Randy Alcorn's Favorites

With permission, we reprint Randy Alcorn's favorite books of all types and stripes.

Favorite Novels: (with apologies to Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Dickens, Hemingway, and Steinbeck)

1. The Chronicles of Narnia (7), C. S. Lewis
2. The Lord of the Rings (3), J. R. R. Tolkien
3. Perelandra, C. S. Lewis (closely followed by the other two in the space trilogy, Out of the Silent Planet and That Hideous Strength)
4. The Singer trilogy (including The Song and The Finale), Calvin Miller
5. The Odyssey and The Iliad, Homer
6. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
7. Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
8. The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
9. The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis
10. The Chosen, Chaim Potok
11. In His Steps, Charles Sheldon
12. Pontius Pilate, Paul Maier
13. Paul, Walter Wangerin
14. The Book of God, Walter Wangarin
15. Ben Hur, Lew Wallace
Honorable mention:
The Birth, Gene Edwards;
The Mantle (name later changed to Elijah), William H. Stephens

The First Book I Fell in Love With:
Stadium Beyond the Stars, Milton Lesser (juvenile science fiction I read as a third grader and reread several times in subsequent years; not a great book by anyone's standards, but as Lewis said of George MacDonald's Phantastes, "it baptized my imgination")

Short fiction: short stories, plays or poetry:
Several short stories by Flannery O'Connor, names of which escape me; "Beyond the Horizon," Eugene O'Neill; poetry, "O God, I love thee," by Francis Xaviar.

Booklet: My Heart Christ's Home, Robert Boyd Munger.

Novels I wish were on my list but I've never finished them:
Everything by Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Novels that are secretly on my list but I won't admit it:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (and sequels), Douglas Adams

Nonfiction, after the Bible:

1. The Knowledge of the Holy, A. W. Tozer
2. Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis
3. Knowing God, J. I. Packer
4. Desiring God, John Piper
5. He is There and He is Not Silent, Francis Schaeffer
6. Loving God, Chuck Colson
7. Through Gates of Splendor, Elizabeth Elliot
8. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson
9. Your God is Too Small, J.B. Phillips
10. Tortured for Christ, God's Smuggler, ŒFoxes Book of Martyrs (three books on the suffering church that greatly impacted me many years ago)

Okay, I couldn't stop, so here's the 2nd team nonfiction:

11. Peace Child, Don Richardson
12. The Everlasting Man, G.K. Chesterton
13. Principles of Spiritual Growth, Miles Stanford
14. The Calvary Road, Roy Hession
15. Biography of George Mueller (don't recall author)
16. The Church at the End of the 20th Century, Francis Schaeffer
17. Where is God When it Hurts, Phil Yancey
18. The Joy of Fearing God, Jerry Bridges
19. Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster
20. Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer
21. Disciple, Juan Carlos Ortiz
22. Kingdoms in Conflict, Chuck Colson
23. No Wonder They Call Him the Savior, Max Lucado
Short nonfiction (essays, sermons, etc):
"The Weight of Glory" and "The World's Last Night," C. S. Lewis; "Our Unclaimed Riches," "The Art of True Worship" and "The World to Come," by A. W. Tozer; "Tyranny of the Urgent," Robert Hummel.

Nonfiction honorable mention:
These are books which I will likely never reread, but which had great impact when I read them. Mainly because at that particular time of life I really needed what they offered. (I see the providence of God in what books He leads me to at what time.):

* Let Justice Roll Down, John Perkins;
* Basic Christianity, John Stott;
* Battle for the Bible, Harold Lindsel;
* The Cross and the Switchblade, David Wilkerson;
* Run, Baby, Run, Nicky Cruz;
* Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Josh McDowell;
* Countdown, J.B. Hardy;
* Competent to Counsel, Jay Adams;
* The Gospel According to Jesus, John MacArthur;
* The Life of an American Slave, Frederick Douglas;
* Open Windows, Phil Yancey;
* Between Heaven and Hell, Peter Kreeft;
* When I Relax I Feel Guilty, Tim Hansel;
* Roaring Lambs, Bob Briner;
* Jesus the Revolutionary, H. S. Vigevino;
* The Pursuit of God, A. W. Tozer;
* The God Who Is There, Francis Schaeffer;
* The Content of our Character, Shelby Steele;
* The Nazi Doctors, Robert Jay Lifton;
* When People Are Big and God is Small, Edward Welch;
* From Jerusalem to Iryan Jaya, Ruth Tucker;
* The Pursuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges;

Most powerful books I've read (for first time) in last year:

* The Legacy of Sovereign Joy, John Piper
* The Hidden Smile of God, John Piper
* The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith, Lee Strobel
* How Now Shall We Live?, Chuck Colson
A cool artsy book:
Beyond Words, Ron DiCianni

Authors on a Desert Island:
If I had to go on a desert island and could have only 1) my Bible and 2) any and all books written by only fifteen modern authors and ten historical authors, whose books I would take with me?

15 Modern authors:

1. C. S. Lewis
2. A.W. Tozer
3. Francis Schaeffer
4. John Piper
5. J. R. R. Tolkien
6. Eugene Petersen
7. Chuck Colson
8. Max Lucado
9. Phil Yancey
10. Calvin Miller
11. Elisabeth Elliot
12. J. I. Packer
13. John R. W. Stott
14. John McArthur
15. Peter Kreeft
10 Authors from Church history:

1. Charles Spurgeon
2. Jonathan Edwards
3. Martin Luther
4. John Calvin
5. John Wesley
6. Augustine
7. Thomas Aquinas
8. John Bunyan
9. Blaise Pascal
10. Tertullian
One Theology Book:
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology

Other reference books:
Vine's Expository Dictionary
New Compact Topical Bible
The IVP New Testament Background Commentary, Craig Keener