In this episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen takes the interviewee seat, diving into the abiding value of reading fiction. Guest host Kendra Dahl asks Collin about his favorite genres to read, from historical to Scandinavian, Russian, and Southern fiction, and how each offers unique perspectives on humanity and culture. Hansen shares personal connections to these genres, recommending books that have deeply affected him, from his personal faith to his evangelism.
They also discuss how fiction can cultivate empathy, deepen our understanding of others, and help us appreciate the complexities of human nature—all through the art of storytelling.
Collin Hansen’s fiction recommendations:
Historical Fiction
- Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel
- A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin
- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
- A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
- The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Scandinavian Fiction
- A Fortunate Man by Henrik Pontoppidan
- The Emigrant series by Vilhelm Moberg (4 books)
- Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy by Sigrid Undset
- The Hammer of God by Bo Giertz
- Giants in the Earth by O. E. Rölvaag
- Babette’s Feast by Isak Dinesen and Karen Blixen
- The Good Hope by William Heinesen
Russian Fiction
- War and Peace / Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
- The Brothers Karamazov / Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Life and Fate / Stalingrad by Vasily Grossman
Southern Fiction
- To Kill a Mockingbird / Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (see also Atticus Finch: The Biography by Joseph Crespino)
- Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
- Jayber Crow / Hannah Coulter / The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry
- Authors: Flannery O’Connor / Robert Penn Warren / William Faulkner / Pat Conroy
Also Mentioned:
- The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (nonfiction)
- The Civil War trilogy (Shelby Foote wrote history as a novelist)
- Everything Sad Is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri
- Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
- How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
- Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Collin’s Top Recommendations:
- Historical: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
- Scandinavian: A Fortunate Man by Henrik Pontoppidan; Babette’s Feast by Isak Dinesen and Karen Blixen
- Russian: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky; One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
- Southern: Theo of Golden by Allen Levi