Robin Hardy Online

Robin is frequently asked to recommend reading for adults and older teens (other than her own books), so she finally sat down and compiled a list of:

The Authors/Books That
Have Influenced Me Most

The Bible is a given—it is foundational for understanding anything else.

C.S. Lewis—a genius who made himself understandable, introducing several generations of readers to the role of imagination in faith. The Great Divorce (1946) is the best novel of its kind in the history of the world. Mere Christianity (1943), The Chronicles of Narnia (c. 1953), The Screwtape Letters (1961)—anything he wrote is worth owning. Don't be too intimidated to check out his scholarly works, especially The Personal Heresy: A Controversy (with E.M.W. Tillyard, 1939) and English Literature in the Sixteenth Century (1944; see an excerpt here).

Hannah Whitall Smith, The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life (1870)—reading this was one of two events in my life that best helped me understand something of the love of God. The other event was the birth of my first child. See an excerpt of Hannah's book here.

Samuel Rutherford's Letters (1628-1660)—the most divinely inspired writings I have encountered outside of Scripture. Pure power and grace drawn from a life of suffering. See excerpts here and here.

Alexander Smellie, Men of the Covenant (1906)—an elegant, unflinching account of the Scottish Presbyters of the 1600s (of whom Rutherford was one) who withstood insane persecution by Charles II's court. This account makes contemporary American Christianity look pale, selfish, and weaselly. See excerpts here.

J.B. Phillips, Your God Is Too Small (1952)—a delightful, dead-on analysis of our ridiculous images of God contrasted with the biblical reality; Ring of Truth (1967)—a translator's gut-level reaction to the veracity of the Gospels. Shamelessly beautiful and honest. See an excerpt here.

W.W. Melton, Sifted but Saved (1925)—opened my eyes to the integrity, reliability, and timelessness of the Bible, the importance of obedience, the certainty of faith. See an excerpt here. I have also recently acquired Dr. Melton's The Making of a Preacher, his autobiographical Stories from Life, and Sermons in the Making (see excerpts here).

Jack Deere, Surprised by the Voice of God (1996)—Compelling argument for the miraculous working of God in post-Biblical times, and a clear-eyed look at the modern American theology that denies it. The Bibliography alone is worth the purchase price. 

Roger Steer, George Müller: Delighted in God (1981; Müller lived in the 1800s)—How Müller fed and sheltered thousands of orphans in England by faith alone. Revolutionizes my faith every time I read it.

Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place (1971) and Tramp for the Lord (1974)—The miraculous power of God demonstrated in a Nazi concentration camp; the miraculous power of God in an old woman who traveled the world to witness for Him. Makes me ashamed of my whining.

Blumhardt's Battle: A Conflict with Satan, translated by Frank S. Boshold (1970; Blumhardt lived in the 1800s)—a hair-raising account of a protracted exorcism, NOT for the faint of heart. A stunning victory of prayer in the name of Jesus alone. This real-life account is a better textbook on spiritual warfare than any novel.

Adam Clarke, Clarke's Commentaries (c. 1830)—The granddaddy of commentaries by the devout, erudite, passionate Dr. Clarke. I have the whole set of six volumes, from Genesis to Revelation, and they are a wonder and a treasure, even when I don't completely agree with him.

Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy (c. 524)--While in prison awaiting execution on trumped-up charges, this philosopher is visited by Philosophy in the form of a woman, who proceeds to explain good and evil by a question-and-answer session. As the title states, this is philosophical, not religious, so I was amazed that (1) I understood it, and (2) it explained some Scriptures I'd always struggled with. A jewel. Indispensable reading. Mind-boggling. See an excerpt here.

Saki (H.H. Munro), The Unbearable Bassington (1912) --Ecclesiastes in novel form. Piercing, brilliant, unforgettable.
 

Honorable Mentions: 
(to find any of the books below, go to Amazon
and run a search under the author or title)

Anecdotal Wisdom
Judge Judy Sheindlin, Beauty Fades, Dumb Is Forever (see an excerpt here)

Autobiography/Biography
Raymond Arroyo, Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles -- Utterly amazing. Transparent, well-chronicled narrative that exploded my neat little outlines of how God works.
Amy Carmichael, Gold Cord (see more here)
Humphrey Carpenter, The Inklings and Tolkien: The Authorized Biography (see an excerpt here)
Patti Roberts, Ashes to Gold
Geraldine Taylor, Pastor Hsi (see my commentary on it here)

Bible Study/Commentary
William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveler and Roman Citizen (see an excerpt here)
R.C. Sproul, Reason to Believe
Zola Levitt, The Seven Feasts of Israel

Business
Carl J. Schramm, The Entrepreneurial Imperative (see an excerpt here)

Christian Living
Paul Yonggi Cho, The Fourth Dimension
Barbara Johnson, Where Does a Mother Go to Resign?
Joyce Landorf, His Stubborn Love
George MacDonald, Proving the Unseen and An Anthology. For children: The Princess and the Goblin (advanced writing, but a rip-roaring story with truly heroic children).
Gerald Mann, The Seven Deadly Virtues
Betty Malz, My Glimpse of Eternity and Prayers that Are Answered
Dean Merrill, Another Chance (see an excerpt here)
Malcolm Muggeridge, Seeing Through the Eye--eerily prophetic. See more here.
Charlie Peacock, At the Crossroads: An Insider's Look at the Past, Present and Future of Contemporary Christian Music
Stephen Schwambach, Tough Talk to a Stubborn Spouse
Tay Thomas, My War with Worry
Henry van Dyke, The Story of the Other Wise Man
Philip Yancey and Paul Brand, Fearfully & Wonderfully Made

Classics
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes--overwrought writing, almost suffocating atmosphere, highly entertaining, deservedly a classic.
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress (see an excerpt here)
G.K. Chesterton, the Father Brown mysteries
Agatha Christie (any)
Dante, The Divine Comedy (Get Dorothy Sayers' translation!)
Arthur Conan Doyle, the Sherlock Holmes books
Gladys Hunt, Honey for a Child's Heart--a resource of classics for children
Shakespeare (any--see the Searchable Shakespeare here.)
Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island and Kidnapped. See more here.
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings

Devotional
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Fiction
Edwin A. Abbott, Flatland (originally published 1884) -- A. Square describes his life in two-dimensional Flatland. It first reads like a witty satire on Victorian life until an exalted Sphere arrives to introduce Square to three-dimensional Spaceland. Then the book rises to dizzying dimensions, something like the Gospel in geometric language.

Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting -- a sweet, profound look at the necessity of death. Although it was probably not the author's intention, it helps explain why God had to make Adam and Eve leave the Garden.

E.F. Benson, Queen Lucia and sequels. Gossip and intrigue in a sleepy 1930s English village. Another recommendation from DeAnna, highly entertaining. Mesmerizing, in fact.

DeAnna Dodson, In Honor Bound, By Love Redeemed, and To Grace Surrendered  (see this review)          

Richard Peck, A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder -- Two Depression-era Chicago kids spend summers with their crusty, rural grandmother. Funny, sharp and poignant.

Samuel Schiller, Warrior of the Son (see more here)

Brian Selznick, The Invention of Hugo Cabret -- 2008 Caldecott Medal winner, deservedly, for its unique format of text, drawings, photos and old movie stills. The story of a 1930s Parisian orphan who discovers his destiny in an automaton is uplifting and historically based. A gem.

Charles Williams, War in Heaven

NEWGene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese -- a graphic novel, winner of the Michael L. Printz Award. Engaging, engrossing, unsettling, illuminating.

History
David Milam, The Last Bomb: A Marine Remembers Nagasaki (see more here)

Poetry
Ruth Bell Graham, Sitting by My Laughing Fire (see an excerpt here)

Science
William R. Maples and Michael Browning, Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist
Hugh Ross, The Fingerprint of God
 

Great Reading for Fun:

Sandra Boynton, The Compleat Turkey
James Herriot, All Creatures Great and Small and sequels
L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables and sequels
Stephen Pile, The Book of Heroic Failures (see an excerpt here)
Saki (H.H. Munro), short stories
Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey, especially Busman's Honeymoon and Murder Must Advertise (see info on the BBC production of three LPW mysteries here)
Lowell Streiker, Pet Tales
Brad Whittington, Welcome to Fred
P.G. Wodehouse, the Jeeves books

 

Page updated June 24, 2008.

back to top

Back to Meditations