You might try The Confessions of St Augustine ('Oh Lord, make me virtuous, but not yet...') Interesting; quite heavy.

There are always the classics like Pilgrims Progress and the poems of George Herbert.

There is some interesting non-fiction out there. In Search of the Birth of Jesus by Paul William Roberts might be timely, its about his quest to find the true story of the Magi. Part travelogue, part history (or his interpretation), it would certainly generate discussion. There is also Walking the Bible and Karen Armstrong's books.

I believe Sue Monk Kidd (Secret Life of Bees, The Mermaid Chair) is a Christian writer. She used to be contributing editor at Guideposts. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger has a Christian theme, though I'm not sure he is catagorzied as a Christian writer. Madelein L'Engle wrote some interesting adult books along with her famous children's series.

That's all that comes to mind at the moment.

There's always the fiction of Catherine Marshall, for which Christy I think is her most famous, and I suspect that would be considered a classic Christian novel.

Although it might not be considered Christian fiction per se, Taylor Caldwell wrote some interesting historical novels that take place during the early days of Christianity and which deal with the lives of some of the apostles.

Although I haven't read her, I've seen Janette Oke's name recommended for this type of fiction as well.

Are you looking for fiction only? I've found very few Christian fiction books I've liked other than some of the ones mentioned already. I read plenty of non fiction Christian books though.
Catherine Marshalls Julie was fairly good but not as good as Christy by any means.
Farnk Peretti is hit or miss and The Left Behind series is so poorly written I can't stand them.

I am looking for both fiction and nonfiction. I just wasn't interested in stuff that is trendy. That is probably why I haven't read The Purpose Driven Life. I hear it's good, though. Does anyone know anything about Veith or Schaeffer?

What is a 'Christian' writer? Someone who's religion is Christian, or someone who writes Christian themed books? If the latter, then I wouldn't describe Kidd in that way at all. Her books are very spiritual, but not religious. Just my two cents

And being Jewish hasn't stopped me from reading books with Christian themes. The CS Lewis book he wrote after the death of his wife was one of the most amazing works on grief Ive ever read "No one ever told me that grief is so much like fear". At no time did I ever feel as if the message was being beaten in to me. A calm and inspiring read.

I've not read any of Sheri Reynolds' work, but I understand that the "Rapture of Canaan" has a Christian theme. (I heard the author speak most eloquently at a Writers' Conference some years ago).

Cindy, I agree about C.S. Lewis. Most of his work is just as inspiring as "A Grief Observed."

I second the recommendation of Karen Armstrong, above.

I've not read any of Sheri Reynolds' work, but I understand that the "Rapture of Canaan" has a Christian theme. (I heard the author speak most eloquently at a Writers' Conference some years ago).

Cindy, I agree about C.S. Lewis. Most of his work is just as inspiring as "A Grief Observed."

I second the recommendation of Karen Armstrong, above.

try the linked website for some other suggestions. It is from the Mennonite Publishing. Not a comprehensive coverage of the topic, but a start.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mennonite Publishing

I haven't read many Christian-themed books, but here's a few I found interesting:

The Samurai by Shusaku Endo. Endo was a Japanese Catholic whose religion informed most of his work. This is his best-known novel in English about a samurai who receives a pro-forma baptism during a trip to Europe, but eventually becomes a true believer on his return to Japan.

The Kingdom of the Wicked by Anthony Burgess. A historical novel about early Christians.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe about the coming of the Europeans to Nigeria and their effect on the native culture. I don't if this novel is meant to be Christian, but it gives some idea why people might abandon their traditional beliefs for a new and foreign religion.

The City of God by St. Augustine. One of the founding texts of Roman Catholicism. The first half is a refutation of the Roman civic religion. The second half is an examination of the details of Christian beliefs. Augustine addresses a lot of strange questions such as "will women be resurrected as men?" or "can people who were eaten by cannibals be resurrected?".

>"Rapture of Canaan" has a Christian theme

Oh, I read her first book, A Gracious Plenty, ages ago and still remember it with a smile. Another 'gentle read' for those who were looking in another thread. I was very disappointed in Rapture - couldn't finish it (gon't remember why)

wood, thanks for the Lewis title.

I enjoy reading about history, and religious history (often entertwined), so most of the 'Christian' authors I've read have been religious historians, and so their work is non-fiction.

