In no particular order.
No library is complete without a favorite Bible. This is my new favorite version of the Bible. Its accurate, interesting and useful for those of us who want to know why things are interpreted the way they are.
Blue Like Jazz opened up all kinds of new ways of thinking for me. It was one of the first non-fiction, Christian books that I have read that wasnt a type of long form preaching. It was a ride, a memoire, and provided me with insight into another Christians world view. It challenged me.
Velvet Elvis hit me right when I was ready for it. Its easy to read and full of a message that I resonate with. One that calls the church to be what it is supposed to be.
The first series of books I ever read was from the Dragonlance series of fantasy fiction. I cant imagine what I would be without books and even now, almost 20 years later, Dragonlance holds a dear place in my heart.
A Skeleton in God's Closet asks the important question of what would we do if we found out that what we believed was a lie? In this book, one of the first good Christian thrillers that I had read, an archaeologist finds bones from a 1st century, crucified male. With the bones comes fragments of wood that have... I wont ruin it for you. I love this book.
Counterfeit Revival is the response from CRI and Hank Hanegraaff to the so-called revivals in Brownsville and Toronto in the mid-nineties. Those fads have since faded but the theology that was used to debunk them are still useful today. We need to be on guard for these kinds of wolves... after all they look just like us.
Harry Potter rules. Seriously. For those of you Christians out there who are against fantasy because there is magic and ghosts in it I challenge you to look at fantasy as a setting for the stories the author is creating. We are not encouraged to become spies when we read James Bond books, after all. Books dont make us. We make us. Dont be afraid of books.
I love science. In all of Hugh Ross's books I get a glimpse of how God may have meant us to understand the universe. This book was fundamental in freeing me from fundamentalist views on Creationism. Its so very liberating when you no longer feel the need to defend the indefensible.
I like Tedd Dekker. He writes stories that tend to revolve around one basic question concerning faith or God. In this series, he deals with Heaven (and much more since there are three books he gets to do the full Christ story). These are fun reads that left me with enduring word pictures of what Heaven could be.
For those of us who like to know what other faiths believe and how we are different then we have the Kingdom of the Cults. I love this book. Any time I need to know anything about a cult, or false religion this book is a one stop shop.
The Icewind Dale trilogy is another fantasy series that meant a lot to me over the years. This one deals with xenophobia and racism in ways that a regular fictional work would not do for me.
I just finished the Gospel According to Science Fiction and loved every minute of it. This author gives detailed analysis of everything from short stories from the 1920's to the biggest blockbuster movies of the 2000's and how the storytellers portray religious themes. A sample of the themes: Artificial Intellegence, Creation, Heaven & Hell, Christ/Messiah, God. Its a must read for anyone who loves religion and even just likes Science Fiction.