Read any GOOD Christian fiction?

[pastor's wife]

Today's blog post was about fundy fiction and how it is often lacking in both style and substance. It's easy to snark on bad writing -- there's so much of it! -- but do you have any good writers to recommend?

What authors of Christian fiction do you enjoy?

[Darrell]

The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton. It's like nothing else I've ever read. In a good way.

[Midori]

As I mentioned on the post, I have enjoyed Jamie Turner's books. They are more complex and real than your general chick-lit. They are modern fiction, which is a little unusual. I think she is still with Bethany House, so it's "clean," but that doesn't take away from the story.

I had Turner for a creative writing prof, and can attest that she's about the most lovely human being you will ever meet too. Perhaps I'm biased about her writing, but in my defense, I did read her books before I met her.

[elfdream]

These are not all Christian books...but books I would recommend to Christian readers.

If you like the Mitford Series which is quasi-Christian (life in a small town that revolves around an Episcopal Minister) I would recommend the tales of Thrush Green by Miss Read which takes place in an English Village. Thrush Green was an inspiration for Jan Karon. They are not Christian as such but they do fall into the same 'cozy' genre.

The Ladies Number One detective Agency series is good. Its not preachy or 'Christian' but Precious, the protagonist is a a church goer.

The works of George McDonald. An influence on Tolkien, Lewis and Chesterton.

I have a friend, Anne Margret Lewis, who has written a Sherlock Holmes book "Murder in the Vatican-The Church Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes"'. Its gotten great reviews and in the interest of full disclosure, yes the Pope shows up. Its been listed on Amazon and will be available there very soon.

I will have more later.

[Darrell]

Quote:The works of George McDonald.

Ah, yes.

[Darrell]

I seem to recall that I enjoyed some of the books by Steven R. Lawhead but it's been some years since I read anything by him.

I also (many years back) liked Magnus by Sigmund Brouwer (a compilation of the Wings of Light series).

[Jordan M. Poss]

(02-16-2011 10:50 AM)Midori Wrote:  As I mentioned on the post, I have enjoyed Jamie Turner's books. They are more complex and real than your general chick-lit. They are modern fiction, which is a little unusual. I think she is still with Bethany House, so it's "clean," but that doesn't take away from the story.

I had Turner for a creative writing prof, and can attest that she's about the most lovely human being you will ever meet too. Perhaps I'm biased about her writing, but in my defense, I did read her books before I met her.

Ditto on your thoughts. I had her for Novel Writing and she was an outstanding teacher and human being--one of the nicest people I met while I was at BJU. I have one of her novels but haven't read it yet. I'm going to fix that.

I don't read "Christian fiction" per se, but fiction by Christian writers that I like includes:

Dante--The Divine Comedy
G.K. Chesterton--The Man Who Was Thursday, among others
C.S. Lewis--the Space Trilogy, especially Perelandra
J.R.R. Tolkien--The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (and, while it isn't fiction at all, his scholarly work has informed the way I write fiction)
George MacDonald
Frederick Buechner--Godric and Brendan, which are among the best novels I've read
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Flannery O'Connor

[Lizzy F.]

I have a copy of "Great Books of the Christian Tradition".

He references writers whose Christianity is reflected in their writing but not done in a "beat you over the head with the Bible" sort of way.

There's also "How to Read a Christian Book". The bulk of the book is spent explaining how to analyze books, but he has some great lists for suggestions on what to read (both fiction and non-fiction).

Both books have helped me to get out of my reading comfort zone.


My favorite Christian book is The Book of the Dun Cow. It's got an incredibly sad ending and borders on horror, but the love that bleeds through and the watership-down-epicness of using farmyard animals is astounding.

[Jenn]

Interesting, I just scanned over my book list on GoodReads to see if I had read any Christian fiction, and it was all memoirs, except So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore, and I hated that book. I just got a copy of The Shack, but I haven't read that yet.

[Darrell]

Then there's the ever popular "Cassidy: Amish Vampiress of the Tribulation."

(not original to me)