“Only in books has mankind known perfect truth, love and beauty.”
~ George Bernard Shaw
It’s black. Smudgy. If you’re unlucky enough to have it riding in your pocket, you’ll find that it’s also staining. It can steal your heart and leave you wanting more.
Despite eyes drooping with sleepy sand, it’s words keep you up into the ungodly hours. They will call out to you like a lover, pulling you miles away as you stand there putting gas in your car or in between bites of a sandwich.
Ink love.
Have you been captured under it’s spell?
| Noun | 1. | book lover – someone who loves (and usually collects) books. |
Chances are, Cupid’s sent his arrows into your heart, through the pages of a book. And you’re unashamedly a self-professing BOOK LOVER.
We’ve been walking through irresistible thoughts about our loves. As I shared in Falling Divinely in Love, my closest companions since childhood came to me between paper and print. Now, as an adult, this love affair hasn’t since stopped.
In celebration of love, I jotted down 14 Books That Changed My Life.
These are books that have personally spoke to my relationship with God. They changed the way I viewed God, myself, and this spiritual journey I’m on. These are the books I go back and re-read, when I need to be reminded of the greatest love affair I have with God.
Today’s book list is Non-Fiction. I’ll be sharing Fiction Love List in a later post.
INK LOVE – TOP 14 BOOKS THAT CHANGED MY LIFE (Non-Fiction)
2. The Way Of The Heart – Henri Nouwen
3. Changes That Heal – Henry Cloud
4. The Cost of Discipleship – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
5. Life and H
oliness – Thomas Merton
6. Finding The Will of God – Bruce Waltke
Lifegiving – Tammy Maltby
8. Revolution Within: Supernatural Living – Dwight Edwards
9. Celebration of Discipline – Richard Foster
10. A Million Miles In A Thousand Years –
Don Miller
11. Tomorrow Can Be Different – Norman Wright
12. Traveling Light – Max Lucado
13. Living By The Book – 
Howard Hendricks
14. Learning To Tell Yourself The Truth – William Backus
There’s a story behind every reading. Perhaps they’ll find their way in some Faith Barista blog posts soon.
Now, for my FAVE part, friends — !
Are you a book lover, too?
Comment and share Your Top 5, 10, or 14 Non-Fiction Books!
I would LOVE, love, love to hear what books have changed your life.
“Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read.” Isaiah 34:16
[ A hat tip goes to my friend, Holley Gerth of Heart to Heart, who shared some fave books in What If Your History Hurts? ]
I'm irresistibly walking through 14 Days Of Love! To start at the beginning, click here: Day 1: 14 Days of Irresistible -- An Intro Day 2: Falling Divinely In Love Day 3: Friendship Is Like Dating Day 4: Lemonade Dreams: Taking A Sip of Patience Day 5: What Does Your Name Mean? A Name Between Two Lovers -- Enter To Win a Lisa Leonard Designs Necklace! SUBSCRIBE NOW to get updates from FaithBarista hot and fresh directly in your mailbox via email (click here) or RSS (click here) news reader. Photo courtesy of FreeStockImages.org
47 Comments
My son’s waking up from his nap so I think this is going to have to be a Top 5…
1. I too love my NASB Ryrie Study Bible.
2. What’s So Amazing About Grace – Philip Yancy
3. Respectable Sins – Jerry Bridges
4. Anything by C.S. Lewis
5. Gifted to Lead – Nancy Beach
.-= Melissa Brotherton´s last blog ..Whisper =-.
1. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
2. The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
3. I became a Christian & all I got was this lousy t-shirt by Vince Antonucci
4. The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield
5. The Reason for God by Tim Keller
6. The Prodigal God by Tim Keller
7. On Writing by Stephen King
8. The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
9. Snow Day by Billy Coffey (which technically is a novel, but I like to call it a “faction”)
Too many to name. I’ve read a whole lotta books…
.-= katdish´s last blog ..Fishing for Answers (by Billy Coffey) =-.
I have read so many books which have profoundly affected me, that I would have a hard time listing them in order. I tend to read deep, thought-provoking nonfiction and classics. How do you compare, for instance, the luminous War and Peace to The Cost of Discipleship or The Problem of Pain or Hamlet or Paradise Lost?
I cannot do it. Each one is a rare and precious gift. The life of another, spilled out on the pages and offered to me. Treasures, all.
But I will tell you that books have changed me. Forever.
.-= Cassandra Frear´s last blog ..Writing: The Story I Never Meant to live =-.
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A list with many greats: Nouwen, Merton, Bonhoeffer.
We have run out of shelf space for all of our books. I have shelves of poetry, biography/autobiography, Holocaust lit, plays. . . . Books are in every room of our house.
I would have to add to any list: One Hundred Years of Solitude, Neruda’s poetry, Night, Shakespeare, Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry, the great Russian literature (and that’s just to get started).
.-= Maureen (Mo)´s last blog ..Thomas Moore on Liberating Education =-.
