The Year's Non-Fiction

Okay, so here are my top picks for 2012. Again: these are books that I read in 2012, or at least finished in 2012.

1. Secret Believers, by Brother Andrew and Al Janssen. This book gave me a look into what it's like to be a Christian in a Muslim country. It means losing family and friends and often enough life and freedom. It also showed me how to pray for these believers.You can read my original thoughts here.

2. The World-Tilting Gospel, by Dan Phillips. This is one of the best books I have read on the gospel, covering everything from creation to why we need salvation to the means of salvation to what comes next. You can read my review here.

3. A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller. I read this one for school and rather enjoyed it. I think the author stretches his analogy by the end, but it's still a good book. At the very least, you can learn a lot about sheep.

4. Give Me This Mountain and He Gave Us a Valley by Dr. Helen Reseveare. These are her autobiographies of her time as a missionary in the Congo, including her trials and capture during the uprising, her rescue, and that she went back.

5. When People are Big and God is Small by Edward T. Welch. One of the elders had me read this when I was coming to grips with just how big God is. You can read my initial thoughts here. I found it very helpful not only when I first read it, but over the months as I've pondered some of the thoughts.

6. The Most Misused Verses in the Bible by Eric J. Bargerhuff. This is a solid work and it puts the verses back in context; I wrote about it here.

7. Exegetical Fallacies by D.A. Carson. I will admit: I skimmed the chapter on Greek fallacies because my Greek was not up to the challenge. Overall, though, I think people might enjoy this one. I found some fallacies that I've heard in sermons, some of which I've wondered about.

8. Knowing God by J.I. Packer. This is a classic and an excellent, excellent book. I meet with a small group of ladies every couple weeks (or so...with time off over the summer...or when we're too busy) and we spent about a year going through this book. I would definitely recommend it to everyone.

9. Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands by Paul David Tripp. This is another one from the elder (who is patiently waiting for a book review). It's one of his biblical counselling books so I was a bit concerned, but it manages to avoid being all "let's talk about our emotions." It's about how we are all called to help each other grow and change, and it focuses on heart changes rather than just behavior changes.

Those are the big ones. I also read a pile of the Christian Heroes Then and Now biographies, which I always enjoy. There were a few other books for school, some good and some not-so-good (or at least not-so-interesting) as well as a couple other biographies. Overall, it was a good year for reading. Now I'm ready to get going on the books of 2013!