BreakPoint Recommended Reading
The BreakPoint staff put their heads together and came up with a list of novels and stories that will stir your moral imagination—and help you to think about good and evil, the purpose and meaning of life, sin and grace.
Follow the links to a description of the book. If you choose to purchase a book through our website, a portion of your purchase will further the mission of BreakPoint.
Amanda Bush
In the Shadow of Progress: Being Human in the Age of Progress by Eric Cohen.
Cohen discusses the interaction of ethics, philosophy, and technology. Topics are well researched and are varied, from bioethics, to Jewish-Catholic bioethics, to just war, to genetic medicine. He draws from classic texts but seamlessly applies the ideas of modern thinkers to modern dilemmas.
Catherine Larson
Walter Wangerin, Jr.'s, newest book, Letters from the Land of Cancer, is definitely a treasure. Wangerin is a National Book Award winner and perhaps best known for The Book of the Dun Cow.
In this new book, he shares intimate letters written during his ongoing experience with cancer. I couldn't put this book down. It is an extended meditation on how as Christians we respond in times of ongoing pain and in the face of death. The writing is extraordinary and I was surprised to find such luminous and palpable hope in a book about death. This is a great read period, but I'm sure it would be especially good for someone you know who is struggling with an ongoing illness.(Excerpt)
J.I. Packer's newest offering, Grounded in the Gospel, is a thorough apologetic for why we need to re-invigorate the use of catechism in our churches. Packer and co-writer Gary Parrett walk us through precursors to catechism in the Old and New Testaments, as well as the history of its use from the early church through the Reformation. They survey what content is essential to cover in catechesis and step-by-step suggestions for bringing this ancient practice back to modern churches. It's another book you won't want to miss. (Excerpt)
Earlier in the year, I interviewed Don Miller about his most recent book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. The full interview is here. The book is another autobiographical offering from Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz. In it, he shares what he learned about life when a couple of writers approached him about wanting to make a movie about his life. The book challenged and encouraged me to think about our part in developing our character and furthering the God-centered plot of our own stories. (Excerpt)
Any book that makes you want to put it down and go pray is a book worth reading. This year Paul Miller's A Praying Life really challenged me in that direction. His practical insights into how to transform our lives into ones where we truly do pray continuously helped me take a step in the right direction in this very important means of grace. For a beach read that may just get you kneeling down in the sand, I'd definitely recommend A Praying Life. (Excerpt)
T.M. Moore
Smith shows the role of the heart in worldview and helpfully explains the role of worship and everyday practices in forming our hearts to desire the Kingdom of God rather than the kingdoms of this world.
Dalrymple, an atheist, shows the powerful role that “prejudice” plays in people's lives. His book is valuable for Christian thinkers because it demonstrates that presuppositions (concepts embraced by faith) are a guiding factor in how we live, and that everyone is affected by them.
Because thinking is so much a part of our worldview, and, hence, our lives, it's a good idea to know how to do it right and well. Scott's scholarly study of Paul in the book of Galatians provides an excellent overview of how to train our minds for holy living.
This is a version of Edwards' classic, An Humble Attempt... which is suitable for personal or group study. Edwards shows the powerful role of prayer in seeking revival. Without it, we will never know God's showers of redeeming blessing.
Gina Dalfonzo
Like his brother, Peter Hitchens is an esteemed journalist. But as the subtitle of his book will tell you, Peter’s experience with faith has been rather different from Christopher’s. He tells a compelling tale of life as an atheist and of being drawn slowly and irrevocably drawn to the church, against the melancholy backdrop of an England in decline. And he expresses his wishes for his brother’s conversion. Though I disagreed with Peter somewhat on political matters, I was mesmerized by his story.
Many of us have experienced, or will experience, a “dark night of the soul” at some point. Wennberg’s thoughtful, compassionate book is designed to help us understand and deal with these difficult periods. Short chapters make this an easy—but never a shallow—read.
A comatose movie star; a child who sees angels; and a nurse, an agent, and a publisher out to make a quick buck—with his trademark whimsy, Downs weaves all these unlikely elements together into a novel that’s both a satire of contemporary Christian culture, and an inspiring story of true faith.
In Life in Defiance, Mary—a good friend of BreakPoint—finishes her trilogy about a small Texas town and its secrets, by showing the place and its people through the eyes of a battered wife. In her memoir, Thin Places, she tells her own story of childhood abuse and how God is still delivering her from its impact. Both books are wonderful stories of God’s love and grace.
No list of mine would be complete without a Dickens book! At the urging of my commenters at Dickensblog (I learn far more from them than they learn from me), I recently revisited Dickens’s last completed novel, and fell in love all over again with this story of greed, deception, attempted murder, and some very unusual love affairs. If you’re in the mood for a big, sprawling, absorbing read this summer, why not give it a try?
Anne Morse
This is the fourth book in the delightful series of books (now numbering 16) about how quilts were used as signals on the Underground Railroad.
Can cats sense when people are about to die? Dr. Dosa, a geriatric specialist, tries to find out. Readers also learn a great deal about life for those who suffer from Alzheimer’s, and those who struggle to take care of them.
The first book I downloaded on my new Kindle, this novel is the latest in the amusing series about a family of Egyptologists who invariably dig up fresh corpses along with ancient mummies.
A discussion of the way filmmakers have portrayed Catholics and Protestants since 1912.
Laugh-out-loud book about how not to be a snob.
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