My Top Recommended Christian Non-Fiction Books

My personal "must read for Christians" list

I did say this Substack would be incredibly random in both content and schedule. 😆😅 If this isn’t the content you’re looking for, you can join me…at some indeterminate future time for who knows what topic, lol.

In 2024 I started reading Christian non-fiction again, something I haven’t done in ages. (2024 was a year of re-digging into my faith after years of barely skating on the surface, to mix metaphors. I started regularly attending church again, which I hadn’t done since the COVID lockdowns in 2020. I became more consistent in my Bible reading and more intentional in prayer. I invested in a couple study Bibles. I started incorporated more liturgical prayers into my “quiet time”. I quasi-kept up with a daily, year-long devotional after I started it in…April or so. In many ways, 2024 was not what I wanted it to be and disappointing, but I am grateful for how the year pushed me to make a choice in my faith, and I’m glad I chose going deeper—which is definitely an on-going and non-linear journey.)

A few books were such stand-outs that I decided to make a longer recommendation post, and so I’m not limited by word counts, to do it here instead of my social media. (I could have done it on my website, but more likely to be seen by anyone who may be interested over here.)

These are books that really challenged, strengthened, and grew my faith and understanding of God, myself, and the Bible. I could recommend a bunch of other books (some of which barely didn’t make this list), but these top my list of recommendations. Most of them I read in 2024, except for Why You Matter, which I’d read previously. It’s very difficult for me to rank these, but I put them in the order I’d probably most recommend—like, “if you’re going to read only one, start here” and if you read more, move down the list. Or read whichever one compels you most! (And yes, obviously the Bible should be first and foremost.)

If you don’t end up agreeing with these books/authors on any topics, that’s okay. You can just move on. I’m not here for arguments. :)

The links in this article are Amazon Affiliate links. This means that at no charge to you, I make a small commission on purchases made through these links.

Without further ado—the list.

No More Faking Fine: Ending the Pretending by Esther Fleece

Topics: Lamenting—bringing your all of our hurts, fears, pains, doubts, & struggles to God. God’s love and presence.

This book is for you if:

• You’re doubting God’s goodness or His presence

• You’re holding on to bitterness

• You stuggle to be honest about how you’re doing with yourself, God, and/or other people

• You’ve ever had any loss, disappointment, hurt, suffering, however big or “small”

• You may ever have any loss, disappointment, hurt, or suffering in the future

• You know anyone who has had or is going through or will go through such difficult things (everyone you know) & you want to comfort & support them better

• You’ve ever been sinned against or sinned yourself

• (That should cover all of us 😉)

(Possible triggers—handled well, IMO, but there are mentions of/recounts of: Physical, mental, and emotional abuse, dysfunctional family including divorce, prison, and court proceedings; family with severe mental illness, abandonment, loss, stalking, anxiety, depression, grief/loss of a loved one.)

Quote: When I did not understand God as kind, I saw evil in my life as something He caused. Of course He would want this understanding to change! As I learned to lament, I also learned how to wrestle with Him—asking the hard questions, engaging Him with my doubt and pain, asking Him for the faith to feel—and when I wrestle with God, I get the chance to look Him in the eye, hand to hand, heart to heart.

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With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God by Skye Jethani

Topic: How we understand, relate to, and live our lives with God

Incisive, loving, engaging, and eye-opening, this book deals with failed attempts of religion to combat fear of this chaotic world through control couched in spirituality. Jethani examines how common religious postures and views of God and ourselves lead to more fear and disillusionment, even when rooted in truth, and a better way--making God our desire and focusing on being WITH him in our lives.

This book may be for you if:

• You feel like Christianity isn’t working/God is letting you down, your faith is lacking something, or the way you relate to God/Christianity feels crushing or unreliable, and you’re wondering if there’s a better way.

• You’re confused by Christian hypocrisy/why some Christians seem to do the “right” things but don’t act very Jesus-like

• You’re afraid you’re not doing “enough” for God

• You’d just like to understand God and your relationship with Him better

Quote: [God’s] plan to restore his creation was not to send a list of rules and rituals to follow (LIFE UNDER GOD), nor was it the implementation of useful principles (LIFE OVER GOD). He did not send a genie to grant us our desires (LIFE FROM GOD), nor did he give us a task to accomplish (LIFE FOR GOD). Instead God himself came to be with us—to walk with us once again as he had done in Eden in the beginning.

