My Top Book Recommendations

Hello dear reader, and welcome back to my blog! Today I would like to take some time to talk about my favorite books, and specifically what they mean to me.

It’s easy to love a book– in fact, most people have a favorite book or three– but some books carry a special meaning to a person. I have a few books that have touched me in a variety of different ways, and I would love to share them with you!

The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson

The Wingfeather Saga, for me, was a series of many firsts. It was the first series that made me laugh– out loud. It was the first series that made me cry (Nugget…why!). And it was the first series to inspire my love of writing.

Andrew Peterson’s mission when it comes to writing children’s books is truly inspiring. I have had firsthand experience with the dangers of the children’s section as more and more authors feel the need to “diversify” their books, and Andrew Peterson was the first author I had seen that wanted to combat that. Mr. Peterson’s note to parents resonated so deeply with me– I was facing those exact struggles. But I also wanted to help fix those struggles. Good stories are such an important part of a child’s life, and I felt like I could do something to help keep it that way. Thus, my career as an author began.

If you have not read this series yet, I cannot recommend it enough.

The Green Ember by S. D. Smith.

This is another one of those “diamond in the rough” books to me. It had a similar impact in my life as that of The Wingfeather Saga, and really helped push me to grow as an author. Before I read this series, I struggled to implement God in my books. For one thing, I believed that in order to write a Christian book series, God and Satan had to be represented in the books as characters. But doing that successfully is much harder than it seems. And while implementing allegory isn’t necessarily a bad thing, a story that simply is written from a Christian worldview can be just as powerful, if not more.

After asking S. D. Smith a question during a live Q&A about allegory in books, he revealed that his books are actually not allegorical, and neither were other famous Christian books like The Lord of the Rings (in fact, J. R. R. Tolkien despised allegory, especially when people attempted to “find” it in his books). Instead he sought to make his books applicable, and let the reader have the freedom to find parts that resonated with them personally. Mr. Smith said something I’ll never forget during that Q&A: “I recommend at least exploring the possibility of just trying to tell a good story while you have the Truth in your heart, and you might be surprised at how much applicability comes out.”

Honey Butter by Millie Florence

Honey Butter is such a refreshing story, especially for someone like me who struggles to find good, wholesome books. It really showed me that young authors can be successful and bring about change in others lives, which is something I hope to do.

I met Millie at a homeschool conference after seeing that she was a young author– like me! She is such a fun, bubbly person and I couldn’t help but smile as she described her books to me (she had another book as well titled The Balter of Ashton Harper that was equally incredible) and of course I had to purchase them. Simply meeting another young author who was actually able to have success was really inspiring, and the way she interacts with her audience online is really a perfect reflection of who she is.

These three authors have had a profound impact on my life as a writer and as a person. I hope that my own writing can have that same impact on my readers’ lives. This is why I write to honor Christ through Story– I want to bring books into the world that will glorify God and inspire my readers.

Well, that concludes my top book recommendations! I hope you enjoyed reading about the different ways certain books have impacted and inspired me. Do you have any books that hold a special place in your heart? I would love to hear about them in the comments!

See you among the shelves,

Emma G. McKee

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