I love to read and enjoy books in a variety of genres, including theology, Christian living, faith and work, leadership, professional development, biography and sports. Below are 16 new and upcoming books that I’m looking forward to reading. You can also check this helpful list of upcoming books prepared by my friend Kevin Halloran.
Smart Leadership: Four Simple Choices to Scale Your Impact by Mark Miller
I’ve read all of Mark’s books. I enjoyed being on the launch team for several of those books, including this one. Here is my review of Smart Leadership.
Further Faster Leadership: 40 Practices to Accelerate Leaders and Build Better Teams by Andy Stanley
To be released January 22.
I’ve enjoyed the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast for years and am looking forward to this book.
Here is the Amazon description:
Further Faster Leadership distills the most important lessons Andy Stanley has learned about leadership into 40 “bottom lines,” ranging from creating a culture of continual improvement to building a compelling vision, from leading a team meeting to challenging the status quo.
If you are looking for a way to quickly level-up your leadership capacity, these 40 principles will do just that. Discussion questions, notes on application, and exercises are included for both personal and group use.
Principles cover the following topics – and more:
- Complexity of purpose
- Doing what only you can do
- Creating a culture of continual improvement
- Creating world class service
- Building a compelling vision
- What it means to be a preeminent organizati
- on
- Creating a high-performance team
- Challenging the status quo Lessons from the first 20 years
- Leading a team meeting
- The art of inviting feedback
- Power of team
- Leading in uncertain times
3 New Booklets from R.C. Sproul’s Crucial Conversations Series. To be published January 25. All are free in the digital edition.
How Should I Think?
What Does It Mean That God is Sovereign?
Why Is There Evil?
Simple Truths of Leadership: 52 Ways to Be a Servant Leader and Build Trust by Ken Blanchard and Randy Conley
To be published February 1. I enjoyed being on the launch team for this book, which has Ken Blanchard writing 26 truths on servant leadership and Randy Conley writing 26 truths on trust.
The Great Quest: Invitation to an Examined Life and a Sure Path to Meaning by Os Guinness
To be published February 8.
I’ve enjoyed a number of books by Guinness, particularly The Call.
Here is the Amazon description:
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates
“What is life all about? What are we here for? Is there any meaning or purpose to our existence? Thinkers throughout the centuries have pondered these questions. While the distractions of the modern world prevent many from grappling seriously with such matters, the truth is that humans cannot live without meaning any more than we can live without breathing or eating. Os Guinness invites us to examine our lives and join the great quest for meaning and a life well lived. For those who are up to Socrates’ challenge, it is a search that is indispensable to making the most of life. Guinness charts the course of the thinking person’s journey toward faith and meaning, calling for a firm grasp of reason, an honest awareness of conscience, and a living sense of wonder. He affirms that there is a time for questions, and that following those questions can indeed lead us to answers, evidence, and commitment. When life becomes a question, the search is on for an answer. Come find yourself on a sure path to meaning.”
R.C. Sproul: Defender of the Reformed Faith by Nate Pickowicz
This is the second biography of R.C. Sproul to be published since his death in December, 2017. To be published March 1.
Here is the Amazon description:
“R.C. Sproul: Defender of the Reformed Faith traces the five decades of R.C.’s public ministry, observing a thematic connection to the five solas of the Reformation. While much has already been written, with much more to come, this book takes a unique look at R.C. Sproul as doctrinal defender. In a cultural climate where doctrinal disagreements can easily descend into personal attacks and division, R.C. models the utmost care for doctrinal precision without sacrificing the love and grace needed to be kind to those with whom we disagree. Even after his passing, R.C. still has much to teach us about what it means to contend earnestly for the faith.”
The Conviction to Lead: 27 Principles for Leadership That Matters – Revised and Updated Edition by Albert Mohler
To be published March 1.
Here is the Amazon description:
“Mohler’s wisdom will inspire, and this new edition features additional proven principles and updates throughout. While many leadership books focus on management or administration, the central focus of The Conviction to Lead is on changing minds.
Using his own experiences and examples from history, Dr. Mohler demonstrates that real leadership is a transferring of conviction to others, affecting their actions, motivations, intuition, and commitment. This practical guide walks the reader through what a leader needs to know, do, and be in order to affect change.”
Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution by Carl Trueman
I enjoyed a class on B.B. Warfield with Trueman at Covenant Seminary some years back, and am looking forward to this condensed version of his acclaimed book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self.
To be released March 22.
Here is the Amazon description:
“How did the world arrive at its current, disorienting state of identity politics, and how should the church respond? Historian Carl R. Trueman shows how influences ranging from traditional institutions to technology and pornography moved modern culture toward an era of “expressive individualism.” Investigating philosophies from the Romantics, Nietzsche, Marx, Wilde, Freud, and the New Left, he outlines the history of Western thought to the distinctly sexual direction of present-day identity politics, providing readers with a clearer understanding of the modern implications of these ideas on religion, free speech, and issues related to personal identity. For fans of Trueman’s The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, this new book offers a more concise presentation and application of some of the most critical topics of our day.”
What Is Saving Faith? Reflections on Receiving Christ as a Treasure by John Piper
To be released April 5.
Here is the Amazon description:
“What happens in the heart when it experiences real saving faith? John Piper argues that faith in Christ is not saving unless it includes an “affectional dimension of treasuring Christ.” Nor is God glorified as he ought to be unless he is treasured in being trusted. Saving faith in Jesus Christ welcomes him forever as our supreme and inexhaustible pleasure.
What Is Saving Faith? explains that a Savior who is treasured for his all-satisfying worth is more glorified than a Savior who is only trusted for his all-forgiving competence. In this way, saving faith reaches its God-appointed goal: the perfections of Christ glorified by our being satisfied in him forever.
- Written by Best-Selling Author and Pastor John Piper: Explores a critical and misunderstood element of the Christian faith, urging believers to ask the unsettling question, Do I have saving faith?
- Theologically Robust: Studies respected theologians’ work regarding salvation, including John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Henry Scougal, John Owen, Wayne Grudem, and J. I. Packer
- Accessible: Written for students, nominal or thoughtful Christians, and church leaders of all levels, as well as anyone interested in the nature of faith and the essential relationship between faith and feeling”
Gospel People: A Call for Evangelical Integrity by Michael Reeves
To be published April 5.
I’ve enjoyed a number of Reeves’ books and am looking forward to this one.
Here is the Amazon description:
The term evangelical is often poorly defined and frequently comes with cultural and political baggage. As the label has become more controversial, many Christians have begun to wonder if they should abandon it altogether.
Michael Reeves argues from a global, scriptural, and historical perspective that, while it’s not necessary to discard the label altogether, Christians must return to the root of the term―the evangel, or “gospel” ―in order to understand what it truly means. He identifies the theology of evangelicalism and its essential doctrine―the Father’s revelation in the Bible, the Son’s redemption in the gospel, and the Spirit’s regeneration of the heart―calling believers to stand with integrity as people of the gospel.
- A Biblical and Theological Explanation of Evangelicalism: Rooted in Scripture and the writings of figures throughout church history
- Globally-Minded: Explores evangelical theology and distinctives outside of narrow cultural definitions
- Brief and Accessible: Written for both lay people and church leaders
Trust & Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others by Stephen M.R. Covey
To be published April 5.
I’ve enjoyed a few of Covey’s books and have had the opportunity to see him speak.
Here is the Amazon description:
“Stephen M. R. Covey has made it his life’s work to understand trust in leadership and organizations. In his newest and most transformative book, Trust and Inspire, he makes the compelling argument that even though our world has changed drastically, our leadership style has not. Most organizations, teams, schools, and families today still operate from a model of “command and control,” focusing on hierarchies and compliance from people. But because of the changing nature of the world, the workforce, work itself, and the choices we have for where and how to work and live, these old rules of leadership no longer apply.
Covey’s solution is simple, yet bold: a shift from this “command and control” model to a leadership style of “trust and inspire.” Covey challenges our beliefs about people and leadership that have been deeply engrained in management approaches for decades. Trust and Inspire is a new way of leading that starts with the belief that people are creative, collaborative, and full of potential. People with this kind of leader are inspired to become the best version of themselves and to produce their best work. People don’t want to be managed; they want to be led.
