Fans pick 78 books like God Talks

By Ed Rush,

Here are 78 books that God Talks fans have personally recommended if you like God Talks. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of Red Heir

Jane Buehler Author Of The Forest Bride

From my list on romance set in a lighthearted, cozy fantasy world.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always loved fantasy worlds and romantic stories, but in recent years I’ve found it harder to read stories with extreme violence or trauma. When I started writing fiction, I planned to write a fantasy romance with a kingdom and a battle, but I couldn’t do it—my characters organized a nonviolent revolution and formed a democratic system of governance instead. I reconsidered and decided to write what I call cozy fantasy romances. So many types of romance novels could be set in a fantasy world, such as an office romance or road trip comedy. I’ve been searching for these types of romance novels—fun, lighthearted romances set in a fantasy world—and am slowly finding them.

Jane's book list on romance set in a lighthearted, cozy fantasy world

Jane Buehler Why did Jane love this book?

This book made me laugh out loud so many times—it's the funniest fantasy I have ever read. An oddball crew breaks into the protagonist’s prison cell to rescue a prince, so the protagonist claims to be the prince and is rescued along with his cellmate.

The journey back to the prince’s country is a road trip comedy with a wacky cast... but amid all the crude jokes are real emotional moments and characters being kind to each other. The protagonist can’t stop himself from falling for the prince and grows as a person in the process. Nothing about the story ever gets too serious, and the bad bits happen quickly and without prolonged trauma. I loved everything about it.

By Lisa Henry, Sarah Honey,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Red Heir as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of The Savage God: A Study of Suicide

Adam Washington Author Of The Misophorism Trilogy

From my list on depressive reads that are free of platitudes.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since I was young, I’ve suffered from Major Depressive Disorder, coupled with chronic pain that surfaced when I was in middle school. Being in constant pain—mental and physical—obviously drains the spirit. I found no hope whatsoever in phrases such as, “It gets better.” When you have chronic pain, that statement means nothing, because you know it won’t. These books, however, offered me something that I hadn’t encountered before: someone acknowledging that, although it may never get better, there is still something for me here, whatever form it takes. These books do not shame depressives, they console (and even commiserate) with them, and I hope you find them as fulfilling as I have.

Adam's book list on depressive reads that are free of platitudes

Adam Washington Why did Adam love this book?

The Savage God destroyed me upon finishing it for the first time.

Alvarez travels through history in this non-fiction study, tracing the perceptions of suicide from ancient societies to the present day, all with an empathetic eye. Alvarez views suicide both as a societal phenomenon and an intimately personal experience.

His own experience with suicide so closely mirrored my own that I still remember the final pages of the book vividly. To be frank, the book’s a bit dated—it was written in the 70s and some of Alvarez’s comments (as well as his reverence of Freud) haven’t aged well. Nevertheless, the worthwhile sections—of which most of the book is composed—are unforgettable.

By A. Alvarez,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Savage God as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Suicide," writes the notes English poet and critic A. Alvarez, "has permeated Western culture like a dye that cannot be washed out." Although the aims of this compelling, compassionate work are broadly cultural and literary, the narrative is rooted in personal experience: it begins with a long memoir of Sylvia Plath, and ends with an account of the author's own suicide attempt. Within this dramatic framework, Alvarez launches his enquiry into the final taboo of human behavior, and traces changing attitudes towards suicide from the perspective of literature. He follows the black thread leading from Dante through Donne and the…


Book cover of Experiencing God Study Book

Elizabeth Bristol Author Of Mary Me: One Woman’s Incredible Adventure with God

From my list on finding your own adventure with God.

Why am I passionate about this?

Hi, I'm Elizabeth Bristol and I’m just a regular person. For a long time, I ran from God because, well, I didn’t want Him telling me what to do. Then something amazing happened. Mary Me: One Woman’s Incredible Adventure with God describes my journey into this wild new relationship with God through Jesus Christ who helped me break free from the lies I’d believed so I could be the me He created me to be. I found out God’s way cooler than I ever imagined and that He has an adventure for everyone. So, I became passionate about wanting to help others find theirs because no matter where you are with God, there's always more!

Elizabeth's book list on finding your own adventure with God

Elizabeth Bristol Why did Elizabeth love this book?

Every time I read this workbook, I notice that a lot of people ask, “You say you hear God, but how do you hear God?” 

They do that because when I apply the practical steps the workbook teaches, I end up with a lot of stories that start with, “This is what God’s been showing me...”

