David Donnan

One of the unexpected gifts of this year was just how much reading I was able to do. In hindsight, I think it was partly a trauma response to the relentless push of finishing my doctoral work. Reading for pleasure became an escape from the constant cycle of academic reading, writing, and editing. As a result, this turned into the most productive reading year of my life. Below is a list of the books I read throughout the year, with links to each one and a few brief reflections along the way.

January 2025

1. Frankenstein — Mary Shelley
   • I was pleased by how much I enjoyed the “monster” in the story. Several of these books exceeded the amount of fun and joy I expected. This was one of them.
2. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
   • This is my book of the year. The brutality, simplicity, and hope here stunned me. I do not think many people would enjoy it as much as I did. This book makes me want to read more Russian literature.
3. The Thin Man — Dashiell Hammett
   • I read this for a local book club I joined. It was fine. The characters were morally ambiguous. I was not sure who we were supposed to cheer for.
4. Raise Your Ebenezer: A Field Guide to Suffering — Ted Goshorn
   • Run and get this book! My buddy Ted wrote it.
   • Also listen to my interview with him.

February 2025

5. Five Views on the Gospel — Michael Horton (ed.)
   • This was a huge blessing. I got to read an advance copy of these and offer an endorsement inside the book. This is a great series of books which present different Christian views on topics.
   • I have an interview with David deSilva to publish about this book. Dr. deSilva does a marvelous job describing the Wesleyan view of the Gospel.
   • If you are theology student or want to know more about different interpretations, I encourage you to check it out.

March 2025

6. Grace Rediscovered: Finding Hope and Healing Through Faith and Recovery — Ben Gosden
   • Ben is one of my best friends. I have not stopped thinking about this book and have quoted it several times.
   • Run to guy buy his book!

April 2025

7. Mistborn: The Final Empire — Brandon Sanderson
   • This series was given to me by Paul Griffin. I have thanked him several times for introducing me to Sanderson. It took me awhile to finish the first in this trilogy. Since then I have read a total of five Sanderson books.
8. The Little Prince — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
   • I read this with one of my children. I would not say it was one of my favorite books. However, it was fun to discuss and read together.

May 2025

9. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage — Alfred Lansing
   • This was one of those books I would tell myself, “If this is fiction I would not be able to suspend my disbelief.” The number of times these gentlemen should have died and did not is incredible. My favorite genre is historical narrative. This book is one of the reasons why.
10. A Change of Heart: A Personal and Theological Memoir — Thomas C. Oden
    • I wish I would have read this book at the start of seminary. I loved getting to hear more about the insights of academics. It’s also great to hear how a liberal professor found his way back to orthodoxy and to know the difference he has made in my academic life.

June 2025

11. The Well of Ascension — Brandon Sanderson
    • This was my favorite in the Mistborn trilogy. I am probably in the minority here and that’s fine. I really enjoyed seeing how certain characters stepped up and grew in leadership.
12. Project Hail Mary — Andy Weir
    • Do not watch the movie trailer if you want to read the book. A great book. Maybe a little overhyped by social media but still a very enjoyable read.

July 2025

13. The Hero of Ages — Brandon Sanderson
    • The conclusion of the Mistborn trilogy did not disappoint. What a fun ride for my first journey in Sanderson’s universe called the Cosmere.
14. The Sunlit Man — Brandon Sanderson (Audio Book)
    • This was a fun self contained story on a unique planet.
15. Slow Productivity — Cal Newport (Audio Book)
    • There was a lot of walking and driving this May, June, and July. I was able to complete two audio books. I like Cal Newport’s podcast. So I gave his book a listen. I enjoyed it. He actually narrates this one which was cool.

August 2025

16. The Book Thief — Markus Zusak
    • I thought I read somewhere this was one of the most read or highest rated books on Goodreads. I saw it ready to check out on the Libby app and gave it a read. I liked, but did not love it. Historical fiction is not my favorite genre.
17. Educated — Tara Westover
    • About 2/3 of this book were incredible. It is the story of someone coming up without education and overcoming some incredible odds. However, learning how the author’s mom has also written somewhat of a rebuttal to this work made it seem more complex than the narrative here.
    • This was also a book I got because it was popular and available on the Libby app.

