The approach of summer means anticipating longer days and new routines that hopefully bring extra reading time. It’s the perfect opportunity to explore genres outside your usual reading fare—like a hearty fiction feast or a side dish of biography.
To give you a taste of what the summertime could bring, I asked my editorial colleagues at The Gospel Coalition to share what they’re planning to read. Why not add a couple of these books to your list?
Winfree Brisley
Jim Davis and Michael Graham with Ryan Burge, The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? (Zondervan, 2023)
I was first intrigued by this topic when my husband read Ryan Burge’s book The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going (Fortress Press, 2021). After hearing Burge discuss dechurching with Jim Davis and Michael Graham on a recent episode of TGC’s As in Heaven podcast, I’ve become completely fascinated with their research and its implications for how we design ministry efforts and pursue our neighbors.
Kathryn Butler, The Dragon and the Stone (Crossway, 2022)
As a former high school English teacher, I love introducing my kids to great literature. And I don’t read nearly as much fiction these days as I’d like. So this summer I’m planning to read The Dream Keeper Saga aloud with my sons. I’ll consider it a success if we complete book one, but since we all love a great story, I wouldn’t be surprised if we read all the way through to the newly released third book, Lost in the Caverns.
Sinclair B. Ferguson, The Holy Spirit (IVP Academic, 1997)
I have a particular interest in the person and work of the Holy Spirit, so I’ve been asking pastors, theologians, and seminarians for book recommendations. I’ve been given many titles by theologians past and present, but this one from Ferguson has come up more than any other.
Jared Kennedy
Wendell Berry, Remembering (Counterpoint, 2008)
A novel about longing and contentment. Andy Catlett, the main character, is the Port William member who Berry says is most like him.
H. G. Haile, Luther: An Experiment in Biography (Doubleday, 1980)
I’m currently writing a book on Luther for middle-grade readers. This is one of the biographies I’m reading for research, and it’s interesting because it introduces Luther later in his life (in his 50s), after the tumultuous years of the early Reformation.
Richard F. Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal (IVP Academic, 1979)
I learned earlier this year that Lovelace was a key influence on Tim Keller’s ministry. I’m excited to explore his book on revival.
Brett McCracken
Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose (Doubleday, 1971)
I like to exclusively read fiction in the summer (if I can manage it), and Stegner’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel is high on my list. Because I’m a citizen of the Western U.S. and plan to vacation with my family in its sagebrush frontier landscapes, reading this classic by “The Dean of Western Writers” feels appropriate.
Paolo Cognetti, The Eight Mountains (Washington Square Press, 2019)
I was absolutely floored by the recently released movie adaptation of this Italian bestseller (a film that will no doubt show up on my “best of 2023” list this December). Naturally, after seeing the movie I picked up the novel. I plan to read it this summer as I spend my time in the thin-place beauty of the Rocky and Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove (Simon & Schuster, 1985)
A few months before he died, Jonathan Tjarks raved about this Pulitzer Prize–winning novel in his podcast interview with Collin Hansen, calling it “the great American novel.” I’m reading it because of that recommendation, as a way to honor Tjarks—whose cultural insights I admired and recommendations I trusted.
Brian McKanna
Dave Furman, Being There: How to Love Those Who Are Hurting (Crossway, 2016)
I recently met Dave Furman at a conference overseas, and we immediately began talking about chronic pain and suffering in our families. That same week, a friend back home happened to give a copy of Being There to my wife. When she subsequently recommended it to me, the book went to the top of my reading list.
Donald Fairbairn, Life in the Trinity: An Introduction to Theology with the Help of the Church Fathers (IVP Academic, 2009)
For years, I’ve felt ill-equipped on the theology of the Trinity, especially from the perspective of church history. Perhaps strange to some, I’ve also had a personal curiosity about the debated doctrine of theosis. When I found a book that addresses both, it was sure to catch my attention.
Jonathan Leeman, Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus (Crossway, 2012)
Lord willing, this fall our family will be part of a church plant in our town. In preparation for training some of the launch team, I want to brush up on my understanding of church membership. This little volume by Leeman seems like the best place to start.
Ivan Mesa
Jean M. Twenge, Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and What They Mean for America’s Future (Atria, 2023)
I’ve been eagerly awaiting Twenge’s capstone project of synthesizing her decades of research into the differences between generations. I suspect I’ll glean much that will help me be a better parent, churchman, and editor.
Edward J. Larson, Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate over Science and Religion (Basic, 1997)
We’re coming up on the 100th anniversary of the Scopes Trial, which continues to loom large over American evangelicalism. I didn’t know there was a Pulitzer Prize–winning account of this event until recently, so I’m excited to dig in.
Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo (1844–46)
It’s embarrassing to realize how many classics I haven’t read, but I’m slowly working my way through all the books I should have read in high school. I’ve loved the 2002 film version of this book for a long time. The themes of justice and mercy (a lot like Les Misérables) play a significant role in this story along with the historical backdrop of Napoleon.
Matt Smethurst
Jonathan Leeman, Authority: How Godly Rule Protects the Vulnerable, Strengthens Communities, and Promotes Human Flourishing (Crossway, 2023)
I don’t know of a living Christian author who’s better on the topic of authority. Consider, for example, this insight from the opening paragraph of Leeman’s Don’t Fire Your Church Members:
Individualism is not rooted in being anti-community. Everyone loves the idea of community (except, maybe, the hermit). Rather, individualism is rooted in being anti-authority: I will gladly hang out with you, so long as you don’t tell me who I have to be or what I have to do.
