2026 Reading List: 52 Books I'm Reading in 2026

Here it is: My 2026 Reading List.

I start the year each year with a list of books I plan on reading. Many of you are long-time readers/followers and know I read 52 books a year.

This year, my list focuses on two areas I want to sharpen in my journey: Leadership and Preaching. So you'll see that all my titles fall into those two categories. So here are the 52 books I plan to read in 2025 (by category).

And if you want to know how I read 52 books a year, check out this post for my process.

1. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey​

2. You're Not Listening by Kate Murphy​

3. How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie​

4. Radical Candor by Kim Scott​

5. Good to Great by Jim Collins​

6. Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks​

7. The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker​

8. The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching by Haddon Robinson​

9. Leading Change by John Kotter​

10. Between Two Worlds by John Stott​

11. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell​

12. Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell​

13. The Preacher's Catechism by Lewis Allen​

14. Developing the Leader Within You by John Maxwell​

15. The Motivated Speaker by Ruth Milligan, Acacia Duncan & Blythe Coons​

16. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni​

17. Nine Marks of Healthy Preaching by Mark Dever​

18. Start With Why by Simon Sinek​

19. Smart Brevity by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen & Roy Schwartz​

20. Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek​

21. Preaching with Accuracy by Randal Pelton​

22. Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders​

23. He Is Not Silent by R. Albert Mohler Jr.​

24. Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman​

25. On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons by John Broadus​

26. Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy & Ramon Charan​

27. Christ-Centered Preaching by Bryan Chapell​

28. First Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham​

29. The Preacher as Storyteller by Austin B. Tucker​

30. The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner​

31. Preaching to Every Pew by James Nieman & Thomas Rogers​

32. Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin​

33. 12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching by Wayne McDill​

34. Drive by Daniel H. Pink​

35. Preaching the Headlines by Lisa Thompson​

36. The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni​

37. The Witness of Preaching by Thomas Long​

38. Essentialism by Greg McKeown​

39. Preach by Mark Dever and Greg Gilbert​

40. Atomic Habits by James Clear​

41. The Moody Handbook of Preaching edited by John Koessler​

42. The Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey​

43. The Art of Relevance by Nina Simon​

44. The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen​

45. Resonate by Nancy Duarte​

46. Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman​

47. Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath​

48. Boundaries for Leaders by Henry Cloud​

49. The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker​

50. Multipliers by Liz Wiseman​

51. Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler​

52. The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle

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Question: What's on your reading list for 2026? Any good book recommendations?