Your Next Favorite Book

I love to recommend books that stir the heart and imagination. But sometimes, I need to read something that is good for my soul as well—specifically to encourage me and remind me of what I know to be true when I'm weary and discouraged. For those of us who are Christians, and especially those who are in any kind of vocational or volunteer ministry, this is something we all experience. And one...

Ever since I was a kid, summer has been a time to focus on "fun" reads—the type of books you can open up and lose yourself in for an afternoon on the porch. And in recent years, those fun reads have gravitated toward mystery novels. And one of my favorites is the long-running Cork O’Connor series by William Kent Krueger, which is not about 20 books deep. So where is the best place to sta...

Since the creation of the character, Superman has long been a champion of the downtrodden and oppressed. This has been a hallmark of his character through his appearances in virtually every medium, whether print, film, television or radio. And it's radio where the story of this episode begins—with a landmark serial storyline from 1946 that was instrumental in turning public sentiment away from...

Like so many, the first book I read by C. S. Lewis was The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe . I remember the feeling of wonder I felt reading it as seven or eight year old boy, a feeling that I still have when I return to it. When I became a Christian in my mid-20s and discovered Lewis’s catalogue of reflections on Christianity, I was intrigued by one book in particular. One that I've come ba...

I hate surprises. Like, pretty much the worst thing you could ever do to me is throw me a surprise party hate them. And yet, there is a kind of surprise I do love. And it’s when I’m introduced to unexpected pairings—the kind of things that shouldn’t work together, and yet are absolutely amazing. Now, imagine the combination of two entirely different creative individuals, separated by more than a c...

For the majority of my adult life, I've loved biographies and memoirs. No matter who is the subject, it's fascinating to learn the stories behind well-known (and not so well known) individuals. And that's important because not every great biography focuses on someone extremely well-known. In fact, one of the ones I found most fascinating is one I read back in 2014—and it was my first i...

I love to read good stories—books and series that have been so enjoyable that I’ve wanted to share them with my kids. In this episode, I want to share one of those. The story of a boy whose life is turned upside down and he discovers that there is something more to his life—a destiny he never expected and a danger he never wanted.  This is Orion and the Starborn , and it might just be your ne...

One of my favorite “brain candy” genres is celebrity memoirs. In all honesty, there are a lot of them that are… not that great. A little too self-aggrandizing. A bit too self-interested and pompous. But there are some that are an absolute delight to read, that somehow manage to be self-deprecating and insightful in equal measure.  Not too long ago, I overheard two people in a bookstore t...

What does it mean to be a new Christian when you're an adult—and when you might not have any familiarity with Christianity at all? That was what experienced when I became a Christian in my mid-20s. What I learned and experienced in those early years—especially the mistakes I made—are at the heart of my new book, I'm a Christian—Now What?: A Guide to Your New Life with Christ .  In today's spe...

Most people don't think in terms of lists. (At least, I don't think they do.) But for fans, collectors, and those of us who are maybe slightly obsessive about a particular area of interest, categories and lists really do matter. They're part of how we engage with the world, and with others. But these can also be a mask shielding us from dealing with greater realities—and keep us from growing as pe...

Douglas Adams is one the best-known and beloved comedic authors of the 20th century. Best known for The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy , Adams's peculiar work has delighted—or at least confused—readers the world over for decades. But in 1987, he released the first in a series of novels of a different sort. A series about a detective whose methods were founded upon the belief in the interconnected...

Whatever our beliefs, we all believe something about God. Even if our belief is to disbelieve in the existence of any god or higher power, we still believe something about who God is and what he is like. And these ideas that really do affect every other aspect of our lives. And this has created a problem for many western Christians, who don't seem to really know the God we say we believe in—we lac...

In the 1990s, Neil Gaiman's The Sandman was the comic book of choice for the self-described sophisticated reader (and I should know, because I was kind of one of them). Post-modern and progressive, the story of the Dream King paved the way for Gaiman's career as a celebrated—and bestselling—novelist. In this episode, I'm sharing a favorite novel by Neil Gaiman, which is also one of his earliest: t...

Introducing a new podcast from Aaron Armstrong to help you discover your next favorite book.