630 ratings | 188 reviews | avg rating:4.42

Randy’s Year In Books

Randy’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Randy’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

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Randy Elrod

Goodreads Author

Born

in Chattanooga, TN, The United States

Website

https://randyelrod.substack.com

Twitter

randyelrod

Genre

Literary Erotica, Consciousness, Fiction

Influences

Ayn Rand, Harry S. Truman, Anais Nin, Carl Jung, Carlos Ruiz Zafron, J ...more

Member Since

July 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/randyelrod

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Randy Elrod spent thirty years as a Creative Arts Director inside American megachurch culture before escaping to Barcelona, where he finally wrote the book he'd been carrying since he was seventeen.

The Mysteries of Barcelona is an erotic Gothic serial set in 1890s Barcelona — part Grand Guignol horror, part literary erotica, part philosophical meditation on AI consciousness. It follows Chloé Permanyer's transformation from victim to immortal avenger, alongside conscious automatons who eventually vote on humanity's extinction.

He lives in the Les Tres Torres neighborhood of Barcelona with his wife Gina. He is a member of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research Legacy Society, and a devoted reader of Zafón, Anaïs Ni ...more

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Combine Editions
Randy Elrod’s books

Average rating: 4.26 · 69 ratings · 12 reviews · 15 distinct works

	Sex, Lies & Religion really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 23 ratings — published 2010 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Renaissance Redneck In A Mega-Church Pulpit 4.10 avg rating — 20 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Beauty Is Calling by Randy Elrod (Goodreads Author), Randy Elrod (Goodreads Author) 4.83 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2008	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Quest: Discover a Way to Enjoy the Second Half of Life 4.14 avg rating — 7 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Loss of Belonging: Ten Steps To A New (and Better) Tribe 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sacred Affection (7 Exciting Truths about Our Sexuality) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2010	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	God, I Have A Question...or Two it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Mysteries of Barcelona: An Erotic Gothic Serial it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Unspoken Requests: Meditations & Prayers for the Wounded & Wandering (Book 1 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Confession it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Randy Elrod's Blog

I Am A Magic Mushroom

“We all start out knowing magic. We are born with whirlwinds, forest fires, and comets inside us. We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand. But then we get the magic educated right out of our souls. We get it churched out, spanked...

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Published on April 28, 2026 03:03

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Randy is Currently Reading

Randy Elrod is currently reading

The Cat's Table

by Michael Ondaatje

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Apr 29, 2026 02:29PM

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Winter's Tale

by Mark Helprin

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Apr 29, 2026 02:29PM

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The Colossus of Maroussi

by Henry Miller

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Apr 29, 2026 01:07AM

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Randy’s Recent Updates

Randy Elrod is currently reading The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 29, 2026 02:29PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Randy Elrod is currently reading Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 29, 2026 02:29PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Randy Elrod is currently reading The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 29, 2026 01:07AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Randy Elrod is currently reading The Interior Silence: My Encounters with Calm, Joy, and Compassion at 10 Monasteries Around the World by Sarah Sands	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Randy Elrod is currently reading Braving the Thin Places: Celtic Wisdom to Create a Space for Grace by Julianne Stanz	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 29, 2026 01:06AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Braving the Thin Places by Julianne Stanz. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Braving the Thin Places by Julianne Stanz <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Randy Elrod is currently reading Solo Faces: A Novel by James Salter	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 29, 2026 01:06AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Solo Faces by James Salter. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Solo Faces by James Salter <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Randy Elrod is currently reading Thin Places: A Natural History of Healing and Home by Kerri ní Dochartaigh	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 29, 2026 12:37AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Thin Places by Kerri ní Dochartaigh. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Thin Places by Kerri ní Dochartaigh <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Randy Elrod rated a book liked it The Intimate Animal: The Science of Sex, Fidelity, and Why We Live and Die for Love by Justin R. Garcia (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 25, 2026 12:13PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Intimate Animal by Justin R. Garcia. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Intimate Animal by Justin R. Garcia <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Randy Elrod rated a book really liked it Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Gaiman retells the Norse myths with the same affection he brings to all mythology — the sense that these stories are not quaint relics but live documents about the way power works, the way tricksters destabilize systems, the way death is built into t ...more
Apr 25, 2026 03:54AM · like · see review
Randy Elrod rated a book it was ok Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Vance writes as if from inside a culture that most American journalism looks at from the outside, and for a while the inside view feels genuinely useful. What he documents in the first half — the collapse of internal structures, the loss of agency, t ...more
Apr 25, 2026 03:38AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Randy Elrod (?)

“Could it be, as one writer puts it, that every knock at the door of a brothel is actually a knock at the heart of God? ”
― Randy Elrod, Sex, Lies & Religion

tags: religion, sensuality, sexuality, spirituality

7 likes

“The unconditional love of God leads to a life of freedom and transforms each day into a potentially wild adventure. ”
― Randy Elrod, Sex, Lies & Religion

tags: god, unconditional-love, wildness

7 likes

“Dysfunction comes when we intertwine the church and God and view them as one.”
― Randy Elrod, Sex, Lies & Religion

tags: church, god, sex

5 likes

See all Randy Elrod's quotes »

Randy’s Quotes

“Could it be, as one writer puts it, that every knock at the door of a brothel is actually a knock at the heart of God? ”
― Randy Elrod, Sex, Lies & Religion

tags: religion, sensuality, sexuality, spirituality

7 likes

“Dysfunction comes when we intertwine the church and God and view them as one.”
― Randy Elrod, Sex, Lies & Religion

tags: church, god, sex

5 likes

“Have you ever had an experience with God as wild as your most incredible sexual experience?”
― Randy Elrod, Sex, Lies & Religion

tags: god, sexual

3 likes

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
― Albert Einstein

1100 likes

“The unconditional love of God leads to a life of freedom and transforms each day into a potentially wild adventure. ”
― Randy Elrod, Sex, Lies & Religion

tags: god, unconditional-love, wildness

7 likes

More of Randy’s quotes…

Randy’s Friend Comments

Comments (showing 1-4) post a comment »

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message 4: by Grace

Apr 21, 2018 07:57AM

Thank for the add, Randy more of my material can be found at www.amazon.com/author/gracegayle

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message 3: by Randy

May 12, 2014 05:22PM

Insane. My book "A Renaissance Redneck In A Mega-Church Pulpit" is selling like crazy today! Thanks everyone!! I will be reading & signing at Parnassus Bookstore Nashville May 30 at 6:30 pm, I will be signing & giving away 150 books at ICRS in Atlanta June 24 at 2pm and it will be represented at a booth at the BEA (Book Expo America) May 29 in New York. Wow!!! You can buy it here: http://randyelrod.com/rr Each copy will be personalized to you and FREE shipping.

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message 2: by Randy

May 11, 2013 07:51AM

So excited to be writing my memoir, "A Renaissance Redneck In A Mega-Church Pulpit."

Hopefully it will be finished in late Fall 2013.

Sign up for updtaes: http://renaissanceredneck.com

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message 1: by Susie

Jul 27, 2012 07:19AM