I’m so excited to have Jason taking over my blog today. I shared my own 2018 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

Jami and I are both dedicated readers. Reading really just checks all the boxes for me. It’s enjoyable, relaxing, entertaining, and educational. I mean, what more could you ask for? Nothing else I can think of does all of that. Anyway, reading is awesome, and I’ve always wished for more hours in the day that I could devote to reading.

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.

As a husband, dad, and entrepreneur, my time for reading is extremely limited, and I am always looking for ways to help me get more reading in, to blow through more books. Jami and I came up with a year-long reading challenge last year for this very reason, and I am excited to report that it was highly effective in getting me to read more in 2017. So this year, we’re doing it again! Welcome to the 2018 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.

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: Reset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout Culture by David Murray
2. Christian Living: Why the Reformation Still Matters by Michael Reeves
3. Biblical Manhood/Marriage: What Did You Expect? by Paul David Tripp
4. Finances: Managing God’s Money by Randy Alcorn
5. Christian Living: The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller
6. Parenting/Family Life: Family Worship by Donald Whitney
7. History/Biography: The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
8. Theology: Expository Apologetics by Voddie Baucham Jr.
9. Biblical Manhood/Marriage: Living in a Godly Marriage by Joel R. Beeke
10. Time Management/Business: The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau
11. Parenting/Family Life: Brave Dad by John MacArthur
12. Christian Living: What is the Mission of the Church? by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert
13. Theology: Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine by Wayne Grudem

Level 2: 26 Books

1. A Christian Classic: The Mortification of Sin by John Owen
2. Spiritual Leadership: Family Shepherds by Voddie Baucham Jr.
3. Parenting/Family Life: Peacemaking for Families by Ken Sande
4. Biblical Manhood/Marriage: Sweethearts for a Lifetime by Wayne Mack
5. Theology: What We Believe by R.C. Sproul
6. Finances: Why Business Matters to God by Jeff Van Duzer
7. Church History: Church History 101 by Sinclair Ferguson
8. Biblical Manhood/Marriage: Twelve Ordinary Men by John MacArthur
9. Christian Living: The Tech-Wise Family by Andy Crouch
10. History/Biography: Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps that Explain Everything about the World by Tim Marshall
11. Biography: Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story About God, Dreams, and Talking Vegetables by Phil Vischer
12. Christian Living: The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges
13. Time Management: Living Forward by Michael Hyatt

Other suggestions for the categories:

Christian Living:

• The Hospitality Commands by Alexander Strauch *Super short read
• Humility by C.J. Mahaney *Short read
• Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung *Short read
• When I Don’t Desire God by John Piper
• Simplify Your Spiritual Life by Donald Whitney
• Anxious for Nothing by John MacArthur
• Growing Your Faith by Jerry Bridges
• Slave by John MacArthur
• Finally Free by Heath Lambert
• Habits of Grace by David Mathis
• Praying the Bible by Donald Whitney
• The Blessings of Humility by Jerry Bridges
• Knowing God by J. I. Packer
• Who Are You to Judge?: The Dangers of Judging and Legalism by Dave Swavely
• Unoffendable by Brant Hansen
• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
• Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges
• We Cannot Be Silent by Al Mohler

Biblical Manhood/Marriage:

• Marriage Matters by Winston T. Smith
• The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
• The Masculine Mandate by Richard D. Phillips
• 52 Things Wives Need From Their Husbands by Jay Payleitner
• The Exemplary Husband by Stuart Scott
• Disciplines of a Godly Man by R. Kent Hughes

Parenting/Family Life:

• Get Outta My Face by Rich Horne
• What the Bible Says About Parentingby John MacArthur
• Give Them Graceby Elyse Fitzpatrick
• 52 Things Sons Need From Their Dadsby Jay Payleitner
• The Faithful Parent by Martha Peace & Stuart Scott
• Being a Dad Who Leads by John MacArthur
• Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp

Theology:

• Expository Listening by Ken Ramey
• Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray
• Revolutions in Worldview by Andrew Hoffecker
• The Big Three by Henry Morris 
• Understanding English Bible Translation by Leland Ryken
• The Doctrines of Grace by James Montgomery Boice
• A Basic Guide to Eschatology by Millard Erickson
• Visual Theology by Tim Challies
• Concise Theology by J.I. Packer
• Fundamentals of the Faith by John MacArthur

Biography/History

• Owen on the Christian Life by Matthew Barrett
• Edwards on the Christian Life by Dane Ortlund
• Heroes by Iain Murray
• The Church in History by B. K. Kuiper *This is a textbook. It’s hefty.
• The Early Church by Henry Chadwick 
• Pages from Church Historyby Stephen Nicols
• Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
• Christian History Made Easy by Timothy Paul Jones
• A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War by Joseph Loconte
• A Fistful of Heroes by John Pollock

Money & Finances:

• The Complete Financial Guide for Young Couples by Larry Burkett
• The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn
• The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
• Money, Posessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn

A Christian Classic:

• Jonathan Edwards on True Christianityby Owen Strachan
• The Imitation of Christby Thomas A Kempis
• The Apostolilc Fathers
• The Incomparable Christby J. Oswald Sanders
• Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis

Time Management/Business:

• Launch by Jeff Walker
• Content Inc by Joe Pulizzi
• Ask by Ryan Levesque
• Will it Fly? by Pat Flynn
• Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung
• Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
• Do More Better by Tim Challies

Spiritual Leadership:

• Spiritual Leadershipby J. Oswald Chambers
• H. Spurgeon on Spiritual Leadership
• The Book on Leadershipby John MacArthur
• The Conviction to Leadby Albert Mohler 
• Called to Leadby John MacArthur
• The Conviction to Lead by Al Mohler

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!! 🙂