You may not know this, but there are a few (that I know of) reading clubs happening at CPC. As a Literature major myself, I have been very encouraged by how up-to-date many of my fellow CPC-ers are regarding their reading tastes. I am very, very humbled.
That said, I do read a lot. Ever since my conversion I have always had a book or Kindle in my hands. Pre-conversion, I almost never opened a book.
Speaking personally, reading was encouraged in my early Christian walk while studying the Old Testament and tracing ancient history through Assyriologist, Samuel Noah Kramer, archaeologist William Foxwell Albright, and art historian, H. W. Janson. Not long after meeting Karen, my mother-in-law shared the works of Francis Schaeffer with me. In addition, two professors at UTSA, the legacy of Leland Ryken, an early fascination with everything C.S. Lewis and George MacDonald, convictions formed from reading lots of Harold Bloom (and Susan Wise Bauer), helped me along. Finally, motivations from men like T. David Gordon (in Why Johnny Can’t Preach), combined with years of sitting under the preaching ministry of R. Kent Hughes, sort of sealed reading into my DNA, even though I never cared about reading until around age 20.
Setting this (unnecessary) background aside, I encourage you to take a look at Terry Glaspey’s list of 25 Great Novelists Who Affirm Faith. Glaspey has just written Discovering God Through the Arts for Moody Press (which I have not read) and is a regular writer and blogger (are these the same?) on the relationship between faith and art.
Having not met Terry, and (again) having not read his recent book, I am intrigued by his list of novelists who affirm faith. There are some expected candidates like Austen, Endō, O’Connor, Percy, and others. But there are also some, to me, unknown authors like Sigrid Undset, Susan Howatch, and François Mauriac. Maybe these are worth investigating.
While on the subject, World Magazine does a phenomenal job of recommending good books that might otherwise go unnoticed. I check out their book recommendations often. So should you.
