2022 Christian Reading Challenge
It’s finally that time of year again: We are here today to announce the 2022 reading challenge and chat about this year’s reading. We will discuss our goals, making new goals, and some exciting changes to the 2022 reading challenge (it’s going to be so much fun)!! Listen in here:
Listen to the Podcast:
You can find all the links and notes for this episode below!
What’s New This Year
In an effort to inspire more reading, and to do it as a community, we are introducing a community aspect for the first time ever!
We’ve always wanted to do this, but now is our year!! The community group will kick off on January 1st. You can join our community in the meantime here —> FindingJoyCommunity.com
In the community, we will all be able to update on our progress, share new favorite books and ask for book recommendations in categories. Jason and I will also be publishing detailed book lists throughout the year and posting our book reviews of our books we read throughout the year!!
Next exciting change: You will determine your goal for the year and then compete against yourself for some fun little prizes. If you hit your quarterly goal, we’ll have stickers, magnets, and bookmarks you can win for free and add to your next store order!!
It’s going to be super fun. I’ll be unveiling quarter one’s prize soon!
BONUS: I’ll have a reading planner PDF to download for FREE as part of the challenge. I’m almost done with it and will release it into the community as soon as it’s done!! It has places for book summaries, tracking your reading goals, favorite quotes, and more.
Jason & Jami’s 2021 Reading Goal:
We both set big goals for this year, and neither of us are hitting it! But that’s okay because I feel like we both had great reading years. And that’s really all that matters.
Jason’s read (so far): 93 books for the year
Jami’s read (so far): 97 books for the year
2022 Christian Reading Challenge
Here’s how it works:
You will find the reading challenge below. You’ll see that we’ve given you two tracks – 13 books or 26! This is either reading one book every four weeks or one book every two weeks. If you want to do 52 books (one a week) you can easily adjust for that as well.
A note about fiction: This year we’ve included fiction categories per your request! I think fiction is hard because all of us are going to have different tastes in what fiction we prefer. You can find some of our favorite Christian Fiction books here. But feel free to substitute any fiction books or series that you enjoy.
Pick Your Level:
I know each of us has different reading levels and time for reading, so I created two different tracks you can follow.
13 Books a Year – This works out to 1 book every 4 weeks. If you have no habit of reading right now or have no idea you will fit reading time into your busy schedule, then this is a great level to begin with. Pick one book every 4 weeks and commit to getting it down within that time.
26 Books a Year – If you want to tackle a bigger challenge, then this level will get you reading 1 book every two weeks throughout the year. It’s still a very doable reading track but will challenge you to stay on track! If you want to follow this plan, read one book from each list every month. So in January, read book #1 and book #14! This way everyone can read through and follow along with books #1-13 together.
Here are the categories:
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Christian Living
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Marriage
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Parenting/Family Life
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Theology
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Fiction
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Biography/History
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Spiritual Disciplines
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Christian Classics
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Church History
*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.
Book Recommendations Per Category:
Christian Living:
- Everyday Faithfulness: The Beauty of Ordinary Perseverance in a Demanding World – Glenna Marshall
- Growing Together: Taking Mentoring beyond Small Talk and Prayer Requests – Melissa Kruger
- A Place to Belong: Learning to Love the Local Church – Megan Hill
- God Does His Best Work with Empty – Nancy Guthrie
- Piercing Heaven: Prayers of the Puritans – Robert Elmer
- Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers – Dane C. Ortlund
- Suffering Is Never for Nothing – Elizabeth Elliot
- The Gathering Storm: Secularism, Culture, and the Church – Albert Mohler
- The Hospitality Commands by Alexander Strauch *Super short read
- Humility by C.J. Mahaney *Short read
- Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung *Short read
- Family Worship by Donald Whitney *Super short read
- When I Don’t Desire God by John Piper
- Simplify Your Spiritual Life by Donald Whitney
- Anxious for Nothing by John MacArthur
- Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
