My 2023 Reading Review

This one is going to be longer than most so I would recommend opening in your browser.

These books are in no particular order though I did attempt to group a few that made sense to present together. Some links may have my affiliate code where applicable. I have also done my best to source free, legal, out of copyright, editions for those looking for great free reading options. Enjoy.

John Adams by David McCullough

My first read of 2023 and a Pulitzer Prize winner to kick off the year. In an age where the American spirit is flickering, there is perhaps no better man to teach us what it really means to be an American. A man who worked the fields himself and abhorred slavery from birth. A man who raised up not only his son to be a president but also upheld his wife as an equal and a partner. A man who literally fulfilled the biblical proverb:

Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank.

Proverbs 22:29

The Wright Brothers & 1776 by David McCullough

Two more fantastic reads from McCullough. I read The Wright Brothers at the enthusiastic encouragement from David Perell and then devoured 1776 shortly after. I’d recommend The Wright Brothers to anyone as its subjects alone are near mythical. 1776 had plenty of gems for anyone remotely interested in history.

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Linked above is a free ebook copy of Walden but the one I completed this read through with was the Steel Brothers limited edition. Looks like they have a few left as of publishing this review. I had read excerpts from Walden in school but this was my first cover to cover reading of Thoreau’s sauntering script. I know I will return to it for the rest of my life.

Walking & Aulus Persius Flaccus by Henry David Thoreau

Both Walking and Aulus are short essays found in the linked Standard Ebooks Collection. Walking helped inspire my essay Calendars Without Clocks which was written during Cohort 10 of Write of Passage. Aulus I read later in the year and is a must for even the casual Latin learner.

The History of the Reign of Ferdinand & Isabella the Catholic by W. H. Prescott

The largest work I have ever attempted outside of the Bible. What began as a personal intrigue from my hispanic heritage intersecting as a favorite work of Theodore Roosevelt became hauntingly relevant after the events in Israel this past October. No one should read this book, but at the same time, I wish the world knew these stories.

Augustus by Adrian Goldsworthy

If you are going to think about the Roman Empire, start here.

Cicero by Anthony Everitt

If you’re thinking hmmm I too may be living in a failing republic, read this.

On Friendship by Cicero

Even in the time before Christ, Cicero knew friendship was a miracle.

Julian by Philip Freeman

Short yet an absolute page turner. As a Christian, I found myself conflicted but ultimately enlightened by the fervor and failures of Julian the Apostate.

Dominion by Tom Holland

No, not Spider Man. Yes, the Agnostic Historian. A long read but worth the journey. Jesus didn’t go to the cross yesterday and how we got here is part of the miracle.

Life of Hilarion by Jerome & Life of Benedict by Gregory

What began as an effort to get into the mind of Jerome led me to these two gems. Tucked away in an unassuming collection entitled Early Christian Lives, this is what it was like to be a Christian in Rome. These stories were daring, inspiring, and even down right hilarious.

Light of Assisi by Margaret Carney

A well done English biography of the great Latin mystic. In Margaret Carney’s rendition we have the story of the woman who humbled royalty and brought a standing Pope to his knees all by a conviction she kept since turning 18. A spellbinding short read.

Heretics by G.K. Chesterton

Recommended by

Simon Sarris

. As the religion of labor begins to die in our world it is lines like this that leave me speechless:

If the old priests forced a statement on man kind at least they previously took some trouble to make it lucid.

G.K. Chesterton, Heretics

Miracles, The Weight of Glory, and The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis

Like most, I had known Lewis for Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letter, and of course the Narnia series. Miracles, The Weight of Glory, and The Four Loves were great next steps through the writings of this great theologian. I’ll leave you with this:

Men became scientific because they expected law in nature, and they expected law in nature, because they believed in a legislator. In most modern scientists, this belief has died: it will be interesting to see how long their confidence in uniformity survives it… we may be living nearer than we suppose to the end of the scientific age.

C.S. Lewis, Miracles

The Pursuit of God & The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer

Pursuit of God was a re-read for me. Knowledge of the Holy was one of those always on the list but not quite yet. This year I somehow knocked out both despite the time it takes between chapters to let sink in the words Tozer wrote. He penned perhaps the best job description I could ask for as a mystic.

The mystic labors to free us from the heresy that the spiritual and the secular may be separated.

A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

Practical Mysticism by Evelyn Underhill

With the rise of meditation apps and mindfulness practices, I am surprised I haven’t seen more people discuss contemplation and mysticism. For me stumbling across books over a hundred years old have given me a glimpse at the world beyond sitting still.

Meditation is a halfway house between thinking and contemplating…

Evelyn Underhill, Practical Mysticism

How to Be Happy: Saint Thomas’ Secret… by Matt Fradd

Getting real intrigued by this Saint Thomas Aquinas. How come I haven’t heard Protestants talk about him? Oh… Matt Fradd does a delightful work making the man who wrote the Summa, accessible for the modern mortal.

What’s Our Problem by Tim Urban & How to Save the West by Spencer Klavan

At the recommendation of my good friend

Camilo Moreno-Salamanca

, I read Tim Urban’s What’s Our Problem. It was by Spencer Klavan’s complete lack of relation to Andrew Klavan that I came across and read How to Save the West. Reading one book from the American left and another from the American right was more than enough for me this year. I have a great respect for those who can digest both of these sides and synthesize from them something valuable. My guess is you already know what camp you are drawn to. If so, read the other. And if you’re like me, drawn to neither, read both.

