Calvin Recommends...

Not Calvin and Hobbes. The Calvin Festival of Faith and Writing, held biannually in Grand Rapids. I'm headed there this April, and here's the "recommended" reading list. The authors listed below will speak at the festival, and the coordinators have selected what they consider the best sampling of those authors' works:

Leila Aboulela: Lyrics Alley or The Translator (fiction)

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Purple Hibiscus (fiction)

M. Craig Barnes: The Pastor as Minor Poet (spirituality)

Susan Campbell Bartoletti: They Called Themselves the KKK (young adult literature)

Amy Julia Becker: A Good and Perfect Gift (memoir)

Aaron Belz: Lovely, Raspberry (poetry)

Kate Braestrup: Here if You Need Me (memoir)

Kevin Brockmeier: The Illumination (fiction)

Scott Cairns: Compass of Affection (poetry)

Lan Samantha Chang: All Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Lost  (fiction)

Susanna Childress: Entering the House of Awe (poetry)

Shane Claiborne: The Irresistible Revolution (spirituality)

Hugh Cook: Cracked Wheat (fiction)

Debra Dean: The Madonnas of Leningrad (fiction)

David Diaz: Smoky Night (illustrator) (children's literature)

Brian Doyle: Grace Notes (non-fiction)

Tony Earley: Jim the Boy and Blue Star (fiction)

Kathryn Erskine: Mockingbird (children's literature)

Jonathan Safran Foer: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close  (fiction)

Amy Frykholm: Julian of Norwich: A Contemplative Biography (non-fiction)

Paula Huston: By Way of Grace: Moving from Faithfulness to Holiness (spirituality)

Susan E. Isaacs: Angry Conversations with God (memoir)

River Jordan: Praying for Strangers: An Adventure of the Human Spirit (memoir)

Julia Kasdorf: Sleeping Preacher (poetry)

Kirsten Kelly: Asparagus! Stalking the American Life (documentary film)

John Leax: Grace Is Where I Live (poetry)

Li-Young Lee: Behind My Eyes (poetry)

Patrick Madden: Quotidiana (non-fiction)

Maurice Manning: The Common Man (poetry)

Ruben Martinez: Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail (non-fiction)

Marilyn Chandler McEntyre: Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies (non-fiction)

Richard Michelson: Busing Brewster (children's literature)

Daniel Nayeri: Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow (young adult literature)

Peter O'Leary: Depth Theology (poetry)

Bethany Pierce: Amy Inspired (fiction)

Andrea Pinkney: Bird in a Box or Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down (children's literature)

Brian Pinkney: The Faithful Friend (illustrator) (children's literature)

Mark Richard: House of Prayer No. 2 (memoir)

Jana Riess: Flunking Sainthood (memoir)

Marilynne Robinson: Gilead (fiction)

James Schaap: Rehoboth, a Place for Us: An Album of Family Stories (non-fiction)

Gary D. Schmidt: The Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now (young adult literature)

Luci Shaw: Breath for Bones: Art, Imagination, and Spirit (spirituality)

Judith Shulevitz: The Sabbath World (spirituality)

Lisa Russ Spaar: Satin Cash (poetry)

Nikki Stafford: Finding Lost: The Unofficial Guide (series) (non-fiction)

Francisco X. Stork: Marcelo in the Real World (young adult literature)

Daniel Taylor: Tell Me a Story (non-fiction)

Scott Teems: That Evening Sun (film)

Craig Thompson: Blankets (graphic novel)

Luis Alberto Urrea: Into the Beautiful North (fiction)

Clare Vanderpool: Moon Over Manifest (young adult literature)

Ann Voskamp: One Thousand Gifts (spirituality)

Carey Wallace: The Blind Contessa's New Machine (fiction)

Brian Walsh: Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire (spirituality)

Walt Wangerin: The Book of the Dun Cow or The Book of God (fiction)

Paul Willis: The Alpine Tales (fiction)

G. Willow Wilson: The Butterfly Mosque (fiction) or Cairo (graphic novel)

Larry Woiwode: Words Made Fresh: Essays on Literature and Culture (essays)