Greetings! ‘Tis the season to pick up a book, turn down the lights, and read by the glow of the Christmas tree. As we bid adieu to 2023, with eager readers striving to complete a last handful of volumes or charting ambitious reading resolutions for the upcoming year, here are five titles well deserving of a coveted spot on any book-lover’s literary journey. Whether for your personal list or that of the bibliophile in your life who somehow always wants more books, these award-winning works are sure to please.
5. And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle – Jon Meacham
The Chair in American Presidency at Vanderbilt University's biography of the 16th president of the United States is by no means the best one out there (and with an estimated 16,000 books about Lincoln, that isn’t saying a lot). Meacham’s writing is, at times, convoluted, comma- and caveat-heavy, and, dare I say, high-minded. But where he excels is in presenting Lincoln with nuance and fairness, with an ever-open eye for irony and paradox. He does not pigeonhole the man but rather lets him grow, mature, evolve. Additionally, he quotes Scripture liberally, unafraid to address the King James Version of the Bible’s influence on Lincoln’s life, while avoiding the mistake of overly Christianizing the sometime skeptic. In the end, it is the author’s willingness to confront Lincoln’s early irreligiosity and less-than-egalitarian ways that makes the final payoff, the “final” Lincoln, what with his sermon-like Second Inaugural Address and burgeoning notions of black suffrage, all the more satisfying.
4. In Earth as in Heaven: Theopolis Fundamentals – Peter J. Leithart
If modern writers tend to suffer for lean, derivative works, Peter J. Leithart is refreshingly immune. In this wisdom- and ideas-packed volume, the author, who doubles as president of Theopolis Institute for Biblical, Liturgical, & Cultural Studies, tackles the question of how the church should influence the culture around us. (Hint: It takes more than being politically “involved,” he says.) Leithart’s treatment of the topic is thought-provoking, awe-inspiring, and wildly convicting, a must-read for anyone who feels the contemporary “politicization of Christianity” doesn't quite cut it. Where Leithart may find himself getting into trouble, however, is in occasionally sounding a bit too Catholic-y for Protestants but still too Protestant for Catholics.
3. Grant - Ron Chernow
Chernow’s weighty tome will thoroughly persuade anyone willing to endure 900+ pages about one cigar-smoking Civil War general that history has unforgivably cheated Grant — or, rather, that we have robbed ourselves of a proper awareness of this mighty man. Ulysses S. Grant should have been counted about the greats; the author of Hamilton and Washington fame is determined to remedy that gross oversight, and he does so worthily. As a student of the Civil War with a decade-long fondness for Grant, I have never admired the commanding general of the Union Army and 18th president as much as I did in reading Chernow’s outstanding work, a sweeping epic of the Civil War and its rocky second act, Reconstruction. Fans of either era are sure to find Grant an informative read. Plus, Chernow is a superlative writer. Peruse the first pages of Titan, his John D. Rockefeller biography, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. His ability to enthrall readers simply with his word-smithery is, no doubt, one of his greatest strengths. He is a master both of his subjects and the English language.
2. The Rise and the Triumph of the Modern Self – Carl R. Trueman
Anyone who wishes to make sense of this nonsensical world in which we live would do well to consider Carl. R. Trueman’s treatise on selfhood, “cultural amnesia, expressive individualism, and the road to sexual revolution.” This theologian/historian/philosopher/social critic is interested in answers — not just shallow, feel-good indictments of the other side, all too common in today’s political writing. “The task of the Christian is not to whine about the moment in which he or she lives but to understand its problems and respond appropriately to them,” Trueman declares. That’s what this book is about — understanding root causes and responding with intellectual rigor, prudence, and countercultural saneness.
1. The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams — Stacy Schiff
Disclosure: I have not actually read this book yet. But it comes with Convention of States President Mark Meckler’s highest praise and recommendation. And he’s not the only one raving about it; Stacy Schiff’s Pulitzer Prize-winning work appeared on over a dozen best-of-the-year book lists last year, lauded by historians and casual readers alike. “For too long, Adams, hiding behind his many masks and stratagems, has evaded historians, but Schiff draws him from the shadows into the spotlight he so richly deserves,” praised the aforementioned Ron Chernow. Indeed, for Adams’ profound significance, his masterminding of the Revolution, far too little is known about him. Fortunately, with the popularity of this book, the nation appears to be on course to correct that deficit.
