"Favorite" Novels, Re-Reads, and Influential Books
Three detailed answers to three common questions about the reading life
I thought it’d be fun to share answers to three common book questions/topics: favorite novels, re-reads, and most influential books. Maybe you’ll find something here for your TBR list or for your holiday gift-giving.
What’s your favorite novel?
You’d think this question would be easier to answer over time, but I struggle each time it’s asked. I usually give 2-3 of these for my answer but I dug deep to surface my fuller list of favorites — novels that to me are unforgettable.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison
Uncle Tom’s Children by Richard Wright
The City & the City by China Miéville
Silence by Shusaku Endo
The Samurai by Shusaku Endo
Benito Cereno by Herman Melville
The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta
Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
What books do you reread or return to the most?
Aside from novels, I rarely reread books cover to cover, but I reread sections of books somewhat often. I return to Fleming Rutledge’s The Crucifixion and John Stott’s The Cross of Christ to wonder and marvel about the Christ crucified and what it means for myself and the world. N. T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope helps me keep the invading power and hope of the resurrection before my eyes. I return to J. Deotis Roberts’s Liberation and Reconciliation: A Black Theology for concise and rich theological reflections directly applied to African American experience. Karl Barth’s Evangelical Theology is one I revisit as it’s convivial and reminds me that wonder and joy are at the heart of theology because God is astonishing and beyond comprehension.
Regarding novels, I like to revisit Invisible Man every few years, Endo’s Silence, and Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory. The latter two, for me at least, paint a clear picture of ministerial need and the necessity and power of grace.
What books have most profoundly shaped how you live, serve, and lead others in your vocation?
All the novels above. Pastors should read lots of literature, I think. I’d also say Fleming Rutledge’s The Crucifixion and John Stott’s The Cross of Christ for what it means to know Christ and him crucified and then to declare that world-changing and world-healing reality to others. Tim Keller’s Center Church and Preaching have tremendously influenced my thinking and teaching. Ruth Haley Barton’s Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership has helped me incrementally grow as a non-anxious leader, doing ministry from a place of rest. Robert Webber’s Ancient-Future Time helps me think about time as a means of discipleship under Christ for myself and others. Howard Thurman’s Jesus and the Disinherited enlarged my sense of how the gospel is good news for the meek and downtrodden. Alexander Schmemann’s For the Life of the World has been a life-giving paradigm shift in my thinking about secularism, worship, and mission. Robert Louis Wilken’s The Spirit of Early Christian Thought continues to teach me to think and serve from the deep well of our forebearers in the faith. Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers has deepened and expanded my love for and approach to Scripture.
I love seeing Benito Cereno on this list. What a profoundly powerful book. Always my first recommendation to someone who has never read Melville.
This is great. Fun seeing Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer. Love in the Ruins is a wild and zany read from Percy—highly recommended. Thanks for sharing the list of novels.