Joy H. Books

Welcome to Joy H. Books! If you’re new to the blog, thanks for reading! The posts are mostly focused on the deep messages found in favorite literature, movies, and other forms of entertainment. Today, we discuss five great books that might be off your radar, but are worth a try this summer.

1. Till We Have Faces

C.S. Lewis is a beloved Christian author known for his ability to demonstrate the riches of God’s beauty in creative, heart-reaching ways. Most famous for The Chronicles of Narnia, other famous and worthy reads of Lewis include The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and Surprised by Joy. A lesser-known book, however, is perhaps Lewis’s greatest. Till We Have Faces, one of Lewis’s last books to be published, is a fictional retelling of a Greek myth (1). Told first-person by queen-to-be Orual in the fictional land of Glome, the story drums out a startling rich, incredibly personal, and profoundly beautiful narrative about the transformative power of Christ in the face of wayward hearts. Fighting a war against pagan gods, internal sin, and a consuming envy for her sister Psyche, Orual’s story takes a startling plot-twist midway that makes this one of my personal favorites. The beauty of Christ shown, the depth of sin revealed, and the mercy of God displayed are all memorable hallmarks of the tale, making this a journey worth taking. In fact, Lewis considered Till We Have Faces his greatest achievement, and–perhaps with exception to Narnia– I’d have to heartily agree (2).

Lewis, C.S. Till We Have Faces. HarperOne, 2017.

2. Gossamer

Lois Lowry is an exceptional author; her novels The Giver and Number the Stars are worthy recipients of the prestigious Newberry Award. Her writing style is both terse and deep, quickly creating realistic narratives full of pathos, hard dilemmas, and warm characters. In high school, like many students, I had already read her more popular books, but I recently stumbled across Gossamer. Lowry’s imaginative novel follows dream-giving fairy-like creatures who guard over the nights of a young boy in foster care. Haunted by monsters wishing to depart nightmares, the dream-givers fight against the darkness by bestowing dreams of light, collected from the boy’s memories. Alternating between whimsical yet deep forays into a magical world are the perspectives of people in the boy’s life. As the audience begins to learn of the child’s abused past, his story becomes intertwined with the lives of a lonely elderly woman willing to foster and a struggling mother endeavoring to be strong. From the outside, Gossamer sounds a little “out there.” But in the masterful hands of Lowry, the story becomes a heart-breaking and much-needed tale of compassion, gentleness, and hope. Filled with rich meaning and honest storytelling, Gossamer is not only an enjoyable read, but a transformative novel worth trying.

Lowry, Lois. Gossamer. Yearling, 2008.

3. Monkey Bridge

Monkey Bridge holds a special place in my heart; the first time I read it was during the start of the pandemic. My small college Introduction to Literature class was forced to move online, but the discussion between the few students on Zoom was warm and complex. Together, we dove into Monkey Bridge, a fiction novel based loosely on the experiences of author Lan Cao’s immigration to the United States during the tumultuous Vietnam War. Told in a raw, gritty, and intensely descriptive style, Monkey Bridge is a hard–but for many, worthy–read. Following a teenage girl named Mai in the wake of events spanning back further than the war, this novel addresses hard themes like loss, trauma, and grief, and opens up a conversation about the importance of culture in the depths of our lives. As characters wage a private battle against the effects of sin, secret histories, and consuming bereavement, the reader watches as Mai and her mother Thanh approach it from different perspectives. Hypothetical quandaries over the value of religion melt in the face of the families grief and suddenly become personal. The worldview with which one approaches suffering suddenly becomes surprisingly essential, and the reader finds themselves wondering what the right answer is. The answer is the difference between harm or help in the hands of people fighting for their lives. Could some ideologies do more harm than good? the book forces us to grapple with. When everything else is taken away, including the ability to connect with others across the void of shared loss, where does someone turn to for safety? Granted, Monkey Bridge is a difficult read, and not the right book for everyone. (Readers should be aware of sensitive material, including suicide). If this book is right for you, however, Mai’s story of loss remains a valuable tool in beginning a conversation about trauma, hope, and the Truth that bridges the two (3).

Cao, Lan. Monkey Bridge. Penguin Books, 1998.

4. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien

It should be openly admitted that I’m a big fan of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Many people have been impacted by these men’s commitment to displaying God’s beauty through sweeping epics of adventure, loss, and love. Lord of the Rings, in their original, written glory, have contributed richly to literature, shaped lives, and transformed the ways that adults and kids alike view the depth of their faith. What many readers have not discovered, however, is the person behind the beloved books. In The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, readers are taken on a nonfictional foray through the epistolary conversations of J.R.R. Tolkien. Through the various letters, the hand of God is seen weaving together fragments of Tolkien’s remarkable life. We see a young husband writing to his beloved Ethel; a humble writer exploring the publishing world; a weary dad entrusting his soldier-son to his Heavenly Father. In the pages of these old letters, in between the lines the foundation of Lord of the Rings is found: a courageous, embracing, moving love of God in a humble man’s heart. I highly suggest this book: these letters span not only decades, but their worth endures for generations.

Carpenter, Humphry. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. Mariner Books, 2000.

5. Ella Minnow Pea

I just finished reading Ella Minnow Pea–and it has been a long time since I’ve been unable to put down such a clever and rich read. Written by Mark Dunn, this award-winning novel takes an unconventional, lighthearted, and yet deeply empathetic look at truth, connection, and freedom. Set in a fictional island nation called Nollop, the story is told primarily through the letters of cousins Ella and Tillie. Founded in honor of Nollop, the supposed author of the alphabetical sentence, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog,” the island is a close community dedicated to the celebration of language. In the center of a town is a monument celebrating Nollop with a individual tiles of his beloved sentence. When letters begin to fall off the structure and shatter on the ground, however, the town leaders decide that it is ordained that these morphemes be erased from common speech. Soon, that eliminates pretty much . . . everything. Out go books and menus and maps. Banned are newspapers and Bibles and written laws. Progressively, freedom–and the ability to enjoy the beauty of English–is stripped away with each fallen letter. In a fight against the crazed authorities and a scared community, Ella and Tillie learn the value of expression and the bondage that comes when truth is attempted to be redefined and shackled. While likely not the intention of Dunn, Ella Minnow Pea can also open up questions about theology. Like letters in the alphabet, when we attempt to remove truths about the character of God, we are deprived not only of the richness of truth, but of freedom itself.

Dunn, Mark. Ella Minnow Pea. Anchor, 2002.

Enjoy!

Whether you’ve read the above five books before, or are now hearing about them for the first time, I hope that this list inspires you to try some new literature in 2024. Ultimately, I hope that it guides you closer to Jesus, the Author and joy of our lives.

Now, go and enjoy!

This post was originally featured at Joy H.’s original blog, Unvisited Lands. Check out more here: https://unvisitedlands.wixsite.com/unvisitedlands/post/5-books-you-probably-haven-t-read

FURTHER READING

(1) Schakel, Peter. “Till We Have Faces”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Jun. 2016, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Till-We-Have-Faces. Accessed 4 January 2022.

(2) “Narnia, Philosophy, Religion, Writing . . .” RAAB Collection, https://www.raabcollection.com/literary-autographs/lewis-killmer

(3) Hendrich, S. “The Comfort of Christ: A Comparison of Christianity and Confucianism in Trauma Recovery and Mental Illness in Monkey Bridge,” 21 April 2020. Accessed 4 January 2022.