Five Books
2009 July 22
The Pentateuch: Five books of the Law that everyone was supposed to know. Five books.
We’ve all been impacted by books — whether we’re to-the-bone readers or not.
So tell us: What are five books everyone should read? And why do you think they deserve a broad readership?
39 Responses
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1. The Hobbit – as a kid, it was one of the only books I finished reading as it was able to hold my imagination at the time. 2. They Smell Like Sheep – It was the first of many books in undergrad that breathed new life into what a community of believers is called to be, instead of what we typically find ourselves doing. 3. Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century – Powerful! I recommend this book to a great deal of people. 4. The Moral Vision of the New Testament: Community, Cross, New Creation, A Contemporary Introduction to New Testament Ethics – Every time I get the notion that I have God/Christ/Church/others/or even myself figured out, five pages of Hays usually straightens me out. 5. Myths America Lives By – I am looking forward to Hughes’ next book “Christian America and the Kingdom of God” and the conversations I hope it starts with Christians who understand both to be the same, with those who understand them to be quite different.
For someone who finds it hard to sit still long enough to read more than 20 pages at a time, I am thankful for the times and the authors that have held my attention.
My 6 favorite books. Wouldn’t go so far as everyone needs to read these, but they blessed my walk with the Lord in immense ways.
1. Same Kind of Different as Me, Ron Hall and Denver Moore.
2. The Simple Path, Mother Teresa
3. Power of a Praying Wife, Stormie O’Martian (other versions available too)
4. Walking With God, John Eldredge
5. Autobiography of George Muller
6. Hearts of Fire – Voices of the Martyr
Wow only 5 books…. Not counting the Bible, I have read and reread these books.
1) Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis – This was the first book that I thought of, Lewis does a great job getting rid of all of the extra stuff so that he can talk about Jesus.
2) The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer – There is a reason that this book is a classic. Tozer calls us from comfortable Christianity into a deeper relationship with God.
3) Necessity of Prayer by E.M. Bounds – One of the first books I read when I got out of college, and it made a dramatic impact. I was about to get married, working with a congregation and I so badly needed to ask “Lord teach me how to pray.”
4) Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala – Actually all three books (Fresh Faith and Fresh Power as well). Cymbala’s call into a deeper relationship with God is simplistic and attractive.
5) Generation to Generation by Edwin Friedman – I was working with a congregation that required me to read this. I hated every minute of it and struggled with phrases like “Complexity should not be confused with profundity.” But when I finished the book I was struck with how well Rabbi Friedman described what was going on in the church, and every church, group, and family that I have ever been a part of. So I read it again in small chunks and it has served me well.
Like Tammy, these are favorite books and yes, they impacted my life but I don’t know if everyone should read them….and tomorrow I may add books to that list…and it is hard for me to narrow it down to five…maybe five a year would make more sense for me…..
Sacred Journey but Frederick Buechner
My Antonia by Willa Cather
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Leaving Ruin by Jeff Berryman
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd
I know…..mostly novels…but the stories move me so much more than any other writings…oh, and yes, I know that is more than five…could keep going.
1. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom: She was an amazing woman of faith with a powerful story to tell.
2. A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving: Fiction, but has a good moral of faith & doubt.
3. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein: There is so much to read into this simple children’s book about sacrificial love.
4. The Shack by William Young: Another story of faith…this time by working through pain, loss & deepest fears. Made the box I put God into a whole lot bigger.
5. Hamlet by William Shakespeare: I was a Theatre major – Shakespeare is a MUST & this one is a great!
I meant to say…Sacred Journey by Frederick Buechner not…but Frederick Buechner.
These books have been a blessing to my faith:
1. A Holy Hunger by Ummm….Uh…Mike Cope
2. The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
3. No Wonder They Call Him The Savior by Max Lucado
4. A Certain Hope by Gary Halloway
5. Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels
just 5, huh? A difficult proposition, but here goes . . . (also known as my top 5, stranded on a desert Island list)
1. Watership Down by Richard Adams – The power of community to make a better world
2. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo – Well worth the months of time it took me to read. It describes in vivid detail the power of one small act of redemption to shine a light in a very dark world and make it better.
