Summer and reading just go hand in hand, don’t they? Whether you’re lounging by the pool, idling at a campsite or just relaxing in your backyard garden, there’s something special about this season and reading. Our schedules are less full, our to-do lists less urgent, and we can embrace long, lazy hours with a good book.

If you’re looking for a book to immerse yourself in this summer, I’ve compiled a summer reading guide of some of my recent favourites, and a few that are on my to-be-read pile:

Looking for a book on Christian living? Try The Narrow Path: How the Subversive Way of Jesus Satisfies Our Souls by Rich Villodas. Using teachings from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Villodas calls us to embrace the countercultural ways of God’s kingdom, with plenty of poignant examples and personal anecdotes to make the material approachable and relevant.

Looking for a book on spiritual formation? Try Our Unforming: De-Westernizing Spiritual Formation by Cindy S. Lee. Many Christian spiritual formation resources are rooted in Western spiritual traditions. I appreciated the gentle way Lee suggests a more culturally diverse approach to experiencing God. 

Looking for a book on social justice? Try Need to Know: Empowering Female Leadership and Why It’s Essential for the Future of the Church, curated by Danielle Strickland. This collection of writings from 21 authors, including Beth Allison Barr, Scot McKnight and Colonel Janet Munn, offers a diverse conversation on empowering women leaders in the church, which I thoroughly appreciated.

Looking for Christian fiction? Try the Timeless series by Gabrielle Meyer. Blending elements of history, romance, adventure and magical elements of time-travel, this series has become one of my favourites. Alongside exciting plots, Meyer also seamlessly weaves in faith elements, reminding readers that God gives us the agency to choose our own path in life, while promising to journey with us wherever we go.

Looking for an audiobook? Try Looking Up: A Birder’s Guide to Hope Through Grief by Courtney Ellis. A meditation on birding as a practice of hope, I found this beautiful book to be a soothing balm for my soul. The audiobook is read by the author and includes recordings of birdsongs, which makes for a delightful listening experience.

On My To-Be-Read Pile

Blessed Are the Undone: Testimonies of the Quiet Deconstruction of Faith in Canada by Angela Reitsma Bick and Peter Schuurman. So many Christian books are written with an American slant. The Canadian focus of this one has me intrigued.

Mid-Faith Crisis: Finding a Path Through Doubt, Disillusionment, and Dead Ends by Jason Hague and Catherine McNiel. A review in Library Journal promises this to be “relevant and practical in a time of church leader scandals and faith deconstruction” and assures that “this book offers an empathy-filled way forward.”

Becoming The Pastor’s Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry by Beth Allison Barr. Barr’s previous book, The Making of Biblical Womanhood, made a huge impact on me. The high ratings of her sophomore book, about the impact of history on modern Christianity—particularly as it pertains to women in church leadership—has me excited to read it.

Pivot: The Priorities, Practices and Powers That Can Transform Your Church into a Tov Culture by Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer. This one was released nearly two years ago, and yet I still haven’t read it. This summer I need to make it a priority—the subject is so important. After their book A Church Called Tov recorded stories of abuse and toxic church culture, Pivot promises to deliver tangible ways for culture transformation to occur. 

The Codebreaker’s Daughter by Amy Lynn Green. Sometimes reading is just for fun. I’ve appreciated Green’s historical fiction in the past and am looking forward to her new release about the role of women in U.S.-based intelligence agencies during the world wars.

Looking for even more recommendations? The Englewood Review of Books offers weekly online book reviews that may help you find your next great read. What books are on your summer reading list? Let us know in the comments. Happy reading!

Captain Laura Van Schaick is the corps officer at Barrhaven Church in Ottawa, and the divisional secretary for women’s ministries in the Ontario Division.