I’m not a big nonfiction reader—at least, not in terms of books. I read plenty of nonfiction articles online 🙂
I have a range of unread nonfiction books on my Kindle – books I’ve picked up on the recommendation of others (or books that were on sale through BookBub), and books I’ve requested to review (and generally haven’t).
When I do read nonfiction, they tend to be books on writing or book marketing 9or some related topic), and often aren’t written by Christians. Even when they are written by Christians, they’re not specifically “Christian” books in that they’re aimed at writers in general, not Christian writers.
Where I do read Christian nonfiction, I’m generally interested in seeing a Christian response to a topic I’m interested in. I’m not interested in general self-help books aimed at Christians (too many of them can be summed up with a few obvious sentences: read your Bible. Pray. Eat well. Sleep. Exercise. Follow God, not people.)
But every now and again, I do find a nonfiction book that hooks me. Here are a few I recommend:
The Enneagram for Beginners by Kim Eddy
I’ve seen various posts about the Enneagram online, some claiming it’s a great personality tool we should use more in church, and others claiming that its origins in unorthodox spiritism make it suspect. What interested me most was the Enneagram’s focus on motivation … something I’ve found hard to pin down when it comes to writing fiction. I wouldn’t use the tool on real people, but I think it’s an underused asset for fiction writers.
Redeeming Your Time by Jordan Raynor
I’m now working three days a week in a local company, so have less flexibility in my schedule (being self-employed had a lot more flexibility). that means getting organised in a way I haven’t had to in a good while, so I’ve been looking for tips. Raynor offers a Christ-centred approach (based on the Getting Things Done methodology).
This releases on 19 October. Click here to find Redeeming Your Time on Amazon.
Writing in Obedience by Terry Burns and Linda Yezak
I recommend this to a lot of my editing clients, although I haven’t posted an actual review. I like it because it discusses why we write and what we write from a Christian perspective. I particularly like the way it breaks down our writing into four potential audiences, and gives tips on how to attract each audience.
Click here to find Writing in Obedience on Amazon.
