Reading List for Men Feeling a Call to Adventure
- Daniel Shaw
- Nov 24, 2025
- 3 min read
Over the years, I’ve learned that the people who lead well—at work, home, in their communities, and in times of crisis—are the people who keep learning. Books have shaped my faith, my mindset, and the way I train myself, students, and lead my family. This reading list pulls together the titles I believe will strengthen your walk with Christ, sharpen your ability to defend yourself and those you love, and build a healthier body that can carry the weight of real-world responsibility. These aren’t academic shelf pieces. They’re practical and worth your time. They have all positively impacted my life.
Like any book written by human hands, I don’t agree with everything in every title on this list. That’s not the point. In fact, the parts that make me pause or push back usually sharpen me the most. Whether the subject is spiritual, relational, or physical, disagreement forces me to slow down, study deeper, and understand the “why” behind what I believe. I’ve never wanted to hold a conviction just because someone told me to. I want to know the truth, understand it, and be able to articulate it. These books, agree or disagree, have helped me do exactly that.
I've got much more to add to this post, and I will update as I continue to read and learn.
Wild at Heart is a book I've read multiple times. It's a must-read for anyone raising young men, especially in today's world. It prompted a profound change in how I see myself, God, my sons, and other men around me.
Bob is one of my favorite authors. He has to be the most incredible old surfer dude on the planet. He's also one of the smartest and wisest people I've read. Bob has really helped me learn to love people more.
This is a great read. I've read it a couple of times and the first chapter alone many more times. Comer presents the idea of how we are all following something or someone, and how to follow the right someone.
Tribe hit me hard when I transitioned out of the Marine Corps. It helped me make sense of the feelings and experiences I carried with me and gave language to things I didn’t know how to articulate. It shaped how I understood who I’d become after prolonged exposure to violence and shared hardship.
Leaders Eat Last has been my go-to book for many years as the one I hand to leaders around me. I've given it away more than any other, and I love giving friends good books. This is an excellent book for any leader or aspiring leader, and I can always tell whether someone I gifted it to has read it. The way they lead will show it.
Never Split the Difference is a fun and exciting read full of stories from Voss's career as an FBI hostage negotiator, but the real fun comes after. I've taken so many nuggets from this book and used them in day-to-day life relationally, professionally, and financially, and I know you will too.
Becoming a King is a book I really took my time with and took a lot of notes as I read it. The author's description nails it as "an invitation into a radical reconstruction of much of what we’ve come to believe about God, masculinity, and the meaning of life."
Everybody Always is a book I read often. It inspires me to love everybody always, through amazing stories from Bob's adventures and the way he lives life. I don't know about you, but I often struggle to love everybody all the time. I keep coming back.
In church and in life, we encounter cultural ideas, theories, concepts, and beliefs that do not align with the way, the truth, and the life. In Radical, Platt challenges us to consider how we have manipulated the gospel to fit our cultural preferences.
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