Religious life book series in reading order

by Warren W. Wiersbe

Max Lucado

278 books• 6 series

Max Lucado has 278 books in the catalogue, published between 1985 and 2026, and subject headings centre on Christian life, the Bible, Jesus Christ, meditations and biblical teaching. Lucado, born January 11, 1955, is an American author and minister at Oak Hills Church, formerly Oak Hills Church of Christ, in San Antonio, Texas. The earliest titles are No Wonder They Call Him the Savior and On the Anvil (both 1985), then God Came Near (1986), The Applause of Heaven (1990) and He Still Moves Stones (1992). Series include Life Lessons, Hermie & Friends, Max Lucado's Wemmicks and Just in Case, and children's fiction is also among the subjects. The newest listed title is Unbreakable Courage Bible Study Guide (2026).

Lysa TerKeurst writes Christian non-fiction for women. Thirty-five titles are catalogued from Capture His Heart (2002) through 2026, among them What Happens When Women Walk in Faith (2005), Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl (2009) and the Made to Crave Devotional (2011). Religious life, prayers and devotions, decision making and the emotions of Christian women fill the subject tags.

Eugene H. Peterson

105 books• 14 series

Eugene H. Peterson (November 6, 1932 to October 22, 2018) was an American Mainline Protestant minister, Presbyterian theologian, scholar, poet and author. The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (NavPress, 2002), a paraphrase and translation of the Bible into modern American English, won a Gold Medallion Book Award. The catalogue holds 105 books from Foundations for Faith (1973) to Lights a Lovely Mile: Collected Sermons of the Church Year (2023), including A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (1980) and Run with the Horses (1983). Subjects include the Bible, prayer, meditations, devotional calendars, spiritual life and pastoral theology.

Elisabeth Elliot (1926-2015) was an American missionary, author and speaker, born Elisabeth Howard. Her first husband, Jim Elliot, was killed in 1956 while attempting to reach the Waorani people of eastern Ecuador, and Elliot afterwards spent two years living as a missionary among the people who killed him. Through Gates of Splendor (1957) opens a catalogue of 48 titles running to Heart of God (2022), including Shadow of the Almighty (1958), The Savage My Kinsman (1960) and Let Me be a Woman (1966). Christian life, missions, marriage and biography are the recurring subjects. Elliot lectured across the United States into her seventies.

Tricia Goyer is an American author of Christian fiction, with 68 books catalogued from From Dust and Ashes (2003) to Twist of Time (2026). Series include World War II Liberator, Chronicles of the Spanish Civil War, Big Sky Amish, Pinecraft Pie Shop, Seven Brides for Seven Bachelors, Swiss Agents, London Chronicles and Clockwork Chronicles. Non-fiction on parenting appears too, such as Life Interrupted: The Scoop on Being a Young Mom (2004). The Second World War and the Amish recur in the subjects.

Jen Hatmaker

18 books• 1 series

Jen Hatmaker, born in 1974, writes on Christian life and the religious life of women, and also works as a speaker, blogger and television presenter. Her 18 catalogued books span 2006 to 2025, from A Modern Girl's Guide to Bible Study (2006) to Awake (2025). For the Love (2015) reached the New York Times bestseller list. Simplicity, materialism and the conduct of life recur across the subjects, and Hatmaker continues to publish.

Beth Moore

41 books• 1 series

Beth Moore, born Wanda Elizabeth Green on June 16, 1957, is an American Anglican evangelist, author and Bible teacher. Moore is president of Living Proof Ministries, a Houston-based Christian organization Moore founded in 1994 to teach women. Moore speaks at arena events and has sold millions of books. The catalogue lists 41 books from A Woman's Heart (1995) to Walking with God (2026), including Breaking Free (1999) and Jesus: The One and Only (2000). Subjects include the Bible, Christian women and devotional literature.

Bill Myers is an American Christian author, film director and film producer, born in Seattle, Washington on September 9, 1953. The animated series McGee and Me! is the work Myers is most noted for. Myers writes across comedy, horror, thriller, fiction and nonfiction. The catalogue holds 132 books, from My Friend William Moved Away (1979) to Commune (2023), with the 1990s as the busiest decade. Series include Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle, Forbidden Doors, Bloodhounds Inc., TJ and the Time Stumblers and Secret Agent Dingledorf and His Trusty Dog, SPLAT. Catalogue subjects cover Christian life, children's fiction, humorous stories, time travel and spies.

