My own highly subjective, idiosyncratic list of favorite books. Click on the titles to read jottings (i.e., mini reviews) on them in past blog posts. I’m filling this out this slowly. Happy reading.
Fiction
A Place on Earth by Wendell Berry
Remembering by Wendell Berry
The Hawk and the Dove by Penelope Wilcock
Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
The Bee Keeper by Gene Stratton Porter
King of Shadows by Susan Cooper
.
Spiritual/Devotional
The Open Door by Frederica Matthewes Green
Dangerous Wonder by Mike Yaconelli
Celtic Daily Prayer compiled by the Northumbria Community
The Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila
Christ Plays In Ten Thousand Places by Eugene Peterson
The Genesis Trilogy by Madeleine L’Engle
Mysticism by Evelyn Underhill
The Evidential Power of Beauty by Thomas Dubay
Sacred Legacy by Myrna Grant
.
Nonfiction/Essay
Culture Making by Andy Crouch
Reading the Classics with C.S. Lewis edited by Thomas L. Martin
Technopoly by Neil Postman
Life is a Miracle by Wendell Berry
For the Glory of God by Rodney Stark
Letters from Eden by Julie Zickefoose
The Brontes: Charlotte Bronte and her Family by Rebecca Fraser
.
Art & Music
The Celtic Quest edited by Jane Lahr and Greg Wakabayashi
Noah’s Ark by Rein Poortvliet
The Impressionists Barnes and Noble
Great European Art Barnes and Noble
3 Comments
January 2, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Sarah-
I attended my first conference last year and appreciated your calling to encourage reading, especially as a way to develop good character and life skills in ourselves and our children. I suspect that you may be much more familiar with the book series mentioned below than I am…
We received a gift from my sister for Christmas, intended for my 8 1/2 yr. old son. It was the latest book in the Lemony Snicket series. I have felt caution about this particular series due to what I’ve read via the internet and what I recall of the movie trailer; quite dark. My son enjoys reading and definitely gets involved in and excited about whatever he’s reading. I wonder if you might have any advice from your experience or awareness of this particular series of children’s books? I guess I’m primarily wondering if these books are too dark for his age and especially concerned about what kind of behavior or ways of thinking they might encourage.
Thank you for your input
Kimberly
January 4, 2008 at 3:14 am
Sarah,
My eldest son is 6 1/2 years old. He loves to be read to, and is able to sit attentively through chapter books. His own reading skills are in the genesis of development, and having a 4 and 2 year old at home, I find it very difficult to spend much time sitting and reading with him. He’s been listening to audio books on CD (currently he is listening to The Hobbit). You mentioned in your mother’s conference last February the importance of reading versus tv/video games. Do audio books hold the same benefits as being read too?
Also, he has the Focus on the Family’s audio theater Chronicles of Narnia which is recorded more like a movie, rather than simply the words being read. Does this allow his brain (and imagination) to experience healthy activity, or is it a close running to watching tv?
Thanks,
Joanna
March 22, 2009 at 8:06 am
Guess what? I just read Phantastes for a school project. Your blog was the first place I had ever heard of it, then I read about it in Surprised By Joy where C. S. Lewis talks about how it “baptized his imagination”… so I chose it for my senior thesis paper because it looked significant. I absolutely loved it (and have yet to write the paper on it, but that will be enjoyable). I think I will enjoy George MacDonald’s other books. (that was the first book of his that I read.) What would you recommend I read next, of George MacDonald’s books?