September 2025

18. The Women — Kristin Hannah
    • This is a story about a nurse sent to the front areas of the Vietnam war. I enjoyed this one so much I purchased it for my mom for her birthday. Even though I read it for free through the Libby app.
19. Deep Work — Cal Newport (Audio)
    • This was another Newport book on slowing down and doing less to focus on creating better content and having a richer life.
    • I missed now having Newport read the audio.
20. Born to Run — Christopher McDougall (Audio)
    • This was the perfect book to listen to why’ll training for a half marathon. Turns out we are born to run long distances… according to the author. It follows a running tribe in Mexico. Great writing which keeps you captivated.
21. The Call of the Wild — Jack London
    • This was a re-read for me. I read it with one of my children. The brutality in the beginning made them want to quit. However, the payoffs were more than worth it.

October 2025

22. Africa Is Not a Country — Dipo Faloyin
    • This was the first of two books on Africa I read this year. I am preparing to head to Africa as a delegate of the Global Methodist Church to our general conference. I plan to read a couple more books next year on Africa.
23. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind — Yuval Noah Harari (Audio)
    • I have a growing fascination with pre-history. While this covers more than that time it does a good job of scratching that itch.
24. The Giver — Lois Lowry
    • I read this with one of my children. Actually, I purchased this after hearing Bishop Robert Barron review the movie and thought the book sounded interesting. I never got around to reading it until this year.
    • Small spoiler: I enjoyed the world building and the role of the giver. The ambiguous ending fell flat for me. It was a book which said so much. I think I’m jaded by J.J. Abrams story telling which usually does not have much have an ending. It’s hard to feel like with an ambiguous ending they might have just ran out of steam.
25. 11/22/63 — Stephen King
    • This was my first King novel. Side story: A had a friend who was a house sitter for him. She reached out and asked him if he wanted to come on the David Donnan Podcast. It was a no…
    • Great thick book. Over 850 pages. The pacing was good. It did slow down a little bit at parts but overall great. It is not a horror book but more of a time travel sci-fi story. It did introduce me to the town of Derry which a friend told me is where a lot of the stories King writes are set.

November 2025

26. The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey — Candice Millard (Audio)
    • This month looks thin but we had a lot cooking which wrapped up in December.
    • The River of Doubt is another narrative non-fiction/historical narrative. Not as good as Endurance from above but it still is great.

December 2025

27. Lonesome Dove — Larry McMurtry
    • This another book over 850 pages. My longest book of the year. Honestly, it could have been another 300 pages. I wanted more time with Call, Augustus, and the gang. I even talked about July Johnson in a sermon recently. Several people mentioned they were fans of the TV miniseries which came out.
28. The President Is Missing — Bill Clinton & James Patterson
    • I got bogged down on this one. However, the audio was available on Libby so I did some immersion reading with it. Dennis Quaid is the narrator. It was so good. I’ve heard the other books in this series are better but I’ll just take everyone’s word on this.
29. Jurassic Park — Michael Crichton
    • I wanted to read this just to visit the park and story I knew from the movies. I was surprised how much different and, in many ways better it was. It starts out more of a mystery. I was hooked right away. Not all the characters share the same outcomes as in the movie which kept me on the edge of seat.
30. Mistborn: Secret History — Brandon Sanderson
    • This was a fun end to Mistborn. We got to visit with one of the characters for a little longer. It really made me want to jump into the Wax and Wayne series but I think there are other series I will try next year. I also think my journey back into the Cosmere might be to tackle the thousands of pages in Stormlight Archive.
31. The Splendid and the Vile — Erik Larson (Audio)
    • This was a great listen. I went ahead and added Erik Larson’s books to my want to read lists. This covers the leadership of Winston Churchill during the bombing campaing against the British in WWII as well as his attempts to recruit the Americans to help more.
32. Cry, the Beloved Country — Alan Paton
    • If you hate quotations around speakers, you will love this. Set in Johannesburg, South Africa in the 1950s it follows a minister from the rural regions going into the city to help find his family.
33. The River Is Waiting — Wally Lamb
    • This was a book which was on Libby and popular so I gave it a shot. I was shocked by how hard it was to read at the start. Just brutal start. I almost did not finish it. I was so glad I did. While I did not do a full number list, I think this would make my top five on the year.
34. Gift and Giver: The Holy Spirit for Today — Craig S. Keener
    • This had about 40 pages left so I knocked it out to pump up my 2025 numbers. Keener is a clear and passionate writer. I enjoyed his study on the Holy Spirit.

Well, the night is young. Maybe I can knock out another book before midnight. Happy New Year!

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About David Wesley Donnan

I write online about Methodism, devotional insights, and personal reflections. My primary goal is to organize my thoughts and explore meaningful topics. Along the way, I hope my writing inspires and encourages others on their journey.

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