Karen Kingsbury is an American Christian novelist, born in Fairfax, Virginia, on June 8, 1963. Kingsbury worked as a sports writer for the Los Angeles Times and later wrote for the Los Angeles Daily News. Missy's Murder (1991), Kingsbury's first book, grew out of a murder story covered as a reporter in Los Angeles. Kingsbury is a #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling novelist. The catalogue holds 115 titles, running to The Christmas Ring (2025), and the series include Firstborn, Sunrise, Above the Line, Bailey Flanigan, Red Gloves and Forever Faithful. Christian fiction and family life recur among the subjects.

Eugenia Price wrote Christian non-fiction before turning to historical novels of the American South. Discoveries (1953) opens a catalogue of 40 books, with the fiction starting in 1965. The Savannah Quartet, the St. Simons Trilogy, the Florida Trilogy and the Georgia Trilogy make up the series work, set in Georgia and on St. Simons Island, with religious life and women's biography among the subjects.

Philip Yancey

71 books• 1 series

Philip Yancey writes about Christian faith and spiritual questions. Born November 4, 1949, and now retired, the American author has sold more than 15 million books in English, with translations into 40 languages. The Jesus I Never Knew won the ECPA Christian Book of the Year Award in 1996, and What's So Amazing About Grace? won it in 1998. Publishers include Hachette, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, InterVarsity Press, Rabbit Room Press and Penguin Random House. The catalogue lists 71 titles, from After the Wedding (1976) to Undone: A Modern Rendering of John Donne's Devotions (2023). Grace, pain, the Bible and theology lead the subject tags.

Robin Jones Gunn

99 books• 14 series

Robin Jones Gunn is an award-winning Christian author of more than 100 books. Christy Miller and Sierra Jensen are series for teen girls, and Christy Miller's characters carry on in Christy and Todd: College Years, Christy & Todd: The Married Years, Christy & Todd: The Baby Years and Katie Weldon. Glenbrooke and Sisterchicks are further series, and Sisterchicks in Gondolas won the Christy Award in 2007. The site lists 99 books from 1985 to Shortbread in the Highlands (2026), starting with the Billy 'n' Bear titles of 1985.

Steven James, born in 1969, writes psychological suspense alongside Christian education material. The Bowers Files, an eleven-book thriller sequence built around the criminologist Patrick Bowers, has taken four Christy Awards. The catalogue holds 57 books from Worship Sketches 2 Perform (2000) to Portal (2025), and subject tags span criminologists, suspense, Bible stories, American Christian drama and the teaching of storytelling in Christian ministry. Synapse, a standalone science fiction thriller, arrived on 8 October 2019 with starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. Other headings include the Blur Trilogy, the Rift Trilogy, the Jevin Banks Experience and Travis Brock.

Janice Thompson has 148 books in the catalogue, from Duty to Die (2001) to Mistletoe and Mayhem (2025). Subjects include weddings, Christian romance, dating, Christian life, mystery, girls and children's fiction. Series include Weddings by Bella, Texas Weddings, Bridal Mayhem Mystery, Hill Country Bride, Boardwalk Brides, Brides With Style, Red, White, and Blue Weddings, Freedom Express and Red Truck Mysteries. Early titles include A Class of Her Own (2002), Angel Incognito (2004) and The Wedding Caper (2006).

John C. Maxwell

208 books• 10 series

Leadership is the main subject of John C. Maxwell, an American author, speaker and pastor. Maxwell's leadership books include The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader and The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, and some have reached the New York Times Best Seller list. The catalogue lists 208 titles from Think on These Things: Meditations for Leaders (1979) to The Resilient Leader (2026). The Winning Attitude (1984), Be a People Person (1989), Developing the Leader Within You (1993) and The Power Of Attitude (1995) are earlier entries. Series include Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Leadership Gold, John C. Maxwell's 101 and Lunch & Learn. Success, attitude and Christian life run through the subject tags.

