By Phoebe Farag Mikhail

Lent has begun, and with it less time spent feeding our bodies and more time feeding our souls. This year I have a wonderful Lent book list that I’m so excited to share with you. If you are wondering how I would be able to read a book stack like this in 40 days (technically 55, since I’m Coptic Orthodox), take a look at my recent post, How I Read 230 Books in 2019, and my post one year ago, How to Build (or Re-Build) a Reading Habit.

While I am an advocate that we all need more reading and books in our lives, quality reading is as important as quantity, especially when we’re doing spiritual reading that we want to actually help us grow closer to God and change for the better. Reading slowly, re-reading, taking notes, reflection are all important parts of spiritual reading during the Great Lent. Thus, this book list isn’t a challenge, but some recommendations for you to choose from – or add to your TBR.

To encourage reflective reading, I’ve created a Spiritual Reading Reflection Guide, which you can download for free by subscribing to my email newsletter (current subscribers, check your email!). You can print one out for each book and keep it inside to take notes in as you complete it, or you can use it as a guide for writing in your own journal where you keep your thoughts and reflections.

For each of the book titles I mention below, I have a giveaway copy provided by the publisher, and all you have to do to enter is subscribe to my email newsletter and then comment below with the book you are interested in and what you are reading this Lent. Current subscribers need only comment, and the giveaway ends on Tuesday, March 10 at 11:59 pm EST. In addition, I’m highlighting some excellent Lent resources for children and youth that will be useful for parents and Sunday School teachers.

And now to the list! One of my themes this Lent has been learning about wise spiritual role models, so two of my books are biographies: one of Pope Kyrillos (Cyril) VI, and the other of Annalena Tonelli. Another book is a series of letters from St. John Chrysostom to St. Olympia, a book about overcoming distraction, a Pulitzer Prize winning novel about a minister facing death, a book about spiritual practices, a graphic poetry book, and a Lent book about endangered animals that I’ll read with my children.

A Silent Patriarch: Kyrillos VI, Life and Legacy by Fr. Daniel Fanous (SVSPress, Amazon)

Anyone interested in leadership would do well to learn more about His Holiness Pope Kyrillos VI, the 116^th Pope of Alexandria and the See of St. Mark. Members of the Coptic Orthodox Christian community the world over have acknowledged him a saint even before he was canonized, along with Archdeacon Habib Guirgis, another important figure in modern Coptic history. While it may be my extreme interest in the subject matter, I admit to having so much difficulty putting down this book. This is the first scholarly biography of one of the Coptic Orthodox Church’s spiritual giants, and it includes never before seen letters and photographs. Fr. Daniel chronicles his life from his childhood, and doesn’t mince words about his struggles both within the church and outside of it. Under his leadership, the Coptic Orthodox Church went from a struggling national congregation to a global and thriving community. He faced down both an increasingly politically Islamicizing Egypt and a church hierarchy that was resistant to reform. By the time of his death, the church experienced a Renaissance, with church buildings overflowing with congregants participating in the Divine Liturgy, which he modeled by praying every day. He began ecumenical relations with other churches after centuries of isolation, and gained the respect and admiration of the late Egyptian President Nasser himself, to the point that Nasser donated the land on which the Cathedral in Cairo now stands. I am inspired by his personality, his leadership and his deep spiritual devotion to God in the midst of crushing responsibilities. There’s something in his story for everyone. SVS Press has provided me with one copy of this book to give away to one of my readers. To enter, subscribe to my email newsletter and comment below.

Stronger than Death: How Annalena Tonelli Defied Terror and Tuberculosis in the Horn of Africa by Rachel Pieh Jones (Plough Publishing, Indiebound, Amazon).

