In the year 2017, I set a challenge for myself which, by God’s grace, I was able to accomplish. I read 100 books in the year. This averaged to around eight books a month. Through it all, I was able to read way more than I ever thought I could, and now reading has become more of an enjoyable habit than it ever has been.
I am going to blog about this 2017 reading (more for myself than for others—to recount what I went through, what I learned, and what books I read), but I am going to split it up into a series of three posts to organize it a bit. So in this first blog, I am simply going to list the 100 books, with some statistics. I’ll give the year they were published, the date I finished them, and then the rating (out of 5 stars) I gave them. Then, I’ll give some statistics about book length, pages read, and most prominent authors.
Then in the second post about this, I will pick favorites in categories for the books I have been reading. Throughout the year I have had a section in my notes for categories, such as Book That Most Inspired Me to Be a Better Man, and I have been adding books to them. In the next blog, I will give out these favorites.
Finally, in the third blog post about all this, I will dwell on 9 benefits and 4 downsides of reading 100 books in a year. And then I will answer if I will read this many books in a year again in the future.
The List of 100 Books I Read in 2017
Here then are the 100 books I was able to read in 2017. As you’ll see, the overwhelming majority of my books were Christian books, but the ones that were non-Christian are marked by three asterisks (***), and fiction books are marked by four asterisks (****).
Moreover, as you’ll see, most were not from 2017 (as I couldn’t afford to buy so many new books, and as I wanted to read older books). And any books that were published more than 50 years ago are marked by one asterisk (*).
(Author – Title – Year Published – Date Finished – Star Rating [out of 5])
Donald Whitney – Family Worship – 2016 – 1/12/17 – 4
Tim Challies – Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity – 2015 – 1/13/17 – 5
David Platt – Radical – 2010 – 1/16/17 – 5
John Piper – A Peculiar Glory – 2016 – 1/21/17 – 5
*Leonard Ravenhill – Why Revival Tarries* – 1959 – 1/24/17 – 5
Richard Pratt – Pray With Your Eyes Open – 1987 – 1/26/17 – 4
Sam Allberry – Is God Anti-Gay? – 2013 – 1/27/17 – 5
Kevin DeYoung – What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality? – 2015 – 1/29/17 – 5
*John Owen – The Glory of Christ* (Banner of Truth Abridged) – 1684 – 2/2/17 – 4
*A.W. Tozer – The Pursuit of God* – 1948 – 2/4/17 – 5
Peter Gentry and Stephen Wellum – God’s Kingdom through God’s Covenants – 2015 – 2/9/17 – 3
John Stott – Same-Sex Partnerships? – 1998 – 2/12/17 – 3
Brent E. Parker and Stephen Wellum – Progressive Covenantalism – 2015 – 2/17/17 – 5
John Piper – When I Don’t Desire God – 2004 – 2/22/17 – 4
*John Newton – Letters of a Slave Trader Freed by God’s Grace* (Moody Classics, newly published as Out of the Depths) – 1763 – 2/24/17 – 4
Moishe Rosen – Y’shua: The Jewish Way to Say Jesus – 1982 – 2/26/17 – 4
Courtney Reissig – The Accidental Feminist – 2015 – 3/1/17 – 5
John Piper and Wayne Grudem – 50 Crucial Questions – 2016 – 3/2/17 – 5
Richard Wurmbrand – Tortured for Christ – 1967 – 3/7/17 – 5
Ray Ortlund, Jr. – Proverbs – 2012. – 3/11/17 – 5
Moishe and Ceil Rosen – Christ in the Passover – 1978 – 3/15/17 – 5
Douglas Wilson – The Forgotten Heavens – 1989 – 3/17/17 – 5
*J.I. Packer – Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God* – 1961 – 3/21/17 – 5
Philip Yancey – The Jesus I Never Knew – 1995 – 3/25/17 – 2
John Pollock – The Master – 1990 – 3/31/17 – 5
Tony Reinke – Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books – 2011 – 4/4/17 – 4
Nelson Searcy – Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully Engaged Members of Your Church – 2007 – 4/6/17 – 4
Justin S. Holcomb – On the Grace of God – 2103 – 4/9/17 – 4
John Piper – A Holy Ambition – 2011 – 4/12/17 – 3
Tim Keller – Encounters with Jesus – 2013 – 4/17/17 – 4
****Cormac McCarthy – The Road**** – 2006 – 4/20/17 – 3
Thom Rainer – Autopsy of a Deceased Church – 2014 – 4/28/17 – 4
Tony Reinke – 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You – 2017 – 4/30/17 – 5
Jaquelle Crowe – This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years – 2017 – 5/6/17 – 5
David Croteau – Tithing After the Cross – 2013 – 5/9/17 – 4
John Piper – The Legacy of Sovereign Joy – 2006 – 5/10/17 – 5
John Piper – Reading the Bible Supernaturally – 2017 – 5/13/17 – 5
Geoffrey W. Bromiley – God and Marriage – 1980 – 5/17/17 – 4
Jerry Bridges – The Pursuit of Holiness – 1978 – 5/22/17 – 4
Joshua Harris – Sin is Not the Problem (Lust Is) – 2003 – 5/25/17 (I read the old titled book Not Even a Hint) – 5
Mark Cahill – One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven – 2002 – 5/31/17 – 4
Francis Chan – Crazy Love – 2008 – 6/3/17 – 5
*John Calvin – Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life* – 1550 – 6/6/17 – 5
*John Stott – Our Guilty Silence: The Church, the Gospel, and the World* – 1967 – 6/9/17 – 4
Kevin DeYoung – The Hole in Our Holiness – 2012 – 6/15/17 – 5
****William P. Young – The Shack**** – 2007 – 6/19/17 – 2
Francis Schaeffer – He Is There and He Is Not Silent – 1972 – 6/20/17 – 5
*C.S. Lewis – A Grief Observed* – 1961 – 6/27/17 – 2
*E.M. Bounds – Purpose In Prayer* – 1914 – 6/28/17 – 4
***Daniel J. Siegel – The Whole-Brain Child*** – 2011 – 6/29/17 – 5
Billy Graham – Angels: God’s Secret Agents – 1975 – 7/1/17 – 4
****Arthur Conan Doyle – A Study in Scarlet**** – 1912 – 7/12/17 – 5
Tim Keller – The Prodigal God – 2008 – 7/3/17 – 5
*Leon Morris – Spirit of the Living God* – 1960 – 7/4/17 = 5
*Horatius Bonar – Words to Winners of Souls* – 1859 – 7/6/17 – 5
Mark Dever – What Is a Healthy Church? – 2007 – 7/7/17 – 3
C.J. Mahaney – Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World – 2007 – 7/18/17 – 5
*R.A. Torrey – How To Pray* – 1900 – 7/23/17 – 4
Francis Schaeffer – True Spirituality – 1971 – 7/30/17 – 5
*Dietrich Bonhoeffer – Life Together* – 1954 – 8/8/17 – 4
Collin Hansen – Young, Restless, Reformed – 2008 – 8/10/17 – 3
James Hamilton – What Is Biblical Theology? – 2014 – 8/10/17 – 4
Bill Hybels – Too Busy Not to Pray – 1988 – 8/17/17 – 4
C.J. Mahaney – The Cross Centered Life – 2008 – 8/22/17 – 5
K.P. Yohannan – Living in the Light of Eternity – 2004 – 8/26/17 – 4
*Andrew Murray – Humility* – 1895 – 8/27/17 – 5
Ellis Potter – 3 Theories of Everything – 2012 – 8/29/17 – 3
*Charles Spurgeon – All of Grace* – 1894 – 9/4/17 – 5
D.A. Carson – The Cross and Christian Ministry – 1993 – 9/10/17 – 5
Wayne Grudem – Christian Beliefs – 2005 – 9/11/17 – 4
Douglas Wilson – Persuasions – 1989 – 9/11/17 – 5
