Eight books that shaped my faith, transformed my perspective, and helped me discover my purpose as a writer.
Some books entertain us.
Others teach us something new.
And then there are the books that change the way we think, challenge what we believe, or give us the courage to pursue something we never imagined possible.
I’ve always believed that stories have power. After all, I spend much of my life creating them.
But when I look back at the books that have influenced me most, I realize they aren’t all novels. Some challenged my faith. Others transformed how I approach business, fundraising, and creativity.
One even helped launch my writing journey.
And another might be the reason I’m no longer allowed to cook Mother’s Day dinner.
More on that in a moment.
These eight books have each left their mark on my life in different ways.
Here’s why.
The book that challenged how I understand my identity and relationship with God.
Some books give you information. Others make you reconsider the questions you’ve been asking.
Living Fearless belongs in that second category for me.
Jamie Winship explores identity, fear, and the importance of understanding who God created us to be.
The book challenged me to think differently about my relationship with God and how I spend time with Him.
It’s easy to let our days fill up with responsibilities, deadlines, and expectations. We can become so focused on what we’re supposed to accomplish that we forget to consider who we are and why we’re doing it.
This book invited me to look deeper.
To consider the difference between living out of fear and living with a clearer understanding of my identity.
And perhaps most importantly, to reconsider how I approach my time with God.
The lasting lesson: My identity matters more than my accomplishments.
In How to Hear God’s Voice, Mark Virkler guides readers toward a deeper, more personal relationship with God by teaching them how to recognize His voice amid life’s distractions. Through practical techniques such as quieting the mind, recognizing spontaneous thoughts, seeking spiritual vision, and journaling during prayer, Virkler encourages readers to develop a more intimate, two-way conversation with God and experience a richer spiritual life.
The book that changed how I spend time with God.
This book belongs alongside Living Fearless because both influenced something deeply personal: my relationship with God.
For many of us, prayer can become a conversation in which we do most of the talking.
We bring our concerns, requests, gratitude, and questions.
But how often do we make room to listen?
Mark Virkler’s book explores the practice of hearing God’s voice and developing a more intentional relationship with Him.
It challenged me to reconsider what my time with God could look like.
Not simply another task on my daily checklist.
Not just a moment to ask for help with whatever problem is sitting in front of me.
But time devoted to relationship.
When I think about the books that have shaped my faith, this one stands out because it influenced something practical and deeply meaningful: how I choose to spend time with God.
The lasting lesson: A relationship requires more than talking. It also requires making room to listen.
In Don’t Make Me Fundraise!, Eloise Brice transforms fundraising from an intimidating responsibility into an approachable, achievable process. Designed for nonprofit board members and leaders, the book provides practical strategies, templates, and conversation guides to help readers build confidence, strengthen relationships, and raise funds effectively. Brice offers a step-by-step approach that makes fundraising feel less overwhelming and more purposeful.
The book that transformed my perspective on fundraising.
If you’ve ever worked with a nonprofit, you know that fundraising is part of the job.
It’s also one of the responsibilities that can feel particularly uncomfortable.
As the founder of Access Unleashed GA, I’ve had to think seriously about what it takes to build a sustainable organization while raising money to support service dog journeys.
Fundraising isn’t an abstract concept for me.
It’s personal.
It’s connected to people, needs, hopes, and the very real costs of making a difference.
Don’t Make Me Fundraise changed how I view fundraising.
It helped me reconsider how I approach a responsibility essential to the mission.
Instead of seeing fundraising only as the uncomfortable task of asking people for money, I began looking at it through a different lens.
What does it mean to invite someone into a mission?
How do we communicate the importance of the work we’re doing?
How do we build relationships around a shared purpose?
These are questions I continue to carry into my work with Access Unleashed.
The lasting lesson: Fundraising is about more than money. It’s about connecting people with a mission that matters.
In Building a StoryBrand 2.0, Donald Miller introduces an updated seven-part storytelling framework that helps businesses clarify their message and connect with customers. By positioning customers as the heroes of their stories, organizations can cut through the noise, communicate their value, and create more effective marketing. With practical tools and strategies, Miller shows readers how to turn confusing messages into compelling stories that inspire action.
The book that reinforced the power of a clear message.
This is simply a great book.
