My Five Favourite Books of 2020

It’s become something of a tradition each January for me to share my five favourite books of the previous year. Despite a busy year with a book deadline, I managed to read more books in 2020 than in other years. (Check back in a few weeks’ time for tips on how you can increase the number of books you read.) After much deliberation, here are my top five books.

Royal Commandments; or, Morning Thoughts for the King’s Servants by Frances Ridley Havergal

No matter how many new daily devotionals I read, every few years I always return to Frances Ridley Havergal’s Opened Treasures. Despite my preference for full-year devotionals rather than shorter month-long ones, when someone lent me a well-worn second-hand hardback volume, I needed no persuasion to read through it. Royal Commandments is God-honouring, Bible-based (the number of various references to other Scriptures is remarkable), convicting and encouraging. The Victorian language in no way conceals the author’s love for the Saviour and her deep desire that others would likewise love Him and live wholeheartedly for Him. My only regret with this book was that it wasn’t mine and I had to give it back!

Nerves of Steel – How I Followed My Dreams, Earned My Wings, and Faced My Greatest Challenge by Tammie Jo Shults.

Occasionally I read a book that I neither can put down, nor want to end. This was one of those books. It was the first one I read in 2020, and ended up being my favourite of the year. 

Tammie Jo Shults was a rancher’s daughter who grew up in a humble home in New Mexico in the 60s and 70s. Her fascination with watching planes from the nearby Air Force base led to her becoming a US Navy pilot. She became one of the first women to fly the F/A-18 Hornet, but faced obstacles, discrimination and accusations in her chosen career. Her stories of her time in the Navy are fascinating and awe-inspiring. They reveal the mindset and training of the remarkable lady who, many years later as Captain of Southwest Airlines Flight 1380, calmly controlled and landed the severely-damaged Boeing 737-700.

It’s a fascinating story, and the author comes across as a calm, humble and pragmatic lady, who loves God and her family. This book ticked so many boxes for me – farming, military, aviation, and air accidents, all interwoven with the conviction that God guides and leads His children. In fact, the author often mentions William Cullen Bryant’s ‘To A Waterfowl’ – 

He who, from zone to zone,

Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,

In the long way that I must tread alone,

Will lead my steps aright.

William Cullen Bryant

I ended the book (reluctantly!) with the conviction that it wasn’t by chance that the Captain of SW1380 on 17^thApril 2018 was Tammie Jo Shults.

The Matter of Our Minds – Measuring Our Minds by Scripture by A. J. Higgins

I don’t believe that mental health has ever been talked about as often as it is today, yet much of the secular advice we hear doesn’t settle well with what is written in God’s Word. That’s why this book is so important. The author is a respected Bible teacher and retired family doctor, so is particularly qualified to write on this tricky subject. He tackles the subject in a balanced way with insight and sensitivity, and points us back to where we should always go in every difficulty of life – to Scripture. In this short book of 113 pages, he deals with subjects such as the example of a humble mind in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, difficulties in life which can cause us to struggle, depression, decision-making, and resources for the Christian’s mind. This book is easy to read and intensely practical, and without a doubt one of the best books I read last year. Every single believer will find something in it that they will derive benefit from.

The Sea Before Us, Sunrise at Normandy Book One, by Sarah Sundin

After gorging on too many WW2 stories in my teenage years, I’d turned my attention to other genres and settings, and was only tempted back a few years ago by a free eBook with a pretty cover. That book was ‘With Every Letter’ by Sarah Sundin, at that time a recent author on the scene. Never underestimate the power of free samples, because I went on to buy the other eBooks in the series and then added another two series to my physical book collection.

The Sea Before Us is the first book of her most recent trilogy, which takes place concurrently and follows three estranged brothers who join various branches of the US military during the Second World War. The whole series is engrossing, and while the second book follows a fighter pilot, it was actually this one I enjoyed the most. Perhaps it was something to do with the British setting – mostly London and Edinburgh – or maybe it was the fact that the hero had been an accountant before enlisting. Since accountants in novels are usually portrayed pretty negatively, my accountant husband was delighted when I told him that one of his type was the hero for once!

Sarah Sundin is a master of historical research (I can personally testify that her sessions at online writers’ conferences on the topic are second to none) and I always finish her books knowing so much more history than I ever expected to. The level of technical detail included might be too much for some, but the practical side of my brain loves it! She also masterfully weaves Scripture through her work, illustrating biblical themes and causing readers to reflect on their own lives. 

Behold Your King – Meditations in Matthew’s Gospel by J. M. Flanigan

Jim Flanigan, who is now in heaven, was well known for his deep appreciation of Christ, so it was with high expectations that I chose this slim volume from my husband’s bookcase to go along with my morning reading in the book of Matthew. 

Originally written as a collection of articles for a Christian magazine, each chapter of the book deals with one chapter of Matthew, and none of them are any longer than a few pages. The brevity of each chapter means that Behold Your King isn’t an in-depth study, but it is easy to read, contains some really good thoughts and practical lessons and, of course, it is full of Christ. A book like this one, which not only meets but exceeds my expectations, deserves a place on my five favourite books list!

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