men to make other men what they please.”
The Divine Conspiracy - Dallas Willard
I read this book every year for a reason. It reminds me of the life I am made for and the way of living I am called to. Willard invites us to live in the kingdom now through union with God. He shows us that the world we live in is flying upside down and doesn’t even know it. We all desperately need to be reminded of who we are and what we are made for. This book is not an easy read, and that is why most people I recommend it to don’t read it. If you can push through it and deeply ponder it you will find that it is one of the greatest books on discipleship ever written.
“The idea of having faith in Jesus has come to be totally isolated from being his apprentice and learning how to do what he said.”
The Pursuit of God - A.W. Tozer
Tozer argues that faith is meant to be experienced, personal communion with God, not just beliefs about God. He says that our pursuit of God is our response to what God has already done. He repeatedly reminds us that we must relinquish self-rule and embrace the cross-shaped path to freedom and transformation. This book is a call to follow hard after God, who is near to us and has already been pursuing us.
“We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts.”
Ethics - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I think this is one of the most important books about God written in the last century. Bonhoeffer never finished it, but he wrote it in the midst of a Germany that was swept up in the evil of the Nazi empire. It seems that in the midst of so much evil, God spoke through a young theologian, reminding us of the one true antidote to evil, Jesus. Not as an idea or a set of rules, but as God in man. He shows how most ethics is based on the knowledge of good and evil, but true ethics is embodied in the person of Jesus and our transformation to be like Him.
“It is evident that the only appropriate conduct of men before God is the doing of His will. The sermon on the mount is there for the purpose of being done.”
“The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.”
The Cost of Discipleship - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Any of us can write books, but few men live out what they teach all the way to their execution. They say that before the Nazi’s hung Bonhoeffer, he knelt before God in prayer and worship. He was a young man, engaged to be married, who survived the war and was executed just days before Hitler committed suicide. It is so clear that this man understood the cost of discipleship. He calls us to reject cheap grace and follow Jesus. He says that grace is free but never cheap; it costs us our lives as we become disciples of Jesus.
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
“Costly grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.”
“It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.”
“Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes.”
Every Man’s Journey - John Walt
I am sure it’s funny to put my own book as one of my favorite books from this past year. The message is something every man needs to hear and be reminded of, including me. After writing it I read through it about five times. Each time, I felt deeply impacted and reminded of what I am truly made for, what it means to be a man, and the journey I am on. The truth is that even though I wrote this book for my boys and others, it has significantly impacted me. I am still on the journey, and this book is like a compass guiding me to what’s true and real. If you want a copy, please let me know. We will release the book later this year.
“Every man wants to go on an exciting adventure, live a great story, overcome the evil around him, and build something good. Deep in his heart, he wants to be a brave warrior, a passionate lover, a wise man, and a benevolent leader. I believe that every man senses that he is made for something more, even though he can't define it or see it reflected in most of the men around him.”
