Sometimes encouragement comes through direct reminders of Biblical truth, and other times it comes in the form of what I like to call “Gospel shadows” – reminders that come from unexpected sources. I’ve read many books and stories over the past several years, some of them might be labeled “Christian” or “theological,” and others aren’t. I’ve experienced deep encouragement, challenged thinking, and reminders that God is at work from both. Here is a list of some of the highlights of books that had an impact (in some form or another) throughout my single life:
Knowing God – JI Packer
Living Life Backward: How Ecclesiastes Teaches Us to Live in Light of the End – David Gibson
Safe and Sound: Standing Firm in Spiritual Battles – David Powlison
Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers – Dane Ortlund
Untangling Emotions – J. Alisdair Groves and Winston T. Smith
Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith – Michael Reeves
Not by Sight: A Fresh Look at Old Stories of Walking by Faith – Jon Bloom
Making All Things New – David Powlison
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy – Eric Metaxes
The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self – Carl Trueman
You Can Trust God to Write Your Story – Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth and Robert Wolgemuth
God Took Me by the Hand – Jerry Bridges
Suffering is Never for Nothing – Elisabeth Elliot
How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing – KC Davis
Becoming Elisabeth Elliot/Being Elisabeth Elliot – Ellen Vaughn
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt – Edmund Morris (really I love anything on my guy, Teddy!)
The Anne of Green Gables series – L.M. Montgomery
Pollyanna – Eleanor Porter
Journey to the Center of the Earth – Jules Verne
Out of the Silent Planet – C.S. Lewis
Something Wicked This Way Comes – Ray Bradbury
Persuasion – Jane Austen
A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
Macbeth – William Shakespeare
Grimm’s Fairytales – The Brothers Grimm
Hans Andersen’s Fairytales – Hans Christian Andersen
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