I don’t know about you, but practical instructions really help me! 

This book not only shares information and testimonies, but it also teaches you how to converse with God and that's exactly what I wanted to learn how to do.

If you’ve been wanting to hear God, this book is for you!

By Henry T. Blackaby, Richard Blackaby, Mike Blackaby , Claude V. King

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Experiencing God Study Book as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Experiencing God Bible Study Book includes revised printed content for 12 sessions, personal study between group sessions, and applicable Scripture. Also, each Book contains unique codes that enable you to access teaching videos for each session.

Over the years, God has used the truths of Experiencing God to awaken believers to a radically God-centered way of life. As a result, millions have come to know God intimately, to recognize His voice, and to understand His will for their lives. This new edition is revised, updated, and ready to help you again—or for the very first time—experience your Creator.

God is…


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Book cover of Free Your Joy: The Twelve Keys to Sustainable Happiness

Free Your Joy By Lisa McCourt,

We all want peace. We all want a life of joy and meaning. We want to feel blissfully comfortable in our own skin, moving through the world with grace and ease. But how many of us are actively taking the steps to create such a life? 

In Free Your Joy…

Book cover of The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss

Rupert Sheldrake Author Of The Science Delusion: Freeing the Spirit of Enquiry

From my list on science, consciousness, and spirituality.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a biologist and I am also interested in spiritual explorations and sacred places. These books discuss some of the most interesting issues in science, and the nature of ultimate consciousness - the primary subject of theology, consciousness. I am also very interested in spiritual practices that have measurable effects, as discussed in my books Science and Spiritual Practices and Ways to Go Beyond and Why They Work.

Rupert's book list on science, consciousness, and spirituality

Rupert Sheldrake Why did Rupert love this book?

Deep ideas, indeed some of the deepest ideas possible. This is state-of-the-art theology by one of the greatest living theologians who brings together essential insights from the Hindu, Christian, Sufi, Buddhist, and other religious traditions showing how all have much more in common than separates them. Essential reading for anyone interested in the nature of consciousness, because the fundamental subject matter of theology is none other than ultimate consciousness, the source of all other forms of consciousness in the universe, including our own. Hart’s writing is lively and engaging.

By David Bentley Hart,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Experience of God as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From one of the most revered scholars of religion, an incisive explanation of how the word "God" functions in the world's great faiths

Despite the recent ferocious public debate about belief, the concept most central to the discussion-God-frequently remains vaguely and obscurely described. Are those engaged in these arguments even talking about the same thing? In a wide-ranging response to this confusion, esteemed scholar David Bentley Hart pursues a clarification of how the word "God" functions in the world's great theistic faiths.

Ranging broadly across Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Vedantic and Bhaktic Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, Hart explores how these great…


Book cover of Mother God

Victoria Robb Powers Author Of My Love, God Is Everywhere

From my list on Christian reads for kids that are inclusive and safe.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an ordained minister with over 10 years of experience serving as a pastor in both the hospital and church settings. I’m also a mom of three children, ages 2, 5, and 7. I routinely get asked for resources to help raise children in the Christian faith. As both a pastor and a mother, I am a strong advocate for teaching children a theology they won’t have to heal from. All the books I recommend are progressive, inclusive, and diverse. I’ve done extensive research when it comes to faith-based literature, and I’m passionate about finding the best books to recommend to families.

Victoria's book list on Christian reads for kids that are inclusive and safe

Victoria Robb Powers Why did Victoria love this book?

Every page of this book should be framed.

The illustrations are incredible, and the language invites readers of every age to imagine how expansive God is. I love the use of the female imagery for God. This has been lost for too long. If you’re looking to instill a theology that’s broad, diverse, and full of wonder, start here.

By Teresa Kim Pecinovsky, Khoa Le (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Mother God as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

Teach your kids that God's love transcends single-gender expression--God is creative, fierce, protective, and her love as a Mother knows no bounds.

With lyrical, rhyming text and exquisite illustrations, Mother God introduces readers to a dozen images of God inspired by feminine descriptions from Scripture. Children and adults alike will be in awe of the God who made them as they come to know her as a creative seamstress, generous baker, fierce mother bear, protective mother hen, strong woman in labor, nurturing nursing mother, wise grandmother, and comforting singer of lullabies.

This gorgeous picture book welcomes children into a fuller,…


Book cover of Jesus Showed Us!

