As the seasons change, so do our reading lists. Byron Borger, co-owner of Hearts & Minds Bookstore in Dallastown, Pennsylvania, returns to The UpWords Podcast with his fall roundup of the books most worth your time. Host Susan Smetzer-Anderson and Byron begin by remembering Annie Dillard and Wendell Berry, two literary lights whose work shaped generations of Christian readers, before turning to a remarkable season of new releases.

Byron makes the case for reading the ancients alongside the moderns, previews John Fea’s new look at whether America was founded as a Christian nation, and compares two of the fall’s most debated books: Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s Live Laugh Love and Bonnie Kristian’s In Defense of Evangelicalism. The conversation then moves into spiritual formation, with new books on God’s love, the humanity of Jesus, the medieval mystics, silence, and character, and closes with titles on cultural myths, womanhood in art, a theology of place, and the role of faith in a pluralistic democracy.

IN THIS EPISODE

· Remembering Annie Dillard and Wendell Berry

· Why Christians should read ancient literature, and how to read it with discernment

· Two contrasting accounts of evangelical women and evangelical culture

· New books on spiritual formation, from the Trinity to the mystics to the discipline of silence

· Books on cultural narratives, visual culture, sacred place, and religion in public life

· A teaser for anyone who wants to read more but struggles to

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Byron Borger and his wife, Beth, opened Hearts & Minds Bookstore in Dallastown, Pennsylvania, in 1982. Byron writes BookNotes, the store’s long-running review newsletter, and is a longtime conference bookseller and speaker on relating Christian faith to every area of life.

📙 BOOKS FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE

· Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea by Emily Wilson

· Christians Reading Classics by Nadya Williams

· From Achilles to Christ by Louis Markos

· Breaking Bread with the Dead by Alan Jacobs

· In God We Trust by John Fea

· Live Laugh Love by Kristin Kobes Du Mez

· In Defense of Evangelicalism by Bonnie Kristian

· The Wisdom of Jesus by N. T. Wright

· Fully Beloved by Timothy Jones

· Vulnerable God by Kenneth Tanner

· Make Your Home in This Luminous Dark by James K. A. Smith

· The Way of the Spirit by Jeremy Sims

· Into the Quiet by John Mark Comer

· Who You’re Becoming by Chuck DeGroat

· The Stories We Live By by Timothy Keller and Michael Keller

· Look Like a Lady by Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt

· Every Somewhere Sacred by Ben Norquist and Brian Miller

· Can Religion Save Democracy? by Matthew Kaemingk and Shadi Hamid

🔗 LINKS

Hearts & Minds Bookstore: heartsandmindsbooks.com

Byron’s BookNotes newsletter: heartsandmindsbooks.com/booknotes