Episode 232

Chase Replogle

My Favorite Books from 2024

I'm taking a look back at the books that shaped my thinking, faith, and writing over the past year.
I'm taking a look back at the books that shaped my thinking, faith, and writing over the past year.
00:00 21:03

Show Notes:Chase Replogle: My Favorite Books from 2024

As we close out the year and finish our Christmas shopping amidst a flurry of holiday parties, I took a moment to reflect on my reading over the past twelve months. Each year, I enjoy compiling a list of my reads, as it helps me appreciate the work and thoughts that have shaped my year. I reviewed the shelves in my office, scrolled through my Audible purchases, and checked my Amazon cart history.

It’s fascinating how the books I’ve read encapsulate my growth and development over the year.

This year was particularly focused on completing and releasing my second book, A Sharp Compassion. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has purchased the book since its release in September. If you’ve read it, I would love to hear your thoughts—perhaps you might consider leaving an Amazon review.

Additionally, I completed my final year of the Doctor of Ministry program in the Art of Sacred Writing in 2024. This program involved extensive reading over the past three years, alongside my work on a novel. I’m still figuring out what will come of that work, so stay tuned for updates.

Toward the end of this year, I’ve also been working on an exciting new YouTube project that I look forward to sharing with you soon. All this to say, it’s been a uniquely busy year. Despite the hustle and bustle, I’ve discovered some remarkable books that I want to share in my annual list of best reads.

Best Reads of 2024

1. O Jerusalem, Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre
This beautifully written work of creative non-fiction recounts Israel’s war for independence from 1947-1948. My recent reading on Israel, particularly concerning the Dead Sea Scrolls—another book I’m slowly working on—has made O Jerusalem one of the standout books of my year. It captures the complex history and cultures that collided in Israel during this tumultuous period, providing both heroic moments and disturbing truths. It’s a compelling read that I couldn’t put down.

2. Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
My congregation might roll their eyes at this one; I’ve mentioned it before! However, rereading it this year revealed new insights into Christian community. Bonhoeffer’s reflections challenge many clichés about church life, emphasizing that disillusionment with our idealized notions of community can lead us to embrace the authentic community Christ calls us into. This book remains essential reading now more than ever.

3. Gather the Olives, Bret Lott
I had the privilege of attending a writers’ retreat hosted by the Wedgwood Circle in August, where Bret Lott was our featured guest writer. Having lived in Israel, Gather the Olives is a collection of essays reflecting on his experiences with both Israeli and Palestinian people. Lott’s keen eye for detail captures the essence of being in Israel without resorting to generalities or abstract concepts. This book is not only enjoyable but also instructive for aspiring writers.

4. History of France, John Julius Norwich
Please forgive this moment of self-indulgence! This past year has seen a French theme for me—not just due to the Olympics or Notre Dame’s reopening but also because my family visited Paris for the first time in 2023. Norwich’s History of France is not comprehensive but serves as an excellent introduction to medieval European history. Traveling often inspires me to delve into local literature, and I’ve enjoyed exploring French history.

5. Pimsleur French Audio Course
Alongside history, I’ve been attempting to learn French—a challenge for someone who has struggled with language learning in the past (Greek and Hebrew were particularly tough for me). While I’ve utilized various tools like grammar books and apps, Pimsleur’s audio courses have proven most effective for me. My wife and I are planning a trip to Normandy and Brittany next year, so learning French will continue to be a hobby over the coming years.

6. De-sizing the Church, Karl Vaters
Karl Vaters is a valuable resource for small church pastors, advocating for dignity in serving these congregations. His new book, De-sizing the Church, critiques our obsession with numbers and growth at the expense of true health indicators within church communities. Vaters provides both challenges to conventional thinking and pathways toward understanding what success really means for pastors and congregations alike.

7. Deceit, Desire & the Novel, René Girard
If you’ve read A Sharp Compassion, you may have noticed frequent references to René Girard’s work. While I don’t agree with all his views—particularly regarding his interpretation of the cross—his concept of mimetic desire continues to resonate with me personally and professionally. His earlier work, Deceit, Desire & The Novel, explores this theory through classic literature; it’s a challenging but rewarding read for those interested in human nature explored through fiction.