I haven’t read 100 yrs, but it’s on my list to read. Happy to know it’s made your list.
Wow- I’ve only read one from your list and I agree it’s great (Changes That Heal).
Some of my favorites: The Knowledge of the Holy by AW Tozer, No Perfect People Allowed by John Burke, and there are so many more that I can’t think of all of them since I’m not in my office. 🙂
.-= jasonS´s last blog ..The Exciting World of Budgets =-.
AAAAHH… I’m getting giddy! — So many good books y’all are recommending that I haven’t read! THANK YOU. Fellow book lovers, keep ’em coming…
I love books! 🙂 I especially appreciate a beautiful Love story.
Okay…these are some of my favorites regarding relationships.
1. Authentic Beauty by Leslie Ludy
2. Lady in Waiting by Jackie Kendall and Debbie Jones
3. When God Writes Your Love Story by Eric and Leslie Ludy
4. A Time to Dance by Karen Kingsbury (fiction)
5. Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn (fiction)
6. When Dreams Come True by Eric and Leslie Ludy
7. Passion and Purity by Elizabeth Elliott
.-= Christine´s last blog ..Acts 20:24 =-.
L’Engle’s four-book Crosswicks Journal series
L’Engle’s Bright Evening Star
John Eldredge’s Wild At Heart
Elisabeth Elliot’s Passion and Purity
Randy Alcorn’s Safely Home (I know, this one is fiction!)
Philip Yancey’s Disappointment With God
I don’t know how many that is – pretty good for typing and coding one-handed, though… 😉
.-= Kelly Langner Sauer´s last blog ..Patience to wait, when there is nothing clear =-.
Oh, now you’ve gone and done it!! I haven’t read any of those you listed. And my husband is going to kill me for adding a gagillion more books to my amazon wish list. Yikes!
.-= Chrystie´s last blog ..When Darkness Gives Way To Light =-.
Me, too. I’m in BIG trouble now!
The book that has most impacted me recently is Peter Scazzero’s book “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.” Another great book that I have recently read is “The Tangible Kingdom” by Hugh Salter and Matt Smay.
.-= Kevin M.´s last blog ..Sermon Synopsis 2/7 – A disciple loves every other disciple =-.
I’m enjoying reading the lists that people come up with. I just want to add one tiny little book which changed my life in a dramatic way: The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.
That is a good one. I wish I could experience it like Bro Lawrence. Esp. since I’m in the kitchen all the time! LOL.
Write It Down, Make It Happen by Ph.D. Henriette Anne Klauser
The Ten-Second Prayer Principle: Praying Powerfully as You Go by Mark Littleton
Small Changes, Big Results by Jerry Foster and Ed Stewart
Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On: Trusting God in the Tough Times by Stormie Omartian
Too Busy Not To Pray by Bill Hybels
.-= Kissie´s last blog ..Classic Conversation with an Honest Kid II =-.
Wow. This is exciting. The Best of List — by Faith Barista Peeps. Now, that’s worth something.
Church Without Walls – Jim Petersen
Out of the Saltshaker – Rebecca Manley Pippert
Relational Christianity – Steve Meeks
Worship, It’s Not Just Sunday Morning – Robert A. Morey
The Company of the Committed – Elton Trueblook
Thanks, Phil!
Great post! I have many that have changed/molded me. One of my favorites of all-time is The Shaping of a Christian Family by Elisabeth Elliot. Amazing.
Oh, I love Elizabeth Elliot’s Passion & Purity. I didn’t known of this book.
Wow!! This is awesome–definitely adding lots of these to my “to-read” list! I absolutely love to read and have a hard time picking favorites, but here are a few that come to mind:
Letters From a Skeptic by Greg Boyd
Out of the Salt Shaker by Pippert
Every Woman’s Battle
Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer
The Cross and the Switchblade
Her Name is Woman
Celebration of Discipline by Foster
C.S. Lewis
The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal
There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz
.-= Katy´s last blog ..Starting Out With Joy =-.
Yeah! We have a match here, Katy! Have you seen The Cross and The Switchblade movie? It’s old one. Very interesting list…
I haven’t….I’ll have to check that out! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
.-= Katy´s last blog ..Starting Out With Joy =-.
Lots on my list in 2009.
My fave?
The “Hole in Our Gospel” by Richard Stearns. Incredible.
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..A Heart That Beats for Haiti =-.
Oh, I have that one on order in the mail!
[…] Days of Irresistible — An Intro Day 2: Falling Divinely In Love Day 3: Friendship Is Like Dating Day 4: Are You A Book Lover? 14 Books That Changed My Life SUBSCRIBE NOW to get updates from FaithBarista hot and fresh directly in your mailbox via email […]
Like you, I am a book lover. My favourite….THE IMITATION OF CHRIST by Thomas A Kempis. I have read it several times and every time, it shakes me to the very core of my heart.
Blessings.
Gladwell
That’s a classic.
