It’s the Lenten season, so I’m gonna get a little spiritual on you all, but it has also been a while since I did a random book drop.

I heard one of my favorite Christian commentators, Alfonzo Rachel say God would rather have our obedience than our sacrifice That tends to be my personal way of tackling the season. I’ll keep enjoying my chocolate and coffee, but I add some more time to my daily devotional. I do this by picking a book and diving heavily into a book for some intense theological or religious history study.

For my late winter/early spring random book drop, here five of the books I have chosen in the past for my Lenten reading, including the one I am reading now:

Islam and the Jews by Mark A. Gabriel, Ph.D.

Gabriel grew up a devout Muslim in Egypt and was taught to hate the Jews his entire life. He found Jesus Christ as an adult, and it opened his eyes with a newfound love. I felt with everything going on in the world and in the “fake world” of social media today, this would be an appropriate read.

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

I’ve read several of Lewis’s books during Lent from Mere Christianity to The Great Divorce, but The Screwtape Letters is always a favorite. This is the engaging story of an elder demon advising his nephew the proper way to acquire a soul for Hell.  I used to have a “book on tape” version of this one read by, of all people. John Cleese. That might be hard to find, but the book is easy to find.

The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to The Coen Brothers by Cathleen Falsani

This is not an officially sanctioned Coen Brothers book, nor is it saying the Coen Brothers had any hidden, Christian meaning in their movies. They are filmmakers who just tell great stories. However, Falsani goes through several of their films sharing the messages we can get from them, if we try.

Finding God in Anime: A Devotional for Otakus edited by Laura A. Grace and Moriah Jane.

There are two great volumes of this devotional, featuring entries by several anime lovers, writers and artists who share a love of Christ and all things anime. Again, as with the Cone Brothers book this isn’t saying anime are intentionally Christian stories. It is just showing how you can use universal stories of loyalty, friendship, family and more to share the love of Jesus.

By the way, I’m not suggesting this title, because, I’m a contributor to the second volume…but I could.

A Hobbit, A Wardrobe and a Great War by Joseph Laconte

The subtitle tells you what you need here: “How J.J.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-1918.”

This book was a great read if you’re into WWI history, or if you are an admirer of either author. You get a look at both of these men’s very different backgrounds, and how the Great War shaped them as writers and human beings.

I read this one the year before my own dad, an avid reader, died. We talked a lot bout how it would have been so cool to by a “fly on the wall” during that famous walk and talk where Tolkien helped his fellow Inkling find God. You know it was an amazing conversation.

Here they are, no mega descriptions or reviews from me, just letting you see how much reading is out there if you want to give your mind some interesting and enlightening exercises.

God bless, and have a peaceful season.