In this new book, Leeman labors to show why the answer to bad authority isn’t no authority but good authority—the kind that, according to Scripture, causes those under it to flourish. Along the way he examines five principles for how good authority works: it’s not unaccountable but submits to a higher authority, it doesn’t steal life but creates it, it’s not unteachable but seeks wisdom, it’s neither permissive nor abusive but administers discipline, and it’s not self-protective but bears the costs. Our anti-authority age—and my anti-authority heart—needs this book.
Thomas Goodwin, The Heart of Christ (Banner of Truth, 2011)
My drowsy heart often needs to be reinvigorated with the wonder of God’s love. Originally published in 1651, this Puritan classic was a major inspiration for Dane Ortlund’s bestseller Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers (Crossway, 2020). I also heard Michael Reeves recently (and strongly) commend it. Goodwin labors to show from Scripture that, in all his heavenly majesty, Christ isn’t unconcerned with or aloof from believers but has the strongest affections for them. This was his most popular work; I’m eager to discover why.
David Grann, The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder (Doubleday, 2023)
If you love narrative-nonfiction page-turners, it’s likely you’ve heard of Grann’s 2017 bestseller Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. I’m eager to read his next installment. In 1740, a British ship embarked on a secret mission: to find a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the nations.” Two years later, 30 survivors stumbled ashore in Brazil and were welcomed as heroes—until another ship arrived and told a different story. Apparently, things then got really crazy.
Andrew Spencer
Karl Schlögel, The Soviet Century: Archaeology of a Lost World (Princeton University Press, 2023)
Having grown up during the tail end of the Cold War, I vividly remember the end of the communist era and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Both anti-Soviet propaganda and socialist nostalgia tend to mask the reality of daily life in the U.S.S.R. Schlögel was an eyewitness to much of the content within this hefty volume, which promises to give a more personalized view of the culture and conditions that may otherwise be forgotten.
Joshua Chatraw and Mark Allen, The Augustine Way: Retrieving a Vision for the Church’s Apologetic Witness (Baker Academic, 2023)
The parallels between Augustine’s world and our own, especially with growing hostility toward Christianity amid political unrest, make the study of the Bishop of Hippo’s approach to cultural engagement worthwhile. Chatraw and Allen offer what promises to be a thoughtful and practical book that uses old books to shed light on new problems.
Holly Ordway, Tolkien’s Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages (Word on Fire, 2021)
The medieval backdrop of The Lord of the Rings is a major attraction to contemporary readers. Courtly love, wonder in the cosmos, and the heroic ideal evident in the history of Middle-earth offer a romantic attraction to readers in a demythologized age. But Tolkien’s fiction is distinctly modern because much of it was written to critique modernity and because it was written by a scholar who lived, breathed, and studied in the modern world. Ordway explores Tolkien’s extensive reading of modern sources and shows how those books influenced the creation of a masterpiece I read every year.
Phil Thompson
Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration (Vintage, 2011)
I love history, especially when it covers a little-told area. And even more so when the history is told well. I’ve already started this gripping narrative of those whose movements across our nation defined a generation. This one is almost impossible to put down!
N. T. Wright and Michael Bird, The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians (Zondervan Academic, 2019)
These two New Testament scholars are always a delight to read, even when I disagree with them from time to time. Weighing in at nearly a thousand pages, this will take up most of my summer reading time, but if it pushes me deeper into the world of the Bible, then it’ll be worth it.
Adolf Schlatter, Der Brief an die Kolosser (1936)
I want to retain my mediocre German and enjoy a short daily reading on the book of Colossians. Schlatter is great for this because his writing is concise and accessible. Andreas Köstenberger first introduced me to Schlatter, a fascinating German scholar of the 19th and 20th centuries who opposed the tide of theological liberalism that all but ruled the academy of his day. If all goes to plan, I’ll save my translations as I go and have a complete English translation of the commentary when I’m done.
Cassie Watson
William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour (1655)
I’ve been reading this 1,300-page Puritan tome on and off for more than a year. Charles Spurgeon described Complete Armour as “peerless and priceless,” and for good reason—in expounding the spiritual armor of Ephesians 6, Gurnall furnishes us with rich wisdom for living as soldiers in a spiritual battle. Even if I don’t finish it over the next few months, I’m hoping to make significant progress.
Iain H. Murray, Revival and Revivalism: The Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism, 1750–1858 (Banner of Truth, 1994)
After watching the Reformation Heritage documentary Revival: The Work of God earlier this year, I’ve been praying for revival in my church and wanting to explore the topic more. This historical survey has been recommended often for its careful untangling of revival—a work of God—from the man-centered, manufactured phenomenon of revivalism.
Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (1854–55)
One of my best friends has exemplary taste in books and media. If she tells me to read or watch something, I do it, and I’m never disappointed. She’s given me the assignment to read this classic novel before I visit her in Ohio later in the year.
Sarah Zylstra
Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: Volume 1 (HarperOne, 2010)
The more international stories I tell, the more I see how complex and interesting global church history is—and how much it affects us today. I plan to pick up this volume, and then its sequel, to expand my knowledge of the broader story God is working through his Bride.
Susan Miller, After the Boxes Are Unpacked: Moving On After Moving In (Focus on the Family, 2016)
After 20 years in Chicago and her suburbs, my husband and I are moving to Kansas City, Missouri, this summer. Between unpacking boxes, signing the kids up for sports camps, and finding a new rhythm, I’ll be reading this book. I’m hoping Miller’s reflections will help me lean into the sanctification of moving and deepen my daily dependence on the Lord as my firm foundation.
Agatha Christie, The Moving Finger (HarperCollins Publishers, 1943)
As a family, we spend a lot of time driving, and this school year we’ve been listening our way through Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot series (which I recommend!). Along the way, I picked up one of Christie’s Miss Marple novels and loved the understated humor. I’ll be reaching for both Poirot and Marple audiobooks during the hours of cleaning and organizing our new home this summer.