Thanks so much for the list! I read CONSTANTLY but have never read one of those books!
.-= Kristy´s last blog ..19 Years Ago Today……. =-.
I love this post — because of these Greatest Hits List. L-O-V-E it!
Like a warm cup of mocha — all these books. Ahhhh…
Wow, hard to narrow down but here’s a few:
Everything by Elisabeth Elliot (no one influenced my teenage years more)
Terrify No More by Gary Haugen (my eyes were opened to sex slavery)
The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer (I’ve read this multiple times, never ceases to spur me on)
The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul (Devoured it like a novel, amazed at God’s holiness)
And, for a non-spiritual non-fiction title:
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (a riveting history about the Chicago World’s fair and murder)
Happy reading!
Hey Danielle, this is a mosaic of powerful reading flavors. Totally with you on Elizabeth Elliot. Thnx for the pointer to Terrify No More and Larson’s book.
Great list of reads – some I’ve read; others I’ve not read. A few books that I have really loved and return to again and again include:
The Unquenchable Worshipper by Matthew Redman
The Bait of Satan by John Bevere
Vital Friends by Tom Rath
Work the Pond by Darcy Rezac
Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty by Harvey Mackay
The Servant by James Hunter
Great to find your blog through High Calling Blogs. You seem like a great asset to the community!
Hey Cheryl! Great to meet you via HCB! Your title list looks scrumptous. Aren’t book titles intoxicating? It’s the first step of book flirting, don’t you think?
Thanks for your list. I can’t wait to read some of them.
This is difficult. My mind is going in circles trying to pick which ones to list.
The Pursuit of God – A.W. Tozer
The Hiding Place – Corrie Ten Boom
Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret – Frederick Howard Taylor
Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis
No Compromise: The Life Story of Keith Green – Melody Green
There are so many more, but these came to mind first.
.-= Southern Gal´s last blog ..The Countdown =-.
Oh, and then I thought about A Man Called Peter by Catherine Marshall and Beyond Yourself, and Through Gates of Splendor. I think Christian biographies have influenced me greatly!!
.-= Southern Gal´s last blog ..The Countdown =-.
Thanks for some great additions!
This is a reader’s eye candy — I’m swooning…
Wow! I have added a dozen books to my library “wish list” and even more to Amazon as the library doesn’t CARRY them 🙁 thank you so much, everyone, for your suggestions!
My favorites, as everyone has mentioned, are too numerous to list. But, here are a few. I love “If You Want to Walk on Water, You Have to Get Out of the Boat.” I have read that 4 times, and highlight new pieces each time, with each new struggle. “Letters From a Skeptic” was pivotal in my accepting of Christ. “The Case for Christ” brought my logical mind to the “logic” of Christ. “Knowing God,” anything by C.S. Lewis, or Tozer, “Spirit of the Disciplines,” and my concordance lives beside my bed, next to my Bible.
Thanks, again, for an amazing list!
[…] 14 Days of Irresistible — An IntroDay 2: Falling Divinely In Love Day 3: Friendship Is Like Dating Day 4: Are You A Book Lover? 14 Books That Changed My Life Day 5: What Does Your Name Mean? A Name Between Two Lovers SUBSCRIBE NOW to get updates from […]
I just read The Way of the Heart by Henri Nouwen, and this book is now one of my favorite books.
Wow, I have not read most of these books. I love to read, read a lot…I am going to have to check some of these out.
It’s a cool list. What’s your list?
Wow. It seems I’m missing out. I love to read, but I don’t read much non-fiction. I have read only 2 books that have been mentioned so far – and one of them is fiction (100 Years of Solitude – one of my faves!).
Many of these books I have heard of; I’ve just never read them. I guess I need to go spend some time at the library!
And Bonnie, I love some of your comments: ‘This is a reader’s eye candy” and “Aren’t book titles intoxicating? It’s the first step of book flirting, don’t you think?” That’s exactly how I feel reading these book titles!
.-= Rachel´s last blog ..bits and pieces =-.
I started to say Little Women because reading that and identifying with Jo was when I first knew I wanted to write. But that’s fiction–so my nonfiction choices (among a zillion) are:
1. My RSV Harper Study Bible. It’s torn up and beaten up–the first study Bible I ever owned.
2. Today it’s my NASB Inductive Study Bible.
3. The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer (I wrote “In pursuit” in the flyleaf of my Harper on 10/04/1981.
4. As Silver Refined by Kay Arthur.
5. Open Windows by Philip Yancy.
6. Karen! Karen! by Karen Burton Mains.
7. Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster.
8. Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.
9. God Calling by Two Listeners (ed. by A.J. Russell).
10. The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis.
11. Holy Discontent by Bill Hybels.
12. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller.
13. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.
14. Destined for the Throne by Paul E. Billheimer.
.-= Sandra Heska King´s last blog ..I Will Sing =-.
A long list indeed, but I must say you have a great collection. I’ve only read Lifegiving, I’ll check the rest from your list.