Books like Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life

01

Mere Christianity

C. S. Lewis · Philosophy

Mere Christianity began as a series of BBC radio broadcasts Lewis gave during World War II, and the book retains that quality of direct, informal address.

Both dig into faith.

02

The Problem of Pain

C. S. Lewis · Philosophy

The Problem of Pain is Lewis's systematic attempt to answer one of the oldest and most persistent objections to theism: if God is good and all-powerful, why does pain exist?

Both dig into faith.

03

Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor E. Frankl · Psychology

Man's Search for Meaning is Viktor Frankl's account of his years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and the psychological theory he developed from that experience.

A kindred memoir read.

04

Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion

Sam Harris · Religion & Spirituality

Waking Up is Sam Harris' argument that the insights of contemplative traditions — particularly Buddhism's claim that the sense of self is an illusion — can be separated from religious metaphysics and investigated directly through meditation and introspection.

A kindred memoir read.

05

The Perennial Philosophy

Aldous Huxley · Religion & Spirituality

The Perennial Philosophy is Aldous Huxley's anthology and commentary on the mystical traditions of the world, arguing that behind the diversity of religious forms lies a single metaphysical core: the divine ground or ultimate reality is one; the human soul contains a spark of this reality; the purpose of human existence is to realize this identity; and the path to that realization requires ego-transcendence through contemplation, virtue, and love.

A kindred memoir read.

06

The Seven Storey Mountain

Thomas Merton · Memoir

The Seven Storey Mountain is Thomas Merton's autobiography, published in 1948 when he was thirty-three years old.

Shares conversion and faith with Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life.

07

Night

Elie Wiesel · Memoir

Night is Elie Wiesel's account of his deportation from the Transylvanian town of Sighet in 1944 and his survival of Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps.

Both dig into faith.

08

Small Fry

Lisa Brennan-Jobs · Memoir

Small Fry is Lisa Brennan-Jobs's memoir of growing up as the daughter Steve Jobs long refused to acknowledge.

Both dig into childhood.

09

The Hiding Place

Corrie ten Boom · Memoir

Corrie ten Boom's memoir of her family's decision to hide Jewish people in their Haarlem home during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, and of the arrest, imprisonment, and concentration camp ordeal that followed, has been continuously in print since its 1971 publication and is one of the most widely read Christian testimonies of the twentieth century.

Both dig into faith.

10

The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography

Sidney Poitier · Memoir

The Measure of a Man is Sidney Poitier's reflective autobiography, published when he was in his early seventies and looking back over a life that took him from bare subsistence on Cat Island in the Bahamas to the first Black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Both dig into faith.

11

Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living

Krista Tippett · Philosophy

Becoming Wise draws on Krista Tippett's decades of conversation with scientists, poets, theologians, activists, and philosophers through her radio program On Being.

Both dig into faith.

12

Confessions

Saint Augustine · Philosophy

Confessions, written around 397 CE, is the spiritual autobiography of Augustine of Hippo and one of the most influential texts in Western philosophy and Christian theology.

Both dig into conversion.