Lauren's List: Books I Read and Loved in 2025 - Part 2

Welcome back! Here are the amazing nonfiction/Christian books I read in 2025 and am still thinking about.

(Plus a bonus fiction pick!)

My Favorite Nonfiction of 2025:

Sacred Fire by Ronald Rolheiser was such needed wisdom for my early 40s. Listeners of the International Fatherhood podcast will recognize this from season 2! Justin and I read and discussed this last January with two of our best friends on a special birthday trip, and it led to incredibly rich conversations! If you're a parent under 35, I'd start with his book Domestic Monastery. If you're not a parent and under 35, check out The Holy Longing.

Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age by Rod Dreher challenged me the most, in all the positive senses of the word. This book increased my longing to experience God's presence in my daily life through historic Christian practices, and to look for the abundant beauty all around me.

I'm so glad Justin wrote The Body Teaches the Soul because it's a topic I would've avoided unless he wrote it, and I needed this book so much! Lament and physical suffering has been a significant part of my last 14 years, and God doesn't want me to miss what my body has to teach my soul. Also, the chapter on eating is genius - the ordinary fare/feasting/fasting paradigm that Justin synthesized from many wise traditions and writers of the past will be such a gift to many.

Other Recommendations:

• How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People by Pete Greig

• Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster

• Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis

• Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Bonus Fiction Pick:

In this House of Brede by Rumer Godden is a top fiction pick of 2025, continuing my year's theme of duty versus desire, and how sometimes choosing not to act is the righteous thing. Also, I love a book that takes me into a completely different world so wholly I feel like I live there, and this book does that beautifully.

Stay tuned for Part 3, my to-read list for 2026! You can connect with us on Instagram @justinwhitmelearley or @laurenmakeslists (all links in my bio as well!)

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