Steven’s Shelf
I remember when I was a kid, my parents used to get on to me for reading in the dark, because it would hurt my eyesight.
I still love to read, though now it’s through a pair of glasses and all kinds of lenses that I didn’t have back then. I read fiction so much differently than I did when I was a kid, but I’m still a sucker for a story. I get pulled in by stories, lost in their alternate realities and different accounts of what it means to be human.
The fiction books below, with their narratives, prose, and the beating hearts of their characters have each taught me a little bit about what it means for me to be me, and for you to be you. I’m not going to make it a top ten list, because it may turn out to be a couple of dozen by the time it gets finished. indeed, I hope that this is one part of the site I hope never does get finished, because I have a lot left to learn, and that means I’ve got a lot left to read.
There’s of course a world of great nonfiction out there as well, though. As the list grows, it’ll include some of both.
Somewhere along the way we Christians have gotten the impression that to treat the Bible as literature is to disrespect it. Sure enough, I believe the scriptures are more than human literature, but that doesn’t mean we can’t see their literary value and love the books for their beauty as well as their authority as canon! (Ironically, though, I have to admit that I felt like I kind of had to put this one first, which means I am not really willingly to separate my reverence for it as scripture and my own appreciation for it as literature.)
Though over time I’ve come to appreciate the beauty of the prose and poetry of many of the biblical books. None has ever captivated me like John, though. I remember reading the gospel of John straight through one afternoon in the fall of 1999, and it changed my life. The story, and John’s incredible telling, of it stunned me. Even though I’d lived with it all my life, John’s gospel provoked me to dedicate my life to learning love from the hand of Jesus. Every once in a while I have to go back to that well, not just for a sip, but for a deep drink of this beautiful book that speaks of the one who gives living water.
The Gospel of John (Yes, the one in the Bible)
This is one of the best books on Christian spirituality that I’ve ever read. It’s a book that I’ve reread several times, and feel like I’ve bought a whole shelf of them to give away. If you’re going to read anything this year to try and rethink your faith, I would make this the book.
Nouwen’s way of thinking about faith has been extremely influential on me as a person and minister. His books are extremely readable and generally pretty short, and you shouldn’t be too surprised when a few more end up on this list.
Reaching Out by Henri Nouwen
I haven’t finished the whole series yet (21 books total), but these novels have truly captured my imagination in the last year. The series immerses you in a historical-fictive world and develops two characters whose friendship forms the canvas on which O’Brian imagines a beautiful, if flawed humanity, one with which I feel deeply connected in reality.
The series follows the duo through a few decades aboard a handful of sloops, frigates, and other ships with which you become intimately acquainted over the span of books. O’Brian shovels details into your mouth like a momma feeding her toddler blended veggies. IT’s like he assumes you can’t know too much about how a ship of the line is supposed to be rigged. Think Tom Clancy, but with the Royal Navy of the early 1800’s. That detail might hang up the fait-hearted readers among us, but I actually love it. Once you get immersed in the language, it definitively shapes both the physical and cultural setting of the ships. You are observing the Navy aboard these wooden vessels. Sometimes after reading them I think I could actually pull off firing a cannon or rigging a topgallant. This is a long series, so it represents a series time investment, but I have found it quite worthwhile.
The Aubrey-Maturin Series by Patrick O’Brian
I love this book. C.S. Lewis shows pretty incredible range with this gritty story set perhaps a few hundred years before Christ. (How could this same guy have written Out of the Silent Planet and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? The plot and characters have subtly drawn me in over and over again. Lewis’s elegant handling of the feelings and actions of his characters have moved me to tears and really taught me much about what it means to be a human being.
It’s hard for me to imagine premodern society, and perhaps particularly pagan societies, but this book did more for me in helping me understand that setting than nearly anything else. I felt like the story helped me understand people better, regardless of time.
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis