Reading Challenge 2025 | Faith Family Church

2025 READING CHALLENGE

The average American spends nearly six hours a day watching TV or browsing various social media platforms. Six hours. According to a recent study, if you spent six hours a day reading, you could read over 1,000 books a year!

Don’t worry, we’re not suggesting you read 1,000 books in 2025, but we would like to challenge you to read twelve. We’ve created this resource to help you read well and to read broadly. Why? Because books expose areas in our lives that we thought we had already conquered.

Below are twelve reading categories, each with suggested books/resources. We pray that at the end of 2025, this challenge will have made you a better parent, pastor, spouse, church member—and, of course, a better reader!

And by all means, don’t stop at twelve! Visit our Recommended Resources page to continue the challenge further.

  • We recommend using the The ESV Study Bible for more in-depth study.

    The Bible in a Year

    Link: The Bible in Two Years

    Link: The Bible in Three Years

    Link: Create Your Own Plan

    Link: More Plans

    KIDS’ PICK
    The Biggest Story Bible Storybook, Kevin DeYoung (best used as a supplement when reading the Scriptures with children)

  • Disciplines of a Godly Man, R. Kent Hughes

    This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence, John Piper

    Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus, Elyse Fitzpatrick & Jessica Thompson

    KIDS’ PICK
    Gwen Tells Tales: When It's Hard to Tell the Truth, Edwin T. Welch

  • Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald S. Whitney

    Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines, David Mathis

    KIDS’ PICK
    What Every Child Should Know About Prayer, Nancy Guthrie

  • Marks of the Messenger, J. Mack Stiles

    Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, J.I. Packer

    Let the Nations Be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions, John Piper

    KIDS’ PICK
    The Prisoners, the Earthquake, and the Midnight Song, Bob Hartman

  • The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis

    The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien

    KIDS’ PICKS
    The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis

    The Callenlas Chronicles, H.R. Hess

  • Corporate Worship, Matt Merker

    Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God, Bob Kauflin

    KIDS’ PICK
    God Made Me for Worship: Helping Children Understand Church, Jared Kennedy

  • The Loveliest Place, Dustin Benge

    KIDS’ PICK
    Meg Is Not Alone, Megan Hill

  • Delighting in the Trinity, Michael Reeves

    The Trinity: An Introduction, Scott R. Swain

  • When People Are Big and God Is Small, Edward T. Welch

    The Character of Christ, Jonathan Landry Cruse

    Letters of Samuel Rutherford, (Puritan Paperbacks)

    KIDS’ PICKS
    Series: Tales That Tell the Truth, (The Good Book Company)

    The King Who Found His Self-Control, Costi Hinn

  • Spurgeon, a Life, Alex DiPrima

    The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom

    5 Puritan Women, Jenny-Lyn de Klerk

    KIDS’ PICK
    John Owen, Simonetta Carr

  • Galatians for You, Timothy Keller

    Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord: A Biblical Theology of the Book of Leviticus, L. Michael Morales

  • The Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul

    Gospel and Kingdom, Graeme Goldsworthy

    The Wonderful Works of God, Herman Bavinck

    KIDS’ PICK
    Age-appropriate selections from Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem