We are offering a spry new series called “Summer Reading,” with assorted Stream writers and contributors offering what they’ll be toting in book bags this vacation season or their reflections on summer reading. Here’s the third entry. See the others as they’re added here.

In addition to some new books, I’ll be thumbing back through a few titles I’ve already read this summer. And I’ll be recommending them to my friends, starting with you!

Blessed Are the Misfits and Love Thy Body are two non-fiction books I read earlier this year. One is a fairly breezy read. The other is longer and a bit more involved. Both expanded how I think about Christian life and morality.

Blessed Are the Misfits

C.S. Lewis said: “The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, ‘What? You too? I thought I was the only one.'” Reading Blessed Are the Misfits, that’s exactly how I felt. In fact, it’s subtitled “Great News for Believers who are Introverts, Spiritual Strugglers, or Just Feel Like They’re Missing Something.” 

Author Brant Hansen, a Christian radio host, is open about the fact that he has Asperger syndrome. He’s also open about his extreme introversion and analytical brain. Throughout his life, the combo left him feeling out of touch with many in evangelical circles. It also left him wondering if something was wrong with him spiritually.

An introvert who grew up in the evangelical world, I’ve asked many of the same questions Hansen addresses in his book. Questions like, “Is the absence of faith-based emotion a sign that God has moved on or was never there?” and “What if we aren’t good at talking to people about our faith, or good at talking to people at all?” Importantly, he also addresses the question, “Where does a person who suffers from depression fit in the kingdom? Is depression a sure sign of lack of faith?” (For more questions addressed in the book, read the description here.)

An easy trap for evangelicals is to zero in on emotions — what Hansen calls “good feelings.” In Blessed Are the Misfits, he blends bluntness with light-hearted humor to explain why that’s a shallow foundation for one’s faith. Leaning on Scripture, he shows readers what it looks like to live faithfully for Christ, even when the “good feelings” aren’t there. And he does it all in an accessible, entertaining style that makes for a quick read.

I recommend Blessed Are the Misfits those who have been a part of the Church, especially Evangelicalism, for a long time, whether you are prone to emotionalism or don’t feel any faith-based emotion at all. And as the book description states, “it’s also for those who want to believe in Jesus, but inwardly fear that they don’t belong.”

Blessed Are the Misfits is available in paperback, on Audible, on audio CD, and on Kindle. Follow Brant Hansen on Twitter @branthansen.

Love Thy Body

From transgenderism to euthanasia, we’re surrounded by puzzling moral quandaries left and right. With passionate advocates on both sides, it can be difficult to understand which answer is right, and why. And that’s exactly why Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality should be required reading for every Christian in America.

As the book description puts it, author Nancy Pearcey “makes the case that secularism denigrates the body and destroys the basis for human rights.” She tackles the hottest moral questions of our day, one chapter at a time. She employs philosophy, history, and most importantly, Scripture, to wade through each question and end at a biblical answer.

What I especially love is that Pearcey doesn’t just help us arrive at the biblical answer. She explains why that answer matters. I left the book with a better understanding of why I believe certain things, and why God’s way is best.

It’s easy to treat issues like abortion and same-sex marriage as mere weapons in the culture war. Pearcey encourages us to see the real people behind these moral struggles. In a hyper-politicized world in which one side tends to view the other side as the enemy, the compassion in her writing is refreshing.

I listened to Love Thy Body on Audible, and as soon as I finished it, I bought a hard copy for our family library. It’s vital to understand the biblical answers to the tough questions surrounding us, and to be able to share those answers with compassion and conviction. Love Thy Body helps readers do just that, which is why I plan on reading it again.

Love Thy Body is available in hardcover, on Audible, on audio CD, and on Kindle. Follow Nancy Pearcey on Twitter @NancyRPearcey. And read Josh Shepherd’s Stream interview with Pearcey about Love Thy Body.