“A book is like a portrait, as opposed to a photograph. A photograph is click, that’s that! A portrait you layer and layer on. And you work on it for weeks. You still have the same single image but it has this depth to it. A book enables you to think and rethink. You can go deeper into a book than any other media.”
-Dr. Jordan Peterson
I’d like to encourage my audience to read other authors and books that have made a great impact on me, my thoughts, and my perspective. Ideally a good book will help us wrestle with our human condition in a way that we can grow and become the perfect sculpture each of us were meant to be chiseled into. Through reading, through story, we hear what works and hasn’t worked for others in their adventure towards this growth, this theosis.
I hope my list of recommended reads inspires you at the very least to read and to consider some books which I have felt made a great impact on me and can have a profound effect on our society.
Happy Reading!
The Bible
Of course The Bible made it to my list of recommended reads.
But before you write it off as a compulsory addition, I recommend you consider the volumes of ancient wisdom it holds from centuries of generations. A compilation of stories that old should at least spark some curiosity, even if you’re not a fan of all the characters.
Genesis: An epic tale of the human condition and God’s forbearance for humanity’s disobedience.
Job: The greatest story and instruction of the problem of evil ever told.
Psalms: Divine poetry free for us to meditate on and worship with.
Daniel: One of the most exciting Old Testament Figures & Prophets
The Four Gospels: The Good News of Christ’s victory. I recommend reading in the order of Mark, Luke, Matthew, and finally John.
Christian Books
My favorite Christian author is (no surprise) CS Lewis, and I believe all believers and skeptics alike gain something from reading his works.
The Great Divorce: My absolute favorite. Lewis paints a compelling picture of what heaven and hell are really like and how our souls fit into each.
The Screwtape Letters: A fun compilation of letters from a demon giving instructions how a novice demon should tempt the soul in its “care.”
Mere Christianity: Lewis lays a comprehensive groundwork of Christian apologetics in this book, sharing how one rationally goes from no belief to a strong defense in the Christian faith.
Dystopian Fiction
The much needed antidotes to our society. These books spell out how utopia not only cannot exist, but that the pursuit of it only devours humanity and it’s soul.
Lord of the Flies: Technically not dystopian, but a testimony to how fragile civilization is when we discard symbols of our tradition and left within the state of nature.
Fahrenheit 451: A telling of an inverted world when firefighters start fires to put out books and ideas.
Brave New World: An eerie but captivating story of soft totalitarianism via segregation and doping of the masses.
1984: The most well known dystopian novel that tells how to effectively control individuals and an entire society.
General Fiction
Books that don’t necessarily fit into categories that I have simply enjoyed reading. These books still have something profound to say, but often times they were natural page-turners for their great plot.
Hyperion: My favorite sci-fi book thus far. The story weaves together six different diverse crew members headed for one harrowing common goal. Each character has their own book or narrative and each one offers something unique while still aiming towards a common goal.
The Sweet Hereafter: A very human and earthy book about grief and the blame that tends to come out from it. Like Hyperion, this book also captures multiple perspectives suffering in different ways from a tragic bus accident in a small town.
Non-Fiction
These books have left an impact on me namely through their “self-help” element. I pray each of these reads impacts you towards a positive new perspective that inclines towards growth as it has for me.
12 Rules for LIfe: Written by one of the brightest and most inspiring figures of our time, Dr. Jordan Peterson famously counsels his audience to adapt 12 simple rules to better improve themselves and meet their full potential.
The Gulag Archipelago: The famous Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn shares his eye-witness accounts of life in the Soviet Union, the lies needed to be told in order to preserve one’s own life, and the hardships endured in the harsh prison camps of the Communist Regime.
In Order To Live: A harrowing and heart-wrenching story of a brave woman who confronted unfathomable hardships in order to find freedom from North Korea. Perhaps the most important biography of our time.
Konstantin Träumer 