3. The Hobbit / The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein- The seemingly insignificant people are the one’s who make a difference.
4. Leaving Ruin by Jeff Berryman – The preaching life is about so much more than what happens in the pulpit, and in the midst of all the blackness there is still grace to be found.
5. The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis – The world we inhabit is either the doorstep to heaven or the gateway to hell, and we get to choose which one we want.
There are several I could list, but these are the ones I pass out to people constantly.
1. Jesus for President (Shane Claiborne & Chris Haw) – possibly the most timely book on Radical Christianity and politics of our time.
2. Mere Discipleship (Lee Camp) – Another great book on discipleship and allegiance to the kingdom
3. Home to Harmony (Philip Gulley) – a delightful novel about a Quaker Pastor’s first year in small-town ministry. Hilarious, moving, and challenging.
4. Tbe Same Kind of Different As Me (Ron Hall & Denver Moore) – An amazing story about God’s inbreaking kingdom across so many barriers.
5. The Body Broken (Jack R. Reese) – Such a timely book about Christian love, healing, and hope for the future.
1. Simply Christian (N.T. Wright)
2. The Irresistible Revolution (Shane Claiborne)
3. Jesus Wants to Save Christians (R0b Bell)
4. Home to Harmony (Philip Gulley)
5. The First Days of School (Harry and Rosemary Wong)
These books have all meant a lot to me recently, but they wouldn’t be the most important five for every person in every context. If you are a teacher/preacher’s wife, I highly recommend all five. The first three and perhaps the first four reacher a wider audience.
Five of the most recent ones that have blessed my life (no particular order)
(1) Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship by N.T. Wright
(2) The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian McLaren
(3) The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative by Christopher J.H. Wright
(4) A Gathered People: Revisioning the Assembly… by Hicks, Melon and Valentine
(5) The Continued Conversion of the Church by Darrell L. Guder
1) A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn. It describes a day lived in the Soviet gulag; amazingly difficult, but it was a good day.
2) Anna Karenina by Lev Tolstoy. What a cast of characters! Its description of humanity, longing, and the consequences of decisions both good and bad, along with superb storytelling make it a classic. It is said that Tolstoy’s wife, who copied out his writing, wept as she copied this book.
3) A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens. Great story. The ending is the best that I have ever read.
4) The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman. It describes the events leading up to and including the start of the First World War. Anyone who is at all interested in history should read it. It shows what a lack of control over events people have, even while they think they have control.
5) The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I have never laughed out loud as much reading any other book.
5.) A Community of Character by Stanley Hauerwas
Why? Because until the people of recover the disciplines necessary to form a faithful community, we will continue to see our witness to world suffer because of painfully undisciplined discourse and wreckless political behavior.
4.) Resident Aliens by Stanley Hauerwas and Will Willimon
Why? Because Willimon makes the difficult task of reading Hauerwas accessible to everyone. With Resident Aliens you can read, and understand what faithful community is all about!
3.) Jesus for President by Chris Haw and Shane Claiborne
Why? Because Christians in America have little to zero “political imagination”. Meaning our minds and hearts have been co-opted by this or that political agenda in such a way that it has become impossible for us to imagine faithful living in the kingdom of God. We desperately need this book!
2.) The Original Revolution: Essays on Christian Pacifism by John Howard Yoder
Why? Because we need to be like Christ – nonviolently loving our enemies. And because in a world gone mad with war and trusting in the myth of redemptive violence, what the world most needs is an embodied vision of an alternative society – a society that loves in a way that transcends national identity.
1.) Mere Discipleship by Lee C. Camp
Why? So we can go beyond the culturally sanctioned Christianity that the empire endorses and learn to live radically faithful to the way of Christ in a rebellious world. In my opinion, Camp’s book is quite simply the single most important book facing Western Christianity today!
