Life-changing books
In the world of books, I am a fiction girl. There is little else that can hold my attention as unswervingly as a good novel. I have been like that since I was very little: first it was Enid Blyton and Judy Blume; and now it is most any book with good dialogue and interesting characters.
In comparison, I have read very few non-fiction books. I have finished even fewer of those (I am a great master of half-reading non-fiction works... I guess I sort of run out of steam once I get where the book is going, and there is no cliff-hanging wonder of where the story will land up to keep me interested). But in the list of "books that have changed my life", all of them are non-fiction works. My sister just finished reading one of them and wrote to me about it, which got me thinking about just how valuable those reads have been. So, for the record, here are some of the books which I consider to have changed my life, shifted my thinking, moulded my world.... all for the better.
In comparison, I have read very few non-fiction books. I have finished even fewer of those (I am a great master of half-reading non-fiction works... I guess I sort of run out of steam once I get where the book is going, and there is no cliff-hanging wonder of where the story will land up to keep me interested). But in the list of "books that have changed my life", all of them are non-fiction works. My sister just finished reading one of them and wrote to me about it, which got me thinking about just how valuable those reads have been. So, for the record, here are some of the books which I consider to have changed my life, shifted my thinking, moulded my world.... all for the better.
- The Bible (of course! As David Cook once said, "If it goes without saying, it needs to be said")
- JI Packer's Knowing God. It took me 5 attempts to finish this, but was so worth it!
- Brother Yun's The Heavenly Man. Probably the most challenging biography I have read. Amazing. And recent!
- Sheldon van Auken's A Severe Mercy. A wonderful read which transformed the way I thought about the place of romantic love in God's purposes.
- Christopher Ash's Marriage. Sensationally sub-titled "Sex in the Service of God", this book was a paradigm shifter for both Jeremy and I.
- More recently, the more secular, but very helpful How to improve your marriage without talking about it (by Love & Stosny). I would ordinarily not have picked up a book with a title like this, but it was recommended to me, and tremendously helpful.
posted by Bronwyn at 1:44 pm
4 Comments:
my fav book is Mister God this is Anna, by Fynn (Sydney Hopkins) - beware will make you cry.
I loved that too! (and it did make me cry!) I should add that to my re-read list.... Thanks!
Most awesome recent book for me was The Reason for God by Tim Keller. Gripping apologetics - and not just for Christians! x
I absolutely love Francine Rivers books. She has a number of beautiful fiction stories, and then has written a series called the Lineage of Grace which are stories of the women named in Jesus' lineage. I discovered fascinating facts that I hadn't realised in them, and when I went back to the bible to check the links were there, I had just never noticed them. I love reading your blog Bronwyn, don't get a chance very often but when I do I catch up for a couple of weeks/months!
Love Tammy
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