HALFTIME REPORT: My Most Surprising Books of 2024 (so far)

Citizen of Heaven

When I buy a book, I weigh three considerations: my level of interest, the cost, and the. book’s length (more or less in that order). I will never read a book I don’t want to read. I will rarely pay anywhere remotely close to retail (Hal Hammons, famous tightwad; you know my schtick by now) And I would rather read a short book than a long book; if you saw my To Be Read stack, you’d understand why. My “surprising books” tend to be ones where either my level of interest was pretty low and I was surprised in a good way, or ones where my level of interest was unusually high and I was surprised in a bad way. I’m pleased to say most of the surprises so far in 2024 have been good ones. Lord willing, as with the other lists I’ll post this month, I’ll be back in December with my lists for the year as a whole.
10. The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, by Philip Pullman
9. The Bookstore that Floated Away, by Sarah Henshaw
8. The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom
7. Deceived No More, by Doreen Virtue
6. Helen of Troy, by Margaret George
5. Sense and Sensuality, by Ravi Zacharias
4. Our Town, by Thornton Wilder
3. God and My Father, by Clarence Day
2. A God Named Josh, by Jared Brock
1. Selfies, by Craig Detweiler