I’m not sure if the fond posture of Auld Lang Syne is the appropriate selection to drop kick 2020 out the door this evening, but there were undoubtedly silver linings somewhere in the dark clouds of the past year. Personally, I made a break from an unhealthy Facebook/Instagram obsession and like myself better this way. I also broke a positive weekly blogging habit but am excited to now be silently scheming to write short stories. And for the first time ever I followed through on my perpetual intention to read as much fiction as I read nonfiction. In fact, my 20/20 for 2020 was reading 40 books this year — 20 fiction, and 20 nonfiction (I typically read 25 books largely tilted toward nonfiction).
If I had to pick a personal book of the year, I would go with The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, although the little Parker Palmer book might end up having the most enduring influence on my life. Regardless, here is my list for 2020 — many I loved, many were interesting, and a few were endured — and I will keep that categorization to myself (but full disclosure: the few that were written by friends were truly outstanding!).
NONFICTION:
- The Scotch-Irish: A Social History by James G. Leyburn (history) – 334 pages
- Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman (theology) – 112 pages
- Crying in the Wilderness: The Life & Influence of David Lipscomb by Robert E. Hooper (biography) – 280 pages
- Jesus Next Door by Dave Clayton (religion) – 133 pages
- Why Churches Need to Talk about Sexuality by Mark Wingfield (theology) – 176 pages
- Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud (leadership) – 230 pages
- Scandalous Witness: A Little Political Manifesto for Christians by Lee Camp (theology) – 177 pages
- Race Against Time by Jerry Mitchell (biography, true crime) – 386 pages
- Heaven is a Playground by Rick Telander (sports) – 220 pages
- The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky (psychology) – 311 pages
- Centennial Celebration: A Century of Memories: David Lipscomb University, 1891-1991 by Robert Hooper & David England (history) – 195 pages
- 7 Men by Eric Metaxas (biography) – 191 pages
- The Games: A Global History of the Olympics by David Goldblatt (history/sports) – 446 pages
- The Motive by Patrick Lencioni (leadership/business) – 174 pages
- Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation by Parker Palmer (leadership) – 116 pages
- Student Services: A Handbook for the Profession by Susan R. Komives; Dudley B. Woodard, Jr. & Associates (education) – 684 pages
- Things That Make White People Uncomfortable by Michael Bennett (social science) – 250 pages
- Hood’s Tennessee Campaign by James Knight (history) – 142 pages
- The Education of a Coach by David Halberstam (sports) – 283 pages
- Caste by Isabel Wilkerson (social science) – 395 pages
FICTION:
- The Call of the Wild by Jack London – 122 pages
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery – 113 pages
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston – 205 pages
- Haven by Jeff Baker – 146 pages
- On the Road by Jack Kerouac – 307 pages
- The Glad River by Will D. Campbell – 310 pages
- Some of Your Blood by Theodore Sturgeon – 192 pages
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding – 206 pages
- Nashville 1864 by Madison Jones – 129 pages
- The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest Gaines – 259 pages
- The Dog of the South by Charles Portis – 266 pages
- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger – 214 pages
- Don’t Tell Me You’re Afraid: A Novel by Giuseppe Catozzella – 250 pages
- Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips – 256 pages
- The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros – 110 pages
- If I Had Two Wings: Stories by Randall Kenan – 211 pages
- A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest Gaines – 213 pages
- Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes – 231 pages
- Siddhartha by Herman Hesse – 128 pages
- 50 Great Short Stories, edited by Milton Crane – 560 pages
Starting to Look Up 