After reading an excerpt of this book in Plough Magazine, I knew I had learn more about this extraordinary woman’s story. She devoted her life to nursing ostracized Somalians who had been diagnosed with tuberculosis or HIV/AIDS, and was assassinated in her own hospital by Islamic extremists after three decades of serving in Somaliland. It wasn’t the first time she had faced down a gun. The author, Rachel Pieh Jones, was living in Somaliland at the time of Tonelli’s death and shares an intimate knowledge of the history, context, and geography of Tonelli’s story. I am intensely curious about how this woman did what she did in such an unforgiving environment, and what I will learn from her example. Plough Publishing has provided me with a free copy of this book to giveaway to one of my readers. To enter, subscribe to my email newsletter and comment below.

Letters to Saint Olympia by St. John Chrysostom (SVSPress, Amazon)

Every Lent reading list should include one “old” book, and SVS Press’s Popular Patristics series does an amazing job of making old books new. In this case, it is a collection of letters from St. John Chrysostom during his final years of life, while in exile, to St. Olympia, a fourth century deaconess that I also want to learn more about. He writes to her specifically about helping her overcome despondency and despair (one of the passions, the “joy thieves,” I mention in my book). This is the first time all of these letters are available in English. The book also contains a substantial introduction about the life of St. Olympia. In my quest to learn more about the women saints of the church, East and West, I am also reading Holy Women by Pope Benedict XVI along with the Fountains of Carrots podcast book club. I have one copy of this book to giveaway to one of my readers. To enter, subscribe to my email newsletter and comment below.

Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life by Nir Eyal (Indiebound, Amazon, Audible)

It seems odd to include a secular self-help book on my list, but the struggle to maintain focus and avoid distraction is a decidedly spiritual struggle. I learned about this book from Nicole Roccas on her podcast with Sarah Bereza, Writing on Wednesdays, and decided I needed to read this for myself. I’m attracted to it because it doesn’t parade what is now conventional (though slightly unrealistic) wisdom about social media and phones (such as getting rid of your phone or shutting down all your social media channels). Rather, it provides a framework for how to address the root causes of our seeking out distractions, regardless of the type, and tools for living life with more focus. As someone who fights distraction in many contexts (especially prayer), I’m longing for some tools to help me refocus. Benballa Books is offering a free giveaway copy to one of my readers! To enter, subscribe to my email newsletter and comment below.

Gilead: A Novel by Marilyn Robinson (Indiebound, Amazon)

Taking a cue from my father’s recommended book list for Lent, which includes the Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, I like to include at least one novel in my reading list. This year, it’s Gilead. I haven’t read anything by Marilyn Robinson yet, and she’s one of those authors whose writing I should know. While not necessarily an “old book,” Gilead is considered a modern classic. In it an aging minister is about to die, and so he narrates his story to his son. It’s already captivating me in the first few lines. “I told you you might have a very different life from mine, and from the life you’ve had with me, and that would be a wonderful thing, there are many ways to live a good life. And you said, Mama already told me that.” I will be giving away one copy of this book to one of my readers. To enter, subscribe to my email newsletter and comment below.

Putting Joy into Practice: Seven Ways to Lift Your Spirit from the Early Church by Phoebe Farag Mikhail (Paraclete Press, Indiebound, Amazon).

Yes, I am re-reading parts of my own book for Lent – because sometimes, I need to take my own advice (and also, I will be speaking to some church groups about it this Lent). I will be re-reading the chapter on the joy of repentance as well as that on arrow prayers for sure. It seems counter-intuitive to read a book about joy during the penitential season of Lent, but it serves as a reminder that it is Christ’s suffering that allowed us to have the joy of the Resurrection in the first place. Many churches are reading this book for their book clubs this Lent, and now, whether you read it in a book club or on your own, there is now also a free book reflection and discussion guide with questions for each chapter available on Paraclete Press’s website. I will be giving away one SIGNED copy of this book to one of my readers. To enter, subscribe to my email newsletter and comment below.

