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This is a list for good quality fiction written by authors who are Christians, as evidenced by a personal profession of more than nominal Christian faith, or the presence of explicitly Christian messages in all or some of their writing. The purpose of the list is to create a bibliography illustrating the variety and vitality of the literary tradition of fiction grounded in the Christian worldview. It is NOT limited to ECPA/CBA "Christian fiction," nor to works that have explicitly religious content. It does NOT include nonfiction, nor works by non-Christian writers that have religious subject matter. Everyone on Goodreads may add appropriate books to the list! If there are disagreements about what books should be on the list, the burden of proof is on those wanting to remove a book.
Werner
2339 books
204 friends
204 friends
Chopp-chopp
24 books
39 friends
39 friends
Shelly
128 books
682 friends
682 friends
Alicia
37 books
53 friends
53 friends
Becky
883 books
62 friends
62 friends
Kat
639 books
580 friends
580 friends
Mike (the Paladin)
4304 books
1636 friends
1636 friends
Mel
1 book
41 friends
41 friends
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Sylvia
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Feb 28, 2013 04:16PM
I think Werner Lind's book, "Lifeblood" should be in this list of books, and frankly I tried to add it but failed. I knew it was a vampire story told from a Christian viewpoint with the goal of salvation for a cursed vampiress, and could not fathom that outcome, so it was a fascinating read.
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Sylvia, I'm honored that you want to add my book! To do that, click on "Add books to this list," then click on "search." Use the search function to bring up the book, then click on the button beside it that says "add" or "add to list" (I forget the exact wording). Let me know if you still have trouble. And thanks for your support!
Thanks, Werner. I think my addition went through this time. I guess the first time I clicked "Add" in the wrong locatiuon. But when I added this title, it allowed me to add my comment, but it didn't carry over to the list along with the title, so I added it again. Hope it doesn't somehow overlap in the box.
Sylvia, I double-checked, and it did go through this time. Thanks!
I'm not sure why Lifeblood wasn't already showing up on the list today. I added it last night and it showed up in my list. Then again, when I was adding books, ones already on the list weren't showing up in my books as being added previously like they usually do, so maybe a GR blip?
Could be, Krisi; Goodreads has its glitches every now and then. :-( Thanks for adding it!
I'm honored that one of my novels made this list.My only problem is that so many of the Christian authors who dominate the list are dead...and have been dead for many, many years. In some cases over 100 years. Isn't there any great Christian fiction being written today? Well, yes, and you listed those novels, but still...
I find that on a list like this I scroll right past the first fifty or so entries (all the JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, and the like). I know that already.
I added THE DARKEST VALLEY by Rick Dewhurst
BACK ON MURDER by J Mark Bertrand
and several more I think are contemp Christian reads of excellence.
Nike, thanks for adding titles to this list; like all Goodreads lists, it depends on everybody pitching in to help build it up! I'm only allowed to add up to 100 books (and I've already added 98!), so I'm limited in what I can do; and I also haven't read as much of the quality contemporary Christian fiction that's out there as I'd like to have. So input from readers who've read more of the recent works is very helpful!
The Hiding Place is nonfiction. The description of this list says no nonfiction included.
Jenny, thanks for catching that; I'll delete it from the list. Do you happen to remember what number it is? If I have that, it's much easier to find it than if I have to hunt through the whole list! (You can also delete nonfiction books from the list yourself, if you're a Goodreads librarian and know that they're nonfiction.)
Hi,First of all, this is an interesting list. I need to read some of them. =) Secondly, just wanted to point out that C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters" is on the list twice.
Thanks, Krystalin. I used the "check for duplicates" function just now, and didn't find any; then I went through the list manually, and only found The Screwtape Letters listed once. But I did find and delete nine nonfiction books, including The Hiding Place!
Recently, I deleted Gone With the Wind from the list, because I couldn't find any clear indication of Christian belief on the part of the author, Margaret Mitchell, in any source that I checked. Also, I deleted a couple of books by Robert Louis Stevenson. As a grown adult, he was definitely a theist, but the documented evidence we have (and one website makes a very detailed study of exactly this question!) suggests that he wasn't himself a Christian, even though he had been raised as one.
This is a great list! Thanks for creating it! Just voted on some.
Wonderful! Glad you like the list, Heather; and thanks for your input.
Lot's of good books but sadly I hadn't read many of them.
No problem, Nina; part of the idea of lists like this is to give people ideas for future reading.
I would delete the Shack from the list, apart from the Doctrinal errors, I think the author has said he does not believe in substitutional redemption or some such.
I've added eleven books on here, hope nobody minds. Some of my favourite Medieval Fiction, and some British authors, who are getting more successful in the Christian Fiction genre, and I think deserve more representation.
English, nobody minds it when you add books to the list; feel free to do that any time! That's how these lists get built up, to become the worthwhile resources they're intended to be.The problem with deleting books based on "doctrinal errors" is that Christian believers, and Christian writers, may have quite a variety of beliefs about various doctrines. And I'm also reluctant to delete any book based on vague reports of something the author may (or may not) have said. (Goodreads librarians have the authority to delete books from lists if they're "totally mis-characterized," but we can lose our librarian status for improper or frivolous deletions.) But thank you for sharing your concern!
The other day, i deleted Thornton Wilder's The Eighth Day from the list, and will delete other books by him if I find them. I'd read something at one time that cited him as a member of the Congregational church. However, since then, I've done some more digging online. His father was a very ardent Calvinist, so what I've read suggests that young Thornton was raised in that church; but from every source that I've examined, there's no evidence of any adult profession or association with Christian faith on his part.
Melissa, good question! J. K. Rowling is a practicing member of the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian). Stephanie Meyer is a Mormon. The question there is whether Mormonism qualifies as a form of Christianity. I have an opinion on that subject (and I don't include the Twilight novels in my personal votes on this list); but I respect the existence of different opinions on it sufficiently not to delete her books if someone else adds them. (That would be true as well of books by Orson Scott Card, who's also a Mormon.)
Thanks for the reply. :) I researched them and then deleted my comment. :) (For anyone seeing this, I had asked if the authors of Twilight and Harry Potter were Christian.)
I hadn't seen my favorite book on this list (although there were several other books by this author listed) so I went and added it. There are a lot more Christian authors than I had realized.
Melissa (ladybug) wrote: "I hadn't seen my favorite book on this list (although there were several other books by this author listed) so I went and added it. There are a lot more Christian authors than I had realized."Glad you added a book, Melissa; anybody can add books to these lists, and that's what it takes to build them up. List creators are only allowed to add 100 books, so other folks have to supply the rest.
Yes, Christian authors have been glorifying God through literature for a long time, and there are a lot of them out there who are well worth reading. I'm glad that a list like this can introduce readers to books they might otherwise miss!