8. The Mishnah
Although it might seem like an unusual recommendation, much of my reading has either involved or related to The Mishnah. This collection of rabbinical oral traditions was compiled around 200 AD and provides insights into conversations from Jesus’ time. My focus on literature from the Second Temple Period has made The Mishnah, along with other texts like Josephus and Philo, invaluable for understanding biblical narratives.

9. Van Gogh: The Life, Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith
Van Gogh’s life is tragic yet fascinating—a reminder that understanding an artist often enhances our appreciation of their work. This biography is well-researched yet accessible; it offers profound insights into Van Gogh’s struggles as an artist. Listening to it as an audiobook while commuting or doing chores makes it even more engaging.

10. T.S. Eliot: Complete Collection
Last year I recommended Eliot’s Four Quartets, but this year I’ve delved deeper into his poetry while also exploring his biography. Recently, I’ve been reading his Christmas poems to my kids; it’s intriguing how children grasp poetry differently than adults do. Eliot’s poetry can be complex but is filled with magical language that evokes deep emotions.

I would love to hear about your reading experiences this year and what titles are on your list for 2025!

Host: Chase Replogle

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Books Mentioned

  • Joyeuse Fête des Mères à la meilleure maman qui soit. On t'aime et on a de la chance de t'avoir. Partons en France !
  • Happy early birthday to myself.
  • Hard to beat.
  • There’s a new tour open at Notre Dame in which you can take the stairs up through the bell tower to the roof. Pretty spectacular.
  • Back from France.
  • Tonight we lost my bird dog, Millie. For thirteen years I followed her through woods and fields chasing pheasant and quail. She was there to welcome both of our kids home from the hospital. When I set up my writing LLC, I named it A Desk and A Dog because my dream was to write with her lying on the chair in my office. She did just that for years, resting beside me as I worked and helping me write several books. There’s a reason so many country songs mention the bird dog they lost. She was the best.
  • I want to share something I’ve been quietly working on… Your theology might be making you weak, sick, and tired. While Christian men have been taught to cultivate their spiritual lives, most outsource their bodies to the gym, fitness trends, and online influencers. The soul is sacred, but for most, the body doesn’t really matter. The result is a church full of men who know how to pray for their souls but quietly neglect or idolize their own bodies. Yet from the dust of Eden to the physical resurrection of Jesus, Scripture insists that your body is central—not peripheral—to discipleship. For the last couple of years, I’ve been working on a new book about faith and physicality. I’m excited to announce I’ve signed a contract to publish the book with NavPress. A More Physical Faith is set to release in 2027. In A More Physical Faith, I offer a Christian theology of the body and eight practical habits to better discipline your physical life. You’ll discover how the gospel transforms the way you eat, sleep, train, and live. You’ll learn how to: 1. Track what you want to ignore 2. Be honest about what you really want 3. Turn off the lights and pray 4. Eat what you can be grateful for 5. Lift progressively heavier things 6. Train your eyes on what is good 7. Take a little something when you need it 8. Think more often about death Whether you’re a lifelong gym-goer or just trying to get started, you’ll learn to recognize how the gospel is good news for your soul and your body. The book is an invitation to live a more physical faith for the sake of your body, soul, and witness to the world. I’m grateful to be partnering with NavPress to bring this conversation to a wider audience. Thanks to all of you who have purchased previous books and followed my work. Having an amazing audience like this makes publishing contracts like this possible.
Joyeuse Fête des Mères à la meilleure maman qui soit. On t'aime et on a de la chance de t'avoir. Partons en France !
@thepastorwriter
@thepastorwriter
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Joyeuse Fête des Mères à la meilleure maman qui soit. On t'aime et on a de la chance de t'avoir. Partons en France !
1 month ago
View on Instagram |
1/9
Happy early birthday to myself.
@thepastorwriter
@thepastorwriter
•
Follow
Happy early birthday to myself.
2 months ago
View on Instagram |
2/9
@thepastorwriter
@thepastorwriter
•
Follow
2 months ago
View on Instagram |
3/9
Hard to beat.
@thepastorwriter
@thepastorwriter
•
Follow
Hard to beat.
2 months ago
View on Instagram |
4/9
There’s a new tour open at Notre Dame in which you can take the stairs up through the bell tower to the roof. Pretty spectacular.
There’s a new tour open at Notre Dame in which you can take the stairs up through the bell tower to the roof. Pretty spectacular.
There’s a new tour open at Notre Dame in which you can take the stairs up through the bell tower to the roof. Pretty spectacular.
