A Notes From the Fray Bibliography

A Resource for Readers

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Below you will find a list of both recommendations and resources, which is why I’ve titled this a bibliography. The books listed below have either influenced my thinking or were enjoyable to read, often both. I’ve divided the list into broad categories with the goal that it will be simple to navigate.

When I was finishing high school, going through college, and then first married and having children, I had a lot of questions about life in general. Some I answered by asking parents, mentors, pastors, and other older men I respected. But, being a reader, I was always looking for books to further my self-education, as well. So, I paid attention to book recommendations by those same men and books mentioned by pastors, speakers, and writers I respected. Once you get started down that path, the bibliographies of those books alone give you enough to keep going for a long time, not to mention the continued recommendations and mentions you come across naturally.

This bibliography, I hope, will provide a helpful starting point for each of these broader genres of literature. I’ve tried to include those resources that have been most helpful to me and provided the best foundational material. Remember, too, to follow the bibliographies of these books for deeper reading on the subjects that are particularly interesting or relevant to you.

Most of the links I’ve included are to Goodreads. I use Goodreads to keep track of books I’ve read and want to read, in addition to seeing what other people I respect are reading and what they think about it. I recommend it as I’ve found it helpful over the years. You can follow me on Goodreads here.

Finally, this is a working bibliography. I will periodically update it with comments on certain books, links to my writing on those books elsewhere in this publication, and additional books as I continue learning. There will be more books and categories to come, Lord willing.

I pray this is helpful for you as you continue to learn, grow, and work to build a generational productive Christian household.

Theology

• Jordan, James B. How to Read the Bible. Word MP3, https://www.wordmp3.com/product-group.aspx?id=121.¹

• Leithart, Peter J. The Baptized Body.

• Leithart, Peter J. Deep Comedy.

• Leithart, Peter J. The Four: A Survey of the Gospels.

• Leithart, Peter J. A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament.

• Rigney, Joe. The Things of Earth: Treasuring God by Enjoying His Gifts.

• Sproul, R. C. What is Reformed Theology?: Understanding the Basics.

• Sproul, R. C. Truths We Confess: A Systematic Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith.

• Wilson, Douglas and Douglas M. Jones. Angels in the Architecture: A Protestant Vision for Middle Earth.

Productivity and Leadership

• Carrol, Ryder. The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future.²

• Challies, Tim. Do More Better.

• Cipolla, Carlo M. The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity.

• Clear, James. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones.

• Duckworth, Angela. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.

• Forte, Tiago. Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential.*

• Naselli, Andrew David. How to Read a Book: Advice for Christian Readers.

• Rigney, Joe. Leadership and Emotional Sabotage: Resisting the Anxiety That Will Wreck Your Family, Destroy Your Church, and Ruin the World.

• Willink, Jocko and Leif Babin. Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win.

• Wilson, Douglas. Ploductivity: A Practical Theology of Work and Wealth.

For Our Children

• Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows.

• Lang, Andrew. The Blue Fairy Book.

• MacDonald, George. The Light Princess.*³

• Nesbit, E. The Book of Dragons.

• Sproul, R. C. The Priest with Dirty Clothes: A Timeless Story of God’s Love and Forgiveness.

• Sproul, R. C. The Knight’s Map.

• Sproul, R. C. The Prince’s Poison Cup.

• Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island.*

• Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House in the Big Woods.

• Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Farmer Boy.

• Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House on the Prairie.

• Wilder, Laura Ingalls. On the Banks of Plum Creek.

• Wilder, Laura Ingalls. By the Shores of Silver Lake.

• Wilder, Laura Ingalls. The Long Winter.

• Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little Town on the Prairie.

• Wilder, Laura Ingalls. These Happy Golden Years.

• Wilder, Laura Ingalls. The First Four Years.⁴

• Wilson, Douglas. Andrew and the Firedrake.

• Wodehouse, P. G. Jeeves Takes Charge.*⁵

Fiction

• Adams, Richard. Watership Down.

• Beowulf.

• Berry, Wendell. Jayber Crow.

• Berry, Wendell. Andy Catlett: Early Travels.

• Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie.

• Eco, Umberto. The Name of the Rose.

• Enger, Leif. Peace Like A River.

• Forster, E. M. The Machine Stops.

• James, Henry. The Portrait of a Lady.

• Karon, Jan. At Home in Mitford.

• Karon, Jan. A Light in the Window.

• Karon, Jan. These High, Green Hills.

• Lewis, C. S. Till We Have Faces.

• Lewis, C. S. Out of the Silent Planet.

• Lewis, C. S. Perelandra.

• Lewis, C. S. That Hideous Strength.

• London, Jack. The Call of the Wild.

• Orczy, Emmuska. The Scarlet Pimpernel.

• Robinson, Marilynne. Gilead.

• Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

• Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

• Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

• Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

• Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

• Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

• Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

• Sayers, Dorothy. Whose Body?

• Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit.

• Tolkien, J. R. R. The Fellowship of the Ring.

• Tolkien, J. R. R. The Two Towers.

• Tolkien, J. R. R. The Return of the King.

• Tolkien, J. R. R. The Silmarillion.

• Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

• Verne, Jules. Around the World in Eighty Days.

• Wodehouse, P. G. My Man Jeeves.

• Wodehouse, P. G. The Inimitable Jeeves.

• Wodehouse, P. G. Carry On, Jeeves.

• Wodehouse, P. G. Very Good, Jeeves!

• Wodehouse, P. G. Thank You, Jeeves.

• Wodehouse, P. G. Love Among the Chickens.

History and Biography

• Marshall, H. E. Our Island Story: A History of Britain for Boys and Girls.

Parenting and Family

• Brock, Michael. 8 Errors Parents Make and How to Avoid Them: A Practical Guide to Biblical Parenting.

• Leithart, Peter J. A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons.

• Macaulay, Susan Schaeffer. For the Children’s Sake.

• Tripp, Tedd. Shepherding a Child’s Heart.

• Wilson, Douglas. Reforming Marriage.

1. This is also available on Canon+ with a subscription.

2. This book and Tiago Forte’s book (marked with *) I’ve found helpful but not necessarily in the ways the authors intended. My method for applying them is generally to apply Forte’s method to necessarily digital material. I work better in analog, so I much prefer Carrol’s method overall, but treat my journal as more of a second brain, where I write down the things I need to process or record. That said, my methods for productivity have been almost entirely trial and error, taking bits and pieces of several methods and making my own.

3. Our young children have enjoyed the audio plays of these stories by New Saint Andrew’s College (marked by *), available on Canon+. I plan to have them read the originals when they’re ready and able. 

4. This book, The First Four Years, is noticeably different from the rest of the series. As I understand it, Mrs. Wilder had not edited this book for publication before her death, and that shows. You could probably stop after These Happy Golden Years, and not miss out on much. The story of Laura’s childhood is finished at the end of that book and, frankly, I wish the series had ended there.

5. Jeeves Takes Charge, is a story from P.G. Wodehouse’s book, Carry On, Jeeves.