(Just missing my cut, Naming the Powers by Walter Wink – A Pilgrim’s Heart by Darryl Tippens – The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder – Living the Sermon on the Mount by Glenn Stassen – and The Myth of a Christian Nation by Greg Boyd.)
1. Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard (& everything else he has written)
2. The Way of the Heart by Henri Nouwen (& everything else he has written)
3. Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton
4. Eat This Book by Eugene Peterson (& everything else he has written)
5. Irresistable Revolution by Shane Claiborne (& everything else he has written)
can’t do just 5 — must include everything by Rob Bell, Brian McLaren & Donald Miller..and The Shack.
1. Tale Ognenovski Virtuoso of the Clarinet and Composer. This man has inspired many of us through his many Macedonian folk dances. My personal library of Ognenovski recordings is better appreciated after hearing about him through the unbiased perspective of his son, Stevan. His life is a remarkable journey from being a local party musician to a self-proclaimed virtuoso.
2. The Prayer of Jabez : Breaking Through to the Blessed Life. An essential part of my daily devotional.
3. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. This is probably the most exciting book I’ve ever read. The author is a little Eurocentric for my taste, but nothing gets me going like a good mix of biology and geopolitics. I could literally talk for hours about the association between staph infections and the rise of the Moors in Spain.
4. The Abs Diet: The Six-Week Plan to Flatten Your Stomach and Keep You Lean for Life. This book has changed my life. I will never look at guacamole the same way. In my humble opinion, I have become quite ripped thanks to The Abs Diet.
5. The Black Swan. Simply put, Taleb is a genius.
Wow! and echoing others – only 5? Not in any particular order.
1- Left Over Life to Live – Caitlin Thomas – Irish poet, Dylan Thomas’ widow. My first look into the tortured soul that grieves alone without even a glimpse of who God is or where He is. I, myself, was distanced from God when I read this. It surely had an enormous influence and helped push me back on the path.
2-The Shack -by Young – what a stark contrast to Caitlin’s story – a look into the soul of one that grieves but seeks God in his sorrow.
3- All of Jim Cymbala’s works, especially Fresh Wind – Fresh Fire I distributed nearly 2 dozen copies of this book. My prayer life and communion with the Holy Spirit has never been the same since reading the book.
4- In The Grip of Grace Max Lucado. One of the finest books written, imho, for the non-pastoral Believer on the grand scope of God’s every present [PTL! ] grace.
5 – The Book of The Revelation by Philip Edgcumbe Hughes -probably one of the easiest reads written about The Revelation, But its simplicity and clarity of expression in no way detracts from Hughes’ deep insight into this sometimes mysterious book of the Bible. Also, it is one of the few that gives full attention to the 7 beatitudes of Revelation, often referred to by other authors as simple non sequiturs scattered throughout the Book. I agree with Hughes on their importance and probable keys to many of the Book’s mysteries.
So many more, such as the books of my favorite preacher/pastor-teacher/friend-Mike Cope, all of Frederick Buechner’s, and a little book by Tremper Longman III, Making Sense of the Old Testament: Three Crucial Questions et al, but have to run out to an ever present doctor appointment.
(1) Cosmopolis by Stephen Toulmin: all westerners need to understand the contingency, inadequacy, and pathology of their intellectual heritage if they wish to salvage what good it provides.
(2) Night by Elie Wiesel: all people (and especially people of faith) need to hear about evil and let it have a good, long say about their worldview.
(3) “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” by Leo Tolstoy: only a short story, and over the top in some ways, but an excellent critique of colonialism for those unused to hearing such things.
All others are just books that I liked. I’ll recommend any number of books. These are the ones that I beg people to read.
In this order
Mere Discipleship – Lee Camp
Why? Cause the spirit, through this book, completely changed the course of my life. I was not the same person when I finished it.
