Books
The Reading List
Every Chapter reads the same book at the same time. The book is the common ground that makes honest conversation possible. Below is what we're reading now, what we've worked through, and what we recommend for the walk.
Now Reading
Current Chapter Book
Maximized Manhood
The book we're in right now. Cole's argument is simple and blunt: a man is not made by what he does, but by what he chooses not to do. One of the most widely-read men's books in the Christian world for a reason. Come with your Bible.
The Reading List
Books We've Read Together
Every book the chapter has worked through. Field Guides — discussion questions, chapter summaries, and prompts for The Round — will be added as they're completed.
The Barbarian Way
Short. Dense. McManus makes the case that the Christian life was never meant to be safe or managed — it was meant to be untamed. The men who read this in the chapter did not put it down the same as when they picked it up.
Stepping Up
Rainey maps the five stages a man moves through — boyhood, adolescence, manhood, mentor, patriarch — and shows what it looks like when a man fails to transition from one to the next. Convicted a lot of us. Quietly.
They Were Christians
Brief profiles of men and women who shaped history and who happened to be serious about their faith. Not hagiography — just honest accounts of people who believed something real and acted on it. Good for men who think Christianity is only for the soft.
M46 Crash Course
Malachi 4:6. The last verse in the Old Testament is about fathers turning their hearts to their children. Dallas and Sexton wrote a practical, honest guide for dads who want to do that and aren't sure where to start. The chapter that read this one got loud.
Seven Friendships Every Man Needs
Erickson identified seven kinds of friends a man needs to stay on track — and most men have zero of them. This one hit hard because it named what was already missing. Based on biblical models: David, Paul, Timothy, and others.
Counterfeit Gods
Keller argues that the heart is an idol factory — and that every man's deepest dysfunction comes back to what he's built his life on instead of God. Career. Approval. Money. Family. This book names those things without flinching.
A Million Little Miracles
Batterson's argument is that God is still doing what He's always done — we just have to slow down enough to notice. The chapter that worked through this one came back with stories. That's the point.
Under Par
Golf is the setup. Grace is the point. Callaway uses the game — its failure rate, its humbling arc, its small victories — to talk about the things men actually need to hear about faith, friendship, and not taking yourself too seriously.
Disciplines of a Godly Man
Hughes wrote the manual. Twelve disciplines — prayer, the Word, worship, integrity, marriage, fatherhood, friendship, mind, work, money, church, leadership. No fluff, no shortcuts. The men in CC who keep coming back to this say it's the one they return to most.
The Man in the Mirror
Morley wrote this after realizing he had built a successful life and an empty one at the same time. The book asks the questions most men avoid: Who am I? Where am I going? Why does it feel like something is still missing? A decade after reading it, men in this chapter still reference it.
Suggest a Book
Reading something that should be on this list? Reach out to Brian directly.
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