A few books that inspire me . . .

A reader of my blog recently asked me what I was inspired by. Good question, I thought. Here is a list of writings that pierce my heart and challenge my thinking into fresh inspiration.


Out of The Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis

Ransom is a bumbling English man with big dreams and a pocket full of nothing. His chivalry demands that, one starry night on the walk of a homeless man, he check on a neighbor who lives in the country. Accidentally discovering a secret experiment in two professors' backyard, Ransom is drugged and stowed away on a miraculous spaceship. He wakes up in burning space as a primary component in the mad men's idea of human progression.


Byzantium by Stephen R. Lawhead
It's the Dark Ages for more than just religious people.
A dutiful monk named Aidan is chosen to be part of a pilgrimage that carries a jewel-embedded, hand-scribed manuscript known as The Book of Kells to give to Byzantium's new emperor. Despite the backstabbing greed of some treacherous monks who desire to steal the book, this humble man makes it to the sea with the manuscript, where the group is attacked by Vikings who take Aidan as a slave. After years of service, Aidan devises his way to Byzantium, where he is first cast into the mines as a slave, then escapes to become a royal servant. His wealthy master later offers his mesmerizing daughter to Aidan in marriage. Pressured to adopt the Islamic religion, Aidan thirsts for one goal: to free his Brothers who also languish in the mines. Through a well-crafted political plot, he approaches the Emperor with the remains of The Book of Kells.
Based on the true story of St. Aidan, Byzantium explores the faiths of Christianity and Islam, and the complex culture of a magnificent city through the eyes of man not yet well-experienced, but as shrewd and relentless as an eagle.

The Monk Downstairs by Tim Farrington
Rebecca is so lonely after her divorce from the wild surfer her child calls Dad. But Rebecca will not compromise her standard of intellectual abilities, something she can't seem to find in her workplace or social groups. When she rents out the basement to an outdated sort of man who says he is an ex-monk, Rebecca begins to realize she has an opinion of her own. And she wants to sleep with the monk downstairs.