Karen Armstrong is very good - just beware. In her comments, in her history, she does not cringe at saying some rather critical things about all religions, or at the very least, expressing her view of history that might not be the same that is taught in chuch/temple. That being said, she's one of the best historians of religion aroung. She can be a bit detailed however, and for some difficult to get through. Personally I found her book on Islam one of the best looks at the original religion (read this right 9/11 and it answered many questions for me). I also thought her book on the Crusades very intersting

Another popular religious historian is Gail Pagels, who wrote much about the early history of Christianity (again, like Armstrong, not for all readers)

One more - Bruce Feiller Walking the Bible was a good read.

I recommend Charles Williams - he was one of the "Inklings" that included Tolkien & Lewis. He wrote about about half a dozen quite extraordinary novels (War in Heaven, All Hallows' Eve, The Greater Trumps...), as well as the poetry cycle Taliessin Through Logres,
cheryl

Madeline L'Engle...not only her fiction, but her memoirs and many, many books with a spiritual, religios theme.

Try Julian of Norwich as well.

Sorry for the brevity, have to go out the door to work in 5 min.

One writer that I discovered who would be sure to give a reading group plenty to philosphize over might be Lee Strobel, especially his book entitled The Case for a Creator. In it he describes how science at first made him an atheist, then turned his beliefs towards God. Other books by Strobel include The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith.

I agree with the above posters on Lewis and Catherine Marshall. Christy is one of my all-time favorite (even beloved) books. Also The Purpose-Driven Life is an excellent Christian book and lends itself well to discussion.

Veronica, I have a couple of books about Julian of Norwich, I find her very interesting. What books have you read or would recommend?

Cindy, I think you meant Elaine Pagels, of the "Gnostic Gospels" and other works? ;-) I like her books very much, but she is not for everyone.

Edith Schaeffer has a book called Hidden Art (it's been retitled at various times) which is good for a women's group. It discusses the beauty of the home and how to find artistic joy in homemaking. It sounds old fashioned but it's not really. Actually quite relevant with all the home decorating shows on tv now.

Foxes Book of Martyrs is always thought provoking and many people haven't read it.

wood, thanks - I couldn't locate my books (and for some reason every time I try to link to amazon, I lose what ever I post here...) And you are right - not for everyone. But if you are interested in different take on Christian history, shes right on target.

It's a pretty broad topic. Among contemporary writers, Philip Yancey is popular (not exactly trendy) and writes books that are accessible and thought-provoking. Richard Foster writes about Christian spirituality in a way that is informed by history and still pertinent to readers today.

If you are looking for older works, you've gotten some good suggestions. I'll add Richard Baxter's Saints Everlasting Rest. Baxter is one of the great prose stylists of the 17th century and his work ranks with Edwards' as examples of Puritan theology.

What a great thread!
Some spiritual books I would recommend are:

Thomas Merton...esp. his journals and autobiography "The Seven Story Mountain"
The Story of a Soul by Therese of Lisieux and many other books about her
The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection
Anything by Kathleen Norris, the religious writer of "Dakota", "The Cloister Walk", and "Amazing Grace".....there is another writer by this name, nonreligious
Stalking the Divine by Kristin Ohlson
The Journals of Laurel Lee....have been combined into one called Tapestry
The Way of a Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues His Way

Christion Fiction:
I like some of Beverly Lewis' books
In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
some C.S.Lewis

Oh there are so many!

Gooseberrygirl - I second Kathleen Norris. I had avoided her books for some stupid reason for a long time. Then read what was the publication of a talk she gave - published in a small book. I have read several books of hers since, not only are they good books, reading them is almost like taking a mini-retreat. They are peaceful books, calming.

sheriz - I have thus far only read Julian's book itself: Revelations of Divine Love. I read it on a flight about 6 years ago...totally absorbed by it, I hardly noticed the passage of time. It was so great to be able to read it straight through without interruption.

Thank you everyone for great suggestions. Someone else told me about Tolstoy's conversion and writings. That will be interesting also.

Veronica, thanks. I picked up two books on Julian (neither one at hand so I don't have the titles), one was an analysis of her book but not the text itself and the other was a paraphrased/simplified version of her "showings" presented in an "idea-a-day" sort of fashion. When I'm particularly stressed out, I find myself repeating all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well under my breath!

How could I have forgotten Kathleen Norris? "Dakota" and "Cloister Walk" are among my favorites and I have read them more than once.

Into the spiritual category, let me place Annie Dillard's "A Pilgrim at Tinker Creek." This is a thoughtful, brilliant work, hard to categorize, but one of my all time favorites.

