I enjoy reading biography. Biography is perhaps my favorite genre because it deals with two subjects I’m very much interested in: history and people.
As I reviewed the list of books I read in 2010 I was surprised to learn that I didn’t read as many biographies as I would’ve liked. However, those I did get around to reading were enjoyable. Below is the list of biographies I read in 2010 along with a few comments.
Update: I finished another biography after writing this post. It's last on the list.
- Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage – My wife is a bit of a John Adams fanatic. I gave this to her for Christmas 2009, but I decided to read it before she had a chance! Much of the book deals with John and Abigail’s correspondence during the long separations necessitated by John’s role in the founding of a new nation.
- T.C. Hammond: His Life and Legacy in Ireland and Australia – Hammond was an evangelist, pastor, and scholar who labored in Ireland and Australia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
- Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners – John Bunyan’s autobiography.
- Augustine of Hippo: A Biography – an engaging and insightful biography of one of the most important figures in church history. **My favorite of 2010**
- St. Patrick of Ireland – Philip Freeman does a good job of introducing Patrick and the world in which he lived.
- James Petigru Boyce: A Southern Baptist Statesman – I started this one on December 28 so I won’t finish it in 2010, but I can tell already that it's outstanding. I’m not a Southern Baptist and you don’t need to be in order to enjoy this biography.
- George Whitefield: The Life and Time of the Great Evangelist of the 18th Century Revival, Vol. 2 – I read the first volume in 2008 and have only just begun volume 2 this week.
- A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards - I listened to the audiobook version of this biography. The publisher's description describes it well: "...a concise, fresh retelling of the Edwards story, rich in scholarship yet compelling and readable for a much wider audience, including students."