… LIFE WITH GOD is different because its goal is not to use God, its goal is God.

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Why You Matter: How Your Quest for Meaning Is Meaningless without God by Michael Sherrard

Topics: Meaning, human value, God’s plan, light apologetics

A couple of the chapters were weaker to me, but overall, this short book is packed with encouragement and truth and I’ve read it a couple times.

This book may be for you if:

• You struggle with feelings of depression, worthlessness, failure, or self-hatred

• You wonder about meaning and purpose in your life

• You struggle with how to love others and if it even really matters

• You’re tired of Christian response to depression and anxiety being “you just need more faith” or “IDK why you can’t just choose to be happy/joyful” (this book doesn’t do that—none of the books on this list do)

Quote: If you are questioning the relevance of your life, you are not alone. Nearly all of us do. But I want you to do something. I want you to challenge your doubts. Why should you believe them? What authority do they have? What standard are you using to judge if your life matters? There is one Judge and I can nearly guarantee that what you think made your life insignificant is not what he thinks.

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Why I Still Believe: A Former Atheist’s Reckoning with the Bad Reputation Christians Give a Good God by Mary Jo Sharp

Topics: Apologetics, trusting God, brokenness in the church, doubt

I possibly have read some more in-depth apologetics books (I also highly recommend The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel for anyone who hasn’t read it already), but I appreciated the personal angle of this one and how Sharp delved into apologetics because she was so frustrated with un-Christ-like behaviors in the church she wanted to go back to atheism (but ultimately, was convinced of the truth of the Gospel). So relatable, an accessible writing style, and I love that she didn’t try to give neat, tidy (and thus would feel false) “and then I fully belived and everything became sunshine and thornless roses” conclusion.

This book may be for you if:

• You’ve been hurt by the church/Christians

• You’ve been made to feel that doubt in sinful/un-Christian

• You don’t want to be the kind of Christian who pushes people away from the faith

• You’d like to know some reasons for why you can believe Christianity is true and the Bible is reliable

• You struggle a lot with the problem of evil and/or with “is all sin really so bad?”

• Another one for if you’re confused by Christian hypocrisy/why some Christians seem to do the “right” things but don’t act very Jesus-like¹

Quote: Hold yourself accountable for truth, actual truth, and not what is easiest to accept in order to get on with life.

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What if Jesus Was Serious?: A Visual Guide to the Teachings of Jesus We Love to Ignore by Skye Jethani

Topic: The Sermon on the Mount

Easily digestible, can be read like a daily devotional, and has fun doodles. I’m not sure I’m fully on board with everything in this one (ex: Jethani seems to say wearing a Christian t-shirt is trying to act more righteous than you are, like a Pharisee, which may be true but definitely not always), but still packs quite a punch for such a short book.

This book may be for you if:

• Want something short and fast

• The Sermon on the Mount feels like an impossible to-do list

• You’d just like to dive a bit deeper into the Sermon on the Mount

• You like quick, hard-hitting devos that challenge and convict

• You suspect your understanding of Christianity has more Western culture than Jesus than you’d prefer

Quote: The sort of love Christ calls us to engages far more than our emotions—it activates our will.

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Always Peachy: Living Happy When Life Hurts by Amy C. Williams

Topics: Joy, hope, God’s love

(Note: apparently not available in ebook at this time) This might seem opposite to No More Faking Fine, but it’s really not. Encouraging, challenging, real, honest, vulnerable, uplifting without being trite, and beautifully walks the line of acknowledging life in this broken world hurts (and won't always be fixed in this world; no empty promises here) but there is hope and goodness and joy to be had, even here.

This book may be for you if:

• You’re coming out of a time of lamenting

• You need reminded darkness, pain, and death don’t get the final word

• You need reminded of God’s love

• You hate toxic positivity wrapped in empty Christianese phrases

• You prefer non-fiction books with personal anecdotes and humor

Quote: He already loves me with an unfailing love that won’t ever change. … He loves me because I’m me.

1. [Side note: Why I Still Believe has a few, and No More Faking Fine has one, quotes from Ravi Zacharias (both written before his death and scandal), which was wince-inducing/heartbreaking but ALSO rather illustrated points in Why I Still Believe and even moreso in With by Jethani, of how someone can have all the right answers but not be transformed but instead be an example of those who do not truly know Jesus in Matt. 7:22-23 and those who teach—even well and truthfully—for sinful reasons in Phil. 1:15-18, and how that does not render the Gospel false.]