As an author, designer, and nonprofit founder, I spend a considerable amount of time thinking about communication.
How do you explain an idea so people understand it?
How do you share a mission without overwhelming someone with information?
And how do you help readers, customers, or supporters understand why something matters to them?
Donald Miller’s Building a StoryBrand explores how businesses and organizations can use the principles of storytelling to communicate more clearly.
One of its central ideas is that the customer should be the hero of the story, while the organization serves as a guide.
It’s a useful distinction.
When we’re passionate about our work, it’s tempting to tell people everything.
Every detail.
Every feature.
Every reason we believe in what we’re doing.
But clarity matters.
Whether I’m working on my author website, communicating Access Unleashed’s mission, or developing a message for a creative project, I want people to understand what matters without having to work hard to find it.
And that brings me back to one of the most important lessons in storytelling.
A good story needs a clear purpose.
The lasting lesson: When you communicate clearly, you make it easier for people to connect with what matters.
In The INFJ Writer, Lauren Sapala explores the unique challenges highly sensitive and intuitive writers face, including procrastination, self-doubt, and sensitivity to criticism. Drawing on her coaching experience and personal journey, she encourages INFJ and INFP writers to embrace their natural creativity rather than force themselves into conventional writing methods. The book offers insights into overcoming creative blocks, building confidence, and developing a writing process that honors their individual strengths.
The book that helped me become a better writer.
Writing is a strange profession.
You spend hours alone with imaginary people, trying to figure out what they’re going to do next.
You create entire worlds that exist only in your imagination until you find the words to put them on paper.
And somewhere along the way, you’re expected to develop a process that actually works.
There are countless books that tell writers how they should write.
How many words to produce each day.
How to outline.
How to structure a manuscript.
How to maintain discipline.
But what happens when someone else’s process doesn’t fit the way your mind works?
Lauren Sapala’s The INFJ Writer helped me become a better writer by encouraging me to think about creativity differently.
It made me consider the relationship between personality, intuition, and the creative process.
Writing isn’t necessarily about forcing yourself into someone else’s system.
It’s about understanding your strengths and developing a process that allows you to do your best work.
That doesn’t mean abandoning discipline or structure.
It means finding an approach that supports your creativity instead of constantly fighting against it.
The lasting lesson: Becoming a better writer includes understanding how you create.
In Deadly Doses: A Writer’s Guide to Poisons, Serita Stevens and Anne Klarner provide mystery and crime writers with a reference for creating realistic fictional poisonings. The book explores different poisons, their symptoms, methods of administration, and effects on the body, along with a brief history of poisoning. It offers writers research material to help craft believable mysteries and intriguing plots.
The book that may have cost me my Mother’s Day cooking privileges.
Now, we need to lighten things up a little.
If you’ve read my Sam Sunday Mysteries, you know I enjoy a good puzzle.
A suspicious death.
A seemingly innocent conversation.
A clue hiding in plain sight.
And, of course, the question every mystery reader wants answered:
Whodunit?
Writing mysteries requires research.
Sometimes that research involves police procedures, timelines, or the little details that make a fictional crime believable.
And sometimes it involves a book with a title that raises a few eyebrows.
Enter Deadly Doses: A Writer’s Guide to Poisons.
The book arrived on Mother’s Day weekend.
Apparently, receiving a book about poisons right before a family meal is enough to make people reconsider who should be in charge of the cooking.
And that, my friends, is why I’m not allowed to cook Mother’s Day dinner.
I maintain that it was perfectly innocent research.
After all, a mystery writer needs to know these things.
It’s not every day that your research material doubles as a reason for your family to keep you out of the kitchen.
But it certainly makes for a good story.
The lasting lesson: A mystery writer’s research library can be just as entertaining as the mysteries themselves. And possibly a little suspicious.
In A Quantum Case for God, Dennis Zetting explores the relationship between quantum physics and faith, presenting scientific concepts in accessible language. He argues that discoveries in quantum science are compatible with biblical teachings and offer new ways to consider questions about God’s existence, miracles, and creation. The book invites believers and skeptics alike to explore the intersection of science and spirituality from a faith-based perspective.
The book that opened my eyes to the world.
I love books that make me think.
Not just books that confirm what I already believe, but those that encourage me to look at familiar questions from a different perspective.
