Here are a few things I’m glad I read. They’re in no particular order, nor is this an exhaustive list.
J.R.R. Tolkien
- “Tree and Leaf” inThe Tolkien Reader.
In this essay, Tolkien writes that fairy stories are most emphatically for adults first, filling for us the same function that Jesus’ parables did: putting earthly clothes on our spiritual thoughts so we can see them better.
C.S. Lewis had a gift for putting lofty spiritual concepts into plain English. Like Tolkien, he provides pictures that make those truths come alive and linger in my mind.
- The Great Divorce
- The Chronicles of Narnia
- The Four Loves
- The Screwtape Letters
- Till We Have Faces
Brother Lawrence
- The Practice of the Presence of God
Simple, but potentially life-changing.
Elisabeth Elliot
- Keep a Quiet Heart
A collection culled from her newsletters: practical, challenging, comforting.
Elizabeth Prentiss
- Stepping Heavenward
Fiction that has the ring of truth. This was written for women, but I suspect it would be most illuminating for men who want to understand women better.
Gary Thomas
- Sacred Marriage: What if God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More than to Make Us Happy?
Gary’s premise, that every part of married life has potential to make us holy, is invigorating to me because I can apply it to my singleness, too. The book was helpful in writing “Heart on Hold.” It was also a welcome perspective adjustment as I look ahead to my possible marriage: It’s a relief to release any relationship from the impossible task of satisfying us, and enjoy all the good they do bring.
Chris Brauns
- Bound Together: How We are Tied to Others in Good and Bad Choices
Having lived in Israel for a while, surrounded by several cultures who highly value community and family ties, I’d say that there’s something more for Westerners to understand and experience in this regard. Chris Brauns’ book is a great place to start exploring how the concepts of covenant and community are very good news for us.
Bob Sorge
- The Fire of Delayed Answers
As I wrote in “Don’t Waste Your Disappointment,” this book met a deep need while I was stranded in a season of feeling disappointed with God, and wondering why in the world He was silent, just when I needed Him most! Bob Sorge writes from his own desert, so the book feels sympathetic, practical and relevant, even for a very sore heart.
John Piper
- Desiring God
Nourishing and encouraging. This book helped shape my article, “One Single Day.”
Evan May
- Love Gives Life: A Study of I Corinthians 13
This tiny, solid, yet unpretentious book got right up in my business in a very refreshing and life-giving way.
Jerome Murphy-O’Connor
- The Holy Land
When I travel around Israel, I want to know which sites are “real.” If history and archaeology can tell us, then it’s probably in this travel guide.
James Monson
- The Land Between
Historical geography that makes the Bible come alive.
Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre
- O Jerusalem!
History that reads like a novel.
G.K. Chesterton
- The Ball and the Cross
- Father Brown
- Orthodoxy
Fiction that makes me think. And the last: zestful, powerful prose that hits right at the roots of secularism.
Charles Dickens
- Tale of Two Cities
Normally, I find Dickens’s books dark. This one is no exception, but it’s also a deeply moving story of redemption.
Elizabeth Gaskell
- Wives and Daughters
A portrait of unselfishness.
W. Dale Cramer
- Bad Ground
I laughed and cried and experienced a completely different world. Definitely what novels are for.
Elizabeth George Speare
- The Bronze Bow
Because time travel to the first century hasn’t been invented.
Angela Elwell Hunt
- Unspoken
If Jane Goodall met Balaam’s donkey, the story might play out something like this.
Meindert DeJong
- The House of Sixty Fathers
It’s true: some of my favorite books were written for children.
William Strunk and E.B. White
- Elements of Style
It’s nice when a writing handbook makes you laugh.
Gerard Manley Hopkins
- “The Windhover”
Because words can be breathtakingly beautiful.
Elisabeth Adams 