Recommended Reading

Find yourself longing to read all of the Festival authors but short on time? If you have time to read only one or two books by a particular Festival 2012 presenter, here is what we recommend.

Leila Aboulela: Lyrics Alley or The Translator (fiction)

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Purple Hibiscus (fiction)

M. Craig Barnes: The Pastor as Minor Poet (spirituality)

Susan Campbell Bartoletti: They Called Themselves the KKK (young adult literature)

Amy Julia Becker: A Good and Perfect Gift (memoir)

Aaron Belz: Lovely, Raspberry (poetry)

Kate Braestrup: Here if You Need Me (memoir)

Kevin Brockmeier: The Illumination (fiction)

Scott Cairns: Compass of Affection (poetry)

Lan Samantha Chang: All Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Lost  (fiction)

Susanna Childress: Entering the House of Awe (poetry)

Shane Claiborne: The Irresistible Revolution (spirituality)

Hugh Cook: Cracked Wheat (fiction)

Debra Dean: The Madonnas of Leningrad (fiction)

David Diaz: Smoky Night (illustrator) (children's literature)

Brian Doyle: Grace Notes (non-fiction)

Tony Earley: Jim the Boy and Blue Star (fiction)

Kathryn Erskine: Mockingbird (children's literature)

Jonathan Safran Foer: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close  (fiction)

Amy Frykholm: Julian of Norwich: A Contemplative Biography (non-fiction)

Paula Huston: By Way of Grace: Moving from Faithfulness to Holiness (spirituality)

Susan E. Isaacs: Angry Conversations with God (memoir)

River Jordan: Praying for Strangers: An Adventure of the Human Spirit (memoir)

Julia Kasdorf: Sleeping Preacher (poetry)

Kirsten Kelly: Asparagus! Stalking the American Life (documentary film)

John Leax: Grace Is Where I Live (poetry)

Li-Young Lee: Behind My Eyes (poetry)

Patrick Madden: Quotidiana (non-fiction)

Maurice Manning: The Common Man (poetry)

Ruben Martinez: Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail (non-fiction)

Marilyn Chandler McEntyre: Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies (non-fiction)

Richard Michelson: Busing Brewster (children's literature)

Daniel Nayeri: Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow (young adult literature)

Peter O'Leary: Depth Theology (poetry)

Bethany Pierce: Amy Inspired (fiction)

Andrea Pinkney: Bird in a Box or Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down (children's literature)

Brian Pinkney: The Faithful Friend (illustrator) (children's literature)

Mark Richard: House of Prayer No. 2 (memoir)

Jana Riess: Flunking Sainthood (memoir)

Marilynne Robinson: Gilead (fiction)

Gary D. Schmidt: The Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now (young adult literature)

Adam Schuitema: Freshwater Boys

Luci Shaw: Breath for Bones: Art, Imagination, and Spirit (spirituality)

Judith Shulevitz: The Sabbath World (spirituality)

Lisa Russ Spaar: Satin Cash (poetry)

Nikki Stafford: Finding Lost: The Unofficial Guide (series) (non-fiction)

Francisco X. Stork: Marcelo in the Real World (young adult literature)

Daniel Taylor: Tell Me a Story (non-fiction)

Scott Teems: That Evening Sun (film)

Craig Thompson: Blankets (graphic novel)

Luis Alberto Urrea: Into the Beautiful North (fiction)

Clare Vanderpool: Moon Over Manifest (young adult literature)

Ann Voskamp: One Thousand Gifts (spirituality)

Carey Wallace: The Blind Contessa's New Machine (fiction)

Brian Walsh: Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire (spirituality)

Walt Wangerin: The Book of the Dun Cow or The Book of God (fiction)

Paul Willis: The Alpine Tales (fiction)

Larry Woiwode: Words Made Fresh: Essays on Literature and Culture (essays)