A Summer Reading List for 2024

A Summer Reading List for 2024

You Made It!

Students regularly talk to me about wanting to read more during the school year, but after going to multiple classes, reading textbooks, and doing homework, they feel they have little time left for reading good books. While I try to help students to carve out time for reading during the school year, I understand that each season of life presents unique challenges and time restraints. 

While the school year is a bit chaotic, Summer break is a great time to dig into a few good books. Here I will offer a few suggestions that I hope students will consider. 

Bible Reading

First and foremost, take the extra time to read the Bible this Summer. If you have a solid reading plan already in place, don't allow the extra time you have cause you to lessen the pace and try to catch up on weekends. Find some good friends at your church back home, or a fellow staff member at whatever ministry you may be serving in, and have them encourage you as you read the Word. 

If you do not have a set reading plan, or struggle to read consistently, I would encourage you to start small and give yourself to grow over time. A great place to start is to read the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts over a Summer. Take advantage of The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary as you study the life of Jesus, and the story of the early church! 

Books for Bible Reading

I tell students often that the best books to read are the ones that help you to love to read the Bible, and to read it better. My two favorite books like this that are accessible are God's Big Picture by Vaughan Roberts and According to Plan by Graeme Goldsworthy. 

If you are up for a challenge, grab Dominion and Dynasty by Stephen Dempster or Typology by Jim Hamilton!  

Books about Culture, Worldview, and Apologetics 

If you want to read something to help you understand the times in which we live and how to engage with others within the secularized culture of the West, I would highly encourage reading anything by Rebecca McLaughlin (Confronting Christianity is a personal favorite), Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller, Love into Light by Peter Hubbard, or Strange New World by Carl Trueman.

Books about the Trinity, Christ, and the Spirit 

Simply Trinity by Matthew Barret is a great introduction to historic orthodox teaching on the Trinity, The Person of Christ by Stephen Wellum is a new and brief introduction to Christology, and The Holy Spirit by Robert Letham is a classic study on the Holy Spirit.  

If you want a bit more of a challenge on this, I'd encourage you to grab a copy of Systematic Theology by Letham and commit to reading the sections on Trinity, Christology, and Pneumatology over the Summer. 

Books on the Christian Life

I seem to recommend the same six books over and over again. They played a large roll in my early years of following Jesus, and they continue to pay off dividends almost a decade later. These are Radical by David Platt, Living the Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney, Desiring God by John Piper, Knowing God by J.I. Packer, The Holiness of God and Chosen by God, both by R.C. Sproul. 

Christian Biographies

I would highly recommend R.C. Sproul, a Life by Stephen Nichols, Confessions by St. Augustine, The Life and Times of Fredrick Douglas, and or the collection of mini-biographies by John Piper, 27 Servants of Sovereign Joy. 

There are so many good books to be read, and I hope these are merely a diving board into the depths of Christian wisdom and Biblical insight that 2,000 years of Christian history have provided for us!