Jan. 14, 2024, column from the Amarillo Globe-News:

Books I read in 2023: Some recommended, some not so much

By Mike Haynes

                At the end of 2022, I wrote in this space about the books I had read that year. I said it was seven, but I had miscounted; it was eight.

                That’s a pitiful number for someone who loves to read, but my excuses were the significant time I spend with newspapers and magazines and my habit of re-reading sentences to be sure I got it right the first time.

                I did a little better in 2023 because I gave up editing the basketball magazine that my family and I published. My list for last year includes 13 books, and the only reason you might care is that I’m going to tell you which ones I recommend.

                I certainly do recommend reading books in general. The quick information and recreation you get on the internet is no match for going in-depth on a topic or uncovering layers of a fascinating story.

                A gift from my mother-in-law, Peggy, was the first book I finished in 2022. “Letter to the American Church” by Eric Metaxas compares the state of U.S. Christianity to the German church under the Nazis and focuses on the Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s protests against the increasing oppression under Hitler. Recommend? Yes, but I don’t agree with all of Metaxas’s political advice for American Christians. The Nazi comparison goes only so far.

                Next, “The Faith of Elvis: A Story Only a Brother Can Tell,” by Billy Stanley with Kent Sanders. I’ll admit that when I get interested in something, I tend to dive in the deep end. That was the case after my wife, Kathy, and I saw the “Elvis” movie in 2022. She and I became even bigger fans than before, and Kathy gave me this book by Elvis Presley’s stepbrother. Recommend? Only if you want to read every word ever written about Elvis.

                “Words of Wisdom: A Journey Through Psalms and Proverbs,” by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, compiled by George Wilson. Recommend? Yes!

                “The Earl and the Pharoah: From the Real Downton Abbey to the Discovery of Tutankhamun,” by the Countess of Carnarvon. Kathy and I both loved “Downton Abbey,” and this book is about the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, who lived in its filming location, Highclere Castle; he helped find King Tut in 1922. Recommend? Yes, if you have any interest in Egyptian or English history.

                “Elvis Presley’s Graceland Guidebook.” It’s the book you can buy if you visit Elvis’s home in Memphis, Tennessee, which Kathy and I did in January 2023. Recommend? Yes, if you’re even halfway an Elvis fan.

                “The Key Place,” by Gene Shelburne, the other Amarillo Globe-News Faith columnist, longtime Amarillo minister and Bible teacher. The place in the title is the Shelburne family’s old homeplace, which he and his minister brothers visit every year to rest, study and refresh. Recommend? Definitely. Shelburne is a fine writer and in this book, a keen observer of rural Texas.

                “Waypoints: My Scottish Journey,” by Sam Heughan. Kathy and I also became fans of the “Outlander” TV series, in which Heughan plays Jamie Fraser, an 18^th century Highlander. Recommend? Yes, if you like “Outlander,” Scotland or hiking.

                “The Diary of a Young Girl,” by Anne Frank. It had been on our shelf for years, and I finally read it. Anne Frank’s diary might be the best account of the Jewish struggles to survive during the Holocaust. Recommend? It’s sad, but definitely.

 

               “Paul Revere’s Ride,” by David Hackett Fischer. I read this a second time because Kathy and I were about to visit New England last fall. The books outlines the life of the famous messenger who warned patriots that British soldiers were coming in 1775 plus a lively account of the following battles of Lexington and Concord. Recommend? Yes. I wish someone would make a quality movie of it.

                “The Diary Endures: Anne Frank – Her Life and Legacy,” by Life Magazine. It’s really just an in-depth magazine, but the text and photos are fascinating. (I told you that I can get really absorbed in a topic.) Recommend? Yes.

                “The Norman Rockwell Museum.” I’m counting this 55-page publication that includes a biography of the beloved American illustrator and lots of examples of his work. We got it at the Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on that New England trip. Recommend? Yes, especially if you appreciate his “Saturday Evening Post” covers and other art.

                “First and Second Things,” by C.S. Lewis. This gift from my friend Randy groups several of the famous Christian writer’s essays in one book. Some get a little spiritually deep, and some appeal more to general readers. Recommend? Yes. There’s a reason that preachers of multiple denominations quote Lewis so often.

                “The Pilgrim Fathers – Or the Lives of Some of the First Settlers of New England.” This small book was published in 1830 – 210 years after the people we call the Pilgrims settled in Massachusetts. I still was fixated on New England and enjoyed learning how they arrived and survived at Plymouth. Recommend? Yes, if you can get past the stilted language of 1830.

                I do hope some of you will give a couple of these titles a try. More important, I hope people will take some time off from their phones and read books.