Jared Neusch and Connor Shram Author Of Jesus vs. the Bad Guys

From my list on Christian children’s books on peacemaking.

Why we are passionate about this?

We are two dads, both with three kids, who are on a journey of trying our best to raise our kids in the way of Jesus. Of particular interest to us both is exploring how Jesus overcomes evil. Does He beat up the bad guys like superheroes do? Does He drop bombs on them, like nations do? With all the struggles kids experience at school—and everything they hear about evil occurring around the world—we think it’s important for kids to learn how Jesus teaches us to love our enemies, even from the earliest ages.

Jared and Connor's book list on Christian children’s books on peacemaking

Jared Neusch and Connor Shram Why did Jared and Connor love this book?

We believe that at the heart of Christian theology is the truth that God has chosen to reveal himself definitively in Jesus Christ. This is how we know what God is like!

We don’t just love our enemies as an abstract ethic that we hope will work. In looking at Jesus, we now know that this is also what God is like. This book is a beautiful introduction to the theological truth that Jesus really is the image and nature of God. 

By Bradley Jersak, Shari-Anne Vis (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Jesus Showed Us! as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

What is God like?

The answer depends on the imagination of those we ask. Some of those answers are not very healthy--especially for children! Many ideas and images of God are harmful, such as the angry God who threatens us. Or the distant God who is not there when we need him. Or the magical God who will grant our wishes if we are good enough or beg hard enough. Such ideas of God make it hard for us to love God with our whole heart or to let God love us.

God noticed this problem. God wanted us to…


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Book cover of The Essence: A Guided Journey of Discovery through the Bible

The Essence By John Pasquet,

The Bible is the greatest mystery novel ever written. It begins in the Old Testament with seemingly random accounts of ancient people in far away places with strange customs. There’s the prophecy of a coming Hero who will conquer the villain and restore peace to the land. The mystery reaches…

Book cover of The God Code: The Secret of Our Past, the Promise of Our Future

Elizabeth E. Botchis Author Of Awakening the Holographic Human: Nature's Path to Healing and Higher Consciousness

From my list on healing ourselves and our planet.

Why am I passionate about this?

Lilli Botchis, PhD, is a psycho-spiritual counselor, educator, and vibrational medicine developer with four decades of experience in advanced body/soul wellness and the development of higher consciousness. Her expertise includes botanicals, gems, color, flower essences, bio-energy therapies, and holographic soul readings. Lilli is an alchemist, mystic, and translator of Nature’s language as it speaks to our soul. A brilliant researcher in the field of consciousness, she understands the interconnectedness of Nature and the human being and is known as an extraordinary emissary of the natural world. Lilli has been inducted into the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller. Many seek her out for her visionary insights and compassionate wisdom.

Elizabeth's book list on healing ourselves and our planet

Elizabeth E. Botchis Why did Elizabeth love this book?

Gregg Braden is an example of one who has discovered how to live the spirituality within science. In this brilliant and insightful work, he links our genetic code to biblical alphabets to prove the unity of the human race and the idea that we are all greater than our beliefs. Braden shows that deep within our genetic code, held in the sanctuary of the DNA, is the universal message that traverses humanity—all cultures, all races, all genders: the name of God. Applying this message to our lives, we can transcend our beliefs, our biases, our conditioning to create a more harmonious condition of living for all of humanity.

By Gregg Braden,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The God Code as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A coded message has been found within the molecules of life, deep within the DNA in each cell of our bodies. In this book what we once believed of our past is about to change. Through a remarkable discovery linking Biblical alphabets to our genetic code, the 'language of life' may now be read as the ancient letters of a timeless message. This message is the same in each cell of every man, woman, and child, past and present.

During his extensive 12-year study of the most sacred and honoured traditions of humankind he has discovered tangible and unprecedented evidence…


Book cover of God: A Biography

Mohamed Rabie Author Of The Global Debt Crisis and Its Socioeconomic Implications: Creating Conditions for a Sustainable, Peaceful, and Just World

From my list on serving humanity and revealing misleading secrets.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a retired professor, was raised in a refugee camp, one of a family of 9 living in one tent. studied in Palestine, Egypt, Germany, and America, have Ph.D. in economics; scholarships financed my education journey. I lived a life no human has lived or can live, because some of the times I lived had come and gone and cannot come back again. I taught at 11 universities on 4 continents, published 60 books in Arabic and English: books on economics, politics, culture, history, conflict resolution, philosophy, racism, novels, and poetry. True intellectuals cannot stay in one area because issues that shape mankind's history and man’s destiny are interconnected. 