Jesus For President – Claiborne and Haw
Cause they just tell the story through a narrative frame, from beginning to end. Kinda pulls all the stories in the bible together and shows you how much you missed.
Surprised By Hope – N. T. Wright
Most accessible book on how the church’s eschatology is all wrong, and that its better even than we think.
Kingdom Come – John Mark Hicks, Bobby Valentine
Who knew that Harding and Lipscomb were so radical? And had a theology beyond the five fingers of salvation and instrumental music?
The Peaceable Kingdom – Stanley Hauerwas
I had to read this twice, 6 months apart. I wasn’t ready the first time. But when you’re ready, there’s a TON to this book.
I would recommend…
1. The Church – Ed Wharton. A great book that reminds us that there is a pattern to follow.
2. Our Sufficency In Christ – John MacArthur – will change your life about ministry.
3. D.Martyn L.Loyd-Jones : The Fight of Faith 1939 – 1981- Ian Murray – His struggles with teaching doctrine in Europe during times of dangerous spiritual changes. Needs to be heard now in America. I wish every one wanting to preach would read it before entering ministry.
4. Why We Are Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be )- Kevin Deyoung ,Ted Kluck – Read it before swallowing the emergent church philosophy.
5. He Is Not Silent : Preaching In A Postmodern World – R. Albert Mohler – His excellent plea to encourage preaching to be expository and authoritative. Let the text be allowed to be heard.
As others have said , just a very few. So many good books to edify and equip.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Home and Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Traveling Mercies and Plan B by Anne Lamott
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler
“The Cost of Discipleship” and “Life Together” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer – if a lot more American Christians read these, American Christianity would not be in the sorry state that it is in
“All Over But the Shoutin’” by Rick Bragg – one of the best memoirs of the last 30 years
“The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – one of the few novels about everything
“Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis – the perfect primer for the new believer
1. The Chosen by Chaim Potok. It’s a real David-and-Johnathon tale — with baseball! A really incredible book.
2. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. There is so much more to this book than just a story about a boy adopted. But the most amazing points are hidden like small jewels studding the story, waiting to be discovered by the reader bit by bit.
3. Grace (Eventually) by Anne Lamott – she’s not your cookie-cutter Christian
4. Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith Kathleen Norris – neither is she.
5. In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen. Suggested by a friend of mine, this book has meant the world to me.
6 (because I’m gonna cheat and it’s tied with any of the above): Life of the Beloved by Henri Nouwen. Suggested by the same friend. This friend has many good suggestions.
1. Communism Killed Kennedy – by J. D. Bales
2. Senator Fulbright’s Secret Memorandum – by J. D. Bales
3. Pat Boone and the Gift of Tongues – by J. D. Bales
4. The Martin Luther King Story: A Study in Apostasy, Agitation, and Anarchy – J. D. Bales
5. Modernism: Trojan Horse in the Church – J. D. Bales
The five must reads are as follows:
Purpose Driven Life
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
A Table In the Presence
Wooden on Leadership
Getting Together
Each book is a reflection on lessons taught in scripture.
1. Night – Elie Wiesel
2. Leaving Church – Barbara Brown Taylor
3. Gilead – Marilynne Robinson
4. Reaching Out – Henri Nouwen
5. Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth – Prayers of Walter Brueggemann
Hadji Murat — Tolstoy
A Handful of Dust — Evelyn Waugh
Pilgrim’s Progress — John Bunyan
A History of Warfare — John Keegan
Hank the Cowdog — John R. Erickson
Five?!? I’ll go “old school” since these have stood the test of time and all had a profound effect on me in my “early years” and still:
Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Ron Sider
The Call to Conversion, Jim Wallis
The Kingdom of God, John Bright
Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis
The Way of the Heart, Henri Nouwen
Here are 5 Spiritual books that have impacted me. I’m not sure what my top 5 overall (regardless of subject) list would look like. It probably would include some of these.