*E.M. Bounds – The Weapon of Prayer* – 1931 – 9/15/17 – 4
*Corrie Ten Boom – Amazing Love* – 1953 – 9/17/17 – 5
John Piper – The Supremacy of God in Preaching – 1990 – 9/18/17 – 5
Justin Buzzard – Date Your Wife – 2012 – 9/25/17 – 5
Bruce M. Metzger – Breaking the Code: Understanding the Book of Revelation – 1993 – 10/4/17 – 5
*Brother Lawrence – The Practice of the Presence of God with Spiritual Maxims* – 1670 – 10/5/17 – 5
*E.M. Bounds – The Necessity of Prayer* – 1929 – 10/5/17 – 5
***Dave Asprey – The Bulletproof Diet*** – 2014 – 10/13/17 – 4
Jerram Barrs – Shepherds & Sheep – 1983 – 10/13/17 – 4
John Piper – Spectacular Sins – 2008 – 10/18/17 – 5
Francis Chan – The Forgotten God – 2009 – 10/23/17 – 4
Francis Schaeffer – Art and the Bible – 1973 – 10/23/17 – 5
*John Bunyan – All Loves Excelling* – 1650 – 10/26/17 – 3
*Charles Spurgeon – Revival Year Sermons* – 1859 – 10/28/17 – 5
Matt Redman – Mirror Ball – 2011 – 10/29/17 – 4
Albert Mohler – Culture Shift – 2008 – 11/2/17 – 3
Jon Bloom – Not by Sight – 2013 – 11/4/17 – 5
*Andrew Murray – Absolute Surrender* – 1895 – 11/10/17 – 3
Jonathan Leeman – Church Membership – 2012 – 11/17/17 – 5
*E.M. Bounds – Power Through Prayer* – 1910 – 11/21/17 – 5
Thabiti Anywabile – What Is a Healthy Church Member? – 2008 – 11/23/17 – 4
*Robert Murray McCheyne – Sermons on Hebrews* – 1843 – 11/30/17 – 4
Marshall Segal – Not Yet Married – 2017 – 12/2/17 – 5
Ray Ortlund – A Passion for God – 1994 – 12/5/17 – 4
John MacArthur – The Gospel According to Paul – 2017 – 12/6/17 – 5
Scott Sauls – Befriend – 2016 – 12/9/17 – 4
*Rosalind Rinker – Prayer: How to Have a Conversation with God* – 1959 – 12/15/17 – 5
Dan C. Barber and Robert A. Peterson – Life Everlasting – 2012 – 12/16/17 – 3
John Piper – This Momentary Marriage – 2009 – 12/17/17 – 5
Some Statistics About Reading the 100 Books
Those are the hundred books I was able to read! I also kept track in an Excel spreadsheet, which then allowed me to come up with these stats which are interesting just for myself:
The average number of pages for the 100 books I read was 156. From January to March, the average page number was 165. From April to June, the average page number was 166. From July to September (when we moved from Missouri to New Jersey and when I started a new job!) was 137. And the average page number from October to December was 155 pages.
Moreover, for each book I wrote a quick review and gave them a star rating out of five stars. These I wrote over at Goodreads, and you can see all my ratings and quick reviews there. My average rating for my books was 4.4 stars.
As for pages read, I read a total of 15,580 pages, and that averaged around 45 pages per day (and a book, therefore, around every three days or so).
As for authors, my most prominent read author was John Piper. I read nine books from Piper. My next most prominent author was E.M. Bounds, who I read four times. I love his devotions on prayer! Then my third most read author, with three books, was Francis Schaeffer. Then I had a handful of people I read two books from: Andrew Murray, CJ Mahaney, Charles Spurgeon, Doug Wilson, Francis Chan, John Stott, Kevin DeYoung, Ray Ortlund Jr., Tim Keller, and Tony Reinke.
In the following post, I will give my personal favorites out of the books I read. And in the final post on the 100 books, I will recount the benefits and downsides of doing this.