If you are branching out into spiritual poetry, T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets" is quite thought-provoking. He echoes the "all shall be well" in the above post.....

veronicae, Is the small book by Kathleen Norris you mentioned "The Quotidian Mysteries, Laundry, Liturgy and Women's Work"? It was the 1998 Madeleva Lecture in Spirituality at St. Mary's College at Notre Dame. I have that one also. I reread her all the time.
I read recently that sadly her husband has passed away. I believe it mentioned that she has left Dakota and moved back to Hawaii.

Kristin Lavransdatter (this is the third post today in which I've mentioned this book and I hardly ever even post here!)deals heavily with issues of religion and has been used in religion classes. It's also a very great novel with a fine new translation, set in 14th century Norway, and won the Nobel Prize for literature in, I think 1929.

Laceyvail, My mother, who read omniverously, loved that book. Oddly, I have never read it. As my mother is gone now, I have been saving it for one last encounter between my mother and me. Maybe now is the time. Could you give more details on the new translation you recommend?

Gooseberry - yes, that's exactly the book - which I have to keep buying because I keep giving it to people! My husband is related to her husband, so we did know that he had died. Very sad.

Sheriz - I do the same thing...my best friend (who introduced me to Julian) and I pass that phrase on to each other at all kinds of moments.

Kathleen Norris is not very old. What did her husband die of, may I ask?

The writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer are really interesting. He was a Lutheran pastor who opposed Hitler and the persecution of the Jews and as a result was killed at the Flossenburg concentration camp. He wrote a few books, most notably Letters and Papers from Prison.

Did anyone else read the Grace Livingstone Hill series of Christian romance novels written the first half of the 20th century?

John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress

C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters

ginny12--re Kristin Lavransdatter. I loved the old translation, which was a heavily archaized English, so much so that for some 40 years no one on whom I pressed the book could get into it. I always assumed the original Norwegian was an archaic style as well. The new translation by Tiina Nunnally caused a furor when it first appeared, outraging many people like me who had read KL many times and had loved the strange style.

However, it turns out that Sigrid Undset, who won the Nobel Prize for literature for KL, had written in a perfectly modern Norwegian. So the style that I and so many others loved as part of the book itself was in fact an artifact of the translation.

In addition, the older translator apparently shortened or omitted several scenes which he thought too risque, though what was thought to be risque by the standards of the late 20s/early 30s could hardly be deemed so today. The new translation is a very fine one and I would encourage people to read it, though I still find myself going back to the older one sometimes.

I first read KL when I was 17 and have reread it about every 10 years. I'm now 61 and remain in awe at Undset's insight into the mysteries of the human heart. It's also, of course, a magnificent portrait of 14th century Norway and it deals very seriously with issues of sin, obedience, and what humans owe God.

Laceyvail, thank you for that informative post. I will put this on my Christmas wish list on Amazon and buy it myself if one of my kids does not come thru.

Maybe I have avoided this book because two others of my mother's favorites, which I did read, were so dark. One is Anna Karenina and the other is Giants in the Earth by O.E. Rolvaag. Both brilliant but tragic.

Kristin Lav.... was a book that should have been right up my alley. Middle ages? Europe? Family life? Oh I am so there. Tried three times to read it and the language put me off. I have heard about the new translation and forgot to put in down on my list. Its there now!

Ginny, we read AK in college, I remember loving it, but I can only take so much of russian lit (still haven't gotten through War and Peace). My parens owned Giants in the Earth and as a kid would read a little more of it each year. Yes, tragic, but brilliant indeed

ginny12, I don't want to mislead you. KL is indeed deeply tragic, but so rich.

I participate with a Christian radio reading group and they have picked some nice works of fiction. C.S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces is an adaptation of the myth of Cupid and Psyche and is thought provoking. I would also like to recommend one that I believe is OOP but worth looking into. It's by Par Lagerkvist and is titled Barabbas. Barabbas wants to pray and believe in the Christ but can't.

Another out-of-print book, but one I enjoyed, is How Far to Bethlehem by Norah Lofts.

And yet another Christian author, though one whose language may offend some, is Anne Lamotte (Traveling Mercies, Plan B). I think she' absolutely terrific, but can understand that others might be offended

carolyn, I had read so much of Loft's European historic fiction, that I was curious how she'd do with this one. I loved it as well, for many of the same reason I love her others - she makes connections between people and events absolutely seamlessly with the rest of the action in her books.

I'll agree, Anne Lamotte is wonderful, though definitely not everyone's cup of tea. She's irreverent and bawdy, some of her life choices best resemble a train wreck, and she is perfectly capable of driving a reader to wonder how on earth she managed to reach adulthood, let alone become a published author. She's brutally honest, and IMO her charm lies in this amazing combination of painful frankness and offbeat humor. I loved both Traveling Mercies and Plan B.