Trust and Inspire is the solution to the future of work: where a dispersed workforce will be the norm, necessitating trust and collaboration across time zones, cultures, personalities, and technology.
Trust and Inspire calls for a radical shift in the way we lead in the 21st century, and Covey shows us how.”
Love + Work: How to Find What You Love, Love What You Do, and Do It for the Rest of Your Life by Marcus Buckingham
To be published April 5.
I’ve read most of Buckingham’s books, and have benefitted significantly on his work with strengths.
Here is the Amazon description:
“For the past twenty-five years New York Times bestselling author Marcus Buckingham has been the world’s leading researcher into strengths, human performance, and the future of how people work. In Love + Work, he helps us discover where we are at our best—both at work and in life.
You’ve long been told to “Do what you love.” Sounds simple, but the real challenge is how to do this in a world not set up to help you. Most of us actually don’t know the real truth of what we love—what engages us and makes us thrive—and our workplaces, jobs, schools, even our parents, are focused instead on making us conform. Sadly, no person or system is dedicated to discovering the crucial intersection between what you love to do and how you contribute it to others.
In this eye-opening, uplifting book, Buckingham shows you how to break free from this conformity—how to decode your own loves, turn them into their most powerful expression, and do the same for those you lead and those you love.
How can you use love to reveal your unique gifts?
How can you pinpoint what makes you stand out from anyone else?
How can you choose roles in which you’ll excel?
Love + Work unlocks answers to these questions and others, so you can:
- Choose the right role on the team.
- Describe yourself compellingly in job interviews.
- Mold your existing role so that it calls upon the very best of you.
- Position yourself as a leader in such a way that your followers quickly come to trust in you.
- Make lasting change for your team, your company, your family, or your students.
Love, the most powerful of human emotions, the source of all creativity, collaboration, insight, and excellence, has been systematically drained from our lives—our work, teams, and classrooms.
It’s time we brought love back in.
Love + Work shows you how.”
The Characters of Creation: The Men, Women, Creatures, and Serpent Present at the Beginning of the World by Daniel Darling
To be published June 7.
I’ve enjoyed Darling’s books The Characters of Christmas and The Characters of Easter and am looking forward to this one as well.
Here is the Amazon description:
“Most Christians are familiar with the opening words of Genesis: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” But push beyond those iconic words, and sometimes the details get a little hazy. And strange. God walked around in a garden? Eve was made from Adam’s rib? A talking serpent? And what the in the world were the “Nephilim”? In The Characters of Creation, Daniel Darling re-introduces readers to the story they thought they knew. He explains the Bible’s story of how we got here and how things got messed up, and gives fresh insights into the first people in God’s unfolding plan of redemption—from Adam and Eve, The Serpent, Cain and Abel, and Noah.”
Beautiful People Don’t Just Happen: How God Redeems Regret, Hurt, and Fear in the Making of Better Humans by Scott Sauls
I’ve read and been challenged by all of Sauls’ books, and am looking forward to this one as well.
To be published June 14.
Here is the Amazon description:
“Find the freedom from regret, hurt, and fear that God wants for you, so you can embrace a life of relief, joy, and hope in him.
We all carry regret, hurt, and fear. These are burdens that weigh us down and make us feel trapped.
Scott Sauls understands. In twenty-five years of pastoral ministry, he’s walked with countless individuals through weary seasons and circumstances. He’s also battled his own anxiety and depression. He knows what it’s like to be worn out and burdened by life.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Freedom, healing, and joy are available to us even in the midst of suffering, even when circumstances don’t change. Beautiful People Don’t Just Happen reveals how you can find a new way of living that helps you:
- Give honest voice to your emotions through the practice of lament
- Confront your debilitating thoughts with the divine counter-voice of the God who loves you
- Find meaning, purpose, and “the best you” as you journey through grief and sorrow
- Discover God’s heart for sinners and sufferers as you grow closer to him
- Learn and live out what the Bible calls the “secret of contentment” in any circumstance
Don’t settle for the way things are. Dare to hope for a better future. Dare to embrace the healing and freedom God wants for you–the freedom he freely offers to all who receive it.”
What new books are you looking forward to?