There’s a new tour open at Notre Dame in which you can take the stairs up through the bell tower to the roof. Pretty spectacular.
@thepastorwriter
@thepastorwriter
•
Follow
There’s a new tour open at Notre Dame in which you can take the stairs up through the bell tower to the roof. Pretty spectacular.
2 months ago
View on Instagram |
5/9
Back from France.
Back from France.
@thepastorwriter
@thepastorwriter
•
Follow
Back from France.
2 months ago
View on Instagram |
6/9
@thepastorwriter
@thepastorwriter
•
Follow
3 months ago
View on Instagram |
7/9
Tonight we lost my bird dog, Millie. For thirteen years I followed her through woods and fields chasing pheasant and quail. She was there to welcome both of our kids home from the hospital. When I set up my writing LLC, I named it A Desk and A Dog because my dream was to write with her lying on the chair in my office. She did just that for years, resting beside me as I worked and helping me write several books. There’s a reason so many country songs mention the bird dog they lost. She was the best.
Tonight we lost my bird dog, Millie. For thirteen years I followed her through woods and fields chasing pheasant and quail. She was there to welcome both of our kids home from the hospital. When I set up my writing LLC, I named it A Desk and A Dog because my dream was to write with her lying on the chair in my office. She did just that for years, resting beside me as I worked and helping me write several books. There’s a reason so many country songs mention the bird dog they lost. She was the best.
Tonight we lost my bird dog, Millie. For thirteen years I followed her through woods and fields chasing pheasant and quail. She was there to welcome both of our kids home from the hospital. When I set up my writing LLC, I named it A Desk and A Dog because my dream was to write with her lying on the chair in my office. She did just that for years, resting beside me as I worked and helping me write several books. There’s a reason so many country songs mention the bird dog they lost. She was the best.
Tonight we lost my bird dog, Millie. For thirteen years I followed her through woods and fields chasing pheasant and quail. She was there to welcome both of our kids home from the hospital. When I set up my writing LLC, I named it A Desk and A Dog because my dream was to write with her lying on the chair in my office. She did just that for years, resting beside me as I worked and helping me write several books. There’s a reason so many country songs mention the bird dog they lost. She was the best.
Tonight we lost my bird dog, Millie. For thirteen years I followed her through woods and fields chasing pheasant and quail. She was there to welcome both of our kids home from the hospital. When I set up my writing LLC, I named it A Desk and A Dog because my dream was to write with her lying on the chair in my office. She did just that for years, resting beside me as I worked and helping me write several books. There’s a reason so many country songs mention the bird dog they lost. She was the best.
Tonight we lost my bird dog, Millie. For thirteen years I followed her through woods and fields chasing pheasant and quail. She was there to welcome both of our kids home from the hospital. When I set up my writing LLC, I named it A Desk and A Dog because my dream was to write with her lying on the chair in my office. She did just that for years, resting beside me as I worked and helping me write several books. There’s a reason so many country songs mention the bird dog they lost. She was the best.
Tonight we lost my bird dog, Millie. For thirteen years I followed her through woods and fields chasing pheasant and quail. She was there to welcome both of our kids home from the hospital. When I set up my writing LLC, I named it A Desk and A Dog because my dream was to write with her lying on the chair in my office. She did just that for years, resting beside me as I worked and helping me write several books. There’s a reason so many country songs mention the bird dog they lost. She was the best.
Tonight we lost my bird dog, Millie. For thirteen years I followed her through woods and fields chasing pheasant and quail. She was there to welcome both of our kids home from the hospital. When I set up my writing LLC, I named it A Desk and A Dog because my dream was to write with her lying on the chair in my office. She did just that for years, resting beside me as I worked and helping me write several books. There’s a reason so many country songs mention the bird dog they lost. She was the best.
Tonight we lost my bird dog, Millie. For thirteen years I followed her through woods and fields chasing pheasant and quail. She was there to welcome both of our kids home from the hospital. When I set up my writing LLC, I named it A Desk and A Dog because my dream was to write with her lying on the chair in my office. She did just that for years, resting beside me as I worked and helping me write several books. There’s a reason so many country songs mention the bird dog they lost. She was the best.
