The Best Books I Read in 2023
Plus 10 years-worth of my favorite book lists. It's the one with all the books!
The Soul Minimalist is a reader supported publication that allows me to offer The Next Right Thing podcast ad-free. Would you consider upgrading your subscription for 2024? You can choose the monthly option and cancel any time if it’s not your thing! We also have scholarships for anyone who asks. This post is available for all.
One of the most common questions I’m asked is for book recommendations. While this isn’t a decision-specific topic, I know Soul Minimalists are (mostly) avid readers so this seemed like the right place to share my favorite books of the year. If you’re looking to make list of books to read for 2024, you’re in the right place!
The most common type of books I read (as you’ll soon see) are memoir, narrative non-fiction, and spiritual formation titles. (FYI some links are affiliates links.) Here’s a list of the following titles in one place. Enjoy!
This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us by Cole Arthur Riley
"You will do what you can until you can't, and then you'll fall asleep on the chests of those who love you." —Cole Arthur Riley
I read one chapter each morning and sometimes wondered if I should cut that down to a page. Every sentence is filled up with soulful imagery and deep reflection on her lived experience. She writes of a spirituality that makes room for all that we are. She has a new book, Black Liturgies, releasing in a couple of weeks and I look so forward to reading that one.
All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir by Beth Moore [Audiobook]
“The trick to dealing with criticism is letting it do its good work but forbidding it to demoralize and destroy or to embitter.” —Beth Moore
Tight after John and I were married, I attended a Breaking Free study group at my church where we would watch Beth Moore's videos as a large group and then break into small groups for discussion. That was in the fall of 2001, right around 9/11. She called that bible study her life message and now, twenty-four years after the release of Breaking Free, she's written her life story, all in one compelling, hilarious, heartbreaking book. It's excellent.
The Cook’s Book: Recipes for Keeps & Essential Techniques to Master Everyday Cooking by Bri McKoy
“Your presence is more important than your perfectly roasted chicken. A confident and joyful cook knows this and believes it. Your effort is worth it. Your food is enough.” —Bri McKoy
By the time I finished reading this cookbook, I had stocked my pantry, tested the temperature of my oven using bacon (that's right), prepared frozen cilantro, and marked at least 10 recipes I wanted to try next. Bri McKoy teaches us more than we ever thought we needed to know about salt and the wine section in the back is top notch (or should I say top shelf.)
BONUS: Listen to Bri McKoy and I talked about The Next Right Thing in the Kitchen.
Finding Me by Viola Davis [Audiobook]
“My biggest discovery was that you can literally re-create your life. You can redefine it. You don’t have to live in the past. I found that not only did I have fight in me, I had love.” —Viola Davis
A stunning memoir. I am undone by her story and her voice. Viola Davis won a Grammy for the audiobook, making her only the 18th person in history to achieve EGOT status (you know, the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award.) So of course I had to listen to it rather than simply read the words on the page.
Our Unforming: De-Westernizing Spiritual Formation by Cindy S. Lee
“Indigenous communities learn to live in harmony with the cycles of nature. Farmers and gardeners also learn to understand the cyclical pattern of nature. But our modern spiritual practices often look more like a factory line for mass production rather than the natural cyclical patterns of life.” —Cindy S. Lee
This book is a must-read for spiritual directors, or really anyone who takes spiritual formation seriously. It may be a challenging read, especially if you, like me, find yourself deeply rooted in our Western interpretation of God, spirituality, and the language we use to talk about both. As an Asian American woman, Cindy S. Lee submits there are deeply valuable insights to be gained when we start listening to non-Western perspectives.
Inspired: On Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans
"Our relational God has given us a relational sacred text, one that, should we surrender to it, reminds us that being people of faith isn't as much about being right as it is about being part of a community in restored and restorative relationship with God." —Rachel Held Evans
I watched every minute of Rachel Held Evans' funeral on June 1, 2019. I remember exactly where I was, what I was thinking, and how I couldn't explain the small shift that happened in me when I first heard the news of her death. I didn't know Rachel and have only started reading her books in the years since she died. Her scholarship, generosity, and abiding love for Jesus permeates every page. Is it weird to miss someone you never knew?
Dare to Lead: Brave Work, Tough Conversations, Whole Hearts by Brené Brown [Audiobook]
“We fail the minute we let someone else define success for us.” —Brené Brown
Many years ago I attended a blogging conference and actual Brené Brown was the speaker. It was 2011 and I was not ready. She talked about wholeheartedness and vulnerability and I took pages of (handwritten) notes. In the twelve years since, I've listened to her podcast and watched talks of hers (including her Netflix special) but I've never read one of her books, at least not all the way through. I listened to this one and realized it's a good one to start with because she pulls in work from her previous books and beautifully synthesizes it all together for leaders.
The Deep Down Things: Practices for Growing Hope in Times of Despair by Amber C. Haines and Seth Haines
“God overs over the world, huddles over his children. He collects us together, asks us to see each other in all our wrecked humanity. Together, we are a frail family, and in us is buried the deepest-down thing in all of nature: love.” (page 120)
Seth and Amber are phenomenal writers and they wrote this one together, each contributing to a chapter. The story they share here is one of heartbreak, hope, and the relentless love of God. Like many of my favorites, I read a chapter every morning and didn't want it to end.
Sacred Belonging: A 40-Day Devotional on the Liberating Heart of Scripture by Kat Armas
“Like the divine, we are all birthing people, and we are all doulas and midwives, called to the sacred work of imagining, discerning, and naming things in others that they have yet to bring forth from themselves. Similarly, we remain expectant that in community, things will be called out in us that we wouldn’t have named ourselves if we didn’t have someone there to advocate, tend, or help us draw them out.” —Kat Armas
This is not a cheesy, weird devotional. Kat Armas is a serious theologian with a giant heart. Her stories of finding God in common things reflect deep thought and a rooted faith. Informed by Scripture, she shows us intuitive ways of communing with God through things like water, pets, dreams, birthing, and the passage of time. I was stunned silent by this beautiful, relevant work.
I only realize this after making my list: all of my favorite reads this year were written by women (with one bonus fella in a co-write: Seth Haines). So that’s kind of fun.
A few more words about books:
Have you preordered my latest book?
Give your future self a gift and order my next book today. It’s called How to Walk into a Room: The Art of Knowing When to Stay and When to Walk Away. (March 12, 2024!)
Also available: The Next Right Thing: A Simple, Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions and The Next Right Thing Guided Journal: A Decision Making-Companion
And a few of my books from the backlist:
A Million Little Ways: Uncover the Art You were Made to Live
Simply Tuesday: Small-Moment Living in a Fast-Moving World
My Past Best Books Lists
These are my favorite books read in the last 10 years. Happy reading!
Best Books I read in 2023 (This year’s books.)
Best Books I read in 2022 (This is the only year I didn’t write a blurb for each title.)
In the spirit of sharing great books (and because I’m always interested to hear what resonates) what’s one book you read this year that you keep recommending to people? I would love to hear!
As always, thanks for being a Soul Minimalist. Our next live virtual meetup for paid subscribers will be in January! Stay tuned here for details. Here’s to more good things in 2024.
epf
I was deeply moved by two particular books I read this year, both in the memoir category: that of Viola Davis and Kerry Washington. Wow! As we close out 2023, I’m also rereading your book, The Next Right Thing, enjoying it even more than the first time I read it. I look forward to your newest book for 2024, which I’ve already pre-ordered. Thank you Emily.
i loved way too many books, but one i think relevant to us here - When We Belong: Reclaiming Christianity On The Margins by Rohadi Nagassar. i read it with a friend and discussed every few chapters, very illuminating.