Need inspirational book recommendations (originally posted in Bookclub)

Hmmmm. I would suggest reading The Shack before I passed it on to someone in prison.

SPOILER ALERTS

The book deals with brutal child rape and murder.

I could not handle it myself--I don't do well with violence against children.

Tell her you have a whole group of people who are thinking up book titles for you to send to her.

My suggestion is C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. Very powerful. I suppose it's categorized as an allegory. Not so much entertainment -- though it is entertaining -- as something to contemplate.

Tell her, please, she's in our prayers and we're still busy pulling up ideas for reading material for her.

I can't agree enough about THE GREAT DIVORCE. Should be required reading for all believers.

I'm currently re-reading Morgan Llewelyn's BARD, which tells the imagined tale of how the Celtic peoples came to Ireland. It's a bit bloody in parts but no graphic descriptions of bedsports. Llewelyn's THE HORSE GODDESS also comes to mind. These are tales of people who lived before Christ's time, so the religion is necessarily pagan in the parts of the world in which they lived. But brilliant writing.

I hated the Shack. I think I'm in the small minority on that one, but I really did.

I would heartily second Lysa TerKeurst, especially her book Unglued. It's awesome. She has a brand new book, The Best Yes, but I haven't read it yet. (It's on my Christmas list!) I LOVE her. She's someone you want to hang out with, she's flawed, she's real, and she loves Jesus.

Another fantastic book is A Confident Heart by Renee Swope.

If she wants to study the Bible, I would really, really recommend Rick Warren's Bible Study Methods. I seriously learned SO much about how to sit down and study the Bible. He has some wonderful ideas on how to get more out of the scriptures you read. My favorite is to go through a verse once for every word in the verse and emphasize each word, so you can think on the significance of that particular word, even words we think of as filler, like a, the, an... We did an entire 8-week Bible study on the methods in the first chapter alone.

Anne Lamott

My fav is Grace Eventually but she doesn't disappoint in any of her books. Short, readable and relateable essays about human frailty, her personal life and faith.

They tend to be more liberal than traditional Christians publications, fyi.

Annie Jones
https://www.facebook.com/anniejones.author

Calla Lily said:

Devil, I'm so glad we were able to help.

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Ditto this. I'm so glad we could help you send her some bits of sunshine!

Devil Ledbetter said:

That was book I sent to her a while back. I'd read it years ago and found Lewis's whole take on heaven/hell and human relationships really fascinating. She loved it, BTW. :

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If you haven't read The Screwtape Letters, that must be rectified immediately. A good one for your friend, too.

Third on "Screwtape." Absolutely part of my mindset ever since the day I read it. Lewis really nailed a lot of things to the wall with this one.

I echo all the C. S. Lewis recommendations! He's also written a sci-fi trilogy with plenty of Christian imagery and theological pondering. The first book is set on Mars, the second on Venus (basically Eden 2.0) and the third on Earth. It's not everyone's cup of tea (might want to take a look at a more detailed description to get a better idea of the style and story), and the third book is quite different from the first two, but I liked the trilogy a lot!

E: I vaguely recall the third book having some slight gore/general creepiness (a living severed head maybe? It's been a while) - thought I'd add the warning just in case.

Carrie in PA said:

I hated the Shack. I think I'm in the small minority on that one, but I really did.

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I agree! Very disrespectful.

Maybe The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper?

Oh, if you're looking also for something mainstream but not offensive, you might recommend the late David Eddings' "Belgariad" cycle. Five books, sword and wizard fantasy but done with such a light touch and so much humor that you forget this teenage boy is hauling around a horking great blade. Eddings' creation of flawed characters is done with a light but accurate hand, and his secondary characters are pieces of brilliance all by themselves.

Favorite line, wizard to boy hero: "Garion, listening at keyholes is a very bad habit."
Garion: "I've got lots of bad habits, Grandfather."

Looks like an old thread, but if anyone is still following, here ares a few recommendations that are as far as one can get from the health and wealth prosperity gospel types.

The Grace of Incorruption: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1612616011/?tag=absowrit-20

(A review of the above title) http://www.orthodoxartsjournal.org/donald-sheehan-grace-incorruption-book-review/

The Way of the Pilgrim. You might remember it from Catcher in the Rye or Franny and Zoe. It's a real book and a real spiritual classic: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0932727301/?tag=absowrit-20

Wounded by Love, a new classic: http://www.amazon.com/dp/9607201191/?tag=absowrit-20 Elder...now St. Porphyrios was an amazing soul. The heart burns with love for Christ when reading about this simple holy soul.

Everyday Saints: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CD531VA/?tag=absowrit-20

Mother Gavriella; The Ascetic of Love: http://www.amazon.com/dp/9607298853/?tag=absowrit-20 On the pricey side. Used to be only 40. Hope there is a reprint one day. She will amaze and challenge you.

A Day In The Life of Ivan Dennisovich, Solzhenitsyn's first novel which made him internationally famous: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0451228146/?tag=absowrit-20

Kylabelle said:

Tell her you have a whole group of people who are thinking up book titles for you to send to her.

My suggestion is C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. Very powerful. I suppose it's categorized as an allegory. Not so much entertainment -- though it is entertaining -- as something to contemplate.

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Anything by CS Lewis!!

I would stay away from authors like Beth Moore, she has strayed into false- teacher-land.

Really? I hadn't heard this about Beth Moore. I remember the women's group at church doing one of her studies, years back, and something about her writings irritated me. Can't honestly remember what it was that peeved me so, but I dropped out of that group for a time due to that factor.

Good to see you post, Robin...always.

Thanks Deb.

I stumbled on this blog last year and read it regularly now-- here's the info on Beth Moore. http://the-end-time.blogspot.com/2014/07/all-beth-moore-critiques-here-in-one.html

Just visited the thread and it is great to see some fantastic books recommended. If your friend wants a book that she not only read but use for reference about faith maybe she would enjoy having this one!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1470137232/?tag=absowrit-20

It is a very current book just published.