Finding Your Faith in Literature: Why Some of the Greatest Stories are Relevant, Personal, and Transformative by Karen E.B. Elliott, Emily Carpenter

In an era where organized religion gets a bad, but too-often deserved reputation, Elliott explores secular literature as a means for soul-searching. As a seasoned professor, she shares why these particular books mattered to herself and her students over the years, and how each text offers a contemplative, scholarly, humorous, and philosophical path toward the true nature of God and the relevance of faith. Her doctoral research delves into the value of pedagogical practices which leave much-needed room for critical thinking and self-reflection, and her book—scholarly but personally—addresses how students and her readers, who are laden with social media and a western educational system which has long outlived its purpose, have found literature to be relevant and transformational. As a tenured literature professor, her book addresses the need for particular stories which have helped generations of readers navigate their relevancy as human beings and their faith in a post-industrial, and self-interested world.