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2019 Christian Reading Challenge for Men – Hf #185

on December 22, 2018 by Jami Balmet 0 comments

I’m so excited to have Jason taking over my blog today. I shared my own 2019 Christian Reading Challenge for Women earlier this week. If you’re a man, feel free to follow along with this challenge by yourself OR wrangle your wife into the women’s companion challenge to do it with you.

If you are a woman reading this, send over the link to your husband and you can then go through this challenge together! It’s a great way to have a built in accountability partner. Many of the books are the same but Jason changed the feminine and homemaking categories to male equivalents. – Jami

I have a lot of hobbies. I enjoying playing video games. Board games are my love language. I’m a Netflix junkie. I sometimes dabble with MTG deck-building.

But one hobby stands head and shoulders over all the rest, for me. I LOVE to read. You probably already know that about me if you’ve been hanging around this blog or podcast for any amount of time. But it’s worth stating again. Books are my favorite thing.

Listen to the Podcast:

Jami and I hopped on a podcast episode to share all about the challenge, my tricks for finding the time to read in a busy schedule, a little bit about the books I picked and more! Listen below or keep scrolling down to read all about the challenge. 

And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. 

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

Two years ago,  Jami and I came up with a year-long reading challenge. Most times, the biggest obstacle to reading as much as I’d like is lack of time. I’m a father, husband, small-business owner, and dabbler in many hobbies as previously established. Needless to say, I don’t have a lot of free time. Well, I am happy to report that implementing the reading challenge has SIGNIFICANTLY helped me to increase the number of books I’ve read in the last 2 years. Something about setting a goal, and having a list of books I want to read, has been very effective for me. So this year, we’re doing it again! Welcome to the 2019 Men’s Reading Challenge.

Yesterday, Jami posted her reading list, which is geared primarily toward women. So she asked me to put together a companion list to hers that would be more male-oriented. Many of the categories and book recommendations are the same, as there are LOTS of books out there that are great reading for both men and women. But I’ve tweaked the list to add some books on things like fatherhood, being a husband, etc. 

Also, like Jami’s list, I have not included any fiction suggestions in the list. I personally love to read fiction, and would encourage others to as well, but, at least for me, picking up a novel is much easier than digging into a history text or book on theology, and so I tailored the list to non-fiction only. I highly recommend reading some fiction as well, though. Go ahead and add a few novels you’ve been wanting to read, or, if the 13 or 26 books on the list is already the maximum you want to commit to this year, swap out a few of the categories for fiction, keeping the total count the same. Bottom line, this list and challenge is for you, so don’t hesitate to customize it to your liking. As long as it gets you reading, I’ve done my job.

Also, if you’re not already familiar, I highly recommend using Goodreads on your reading adventure. It’s a great way to track what you’re reading, what you want to read, and what you’ve already read. You can get book recommendations, and even see reviews on books you’re not sure about. Plus, you can follow me on there if you’d like to see what I’m reading. You can also see my fiction selections on there, if you want some inspiration in that department.

On more note before we get to the challenge. Back in November, I started a new podcast called Hurry Up and Read, on which I read and discuss classic works of Christian literature. It’s been an absolute blast so far! We just finished up our first book on the podcast, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burrows, and we just started the next book which I am very excited about, All of Grace by Charles Spurgeon. If you’d like to listen to some fantastic reads, I highly recommend you start listening to it. You can find it here, or on iTunes, Stitcher, and anywhere else podcasts are streamed.

Download the Toolkit to make it easy: 

Jami created a FREE toolkit to give you all these resources in one handy place. You will get tips and ideas on how to find the time to read as well as the full challenge and a printable sheet to keep track of your reading goals. Download for free below: 

Here’s How it Works:

The list is broken into 2 levels:

13 books for the year, which breaks down to 1 book every 4 weeks

26 books for the year, equaling 1 book every 2 weeks.

Jump in on the first 13, and set your own pace. Just stick to level 1 if you don’t have a lot of reading time or are new to all this, or blow through level 1 and dive into level 2 midway through the year.

Note: I recommend one particular book for each category in the list, but you can see below that I’ve included several other books for each category. You should choose which book you want to read for each category, or if you’ve already read those I’ve recommended, or if none of them interest you, feel free to choose one on your own to fit the category.

*If you are not a parent or are not married, then scroll down and fill in those spots with other fantastic book suggestions from the other categories.

Level 1: 13 Books

  1. Time Management: The One Thing by Gary Keller
  2. Christian Living: The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burrows
  3. Biblical Manhood/Marriage: A Guide to Biblical Manhood by Randy Stinson
  4. Finances: I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi
  5. Christian Living: Enjoying God: Finding Hope in the Attributes of God by R. C. Sproul
  6. Parenting/Family Life: The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie
  7. History/Biography: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
  8. Theology: The Doctrines of Grace by James Montgomery Boice
  9. Biblical Manhood/Marriage: Marriage Matters by Winston T. Smith
  10. Time Management/Business: The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier
  11. Parenting/Family Life: Family Worship by Joel Beeke
  12. Christian Living: The Invisible Hand by R. C. Sproul
  13. Theology: Practical Religion by J. C. Ryle

Level 2: 26 Books

  1. A Christian Classic: All of Grace by Charles Spurgeon
  2. Spiritual Leadership: Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Chambers
  3. Parenting/Family Life: Talking with Your Kids about God by Natasha Crain
  4. Biblical Manhood/Marriage: You and Me Forever by Francis Chan
  5. Theology: The Courage to Be Protestant by David Wells
  6. Finances: The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley
  7. Church History: Eusibius: The Church History by Eusibius
  8. Biblical Manhood/Marriage: Biblical Manhood by Stuart Scott
  9. Christian Living: Reading the Bible Supernaturally by John Piper
  10. History/Biography: The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan
  11. Biography: Irena’s Children by Tellar J. Mazzeo
  12. Christian Living: Spurgeon’s Sorrows: Realistic Hope for those who suffer from depression by Zack Eswine
  13. Time Management: Tools of Titans by Timothy Ferriss

Other suggestions for the categories:

Christian Living:

Biblical Manhood/Marriage:

Parenting/Family Life:

Theology:

Biography/History

Money & Finances:

A Christian Classic:

Time Management/Business:

Spiritual Leadership:

Download the FREE Toolkit! 

Don’t forget to grab the free toolkit Jami created for this reading challenge. You will get everything you need to follow along with the challenge, how to tailor it to fit your needs and your life, book suggestions, how to find the time to read, how to read books on a budget, the men’s reading challenge companion guide, and more!

I can’t wait to read more this year and encourage each other along the way!! 🙂

Get instant free access to my Finding Joy in Your Home video course.

  • Do you want to discover more joy, peace, & tranquility within your home?
  • Do you feel overwhelmed and like your house is out of control?
  • Join my free course and learn the essential habits for Christian homemakers

Get my homemaking videos

About Jami Balmet

Jami is passionate about making a home rooted and grounded in Christ. Jami and Jason have 6 kids, 8 years old and younger (5 boys and a girl) including two sets of twin boys. She knows what it’s like to be burnt-out, overwhelmed, stressed and in the trenches of homemaking and motherhood. As a result, she seeks to point herself, her family, and her blog all back to Christ all while finding joy, peace, and purpose within her home…all for God’s Glory. She is the host behind the Homemaking Ministries Online Conference, multiple podcasts, many courses, and more!

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