Stephen Bly has 98 books in the catalogue, published from 1981 to 2013, and the list is likely complete. Radical Discipleship (1981) is the earliest, followed by Devotions with a Difference (1982) and God's Angry Side (1982), with Crystal's Blizzard Trek (1986) among the titles that followed and When the Cowboys Come to Town (2013) the newest. Bly series include Legend of Stuart Brannon, Code of the West, Crystal Blake Adventures, Adventures of Nathan T. Riggins, Fortunes of the Black Hills, Austin-Stoner Files, Hidden West, Old California and Heroines of the Golden West. Subjects include westerns, Christian life, women pioneers and the American West.

Sandra Byrd wrote for girls and for adults across a catalogue of 45 books. The Hidden Diary, Girls Like You!, London Confidential and French Twist series carry the younger work, with Christian life and friendship as their subjects, while Ladies in Waiting, Daughters of Hampshire and Victorian Ladies turn to historical fiction. Heart to Heart (1998) opens the run and Heirlooms (2022) closes it. The books are short, at a median of 108 pages.

John F. MacArthur Jr. is catalogued with 362 books published from 1972 to 2024, the first being Found: God's Will (1972). Subjects include the Bible, biblical interpretation, commentaries on the New Testament gospels and epistles, Bible study, prayer, Christian life and marriage. Series include MacArthur Bible Studies, MacArthur New Testament Commentary, MacArthur Old Testament Study Guide, Great Hymns of Our Faith and John MacArthur Pastor's Library. Early titles include Liberated for Life: Galatians (1976) and The Charismatics: A Doctrinal Perspective (1978), and the newest is The War On Children (2024).

Warren W. Wiersbe (1929-2019) was an American clergyman and Bible teacher whose writing covers commentary, sermons and Christian living. The Be Commentary titles, including Be Real, Be Joyful, Be Free and Be Rich, form the core of a catalogue of 282 books. Publication spans Thoughts for Men on the Move (1970) to Becoming New: 100 Days of Transformation through God's Word (2024). Wiersbe pastored Moody Church in Chicago from 1971 to 1978 and later directed the Back to the Bible radio ministry.

Jack Canfield, born August 19, 1944, is an American author and motivational speaker. Canfield co-authored the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, which has more than 250 titles and 500 million copies in print across over 40 languages. The Success Principles, written with Janet Switzer, followed in 2005. The catalogue lists 182 books from Dare to Win (1988) to Everyday Catholicism (2020), with Mark Victor Hansen co-credited on 148 and Amy Newmark on 46. Chicken Soup for the Soul appeared in 1993.

Monica Furlong was a British author, journalist and activist whose work sat close to the Church of England; an obituary named her the church's most influential and creative layperson of the post-war period. The catalogue holds 41 books between With Love to the Church (1965) and Love Unknown (2021), covering biography, meditations, church history and the campaign for the ordination of women, with Merton (1980) among the lives. Furlong also wrote children's fiction, including the Doran books.

Angie Smith writes on Christian faith and the Christian life. Recorded subjects across the 9 catalogued books include grief, bereavement, consolation, biblical teaching and Christian women. I Will Carry You (2010) opens the listing and Woven (2021) is the most recent entry, with What Women Fear, Mended, Seamless and Matchless: The Life and Love of Jesus in between. The eight books with a recorded length run to a median of 207 pages.

Janette Oke, born Janette Steeves on 18 February 1935, is a Canadian author of inspirational fiction, often set in pioneer times with women as the lead characters. Bethany House published Love Comes Softly, the first Oke novel, in 1979. When Calls the Heart (1983) opened the Canadian West series and became the basis for a television series with the same title. The catalogue holds 79 Oke books, with The Pharisee's Wife (2025) the newest. Series include Love Comes Softly, Prairie Legacy, Women of the West, Song of Acadia and Janette Oke's Animal Friends. Subjects include women pioneers, Canada and Christian fiction.

Richard Rohr

37 books

Richard Rohr writes on Christian spirituality from within the Catholic tradition, on contemplation, scripture and the inner life of men. 37 catalogued titles run from The Wild Mans Journey (1986) through The Enneagram (1989), Simplicity: The Art of Living (1991), Near Occasions of Grace (1993), Radical Grace (1993) and Quest for the Grail (1994). The newest is The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage.