Before I was ever a writer, I was a reader.
But it’s fair to say that being a writer strongly influences how I want to read–and vice versa.
This post feels a bit vulnerable. We won’t all share the same convictions (or taste) on what we read (not unlike movies). And I kind of like you to like me. But there it is.
Reading a book is like taking a road trip with someone, so like the personal life update over a cup of coffee a few weeks ago, I’m inviting you along.
Here’s what I would want you to know.
Most of this fiction is secular.
I’m passionate about Christianity and the arts, so I read the top fiction from Christianity Today every year (there’s a few on here), and make a few forays beyond that.
But for the most part, I confess I am a writing snob. I read in part to become a better writer and to see the world in new ways. Generally I’ve found this in the secular market. I want to know what the world is reading and why. I want to know what changes them and resonates.
Consider these rated PG-13.
I tend to intake fiction at night. I know now reading for six minutes a day can reduce stress up to 68%, which I sense acutely. This means there’s the potential to dream about what I read–and violence hits me a little too hard, so I’m sparing with the World War II novels or whatever (All the Light We Cannot See being a spectacular exception).
I prefer that sex (which there will be in secular fiction) to fade to black. I can set aside over-the-top, somewhat realistic language aside faster than sex, which I have rightly heard referred to as “girl porn”. We guard our minds, right? (Check out Philippians 4:8-9 and Psalm 101:3.)
The exceptions I make, like Jodi Picoult’s below, are because I find the overall book to redemptive enough to justify whatever I plow through.
But that’s me. Read according to your own convictions.
They aren’t all recently published.
They’re just what I’ve read recently.
I might have forgotten to tell you something.
The last couple of years, I didn’t read with creating a book list in mind. I read because I liked it.
Apologies in advance if I missed telling you something you would’ve wanted to know. (And I’ll probably remember a book I should have included as soon as I hit “publish”.)
The Fiction List
(All titles are linked for you. These associate links help keep my blog going.)
No One Ever Asked, by Katie Ganshert
Christianity Today’s 2019 Book Award of Merit, this one touches poignantly on issues of race, inspired by a true incident in a Midwestern town.
Death Comes for the Deconstructionist, by Daniel Taylor
This one’s a little offbeat for Christian fiction–and maybe that’s why I liked it. It’s also a Christianity Today 2020 winner. This story carries a bit of a philosophical and even apologetic bent, following the narrator as he investigates a death alongside his mentally-impaired sister.
Trigger warning: The author alludes to a brief scene of sexual abuse.
City of Tranquil Light, by Bo Caldwell
Inspired by the story of her grandparents, Caldwell spins the tale of two American missionaries in China at the beginning of the twentieth century. I love cross-cultural reads and this story obviously resonated some with my own.
Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens
With over 40,000 reviewers and a 5-star rating on Amazon, this one probably speaks for itself. This beautiful coming-of-age story of a neglected “Marsh Girl” kept begging me to read the next chapter.
The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro, winner of Nobel Prize for Literature, won a Booker Prize in 1990 for this striking novel about an English servant whose master ends up on the wrong side of World War II. I found Ishiguro’s characterization of the servant and his thought processes mesmerizing. (As with any riveting book, the movie falls short for me.)
The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, by Robert Dugoni
Following the life story of a boy with “devil eyes”–no pigment in his pupils–this story carried a lot of redemption, one of my favorite qualities in a book. It has a definitive Catholic thrust; I value watching popular authors incorporate spirituality.
Bonus: right now this is $1.99 on Kindle.
Light From Distant Stars, by Shawn Smucker
Winner of the 2020 Christianity Today fiction award, this story has a distinct supernatural element and manages to pull it off. The main character, Cohen Marah, is an undertaker who steps over his father’s body in the first scene. Smucker kept me turning pages through the end from sheer intrigue.
This book is currently free to read with Amazon Prime.
The Words between Us, by Erin Bartels
Also currently free to read with Prime, here’s another book published by a Christian press (nice job, Revell) without everyone riding into the sunset and coming to know Jesus at the end. The narrator is Robin Windsor, fleeing from a lifetime of family scandal, taking refuge in a used bookstore.
When the English Fall, by David Williams
Normally I’m pretty much on the opposite end of the spectrum with anything labeled both “Amish” and “fiction”. But when a solar storm collapses modern civilization, Amish farmer Jacob faces crucial decisions as the outside world begins to claw its way in. It’s a fascinating commentary on simplicity.
(Right now the Kindle version is only $1.99.)
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman
Pulling off an unreliable narrator takes incredible finesse from an author, so I respected Honeyman from the get-go–especially as she tells Eleanor’s story with laugh-out-loud humor and compassion.
As a teaser, I love Amazon’s description that she “struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking.” Anyone who can provide plausible explanations of those who are normally outcasts grabs my attention.
Small Great Things, by Jodi Picoult
Picoult, known for her two-sided commentary on cultural hot potatoes, spectacularly spotlights American race relations as she begins her story with the baby of a white supremacist dying beneath the care of an African-American nurse. My eyes were popped open and my heart was hooked.
Caveat: This book is frought with the F-bomb. The redemptive element that increased my compassion and understanding about such a critical element was worth the read to me. (Proceed with discernment.)
The Mountain Between Us, by Charles Martin
Here’s another one where the movie, though entertaining, was far outpaced by the book. I loved this survival story of a surgeon and writer whose plane crashes in the northwestern wilderness in winter. The plot twist near the end was fabulous.
Your turn. I need new material! What fiction have you read and loved?
