My Book List

I am a book-lover.  I love books.  I love reading them, writing in them, sharing them, talking about them...  Books affect me more than anything else, especially books about Christianity and living a better life for Christ.  Seeing as you're reading my blog, I figure you like reading too.  Here's my book list.  It includes books I've read, books that have been recommended to me, and books I want to read but haven't gotten that far down into my ever-growing stack yet.  I recommend them all to you. (:

What I've Read:

The Bible - No brainer.  I've read almost all of it (of the NIV version.  I hope to read it all the way through in multiple versions.), and love every word of it.

Lies Young Women Believe (and the Truth that sets them free), DeMoss/Gresh - I think this is the first "Christian" book I ever read.  I read it for a small group for high school girls that met Thursday mornings before school last year.  Absolutely amazing book.  Great for any girl 12-20's.  There is an adult version available by the same authors.  It outlines the 25 biggest lies that Christian girls believe about God, satan (gramatical middle finger!) (that was a SCL joke), boys, themselves, etc. and how to combat those lies.

Connect the Dots, Hurt - Another book I read for Thursday morning Bible study last year.  I read this in the middle of my "wilderness" and it really brought into perspective all that had happened to me during that time when I thought that God was so far away.  It's about finding God's will in your life and how He works.

Case for Faith, Strobel - Also a Thursday AM book.  It answers a lot of tough questions that I hadn't had the courage to ask.  Written by a used-to-be atheist who became a Christian after being unable to disprove His existence.

Crazy Love, Chan - Thursday AM book from this year.  Asks questions that make you think about your relationship with Christ.  Is your love for Him sincere?  Are you obsessed?  Definitely a faith-strengthening book.

The Door Within Trilogy, Batson - Fictional books set in modern and medieval times.  They're biblical in nature and are really well-written.  More for youth than adults, but still enjoyable, I'm sure.  Centers around themes like believing, witnessing, and following.  My copies have just as much highlighting in them as any of my other books.  (Trilogy includes: The Door Within, The Rise of the Wyrm Lord, and The Final Storm)

God is in the Small Stuff (and it all counts), Bickel/Jantz - This was one of morning devotionals.  It's short and sweet.  Each chapter is about three pages long and they cover a wide variety of topics.  You can read chapter two in my post "Believing in Something."

Instant Messages from God For Girls/Boys - Another devotional.  Also very short and covers a variety of topics.  Great day-starter :).  Written for for pre-teens and teens.

Do Hard Things, Harris - I totally recommend this one to any teenager.  It challenges you to take a stand for Christ and do hard things for Him in your life RIGHT NOW.  It challenges the "Myth of Adolescence," which says that teenagers are just supposed to be "good" and aren't expected to do anything all that great.

Lady in Waiting, Kendall/Jones - I absolutely LOVE this book!!  Great for single young women (like me) and adults.  Uses the book of Ruth to show how to live your life for Christ, the ultimate Bridegroom.  I love it so much, I might even do a blog post on it.  Just wait and see!

The Atonement Child, Rivers -  (the recommendation:) I would actually recommend any of her books because I love her so much! I have read Redeeming Love by her, and she has a three book series about a girl named Haddassah in Ancient Rome (A Voice in the Wind, An Echo in the Darkness, and Sure as the Dawn).  Her books are perfect for the recovering romance novel addict (been there, done that!) because her format is novely in all of these but the plots are more Scriptural, if you will... I would highly recommend her! She is my favorite!  (My opinion:)  I love Francine Rivers!  Atonement Child was absolutely amazing and Redeeming Love was just as good.  I also read The Scarlet Thread by her, which is stunning.  A Lineage of Grace and the trilogy mentioned above were harder for me to get into because they're historical fiction, and that's just not my cup of tea.  But I recommend any and all of her books to you!  (Well, to you girls.  They're a bit romancy :D)

The Me I Want to Be, Ortberg - Just finished this one and it is so good!  It's great for anyone wishing to be in the flow of the Spirit (and who doesn't want that?).  Wonderfully written and has a great message.  I definitely recommend it.  It is kind of wordy, but it's interesting and humorous.  There is a teen version available, but I read the "adult" version.  I recon they're about the same.

