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.
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