The Barbarian Way- Erwin McManus
The Cost of Discipleship- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Jesus Proposal- Rubel Shelly and John York
The Divine Conspiracy- Dallas Willard
Irresistable Revolution- Shane Claiborne
Bonus Book- What’s So Amazing About Grace- Phillip Yancey
1. The Greatest Generation – Tom Brokaw
2. Escape From Freedom – Erich Fromm
3. To Have or To Be – Erich Fromm
4. Man’s Search For Meaning – Victor Frankl
5. Night – Eli Wiesel
1) Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis
2) The Jesus I Never Knew – Philip Yancy
3) Deuteronomy – Moses/Joshua (Sorry Mike. I’m finding more an more relevance today from this book than from those of a hundred contemporary authors.)
4) My Utmost for His Highest – Oswald Chambers
5) Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China – Jung Chang ( My choice for secular reading. If you want to reach 1.6 billion people, you must understand from where they come.)
In no particular order, here our five which I have thoroughly enjoyed that others have not mentioned yet…
1. “Theology of Hope”, Jurgen Moltmann – Not the easiest book to read but it changed my way of thinking about eschatology.
2 “The Shaping of Things to Come,” Michael Frost & Alan Hircsh – Not another ‘how to’ church growth book but good missiology applied to the emerging postmodern, post-Christian culture and easy to read.
3. “The Kingdom of God is Within You,” Leo Tolstoy – This will rattle the bones just a bit…perhaps more than a bit.
4. “Reviving the Ancient Faith,” Richard T. Hughes – For everyone 30 years of age and up who was raised in a Church of Christ, this is a must read.
5. “Understanding Genesis, ” Nahum M. Sarna – since Mike mentioned the Pentatuech and Genesis is one of my favorite OT books, this is a good small (not a commentary) theological study of Genesis.
Grace and peace,
K. Rex Butts
BJH ,
Thanks for listing the books of J.D. Bales . He was a great man of God.
Here are some of the more meaningful books I’ve read the last two years.
Home (Robinson)
An Altar in the World (Taylor)
Kite Runner and Thousand Splendid Suns
Blood Done Sign My Name (Tyson)
The Misunderstood Jew (Levine)
1) The Secret Message of Jesus – Sometimes you read books that make you pee your pants: McLaren’s Secret Message did that for me.
2) Surprised By Hope – We’re not “just a passin’ thru” earth, this is God’s good creation, and believers are called to build for God’s coming reign. N.T. Wright makes a strong case in this work for the resurrection of Jesus and how the people of God are called to be an Easter community.
3) Simply Christian – If the Christian faith has lost depth, beauty, and meaning for you, read Simply Christian and it will all be infused for you once again. It’s cool knowing the different places where heaven and earth “intersect” as Wright says.
4) The Shack – William Young does an amazing job of taking the reader into God’s heart. We see a God who loves, serves, and is obsessive over his creation. It is a beautiful story of trust, hope, and dreams, all converging on a shabby shack situated far away (but all too close) to home.
5) Jesus For President – It’s handy having a guide to the Biblical narrative and how God is the rightful King. Haw and Claiborne explore creative ways of expressing the kingdom of God as an alternative to the failing kingdoms of human beings.
Five Smooth Stones by Eugene Peterson
Servants Like Him (or anything else) by Henri Nouwen
The Hiding Place by Corrie Tin Boom
Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
Mere Discipleship by Lee Camp
1) Christless Christianity by Michael Horton
2) Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss
3) Knowing God by J.I. Packer
4) The Universe Next Door by James W. Sire
5) Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner
Celebration of Disciple by Foster
Mere Christianity By C.S Lewis
Life Together by Bonhoeffer
Poems and Letters from Prison by Bonhoeffer
How I Survived the Curch by Yancey
All of Leonard Sweet’s books
J. Lewis
The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien
Chronicles of Narnia C.S. Lewis
Wrinkle in Time series Madeline L’Engle
This looks like only three books but it could be considered 15 or so, depending on how you look at it. I have many more favorite books but not many worthy to be on the same comment as these.
“Little Chapel on the River”.