Confessions of a Non-Barbie, Wilson - This was a really nice quick read for me.  Being the speed read I am with summer-induced boredom, I finished it in less than 24 hours.  The whole thesis of the book is Kinda telling teenage girls everything she wished she had been told when she was their age.  The topics include dating, not dating, being "slam-dumped," beauty, guys in general, and overall teen-aged-Christian-girl advice.  It's a very good book and it's well-written to boot.  Keeps things funny and entertaining on top of the seriousness.

You Were Made to Make a Difference, Lucado/Lucado-Bishop - Very very very good!  The first couple chapters I felt were kind of repetitive, but once you get past that, it is a very well-written book.  Max and his daughter Jenny worked together on this project to write the teen version of his book Outlive Your Life, and the result is amazing.  It encourages teens to make a difference in their world and simple ways how.  It's very inspiring and made me think about what I can do to make a difference.  After all, it was what I was made to do!

The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis - Again, you can't go wrong with C.S. Lewis.  Plus, it's a short book and from what I can tell from reading the back, it's good.  My friend who's reading it now says it's great.  It's about a bus going from Hell to Heaven and the decisions you must make when you're on it.  My youth pastor really liked it (check the comments and see!) so it must be good (he's a book junkie, too).  I really liked it because it makes you think a little deeper into who and what you want to be when your time comes.

Jesus Calling, Young - 365 very short (literally a paragraph long) devotionals, one for every day of the year with scripture.  Focuses solely on Christ.  It's a great way to learn more about Him and grow closer to Him as a result.  This is my daily wake-up-brush-teeth-read-devo book!  I love it and am using colorful tabs to mark my favorites... so it's edges are extremely colorful!  I recommend it wholeheartedly if you're looking for something short, simple, but good.  Really helps you look at how Jesus feels about you and what He expects from His followers.

Recommended to me (and now to you!):
(Discaimer:  I have not read any of these, but I hear that they are great from someone who is a solid Christian and avid reader.  If they're not any good, don't blame me.  :D  All of the comments are from the one who recommended them to me.  If there isn't a comment, then she didn't give me one.)

When God Writes Your Love Story, Ludy - Isn't the cheesy "don't date" book, and it gives you an interesting look into your heart and the hearts of men.  It's written by a couple that let God write their love story and are living their happily ever after (:.

Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis - With C.S. Lewis, I hear you can't go wrong!

Books in my ever-growing pile to read:

All the ones you see in the last section.  Most of the following books I found when I was browsing the "Teen Interest" section of Family Christian Bookstore.  I can't really tell you a lot about them except that I want to read them... sorry!  Once I read them, I'll move them up to my "What I've Read" section with a blurb about it in more detail.

Start Here, Harris - The "sequel" to Do Hard Things.  It outlines HOW to do hard things and practical ways to start.

What Are You Waiting For?, Gresh - I've read Lies Young Women Believe co-authored by Dannah, so I have no doubt it's amazing.  It's about relationships and how to define them, etc.

The 10 Best Decisions a Single Can Make, Farrel - Do you see the trend of dating/singleness/relationships books I've got going on here?

Graffiti, Davis - I honestly don't remember what it's about, but I know I liked the summary that I read in the back of Lies Young Women Believe and that I want to read it.

The Bride Wore White, Gresh - Also by Dannah, who's amazing.  This book is like What Are You Waiting For? but I'm guessing it's more for adults.  Focuses on purity and how important it is.  It outlines the seven steps to sexual purity.  There was a advertisement for it in the back of Lies Young Women Believe, and I've been looking forward to it since then (:.


Did I miss any good books?  What are some of your favorite Christian books? 

Happy reading!

<3 Warrior