Make Something Wonderful by The Steve Jobs Archive

A remarkable free eBook that for me brought back many good memories. Bursting with insights and inspiration.

Much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.

Steve Jobs

Hidden Genius by Polina Marinova Pompliano

I wrote a whole post about

Polina Pompliano

’s masterpiece. You should read it.

…the universal hidden genius across many of the exceptional people I had studied was this:

Success is personal.

Polina Marinova Pompliano, Hidden Genius

The Creative Act by Rick Ruben

When ones art friends in Los Angeles agree with ones tech bros in San Francisco and they all agree on something with ones friends at a church in a small town in a land lock state, one finds themselves adding said book to the top of the list.

I’ll be over here contemplating this for the rest of my days:

What is profound and precious?

Rick Ruben, The Creative Act

Catholics in Exile by Scott Hahn

If you are a Protestant, get past the title and read this. If you are a Catholic, it is Scott Hahn at his finest, what are you waiting for? This was one of those books that I needed and it came at the perfect time.

Exile is a blessing.

Scott Hahn, Catholics in Exile

If Only He Knew by Gary Smalley

A recommendation from

Matt Tillotson

. This book is deep wisdom disguised beneath better home and garden cookbook vibes. Would recommend every man married or single read.

Who would think of allowing an untrained man to climb into the cockpit of an airplane and tinker with the gauges? Or who would allow a novice to service the engines of a modern jet? Yet we expect men to build strong, loving relationships almost without any education at all. Great marriages require great education.

Gary Smalley, If Only He Knew

Outlive by Peter Attia

I’m in the thick of this one while compiling this list but Peter Attia’s storytelling is stellar and his subject is one you don’t want to wait on.

The Great CEO Within by Matt Mochary & When They Win, You Win by Russ Laraway

Both recommendations from David Perell and Chris Monk at Write of Passage. I wish I encountered more companies with David and Chris’ desire to be excellent. These books are a taste of what it takes to do great things when it comes to running an organization.

Kissa by Kissa (4th Edition) by Craig Mod

Only a few of these left. Craig has been an inspiration to me for years. Finally owning and sitting with his imagery and stories was an exquisite treat. Anyone who loves Japan and/or a good story should own this book.

Spacefaring by Ellen Fishbein

I met Ellen earlier this year through my friend

Jen Vermet

. I now can’t imagine my life without her and her team at Altamira Studios for all they have done and continue to do to bring my first book into the world. I knew this stranger turned friend could help me carry my vision after reading this little collection of poems.

The Gospel According to Luke & Acts of the Apostles

I spent a day reading the entirety of Luke & Acts this year. It took me only about two hours to read the text, but it will be a lifetime of little constellations that connect in my head to the bigger story. This reading helped inspire my essay, The Thing About Mary. The immediate take away for me was the beauty of Mary’s Song in Bibliotheca’s ALV translation:

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For he has looked upon the low estate of his bondmaid. For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done for me great things, and holy is his name. And his mercy is unto generations and generations on those who fear him. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart. He has put down princes from thrones, and has exalted those of low degree. The hungry he has filled with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has given help to Israel his servant, that he might remember mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, toward Abraham and his seed, unto the age.

The Blessed Mother, Mary, According to Luke

Proverbs

Never more than 31 days in a month and there are but 31 chapters in the biblical canon. I began reading a chapter a day with my son since he was born. Reading in this zoomed out fashion has helped me see the arc of the compiled story. A father is exhorting his son to acquire feminine understanding. Wisdom, knowledge, science, are all feminine energies. The book concludes with a son, now prepared to learn about the ideal woman who embodies both the feminine and masculine. I wrote a bit about this in The Creation Story is A Love Story.

The Apostle Paul’s Letters to Timothy

Home to the infamous text churches have used to keep women from teaching and ministry. Reading these letters again in Jerome’s original Latin made it clear Paul was using the dative not declarative. I don’t think this will be for everyone, but many of the questions and confusion I’ve had with the Bible in English have been elegantly resolved in Latin.

The Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila, The Dark Night of the Soul by John of the Cross, Spiritual Exercises by Ignatius of Loyola

Along with my scriptural disciplines these three works by perhaps the greatest Spanish Mystics are regularly revisited. I have linked what I have found to be the most faithful translations of these works into English. I often go to The Interior Castle to help me find in my Bible where I need to go, to grow in prayer. The Dark Night of the Soul I return to as a devotional reminder this religion requires intimacy. The Spiritual Exercises are the practical applications that without, I would still be a couch potato soul seeking marathon miracles.

Ben Hur by Lew Wallace

Storytelling second to none. Read this regardless of what you think about fiction. Blew me away. Changed my life. Literally made me look at my love, religion, and world different. It is free on Standard Ebooks.

The night, like most nights of the winter season in the hill country, was clear, crisp, and sparkling with stars. There was no wind. The atmosphere seemed never so pure, and the stillness was more than silence; it was a holy hush, a warning that heaven was stooping low to whisper some good thing to the listening earth.

Lew Wallace, Ben Hur

If you made it this far, let us know in the comments below which books you will be picking up or one I should add to the list for next year. Stay tuned for a writing round up.

Until next week,

-Steven

If you haven’t yet, read a bit of how I gave it all up in Commit a Career Ending Move. To all my subscribers, my gratitude for each of you continues to grow. If you have yet to subscribe, use the link below.