Summer is a time for reading. Work slows down a bit, at least for some. I’m not traveling as much to speak and teach. School’s out. I spend more time at the lake. In fact, I’ve probably spent more time reading on a couch next to a lake than any other place. I’ve read everything from history to fiction to theology on that couch—it helps put my mind in the right place to relax then concentrate.

One of my favorite guests is back on Gospelbound to talk about summer reading as we close out the spring 2025 season. Melissa Kruger is the vice president for discipleship programming at The Gospel Coalition and cohost of the hit new podcast The Deep Dish. We talked about why we love reading and why reading still matters with social media and AI. And we offered dozens of book recommendations in many different genres.

Summer Reading Recommendations

Collin’s Summer Reading List

• Godric by Frederick Buechner
• The Fate of the Day by Rick Atkinson
• The Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis

Melissa’s Summer Reading List

• Homecoming by Kate Morton
• The Lord’s Work in the Lord’s Way and No Little People by Francis A. Schaeffer
• The Expulsive Power of a New Affection by Thomas Chalmers

History: Biographies

Melissa:

• A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliot
• Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret by Dr. Howard Taylor and Geraldine Taylor
• Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose
• The Watchmaker’s Daughter by Larry Loftis

Collin:

• Luther by Heiko A. Oberman
• Here I Stand by Roland H. Bainton
• Jonathan Edwards by George M. Marsden
• Augustine of Hippo by Peter Brown
• Churchill by Andrew Roberts

Fiction

Melissa:

• Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
• Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Collin:

• Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Historical Nonfiction

Melissa:

• The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
• In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
• The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone

Collin:

• With the Old Breed by E. B. Sledge
• Remaking the World by Andrew Wilson

Nonfiction

Melissa:

• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
• The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
• David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

Collin:

• The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
• How to Reach the West Again by Timothy Keller
• Making Sense of God by Timothy Keller

Challenging Reads

Melissa:

• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Collin:

• The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Spiritual Growth

Melissa:

• The Art of Divine Contentment by Thomas Watson
• Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices by Thomas Brooks

Collin:

• God’s Big Picture by Vaughan Roberts
• Letters of John Newton

Easy Beach Reads

Melissa:

• The Traitor’s Wife by Allison Pataki
• The Women by Kristin Hannah
• Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Collin:

• From Eden to Egypt by Alex Duke
• How to Know a Person by David Brooks
• Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Also Mentioned

• “B” Is for Betsy by Carolyn Haywood
• Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
• Shel Silverstein poems
• Papa’s Daughter by Thyra Ferre Bjorn
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
• No Easy Day by Mark Owen
• The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides
• The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
• Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
• The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
• Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
• Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
• The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, Elizabeth Sherrill, and John Sherrill