What Makes A Book Of Impact?

As I’ve been thinking through the topic of books that have impacted me over the years, I naturally came to the question,”What makes a book impactful?” This is more than just being  interesting or well written or recommended. I’m talking about the books that you hold in your hands differently because they are so dear to you. The books that make it into your life story, those that mark and change you, that have special places to live on your shelves because they feel like a friend, not just a book. These are the ones you tell other people they just HAVE to read. What are some of the recurring themes of those books for me?

Here are some of my thoughts on it.

1. Timing: It’s not just what you read but when you read it. A book on dating isn’t likely to make it on this list for me at this point in my life. Why? I’m married. But when a book’s topic is perfectly matched to my season of life, when it is as if my heart has been primed for the material and is able to soak it in to a deeper level than normal – then a book has a chance to be impactful. That is why The Hiding Place and God’s Smuggler hit me so hard. I was a young college student and new to my faith. A story of ordinary people who had to prove their faith in the face of unbelievable challenges, who God called to great intimacy with Himself…these stories just spoke to me at that time in my life. They still do.

2. Well-written: It’s not just what you write, but how you write. We’ve all got memorized words stuck in our heads and hearts. Song lyrics. Sayings. Quotes. Why? It’s more than just the ideas they express. It probably has something to do with the rhythm, the rhyming, the cadence. The WORDS! A well-written book makes the topic easy to understand and engage. The childrens’ books on my list are examples of this. They are a joy to read. On the other hand, a poorly written book, no matter how important the material, most likely won’t get read.

3. Introducing a new idea or concept: I love books that open my mind to something I haven’t thought of before, that stretch previously unused intellectual muscles.  One of the things I love about teaching is being the first to tell someone something, getting to a fresh mind first. When a book does this for me, it glues me to my seat and revs my brain into high gear. I can get lost in the newness for hours at a time. John Piper’s Hunger for God was this for me in that I had never heard anyone unpack the details of fasting before. He got there first.

4. It moves me: Some books have an emotional component. They are more than just a source of information and they engage more than just my head. Works of fiction like Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers have the potential to do this. A story becomes part of the reader, tickling more than the intellect. They can provide emotional pictures in the heart that go beyond words. Sometimes works of non-fiction can also move me. The material may cause me to change something in my life, to feel a certain way. When a book hits my heart, it has a chance to impact me.

Books Of Impact – Missions

FOREIGN TO FAMILIAR by Sarah Lanier

This book is not particularly long, deep or intellectually dense, but here is the single best, most concise explanation of the general differences between cultures I’ve ever read.

Why are Europeans so ‘rude’, ‘direct’ and ‘unfriendly’? Why are southerners so ‘shallow’, superficial’ and ‘two-faced’? Of course those terms are relative depending on where you are from. What a southerner might term rude a European might call honest. What a European might call shallow a Southerner might call friendly. Jumping cultures is a really challenging and tricky endeavor. This book clearly and concisely explains these and many other cultural land mines that anyone who has traveled often has hit.

This book makes my list because  as a world traveler it helped me put words to things I’ve experienced and as a communicator of the Gospel, barriers that I’m dying to overcome.

If you plan on spending anytime at all in a second culture, you need to read this book. That sort of ringing endorsement springs from a book that has impacted me. That’s why it is on this list.

Books Of Impact – My Two Favorites

There are two books that I point to often as being life transformational. I read them both while in college and both affected me in such a way that literally, the trajectory of my life shifted as a result.  Both are biographies, written by Dutchmen and placed in the middle of the 20th century. I’m sure my heart for Europe was fanned to flame by these books.

Howard Hendricks, famous seminary professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, says that the two things that will have the greatest impact on your life are the people you spend time with and the books you read. In my experience, he is exactly right. And biographies allow me to spend time with great people I would never otherwise meet.

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

Hands down, this is my favorite book of all time. (The Bible is ina different category altogether.) Not because it is chipper and enjoyable. At times it is utterly heartbreaking and painful to read. It is the story of Corrie Ten Boom and her family in Holland during World War II. They were devout Christians who chose to hide Jews in their home. Ultimately, Corrie and her sister Betsie ended up in a concentration camp where she uttered the words, “…must tell people what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still. They will listen to us Corrie, because we have been here.”  But through it all, God is ever present, loving and at work. The spiritual truths Corrie learned have been bouncing around in my life ever since and I can honestly say, I am not the same after reading this book. One of the greatest highlights of my time in Europe was visiting her house in Haarlem Holland and seeing where these amazing events took place. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew

This is the story of an ordinary man who just took the next step in his faith, simply trying to do what he felt God was leading Him to do. Before he knew it, he was smuggling Bibles to persecuted Christians behind the Iron Curtain in 50′s and 60′s. His story reads like a movie, filled with action and amazing God-moments. He learned to trust God in ways that I can’t even really imagine. My heart was moved by how his heart was moved by his suffering brothers and sisters in the faith. He actually centered his life around serving God, even when it wasn’t safe or logical. And oh, the stories God has blessed him with as a result! Like The Hiding Place, the spiritual truths in this book, wrapped up in a powerful story, dented my heart in a way I still haven’t recovered from.

Books of Impact

These particular topics are not my personal favorites, although as a science teacher, I do find the titles intriguing. I took this photo in the Piedmont College library one afternoon. I love the smell of books and could have spent hours just looking around.

Periodically I am asked about books : What am I reading now, what would I recommend, and the hardest of all… What’s your favorite? Asking me, “What’s your favorite book?” is like asking which child I love the most. As an avid, voracious and lifelong reader, I answer the same as any parent would. “I love them all! “

So maybe a better question is, “Which books have marked me, have had a significant and lasting impact upon me?”

So I wanted to spend a few weeks with y’all and discuss what I call Books Of Impact. I’m not writing simply about books I like, or current suggestions on what to read. These books that are so much more than that. These are some of the titles whose content and ideas have profoundly changed me. These are the books I treasure in my collection, revisit often, give as gifts to others and recommend highly. I hope you enjoy the coming entries and that you will share with me your thoughts and suggestions as to which books would make your list. Stay tuned…