Best books of 2023:Q4

22 books completed this year!

Pretty proud of myself (+2 from last year!), considering how eventful the year has been – managing renovation prep, wedding planning, getting married, and settling into new routines. Looking back on the year, I thank God for His abundant blessings and sustaining strength!

The good books this quarter were all Christian ones:

1. Spiritual formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit, by Henri Nouwen
2. The radical disciple, by John Stott
3. How to pray: a simple guide for normal people, by Pete Greig

Best books of 2023: Q2

It’s been a pretty hectic quarter, with reno prep, wedding prep, and the usual work, family & ministry commitments going on. Thankful for God’s sustaining grace, and the fact that I still managed to complete 4 books in this season! I’ll just highlight 2 in this post:

1. Leading without authority, by Keith Ferrazzi
2. 9 thoughts that can change your marriage, by Sheila Wray Gregoire

Let’s get right into it!

Best books of 2023: Q1

Last quarter was such a busy season – engagement, work, getting a house – that I actually didn’t manage to finish any books 😥 Somehow it seems like the older I get, the fewer books I read in a year – 2022 saw me completing only 20 books, an all-time low.

I suppose a better way to look at it is that I’m much more selective of what books I chose to invest my time and attention in, and of course, living life to the fullest and choosing to spend more myself at work, ministry and with loved ones inevitably means less time to devote to books. Nothing wrong, just a particular season of life.

As if making up for lost time, I finished 12 books in the last 3 months, 6 of which were completed in Jan 2023 itself. I’ll highlight 6 of them here today:

1. On living well, by Eugene Peterson
2. The start-up of you, by Reid Hoffman & Ben Casnocha
3. In His Image, by Jen Wilkin
4. God of the Garden, by Andrew Peterson
5. Why I am a Christian, by John Scott
6. Our iceberg is moving, by John Kotter & Holger Rathgeber

Best books of 2021: Q3

Another 3 months has gone by! Gosh life has been so meaningfully busy that I’ve only completed another 5 books (4 non-fiction & 1 local fiction), but I’ll just highlight 2 today –

1. World of Wonders, by Aimee Nezhukumatathi
2. Side by Side, by Edward T. Welch

Best Books 2019:Q1

I can’t believe the 1st quarter of 2019 is over! These 3 months, I managed to complete 12 books, ranging from fiction (e.g. Brandon Sanderson’s Skyward courtesy of my cousin); autobiography; non-fiction (e.g. Never Split the Difference) & Christian books. I really want to highlight 2 books in particular –

1. Tactics, by Gregory Koukl
2. As Kingfishers Catch Fire, by Eugene Peterson

Best books of 2018: Q4

Goodbye 2018, & hello 2019!

I seem to always start these posts talking about how time flies, but as I do a mini stock-take every quarter, I can’t help but feel that way. Anyway, if 2017 was a year of transition, then 2018 was a year of adjusting & finding my pace, where the rubber met the road. Life doesn’t get easier, but we grow to be stronger! I’m so thankful to God for enriching experiences; for the lessons learnt; for the people present in my life. Many, many blessings. One of which, I guess, is the fact that I managed to finish 60 books in 2018!

Standouts I have to talk about in this last quarter:

1. Counterfeit Gods, by Tim Keller
2. This is What Inequality Looks Like, by Teo You Yenn
3. 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You, by Tony Reinke

Best books of 2018: Q3

Gee, has it been 3 months already?! This post is a bit late given how hectic work and personal life has been, but I still want to share more about good books I’ve been reading! Quite a number this time, and largely centred on building relationships –

1. Boy Meets Girl, by Joshua Harris
2. Love Walked Among Us, by Paul Miller
3. Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, by Anna Lamott
4. I’d Like You More If You Were More Like Me, by John Ortberg
5. The Meaning of Marriage, by Tim Keller

I’ll try to keep this short and sweet!

Best books of 2018: Q2

And here we are, half the year gone! These past few months, I completed the 1.5 year Intentional Discipleship Training (IDT) course, in which a hundred of us read through the whole bible and learned more about how to grow as disciples. Coincidentally, the 2 books that stood out for me (out of the 14 that I read) are related to knowing the bible better –

1. Parables, by John MacArthur
2. Women of the Word, by Jen Wilkin

Without further ado, let’s begin!

Best books of 2018: Q1

In a flash, 3 months of 2018 has passed by! I managed to read 12 books this first quarter, ranging from Christian to fiction to biography. There were quite a number of good books, so I’ll limit it down to 5 that I feel I HAVE to talk about, in order of completion:

1. Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis
2. Passion and Purity, by Elisabeth Elliot
3. None like Him, by Jen Wilkin
4. Creating Room to Read, by John Wood
5. The Pursuit of Holiness, by Jerry Bridges

Best books of 3rd quarter (2017)

Wow, realised that I’ve completed 13 books in this quarter alone. Majority of it was read in Jul to Aug, when I was simply waiting for work to start and had lots of free time on my hands. Time well spent, I think 🙂

Because there were SO MANY good books this quarter, I won’t go too in-depth, but just give a short intro to each book that inspired me and touched me somehow. Here goes! In order of completion:

1. The Prodigal God, by Tim Keller
2. Letters to A Wife, by John Newton
3. After College: Navigating Transitions, Relationships and Faith, by Erica Young Reitz
4. Your Work Matters to God, by Doug Sherman & William Hendricks
5. The Bumps Are What You Climb On, by Warren Wiersbe
6. The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, Hannah Whitall Smith