A Quantum Case for God did that for me.
It opened my eyes to the world and encouraged me to think more deeply about the relationship between faith and the universe around us.
Faith and science are often presented as opposing conversations.
But exploring questions about existence, creation, and the nature of reality can also inspire curiosity about both.
I don’t believe every question needs to have an immediate answer.
Sometimes the value is in being willing to ask it.
To consider an idea.
To explore a perspective you hadn’t thought about before.
And to recognize how much there is left to discover.
This book broadened my perspective and reminded me that wonder is an important part of learning.
The lasting lesson: Never lose the willingness to ask questions and see the world from a new perspective.
In Book in a Month, Victoria Lynn Schmidt provides a practical, step-by-step system for writing a novel in just 30 days. Through flexible schedules, worksheets, and structured guidance, she helps aspiring authors set realistic goals, develop characters and plots, manage their time, and complete a first draft. The book encourages writers to overcome procrastination, build momentum, and turn their dream of writing a novel into reality.
The book that started my writing journey.
I’ve saved this one for last because it holds a special place in my story.
Book in a Month helped launch my journey as a writer.
There’s a big difference between wanting to write a novel and actually sitting down to write one.
The idea of creating an entire book can feel overwhelming.
Where do you begin?
How do you turn an idea into a story?
How do you keep going when the excitement of the first few chapters wears off?
This book offered a system for approaching the writing process and helped me take those first steps.
It also helped me become a better writer.
Looking back, it’s remarkable to think about how much has grown from that beginning.
Today, I write Christian romance through my Grace Series, cozy mysteries featuring Sam Sunday, and children’s books through Access Unleashed Tails.
Three very different kinds of stories.
But all connected by the same love of storytelling.
And it all began with taking that first step toward writing a book.
Sometimes we wait for the perfect moment to begin something.
We wait until we have more time.
Until we feel more prepared.
Until we’re confident that we know exactly what we’re doing.
But every writing journey has to start somewhere.
For me, this book helped turn the desire to write into the act of writing.
The lasting lesson: You don’t have to know everything about the journey before you begin. You just have to start.
Looking at this collection, you might wonder what faith, fundraising, marketing, personality, poison, quantum physics, and novel writing have in common.
At first glance, not much.
But when I look a little closer, I see a common thread.
Each book helped shape a different part of who I am and what I do.
Some changed how I spend time with God.
Others helped me rethink how I approach my work, communicate a mission, or develop my writing.
One expanded my perspective on the world.
And another helped me begin a journey that would eventually lead to the books I now share with readers.
They remind me that growth doesn’t happen in just one area of life.
Our faith influences our work.
Our experiences influence our creativity.
Our curiosity influences how we see the world.
And the things we learn along the way find their place in the stories we tell.
I don’t think every life-changing book needs to produce some dramatic, overnight transformation.
Sometimes the change is quieter.
A new question.
A different perspective.
A practical tool.
A moment of clarity.
Or simply the courage to begin.
And years later, you look back and realize the person who closed that book wasn’t quite the same as the person who opened it.
One of the wonderful things about being a reader is knowing that there’s always another book waiting.
Another idea to explore.
Another story to discover.
Another perspective that might challenge the way we think.
I don’t know which book will make its way onto this list next.
But I hope I never stop discovering them.
And as an author, there’s something particularly meaningful about that thought.
I know what it feels like to have a book change my life.
It’s one of the reasons I love writing.
I hope someone picks up one of my stories and finds a little grace when they need it, a mystery that makes them smile, or a spark of hope that stays with them long after the final page.
Because sometimes a book is more than a book.
Sometimes it’s the beginning of something entirely new.
I’d love to know which books have made a lasting impression on you.
Was it a childhood favorite that inspired your love of reading?
A book that strengthened your faith?
A story that helped you through a difficult season?
Or perhaps a practical guide that gave you the courage to pursue a dream?
If you could recommend just one book that changed your life, what would it be, and why?
Leave a comment below or reply to my newsletter. I’m always looking for another wonderful book to add to my reading list.
And if your recommendation happens to involve poisons, I’ll be sure to keep it away from the kitchen.
Until our next story,
Anna
Sharing Stories of Grace, Mystery, and Hope
