Here’s what I’ve been reading and some Kindle Deals (prices valid as of the day this is posted). The links take you to my Amazon Storefront and when you click through to purchase a book, I earn a small percentage (at no increased cost to you).

My favorite book of this month, of even the past few months, is No More Faking Fine, by Esther Fleece. (also on sale for $2.99!) I could post so many quotes here. I loved how she pieced together verses that cut straight to our pain and that demonstrate how the people the Bible did not run from their pain, but took it straight to God and expected to be met in their sorrow. No More Faking Fine demonstrates how it is not only ok to grieve, but that doing so and inviting God into our pain, allows God to minister, heal, and love.

“Even as we cry, “How long, Lord?” we can trust the process that in the waiting, we are being strengthened, sanctified, and transformed. Even in the waiting, God is powerfully present, and that can be our source of deep, unshakeable joy.”

(audiobook) Deep Work: Rules for Focused Work in a Distracted World, by Cal Newport. So good, and challenging. I’ve been pushed to limit my digital use. I already didn’t have social media notifications on my phone and don’t watch much TV. But I do love me a good podcast and there are so many good ones out there. But, as a writer and simply to be a healthy person in today’s world, I need to limit that input and get some quiet time in order to do deep, focused work. I highly recommend this book.

Jean Vanier: Portrait of a Free Man, by Anne-Sophie Constant (published by my publishing house, Plough, yay!) Jean Vanier passed away this month and he left a legacy of mercy, love, and tenderness. This is a lovely biography of the man who founded L’Arche and changed the way people view disability. It releases in August, 2019 but is available now for pre-order. Here is from the back cover copy:

“The story of Jean Vanier is the story of a free man – a man who knew how to become himself, who knew how to free himself from restraints, opinions, and prejudices; from intellectual, religious or moral habits; from his epoch; from popular opinion. … Jean Vanier has transformed the lives of thousands and thousands of mentally disabled people. And he has transformed the understanding of thousands of people regarding the disabilities of their own children and of people with disabilities. Where we see only failure, disgrace, impossibility, limit, weakness, ugliness, and suffering, Jean Vanier sees beauty. And he knows how to open the eyes of others to see it.”

 

I’ve been reading a lot of spiritual memoir lately and these are ones I’ve returned to over and over:

Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church by Rachel Held Evans

Girl Meets God, by Lauren F. Winner Lauren is smart and funny, a Jewish convert to Christianity (and if you read her later books, a person who continues to wrestle deeply with faith). She writes with refreshing vulnerability combined with surprising heft and depth, something often lacking in current books, especially spiritual memoir. I love this book.

A Muslim and a Christian in Dialogue, by Badru D. Kateregga and David W. Shenk This book is unique in that it is balanced from both sides. Often I read books like these and one side wants to dominate, even as the book gives off the idea that it is a dialogue – it comes down to an argument. But this truly is two men who love their religion, and present it.

Leaving Church, by Barbara Brown Taylor I mean, BBT. So good. She is another woman who loves God, loves the church, loves wrestling with matters of faith and who is so, so smart and such a pleasure to read.

And a new one, Finding Jesus Among Muslims: How Islam Makes Me a Better Catholic, by Jordan Duffner. My publisher suggested this one to me, and I’m so glad they did. Jordan writes respectfully and beautifully about how specific aspects of Islam have encouraged her faith. An example is of how the Quran repeatedly urges people to pay attention, look for ayat, or signs, of how God is at work in the world.

 

What are you reading lately?