Advent Reading Recommendations

What are you reading during Advent this year? What’s your standard practice? Do you read any special Advent book, or follow any sort of blog/newsletter? I haven’t for most of my life; it’s only in the most recent years that I’ve read anything out of the ordinary for Advent. A major part of that is because I’m generally not a fan of devotionals, with the typical 3-5 verse passage of Scripture and the ensuing page(s) of trite and shallow human musings. (Sorry-not-sorry. I know it sounds harsh. It’s also an accurate description of at least 75% of devotionals I’ve read.) It’s not what I need to offset the cheap sparkles and fake cheer leading into January grey. If I’m going to survive the holidays, I need something with more heft, more weight, more depth than the standard devotional offers.

Before you argue and tell me that Thanksgiving isn’t even over yet and everything needs to stay in its own lane, please let me assure you that it’s at least equally important to me that we don’t skip over holidays in anticipation of the next week, especially Thanksgiving. Most of us likely don’t do nearly enough to cultivate a posture of thankfulness and gratitude in our hearts and lives. I hear you. Everything in its own lane. But also, preparation. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “a failure to plan is a plan to fail”. I don’t necessarily subscribe to that theory, but the fact of the matter is that the first day of Advent is Sunday, November 27 this year, and that’s just a few days away. 

So anyway, if you, like me, need a something weightier than fluff to feed your soul through this stressful season, may I offer 5 Advent books that may be the solution to that hunger:

Love Came Down at Christmas (Sinclair Ferguson) – Dr. Ferguson is associated in various ways with Truth for Life, Ligonier, and also Reformed Theological Seminary. This small but mighty book contains 24 readings that walk through 1 Corinthians 13 – “the love chapter” – and examine how Jesus incarnated this chapter in His earthly ministry. 

The Weary World Rejoices (ed. Melissa Kruger) – This may be the most impactful devotional I’ve read. 25 readings are split across 5 categories corresponding to the traditional Advent candles (hope – the prophecy candle; peace – the Bethlehem candle; joy – the Shepherd candle; love – the angel candle; faith – the Christ candle). These readings can be done daily, or one category a week, with a couple bonus days each week, which could be quite welcome in a generally over-scheduled season.

Come Let Us Adore Him (Paul David Tripp) – Tripp always strikes a balance between accessibility and depth. Tried and true, if you’ve never read much theology, this is a great place to start.

Waiting on the Word (Malcolm Guite) – I’m going out on a limb a bit with these last two: I’ve never read them. Malcolm Guite is an English poet and chaplain of Girton College, Cambridge. Although I’ve not read this book, I have read, and greatly benefited from, his book of Lent readings. Many of the poems are his originals; others are gathered from other sources; all are poignant and thought-provoking. I’m anticipating this eagerly.

Hallelujah (Cindy Rollins) – One of my favorite works of classical music is Handel’s Messiah; long-time readers may recall that a couple years ago, I did an entire Advent series based on the libretto (little book; lyrics) to Messiah. Cindy Rollins took it a step further, and compiled a series of essays and poems on the same piece. I’ve listened to her speak on various themes in literature enough to know that although I haven’t read this yet, I want to. Perhaps it will be next year’s Advent reading.

If you don’t have plans to read something specific during this Advent season, I’d encourage you to consider why that is. Maybe you’ve already thought about it, and for various reasons have decided not to. That’s fine. That’s a deliberate decision. I would caution against a decision made out of default. Perhaps this is the year to shake things up and read something different, or something at all. Add one of those to your Black Friday shopping lists, and plan well for this season.