- The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges
- Growing Your Faith by Jerry Bridges
- Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges
- Adorned by Nancy Demoss Wolgemuth
- Caring for One Another by Edward T. Welch
- Praying Together by Megan Hill
- War of Words by Paul David Tripp
- Decluttering at the Speed of Life by Dana K. White
- The Gospel Comes with a Housekey by Rosaria Butterfield
- Hello Mornings by Kat Lee
- Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson
- Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church by Donald S. Whitney
- Side by Side by Edward T. Welch
- The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges
Womanhood & Marriage:
- Enough about Me: Find Lasting Joy in the Age of Self – Jen Oshman
- Stop Calling Me Beautiful: Finding Soul-Deep Strength in a Skin-Deep World – Phylicia Masonheimer
- You’re Not Enough (And That’s Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love – Allie Beth St
- 100 Ways to Love Your Husband/Wife – Jacobsons
- Glimpses of Grace by Gloria Furman
- Women’s Ministry in the Local Church by J. Ligon Duncan & Susan Hunt
- Helper By Design by Elyse Fitzpatrick
- Twelve Extraordinary Women by John MacArthur
- The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
- Running on Empty by Barbara Bancroft
- Attitudes of a Transformed Heart by Martha Peace
- Women Living Well by Courtney Joseph
- Spiritual Mothering by Susan Hunt
- Radical Womanhood by Carolyn McCulley
- The Measure of Success by Carolyn McCulley
- True Feelings by Carolyn Mahaney
- Girl’s Club by Sally Clarkson
- Sweethearts for a Lifetime by Wayne Mack
Parenting/Family Life:
- The Storm-Tossed Family: How the Cross Reshapes the Home – Russell D. Moore
- Love-Centered Parenting – Crystal Paine
- Family Discipleship – Matt Chandler
- Why Children Matter – Doug Wilson
- Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full by Gloria Furman
- Mom’s Raising Sons to be Men by Rhonda Stoppe
- Get Outta My Face by Rich Horne
- Peacemaking for Families by Ken Sande
- What the Bible Says About Parenting by John MacArthur
- Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic
- Give Them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick
- Mom Enough
- Prayers for the Battlefield by Heidi St. John
- Talking to Your Kids About God by Natasha Crain
- Better Together by Pam Barnhill
- The Life Giving Parent by Sally and Clay Clarkson
Theology:
- The Story Retold: A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the New Testament
- Revelation: Four Views, A Parallel Commentary
- Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond
- Reformed Dogmatics (Single Volume Edition): A System of Christian Theology
- What Is Reformed Theology?: Understanding the Basics – R.C. Sproul
- Defending Your Faith (Redesign): An Introduction to Apologetics – R.C. Sproul
- Forgotten Trinity – James White
- Expository Listening by Ken Ramey
- Revolutions in Worldview by Andrew Hoffecker
- What We Believe by R.C. Sproul
- The Big Three by Henry Morris
- Understanding English Bible Translation by Leland Ryken
- Spurgeon’s Sorrows by Zack Eswine
- Growing in Gratitude by Mary K. Mohler
- Suffering by Paul David Tripp
- Humility by C.J. Mahaney
Biography:
- The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert – Rosario Butterfield
- Susie: The Life and Legacy of Susannah Spurgeon
- Becoming Elisabeth Elliot – Ellen Vaughn
- The Heroic Boldness of Martin Luther – Steven J. Lawson
- The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon – Steve J. Lawson
- The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards – Steven J. Lawson
- The Passionate Preaching of Martyn Lloyd-Jones – Steven J. Lawson
- Owen on the Christian Life by Matthew Barrett
- Edwards on the Christian Life by Dane Ortlund
- Heroes by Iain Murray
- Devoted by Tim Challies
- The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon by Steve J. Lawson
- The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards by Steven J. Lawson
Money & Finances:
- You Need a Budget by Jesse Mecham
- The Complete Financial Guide for Young Couples by Larry Burkett
- Money, Posessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn
- Managing God’s Money by Randy Alcorn
- The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn
Christian Classics:
- A Little Book on the Christian Life by John Calvin
- Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian in Community by Bonhoeffer
- Heretics – G. K. Chesterton
- Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
- The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis
- The Apostolic Fathers
- The Incomparable Christ by J. Oswald Sanders
- All of Grace by Charles Spurgeon (hint hint: You can listen through this book for free here)
Church History:
- Challies has some good Church history recommendations here
- Epic: An Around-The-World Journey Through Christian History – Tim Challies
- Church History 101 by Sinclair Furguson
- The Church in History by B. K. Kuiper *This is a textbook. It’s hefty.
- The Early Church by Henry Chadwick
- Pages from Church History by Stephen Nicols