Poems to See By by Julian Peters (Plough, Indiebound, Amazon)

This past September I resolved to read more poetry, and when I did so I learned that my seven year old daughter loves poetry. Poems to See By, a book of famous poems illustrated in a graphic novel style, is a treasure I plan to enjoy with her this Lent. It turns out that poetry, with its vivid language and appeal to emotion, lends itself beautifully to a graphic novel-style interpretation. Reading poetry forces us to stop and savor the words, slowly, re-reading them and thinking about them, making poetry reading an excellent Lenten practice, training us to do the same when reading Scripture. Julian Peters chooses some very well known poems that we get to read again with fresh eyes through the book’s gorgeous, colorful illustrations for each line. While rereading “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden with these illustrations, I felt both the cold of winter and the pang of regret the narrator expresses when he finally recognizes “loves austere and lonely offices.”  This book makes an excellent gift as well. Plough Publishing is giving away one copy of this book to one of my readers when it releases on March 31. To enter, subscribe to my email newsletter and comment below.

Wild Hope: Stories for Lent by Gayle Boss (Paraclete Press, Indiebound, Amazon)

Gayle Boss’s Advent book, All Creation Waits, has been a favorite in our house during the Advent season, especially for my 10 year old son. So when I heard that she was coming out with a Lent book, I had to make sure it was on our bookshelves in time. While All Creation Waits describes how different animals struggle to survive during the winter season, Wild Hope: Stories from the Vanishing takes a different turn, describing 25 animals that are endangered, with beautiful illustrations by David G. Klein. It is appropriate to contemplate them during Lent, when we repent of what we have done and left undone, and for many of these animals, their vanishing is directly or indirectly related to what we have done and left undone. Still, this is not a hopeless book – it is hopeful, as we all look towards the Resurrection. “Lent is seeded with resurrection,” Gayle Boss writes. “The Resurrection promises that a new future will be given to us when we beg to be stripped of the lie of separation, when the hard husk suffocating our hearts breaks open and, like children again, we feel the suffering of any creature as our own. That this can happen is the wild, not impossible hope of all creation.” You can listen to a great interview with her on the Spark My Muse podcast as well. Paraclete Press has provided me with a copy of Wild Hope to give away to one of my readers. To enter, subscribe to my email newsletter and comment below.

Lent resources for children and young people

In addition to Poems to See By and Wild Hope, there are some wonderful new Lenten resources for children:

Coptic Dad and Mom has come out with a Great Lent Journey that follows the seven weeks of Great Lent in the Coptic Orthodox tradition and includes passport books, stickers, and a colorful booklet to read about each of the Great Lent Sunday Gospels. There are packages for parents as well as packages for Sunday School teachers. When this resource came out, I didn’t even blink before purchasing, and I’ve already started using it with my children. Learn more here.

We the Copts has a fantastic Great Lent Escape Room game that gets children to open up their Bibles to find the verses and clues to help them get out of the escape room. I beta-tested this game when it first came out, and my children had a lot of fun with it. The kit comes with everything needed to play, including instructions for the adults in case they need to give the kids clues. Pick up a set now and use it year by year in Sunday school as a way of looking forward to Lent, or with any gathering of children ages 8-14. Learn more here.

ACTS Press has recently released a coloring and activity book called The Great Fast. I have the Holy Pascha week coloring book and it is very high quality. Currently the coloring books are only available for bulk purchasing, but hopefully they should also be available for individual purchase soon. Learn more here.

Finally, for younger children, Laura Alari (author of Make Room: A Children’s Guide to Lent and Easter, which was on my Lent reading list for 2017), has put together a children’s picture book guide for Lent for the Presbyterian Church in Canada. This is such a fantastic resource and I plan to be reading some of these books with my children during the Great Lent (along with Make Room). I may imitate this idea for the Sunday Lent themes in my tradition – stay tuned! To access Laura’s guide, click here.

I hope you enjoy these books and resources! For previous years’ Lent book lists, click here for 2019, here for 2018, and here for 2017. Don’t forget to comment below with what you are reading this Lent season, and what book you are interested in on this year’s list!

If you are fasting this Lent season, may you enjoy a blessed fast.

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