Tuesday Book Chat | What novel has influenced you the most, and why?

Posted byNarelle Atkins 14 Comments on Tuesday Book Chat | What novel has influenced you the most, and why?

Welcome to the Australasian Christian Writers Tuesday Book Chat, where we encourage book lovers to answer our bookish question of the week.

Today’s question is:

What novel has influenced you the most, and why?

We look forward to hearing your thoughts. Please join in the conversation in a comment on this post or in a comment on the blog post shared in our Australasian Christian Writers Facebook Group.

Let’s chat!

When I first read this question, I thought hmm… How can I possibly name only one novel?

Demon by Tosca Lee (speculative fiction), Blood Ransom by Lisa Harris (thriller), Yesterday’s Tomorrow by Catherine West (historical romance – Vietnam War) and A Stray Drop of Blood by Roseanna M. White (Biblical fiction) are books that challenged me in different ways.

One book that stands out is Red Ink by Kathi Macias. The story is loosely based on the real life experiences of Yang Zhen-Li – a young woman who was persecuted in China for her Christian faith. Her remarkable story inspired me to consider how much suffering and hardship would I be prepared to endure when standing up for my beliefs.

What do you think?

And don’t forget: if you’d like to participate in our weekly Book Chat by posting the question and your answer on your blog, drop us an email via our Contact page and we’ll send you the list of questions for 2019.

Author

  • Narelle Atkins

    A fun loving Aussie girl at heart, Narelle Atkins was born and raised on the beautiful northern beaches in Sydney, Australia. She has settled in Canberra with her husband and children. A lifelong romance reader, she found the perfect genre to write when she discovered inspirational romance. Narelle’s contemporary stories of faith and romance are set in Australia and international locations.

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Published by Narelle Atkins

A fun loving Aussie girl at heart, Narelle Atkins was born and raised on the beautiful northern beaches in Sydney, Australia. She has settled in Canberra with her husband and children. A lifelong romance reader, she found the perfect genre to write when she discovered inspirational romance. Narelle’s contemporary stories of faith and romance are set in Australia and international locations.

14 replies on “Tuesday Book Chat | What novel has influenced you the most, and why?”

  1. I first read Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness (thriller?) in the late 1980s. I had never seriously considered the possibility of spiritual warfare being involved in the events of contemporary life. I gave several copies to friends who’d been as oblivious as I had.

    1. Hi Carol, yes, Frank Peretti’s books are powerful and eye-opening. Creston Mapes is another author who writes spiritual warfare stories. I also enjoyed reading Angelguard by Ian Acheson. 🙂

  2. I recently re-read ‘The Scarlet Thread’ by Francine Rivers and was reminded of how God patiently and lovingly gets us back on-track and works ALL things together for good. Thanks for sharing.

  3. As a kid, the book that impacted me most was a book called Came Back to Show You I Could Fly. It was about a young kid that befriends a teenage girl who is a drug addict. He didn’t see her the way the community saw her, and unconditional acceptance of her made her want to be better. I can’t remember how it ends but for a young teenager, it was the first portrayal of grace and acceptance that I had seen in a novel and influenced how I view and treat people.

    1. Hi Lays, I haven’t heard of this book, but it sounds like it was the right book for you to read at that time. Sometimes it’s the subtle story themes that can have the biggest impact on us. 🙂

  4. ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee. I was about 16 at the time and it was the first book we had to read for school that I actually enjoyed. It opened by eyes to the racial situation in the American South, but also challenged stereotypes in other ways. For example, the assumptions people had about Boo Radley and his ‘difference’, and how that changed over the course of the novel. Also the justice theme and standing up for what you believe even though others are against you. I purposely haven’t read the more recent sequel because I don’t want to ruin the original.

    1. Hi Nola, My son read To Kill A Mockingbird for school a few years ago, and I could write an essay on the story themes you mentioned, lol. Rereading the book reminded me of why it was a stand out book for me when I read it at high school. My all-time favourite novel that I studied for the HSC was Pride and Prejudice. 🙂

  5. I’m going to cheat and name a few. C.S. Lewis has been a profound influence especially his Narnia series (on how I view God and the whole idea of what heaven might be like and that it is to be looked forward to not as something boring and emphemeral). ‘Screwtape Letters’ also by him – on the whole nature of temptation especially the idea that Satan keeps us from thinking rather than plants thoughts in our mind.
    ‘Safely Home’ by Randy Alcorn about persecution and what it means to follow Jesus. Also, the whole eternal perspective being part of our daily life.
    Finally various Francine Rivers novels.

    1. Hi Christine, I loved reading the Narnia books and reread the series multiple times when I was younger. I particularly like Francine Rivers’ Biblical fiction series and Redeeming Love, based on the Biblical story of Hosea and Gomer, is my favourite.

  7. Like others, I struggled to find a book that influenced me the most. Sooooo I go back in time to my childhood and the first book I ever saved up for myself. Its title was Snugglepot & Cuddlepie by Australian author May Gibbs. I loved that book because it educated me on Australian flora and fauna. I could never look at a banksia tree without seeing the ‘bad banksia men’ sitting in its branches. 🙂 I took up searching for wildflowers, discovering their botanical names and pressing them in a special book.

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