Reading

My Year-End Favorite Book List – 2025

Rebekah MattLeave a comment

It’s so interesting to me to see what people like to read. I’ll look at just about anyone’s year-end list, even if our reading tastes don’t overlap much. Then when I do find another reader who is a kindred spirit, it’s just that much better! I hope you find a few books here that make you say, “Oh, I loved that one, too!” or, “I must now immediately read this,” or, “I think it’s time to reread this one, or give it another try.” Or even, “That one’s not for me, but I’m glad she liked it.”

I read a total of 27 fiction and 13 nonfiction books this year, plus three abandoned (DNF) and a couple I merely skimmed. Maybe you’ll find some new reading ideas among my favorites from 2025. All books are listed simply in the order I read them during the year.

continue reading
Faith

Play Your Best for Him

Rebekah Matt2 Comments

The Christmas song that’s most likely to make me cry isn’t actually based on the Bible.

Everyone knows this song, and it’s often mocked as being overly sentimental or annoying. There was even a challenge going around a few years ago: who could go the longest without hearing it during the month of December?

There are jokes about this song, such as the one about what a sleeping newborn really needs … is a drum solo.

Still, I love “The Little Drummer Boy.” And one line in particular makes me tear up every time.

continue reading
Reading

Two Elderly Gentlemen, Two Novels of Generosity and Grace

Rebekah MattLeave a comment

I’m a reader, a former bookseller, a former English teacher, and a writer—and I’m also a Christian. So when I come across an excellent novel that is clearly written by a Christian author, I rejoice. Sadly, this doesn’t happen nearly as often as I’d like.

Of course, Wendell Berry and Marilynne Robinson fall into that category. As does Kristin Lavransdatter, my favorite novel of all time (read why here). And I just finished two books back-to-back that have me thinking there must have been divine intervention in my selections. One of them is a national bestseller, a rags-to-riches publishing story that has taken readers—especially Christian readers—by storm. The other is an exquisite novel from a masterful author whom I just started reading within the past year.

continue reading
Faith · Reading

Favorite Books (and More!) for Advent

Rebekah Matt2 Comments

One of the most exciting and comforting aspects of the end of the calendar year is surely the celebration of Advent, when Christians remember the first coming of Christ and anticipate the second. This season awakens a childlike and reverent wonder that’s a welcome respite from the commercialization that surrounds us during November and December.

I’ve enjoyed Advent both with my family (husband and four children) and also in a more solitary way, with my own daily Advent devotions. I’ll share both kinds of books here. I also became a Christian at age 30, and had absolutely zero previous knowledge of what Advent was or why we ought to celebrate it—so I also want to provide a few details to help those who are fairly new to the concept of the Advent season.

continue reading
Faith

What Men Have to Say About Scripture Writing

Rebekah Matt2 Comments

Over the years that I’ve been posting and teaching about Scripture writing, many of the same questions keep popping up. One of the most common questions is this: Do men do Scripture writing, too?

The answer is yes, they absolutely do! In fact, one of the biggest misconceptions about Scripture writing is that it’s something that only women do.

I’ve often wondered … why might people assume that Scripture writing is inherently a feminine thing to do? Especially since the scribes of centuries past were virtually all male, and it was a respected position in a temple or monastery (not to mention in the military, or in the court of a nobleman or king).

continue reading
Parenting

The Worst Kind of Parenting Advice

Rebekah Matt8 Comments

Imagine for a moment that you’re a new parent. Moms, I’m especially looking at you. Now, let me count the seconds with you until you are given unsolicited advice on how to raise the perfect child.

“If you do this, you will end up with this kind of child.” Or, on the flip side, “If you don’t do this, you’re going to ruin your child forever.”

For many years, I thought my own experience in this area was somewhat unique. After all, when I had my first child, I was completely inexperienced with babies or children. I was 27 years old the first time I ever held a baby (it was a fellow teacher’s niece), and then I never again held a baby until my own child was born two years later. Also, I was a brand-new Christian. So I had the double-whammy of total inexperience and complete ignorance of both parenting and how to be a follower of Christ … making me very insecure and open to suggestion on all topics related to parenting and Christian living.

To compound matters, I had a couple of not neurotypical children (I didn’t know this at the time) back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. What could possibly go wrong?

Here are some examples of the parenting advice that I heard—often and loudly—during those years:

continue reading
Faith

What’s So Intimidating About the Bible?

Rebekah Matt2 Comments

When I was in college, I worked in a mall bookstore—to this day, one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. As the assistant manager, I’d often arrive early to get some paperwork done before other employees arrived.

If you’ve ever wondered whether bookstore or library employees can read on the job, the 1980s answer is yes, to a certain extent. I often took advantage of this perk, and when I was in the store by myself, I could gravitate toward those books that I might not want others to see me reading. Alone in the store, with 15 minutes to do with as I pleased, I often headed for the Religion and Bibles section.

I wasn’t a Christian at the time, or even especially spiritual. As a young child, I’d read a 10-volume children’s Bible that had caused me to declare Jesus as my savior, but that commitment only lasted a few years. By the time I worked in the bookstore, God was a distant memory and Jesus was far from my mind and my life … or so it seemed.

continue reading
Reading

Five Favorite Epistolary Books

Rebekah MattLeave a comment

What is it about books written in epistolary format (a series of letters) that I love so much? Not all epistolary novels are good, of course, but when they are, they seem to find their place more quickly onto my list of favorite books.

Here’s what I love about them:

  • They give you all of the advantages of a first-person narrator (personal insights and viewpoints in usually a more conversational or revealing tone)—but they are once-removed and multi-faceted. The narrator isn’t talking to you, the reader, but to someone else. The letters are sometimes to or from more than one person, as well.
  • They require you to pay attention to details like dates, locations, means of correspondence, and who the letter is to/from in order to follow what’s going on, both in the plot of the book and sometimes from your knowledge of the real world at the time.
  • They assume you can fill in the blanks. Depending on the author’s skill (and all of these books below have very skillful authors), you, the reader, will need to make inferences based on what is said, or not said, in the letters in order to connect the dots.
continue reading
Faith

Dear Friend, You’re Already Found

Rebekah MattLeave a comment

“What is it that keeps you from looking for God?”

When I heard this question in a sermon last week, I had just seen an excellent live performance of Dear Evan Hansen a mere 12 hours before. If you’re one of the many who have seen this show, you know the song that’ll be in your head for days: “You Will Be Found” (lyric video here).

The main character in this musical, Evan Hansen, is a high school student who has social anxiety and great difficulty fitting in. He feels awkward and out of place most of the time. During the course of the show, he struggles greatly with the idea of being found—not necessarily because he feels lost, but because he feels invisible. So I suppose that the theme is not just about being found, but being seen. And really, aren’t they just two sides of the same coin?

Evan has no true friends, so when he sings these lyrics, they’re especially poignant:

continue reading
Faith

Scripture Writing in Philippians—Join Me at Bible Copy Club

Rebekah MattLeave a comment

I’ve been invited to be a guest writer at Bible Copy Club for a four-week series on Philippians! Join me there and let’s copy out this book together.

If you’ve been thinking about trying Scripture writing (copying out the Bible by hand), or if you’re just feeling the need to do something different in your daily Bible time, I have some good news!

Beginning next week and continuing through July, I’ll be collaborating with Andy at Bible Copy Club to walk you through copying the entire book of Philippians, a few verses at a time (use this link to receive this series). We start on Monday, July 7, and by August 1, you’ll have written out the entire book. And because you’ve taken it slowly and had time to think about what you’re writing, you’ll have more of it stored away in your heart than you might have by just reading alone.

continue reading