Tonight we lost my bird dog, Millie. For thirteen years I followed her through woods and fields chasing pheasant and quail. She was there to welcome both of our kids home from the hospital. When I set up my writing LLC, I named it A Desk and A Dog because my dream was to write with her lying on the chair in my office. She did just that for years, resting beside me as I worked and helping me write several books. There’s a reason so many country songs mention the bird dog they lost. She was the best.
Tonight we lost my bird dog, Millie. For thirteen years I followed her through woods and fields chasing pheasant and quail. She was there to welcome both of our kids home from the hospital. When I set up my writing LLC, I named it A Desk and A Dog because my dream was to write with her lying on the chair in my office. She did just that for years, resting beside me as I worked and helping me write several books. There’s a reason so many country songs mention the bird dog they lost. She was the best.
@thepastorwriter
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•
Follow
Tonight we lost my bird dog, Millie. For thirteen years I followed her through woods and fields chasing pheasant and quail. She was there to welcome both of our kids home from the hospital. When I set up my writing LLC, I named it A Desk and A Dog because my dream was to write with her lying on the chair in my office. She did just that for years, resting beside me as I worked and helping me write several books. There’s a reason so many country songs mention the bird dog they lost. She was the best.
3 months ago
View on Instagram |
8/9
I want to share something I’ve been quietly working on… Your theology might be making you weak, sick, and tired. While Christian men have been taught to cultivate their spiritual lives, most outsource their bodies to the gym, fitness trends, and online influencers. The soul is sacred, but for most, the body doesn’t really matter. The result is a church full of men who know how to pray for their souls but quietly neglect or idolize their own bodies. Yet from the dust of Eden to the physical resurrection of Jesus, Scripture insists that your body is central—not peripheral—to discipleship. For the last couple of years, I’ve been working on a new book about faith and physicality. I’m excited to announce I’ve signed a contract to publish the book with NavPress. A More Physical Faith is set to release in 2027. In A More Physical Faith, I offer a Christian theology of the body and eight practical habits to better discipline your physical life. You’ll discover how the gospel transforms the way you eat, sleep, train, and live. You’ll learn how to: 1. Track what you want to ignore 2. Be honest about what you really want 3. Turn off the lights and pray 4. Eat what you can be grateful for 5. Lift progressively heavier things 6. Train your eyes on what is good 7. Take a little something when you need it 8. Think more often about death Whether you’re a lifelong gym-goer or just trying to get started, you’ll learn to recognize how the gospel is good news for your soul and your body. The book is an invitation to live a more physical faith for the sake of your body, soul, and witness to the world. I’m grateful to be partnering with NavPress to bring this conversation to a wider audience. Thanks to all of you who have purchased previous books and followed my work. Having an amazing audience like this makes publishing contracts like this possible.
@thepastorwriter
@thepastorwriter
•
Follow
I want to share something I’ve been quietly working on… Your theology might be making you weak, sick, and tired. While Christian men have been taught to cultivate their spiritual lives, most outsource their bodies to the gym, fitness trends, and online influencers. The soul is sacred, but for most, the body doesn’t really matter. The result is a church full of men who know how to pray for their souls but quietly neglect or idolize their own bodies. Yet from the dust of Eden to the physical resurrection of Jesus, Scripture insists that your body is central—not peripheral—to discipleship. For the last couple of years, I’ve been working on a new book about faith and physicality. I’m excited to announce I’ve signed a contract to publish the book with NavPress. A More Physical Faith is set to release in 2027. In A More Physical Faith, I offer a Christian theology of the body and eight practical habits to better discipline your physical life. You’ll discover how the gospel transforms the way you eat, sleep, train, and live. You’ll learn how to: 1. Track what you want to ignore 2. Be honest about what you really want 3. Turn off the lights and pray 4. Eat what you can be grateful for 5. Lift progressively heavier things 6. Train your eyes on what is good 7. Take a little something when you need it 8. Think more often about death Whether you’re a lifelong gym-goer or just trying to get started, you’ll learn to recognize how the gospel is good news for your soul and your body. The book is an invitation to live a more physical faith for the sake of your body, soul, and witness to the world. I’m grateful to be partnering with NavPress to bring this conversation to a wider audience. Thanks to all of you who have purchased previous books and followed my work. Having an amazing audience like this makes publishing contracts like this possible.
4 months ago
View on Instagram |
9/9

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