Mohamed's book list on serving humanity and revealing misleading secrets

Mohamed Rabie Why did Mohamed love this book?

Believers in God see him as the creator of man and women in his own image. Firm believers tried throughout history to model themselves as they imagined God. But God, the author says, evolves through his relationship with man, and man becomes rival to God. So believers and non-believers discover that God, the protector of the poor and weak, becomes a warrior who nearly destroys all humans and animals he created by causing the flood. So rational people realize that God is a tribal chief who gets angry, kills, destroys, loves some and forgets many more. This book is a must-read for all believers and non-believers. I found this book unusual in telling amazing stories about God and his actions and reactions. 

By Jack Miles,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked God as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE

What sort of "person" is God? What is his "life story"? Is it possible to approach him not as an object of religious reverence, but as the protagonist of the world's greatest book—as a character who possesses all the depths, contradictions, and abiguities of a Hamlet? This is the task that Jack Miles—a former Jesuit trained in religious studies and Near Eastern languages—accomplishes with such brilliance and originality in God: A Biography.

Using the Hebrew Bible as his text, Miles shows us a God who evolves through his relationship with man, the image who in…


Book cover of Swan: Poems and Prose Poems

Jennifer Read Hawthorne Author Of Life As a Prayer: Poems

From my list on poems about love, nature, and God.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love words! As a child, I learned the power of stories from my father, a master storyteller and creator of 480 original Brer Rabbit stories. I began writing myself at the age of seven, majored in journalism, and enjoyed a career that included everything from technical writing to several of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul books. But only through poetry did I discover the beauty of getting to the essence of experience. I love how poetry takes both the writer and the reader to a deeper place, creating intimacy, giving us “ah-ha” moments, and touching heart and spirit.

Jennifer's book list on poems about love, nature, and God

Jennifer Read Hawthorne Why did Jennifer love this book?

I would own this book for Mary Oliver’s poem “How I Go to the Woods” alone! Oliver’s love of nature, the way she notices the details of her surroundings, and the language she uses to describe her experiences are breathtaking. It’s easy to see why Mary Oliver won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.

By Mary Oliver,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Swan as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“Joy is not made to be a crumb,” writes Mary Oliver, and certainly joy abounds in her new book of poetry and prose poems. Swan, her twentieth volume, shows us that, though we may be “made out of the dust of stars,” we are of the world she captures here so vividly. Swan is Oliver’s tribute to “the mortal way” of desiring and living in the world, to which the poet is renowned for having always been “totally loyal.”


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Book cover of A Daily Dose of Now: 365 Mindfulness Meditation Practices for Living in the Moment

A Daily Dose of Now By Nita Sweeney,

Reduce stress, ease anxiety, and increase inner peace—one day at a time—with a year of easy-to-follow mindfulness meditation techniques. Certified mindfulness teacher, bestselling author, ultramarathoner, wife, and dog-mom Nita Sweeney shares mindfulness meditation practices to help anyone break free from worry and self-judgment.

Mindfulness meditation trains you to live in…

Book cover of God's Debris

Christopher Riley Author Of Where Once We Stood: Stories of The Apollo Astronauts Who Walked On The Moon

From my list on making sense of our existence in the Universe.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a film director and producer, specialising in science and history. I write books between making films. 

Christopher's book list on making sense of our existence in the Universe

Christopher Riley Why did Christopher love this book?

I like short books that don’t feel too daunting to read. This very readable, brief tale, described by Adams as a thought experiment wrapped in a story, reminds us how to see the world differently. Something we could all do with, to challenge our prejudices and lift us from our echo chambers. 

By Scott Adams,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked God's Debris as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Explore the mysteries and magic of the cosmos with the acclaimed creator of Dilbert. 

God's Debris is the first non-Dilbert, non-humor book by best-selling author Scott Adams. Adams describes God's Debris as a thought experiment wrapped in a story. It's designed to make your brain spin around inside your skull.

 Imagine that you meet a very old man who—you eventually realize—knows literally everything. Imagine that he explains for you the great mysteries of life: quantum physics, evolution, God, gravity, light psychic phenomenon, and probability—in a way so simple, so novel, and so compelling that it all fits together and makes…


Book cover of Red Heir
Book cover of The Savage God: A Study of Suicide
Book cover of Experiencing God Study Book

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Interested in God, suicide, and psychiatric hospitals?

God 269 books
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