2023 Reading Challenge
American thought has long been shaped by powerful works of fiction and nonfiction that help illuminate national issues and concerns. As we become more entrenched and addicted to mind-numbing scrolling on our phones and Netflix binge-watching, it is more important than ever for us to crack open books that educate, empower, enlighten, and entertain.
The following is a list of recommendations that will get you started on a path of knowledge, wisdom, and increased literacy. The challenge is to read at least 8 books in one year - one from each category. Comment below or use #NDCANreads on social media to share your insights on the book(s) you’re reading. Please also share any recommendations that are not on this list.
Happy Reading!
Social Issues
Them Before Us: Why We Need a Global Children’s Rights Movement by Kathy Faust
Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions About Life and Sexuality by Nancy Pearcey
Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe by Voddie Baucham
Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters by Abigail Shrier
Discriminations and Disparities by Thomas Sowell
Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All by Michael Shellenberger
Wrong: Why Experts Keep Failing Us and How to Know When Not to Trust Them by David Freedman
Marxification of Education: Paulo Freire’s Critical Marxism and The Theft of American Education by James Lindsay
Uniquely American
The Federalist Papers - essays by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay
The 5000 Year Leap: Principles of Freedom by W. Cleon Skousen
The American Covenant: The Untold Story by Marshall Foster
The American Story: The Beginnings by David Barton
Lessons and Warnings
Live Not By Lies by Rod Dreher
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt
We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China's Surveillance State by Kai Strittmatter
The Great Reset: Global Elites and the Permanent Lockdown by Marc Morano
Snake Oil: How Xi Xinping Shut Down the World by Michael Senger
Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence by Alex Berenson
Fiction
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
City of Thieves by David Benioff
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy
The Shoemaker’s Wife: A Novel by Adriana Trigiani
True Stories
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Endurance: Shakleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksander Solzhenitsyn
Classic Literature
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Call of the Wild by Jack London
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Christian Wisdom
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truths for a Skeptical World by Josh McDowell
The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller
You’re Not Enough (And That’s OK): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love by Allie Beth Stuckey
The Suffering of Man and the Sovereignty of God by Charles Spurgeon
History
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas
The Greatest Medal of Honor Stories Ever Told by Tom McCarthy
September 1918: War, Plague, and the World Series by Skip Desjardin
