I’ve been digging into my “archives” a little bit this month. So I thought I’d include a short list of favorite books from my personal library, along with three books on my summer reading list.
First, the five worth reading:
- Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World by Henri Nouwen — It’s been a while since I picked this one up, but it doesn’t disappoint. Nouwen helps me return to rock-bottom realities while challenging my deeply ingrained misconceptions about life.
- Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation by Parker Palmer — I come back to this book every once in a while when my thoughts on vocation need dusting off. A thoughtful book from a widely respected educator.
- The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God by Dallas Willard — A definite classic from the late University of Southern California philosopher. This was one of the first books that helped me begin to read the Bible through a “kingdom lens.”
- The Starbridge Series of novels by Susan Howatch — One of my favorite writers examines the 20th-century Church of England and presents some of the finest and most intricate characterizations I’ve read.
- The King Raven Trilogy by Stephen Lawhead — Just finished re-reading (for the fourth or fifth time) this re-imagining of the Robin Hood legend. It has me convinced.
To-read-this-summer list:
- Yes, Chef: A Memoir by Marcus Samuelsson — Heard Samuelsson’s interview on NPR last week. An interesting stew of ingredients: world-class food, international adoption, vocation and the merits of experience and hard work.
- The World is Not Ours to Save: Finding the Freedom to Do Good by Tyler Wigg-Stevenson — The title (and subtitle) alone makes me want to read this book.
- Encountering Jesus, Encountering Scripture: Reading the Bible Critically in Faith by David Crump — Recommended on Twitter by scholar James K. A. Smith. That’s good enough for me.
