My 2025 Q1 Reading List
Below are the books that I read during the first three months of this year.
2025 Book 1: The Simple Difference by Becky Keife
“Think back to the times a kind word, sincere prayer, generous gift, or small encouragement from someone at just the right time has made a meaningful difference in your life.” Becky reminds us that we all need more small kindnesses in our lives. Maybe it’s time for you to give an encouraging word, offer to help with a project, send a care package, drop off dinner, or just sit and listen to a friend going through a hard time. It will make a difference.
2025 Book 2: Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart by Russ Ramsey
An interesting look at what art, in the form of paintings, tells us about the pain and suffering of the artist. I enjoyed learning about a couple of artists that were unfamiliar to me.
2025 Book 3: The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
My word for the year is ‘grace’ and I’ve never heard anyone speak of grace and live in grace quite like Brennan Manning. This book and its message encourage me every time I read it. It is a must-read for anyone struggling with shame, guilt, insecurity, or doubt.
2025 Book 4: Furious Longing of God by Brennan Manning
If you’re feeling unloved, please read this book. It will leave tears running down your cheeks as you feel enveloped by love Himself.
2025 Book 5: The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown
Growing up in California, I heard and learned about the Donner Party from a young age, but I didn’t know, or remember, many of the details. True to his narrative style, Brown, author of The Boys in the Boat, follows one member of the Donner Party from her life as a young woman in Illinois through the sojourn west where she loses her father, husband, and other family members, and her attempt to find life again following the catastrophic journey.
2025 Book 6: 40 Day Sugar Fast by Wendy Speake
A guided sugar detox with daily reminders that our dependence on, and addiction to, sugar is not actually about the sugar itself. I sincerely appreciated Wendy’s encouragement, willingness to share her own struggles, and wisdom to help us not only address the sugar itself but the challenges going on inside our hearts and heads that are causing us to reach for the sugar to begin with.
2025 Book 7: The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt
A fascinating and well-researched look at the ideologies and events that created the call-out and cancel culture, witch hunts, and dehumanization that we have seen become prevalent in the last decade.
2025 Book 8: My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex PruďHomme
An absolutely delightful memoir of the 30+ years that Julia and Paul Child spent in France. Her stories and recollections are funny and heartwarming, and her love for the country and its people is undeniable. As I shared in my Feb 14th Friday Faves, I loved the HBO Max show about her.
2025 Book 9: Modern Art and the Death of a Culture by H.R. Rookmaaker
A very insightful history of art over the last five centuries, the ideologies behind the art, and its impact on culture and our lives. A fascinating read for all artists, especially those who are Christians.
2025 Book 10: A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
As I shared in last week’s Friday Faves, Flannery’s famous collection of short stories will shock and bewilder you, and also make you laugh out loud from what some people describe as her “acid humor.”
2025 Book 11: Heaven by Randy Alcorn
2025 Book 12: Heaven by Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson
2025 Book 13: Resurrection Hope and the Death of Death by Mitchell L. Chase
2025 Book 14: Heaven is a World of Love by Jonathan Edwards
At the beginning of the year, I decided that I wanted to better understand Heaven, so I read these four books, and I am so glad that I did. I learned so much that I didn’t know and was encouraged in ways I didn’t expect to be. If you have questions about Heaven, start with book 11 – it covers practically everything you’ve ever wondered or wanted to know. Books 12 and 13 are rich theological deep dives. If you want to better understand hell, book 14 covers it well.
You can always find my reading lists from previous years here.
