18 September 2015

Friday Fifteen: Alicia G Ruggieri

Today I'd like to welcome author Alicia G Ruggieri to share fifteen books and authors who have influenced her life and writing. Welcome, Alicia!

This was difficult! How does one narrow down the most influential writers on their own writing and life to a list of fifteen? Here are fifteen of my favorite writers who have had the strongest impact on my own life and writing.

1. C.S. Lewis 

My mom reading aloud The Chronicles of Narnia is one of my earliest memories. Lewis’ down-to-earth, often-humorous, but utterly deep fiction and nonfiction has challenged and encouraged me each time I read him. His ‘Til We Have Faces makes it into my top three fiction books.


2. Oswald Chambers 

Not only does My Utmost for His Highest have a near-permanent spot on my bedside table, but his other works – I’m thinking of his study of the Book of Job, Baffled to Fight Better – have fortified my walk with Jesus Christ.

3. George MacDonald 

Can anyone write more realistic fantasy, more childlike novels about bonny Scotland, or sermons more passionate about the love of God? My sister first gave me a volume of MacDonald’s sermons when I was in high school, and I will be forever grateful that she did. It’s hard to choose a favorite among his writings, but I’d say Phantastes and Sir Gibbie rank very high.


4. Elisabeth Elliot 

A woman unafraid to stand for the truth and to place everything she had and was in the Lord’s hands. Her first husband’s quote sums up her life and writings: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

5. L.M. Montgomery 

Her The Story Girl and The Golden Road display a level of simple yet heart-rending beauty that I’d love to imitate in my own work.

6. E.B. White

Wilbur the pig, Templeton the rat, and Stuart Little show us that some of the deepest themes in the world can find their channel through the most common of characters.


7. Brother Yun 

The Heavenly Man has provided focus and widened my vision of what God does in and through those who stake their all in Him. I can’t recommend Yun highly enough.

8. Hannah Hurnard 

God used this Quaker’s little book Hearing Heart to soften my own heart toward true obedience and listening to Him, the real and personal God.

9. Janette Oke 

She was perhaps the first Christian novelist I ever read, and her gently insistent Seasons of the Heart series continues to encourage me toward writing about ordinary folk who have an extraordinary God.

10. Charles Dickens 

How could I leave him out? His characters make me weep, roar with laugher, and cry with indignation.

11. Ravi Zacharias 

His Great Conversations series has helped me more deeply understand how our Christian discipleship makes all the difference.

12. J.R.R. Tolkien 

The Lord of the Rings brings a remarkable level of layering and fictitious history that leaves me in awe.


13. John Bunyan 

Pilgrim’s Progress is a spiritual eye-opener. I cannot recommend any book more highly.

14. John G. Paton 

This missionary’s autobiography has done a great deal to cement my commitment to the Lord Jesus. My favorite story about him: When an elderly woman in a Scottish congregation protested his upcoming missions work in the New Hebrides, saying, “But Mr. Paton, you will be eaten by cannibals!” His reply? “Madam, you will be eaten by worms.”

15. Shakespeare 

Who can do tragedy so well? I re-read Hamlet every couple of years and find something fresh every time.

Thanks for having me, Iola! Readers, I hope that you find something new to explore in my list!


About Alicia G Ruggieri

Alicia G. Ruggieri writes Christ-centered fiction that speaks of redemption. She received her B.A. in Communications and History from Rhode Island College and lives with her husband and their emotionally-disturbed pug on the New England coast.

AUTHOR LINKS:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AliciaGRuggieri
Blog: http://www.abrighterdestiny.blogspot.com
Twitter: @aliciaruggieri
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/AliciaGRuggieri
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/aliciagruggieri

Alicia's second book releases on 29 September, and is currently available for pre-order on Amazon. Click here!

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