📚 Week 15 Reading Wrap-Up: Ghosts, Grit, and Gospel Politics
This week’s reading lineup took me from a lonely marsh to Capitol Hill to the shadowy spaces between life and death. Not a bad haul for seven days. Let’s get into the stack.
📝 Reviews
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)
This one’s been sitting on my TBR forever, and honestly? Totally worth the wait. Owens crafts the marsh as its own living, breathing character—and Kya’s story had me completely invested. It’s not flawless, but it’s one of those rare novels that pulls off lyrical beauty and compelling story without losing either. Easily one of my favorite novels in recent years.
“The marsh knows all about death, and doesn’t necessarily define it as tragedy.”
Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Especially if you like literary fiction with strong setting and a haunting, quiet ache at its core.
Compassion (&) Conviction by Justin Giboney, Michael Wear & Chris Butler
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)
This book is a balm and a wake-up call. The authors—leaders of the & Campaign—lay out a powerful vision for political engagement rooted in biblical faithfulness. Not performative piety. Not tribal rage. Just steady, principled, Christ-centered engagement. I’ve never read something that so precisely echoed what I’ve been thinking (and praying) for years.
I have an interview with Justin Giboney, the author of this book and the founder of AND Campaign, that will be coming out soon on 2 Pentecostals and a Microphone.
“Let’s be the peculiar people we were meant to be—not partisan mascots, but faithful witnesses.”
Who needs to read this? Every Christian trying to figure out how to be faithful in a fractured political world.
What We Leave Behind by Wanda M. Morris
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)
SPOILERS AHEAD! This novel surprised me—in a good way. It starts as quiet realism, then sneaks into magical realism territory when a ghostly presence begins guiding the protagonist toward the truth. That shift in the final third might not work for everyone, but for me, it added emotional depth without veering into melodrama. The story of social injustice over centuries and especially the shady real estate dealings added a powerful and believable depth to the story. Thoughtful, well-paced, and a little offbeat. I liked it.
“Sometimes the dead know more about the living than we do.”
Will it stay with me? Yes. It gave me just enough weird to keep me thinking.
📦 Get Your Copy
If any of these piqued your interest, here’s where to grab them:
- Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens (Amazon)
- Compassion (&) Conviction – Giboney, Wear & Butler (Amazon)
- What You Leave Behind – Wanda M. Morris (Amazon)
(Some links may be affiliate—but only ever to books I genuinely recommend.)
🧰 Resources
(&) Campaign Website – If Compassion & Conviction resonated with you, check out their podcast and platform.
Delia Owens Interviews – On writing, nature, and isolation.
