Happy Sunday to you, my friends! 🙂
Today on the Book Club, let’s talk about books that changed your mind. And by that, I don’t mean books you thought you were going to hate but ended up loving (or vice versa). I mean those books – fiction or nonfiction – that softened your heart to a particular people group or social issue or belief.
Whether they made you aware of something you didn’t know before (like human trafficking or unreached people or the effects of addiction) or changed your mind altogether about an issue or belief.
A few of mine, off the top of my head:
Safely Home by Randy Alcorn
i am not but i know I AM by Louie Giglio
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers
I know there are more, but these were the ones that first came to mind.
What about you? What are some books that have changed your mind?
I know this is an old one but Exodus by Leon Uris. It is about the founding of Israel back in 1948. I still think about it today. And Jesus Calling. I’ve read that devotion every year since someone gave me a copy in 2009 and made a journal entry on each day–I have a record of what’s been going on in my life for the past 8 years.
i love that!!!
Truths about human trafficking — Priceless and immigration/refugees — The Long Highway Home.
i still need to read Priceless but I’m with you 100% on the The Long Highway Home!
I haven’t read all of Alana Terry’s books yet, but she addresses the tough issues through fiction. This is a mainstream title but I’ve never gotten over The Kite Runner, which still pains my heart for the innocent people in Afghanistan. Eli’s Wiesel’s Night is his autobiography about surviving the Holocaust, which is relevant today because of the massive persecution of Christians (which is an overlooked holocaust is my opinion).
I have The Kite Runner on my TBR pile, and if I ever get there (lol) I know it will deeply impact me as well.
Invisible Girls by Sarah Thebarge
Sinner’s Garden by William Sirls
Appointments with Heaven by Reggie Jackson
The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name
Normally I prefer fiction, but it’s interesting to see that the books that really changed my heart were nonfiction!
LOVE The Jesus Storybook Bible!!!
Safely Home…Yes! And, this one may sound a bit strange, but The Giver. Really made me consider the complexities of the human experience, the beauty in that chaos and dichotomy, and what we would miss by trying to cover humanity with sameness.
I can totally see that, Jen!
Looking Glass Lies by Varina Denman – and my brain is fried and i can’t think of any more – but i have read Last sin Eater!
Memoirs of a Geisha!
Yes! I need to read Looking Glass Lies ASAP
The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers.
I still need to read that one!
Agree with The Long Highway Home, and The Giver.
I read last week that Christian literary agent Karen Ball is going to return to writing, which is fantastic news because one of her novels falls into this category for me –
Kaleidoscope Eyes, which introduced me to the condition of synesthesia (Karen credits her discovery of synaesthesia to a then-unknown author named Lori Benton. You may have heard of her. I suspect the condition is partly responsible for her fabulous writing).
Another novel that’s challenged me most recently is one I’m editing. You can look for Grace in Strange Disguise by Christine Dillon in November.
Those sound fabulous! Will check them out for sure
So many of books I read create a coconnection to so many people. The first book that popped into my head was Wings if the Wind by Connilyn Cossette. So good. And a perspective which I have never considered before.
Those different perspectives become the books that stay with us, don’t they?
Heaven by Randy Alcorn.
The idea of eternity always freaked me out because I couldn’t wrap my mind around it, until I read Alcorn’s book.
I still need to read that one!
Safely Home for sure!
i can’t recommend that one highly enough!