On March 10, 2013, Jack “Doc” Birdwhistell launched the “Doc’s Books” group on Facebook. As he explained it: “For decades books have been some of my best friends. I’m starting this group to share some of my favorites with my human friends!” Over the course of the following 11 months, Doc posted book reviews, links to articles, but more than anything simply fostered an active daily discussion and fellowship among the group’s 160+ members.

We figured it was time we share some of his recommendations with a larger audience. Scroll down for 20 books from his hit list! (notes: the text beyond this point is Doc’s; also the book titles are click-able to Amazon.)

“A Place in Time — Twenty Stories of the Port William Membership,” by Wendell Berry

My most recent favorite. Berry’s first fiction book since 2006, this was a gift from my daughter, Cory. Berry’s characters are so vivid, and such good people. The term ‘membership’ implies ‘church’, but for the most part they are not church people. Their declining rural community IS their church, where they rejoice with one another and weep with one another. Each of the stories is self-contained, several guaranteed to make you ‘tear up’.

“Brother to a Dragonfly” by Will Campbell

Finishing Lent recommending my All-Time Favorite book — Will D. Campbell’s “Brother to a Dragonfly,” a memoir of an extended (mostly Baptist) family in the Deep South as the new civil rights movement swirls in the background. Will Campbell (b. 1924) has been a campus minister, preacher, author, and crusader for justice and mercy. There’s no way I can equal Robert Penn Warren’s words about BTD: “A fascinating and important book — a biography, it is as compelling as a fine novel, is packed with deep emotional appeals, strong humor, and impressive characterizations, and more than any other single book I know tells what southern life is like on the rough side, where the lath and plaster have not been smoothed off, including matters of daily bread, race, and the belief in Jesus Christ.”

Reader beware, BTD will touch you on a deep level!

“A Painted House” by John Grisham

Finished Grisham’s ‘A Painted House’ — recommend it highly — no murders (well, maybe two); vivid, diverse, likable (for the most part) characters; a way of life (cotton farming in Arkansas in 1952) well depicted. Smiles and tears aplenty. From the looks of this photo, somebody made a film of it. One question: how come Luke Chandler (the seven year-old hero of the story) knew so much more about life/love at seven than I did???

“Traveling Mercies” by Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott — flaky, funny, angry, intense, lyrical writer. I found her “Traveling Mercies” to be the most lively and compelling ‘conversion to the gospel’ story I have ever read. Her “Some Assembly Required” perfectly describes us grandparents, even traditional ones, which she (of course!) is not!

“In the Garden Of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin” by Erik Larson

Book of the Week — “In the Garden…” by Erik Larson. Probably my fav book of the past year. I’ve read a lot about the Nazi era, but Larson gives a splendid ‘ground level’ view of the early Hitler years through the eyes of Ambassador William Dodd and his family, especially his man-crazy daughter, Martha. Genuine history but reads like a good novel. For history buffs and folks who enjoy a dramatic story.

“No Graves As Yet” by Anne Perry

In my post-Downton obsession with all things World War I, one of my pleasant surprises was a series of five books by the mystery writer Anne Perry, published from ‘03-’07. Beginning with ‘No Graves As Yet,” the series is a fun way to learn some WWI, especially from the British side.

“Regeneration” by Pat Barker

During my World War I obsession, I encountered her three-novel ‘Regeneration’ trilogy (‘Regeneration’ is the title of the first novel in the series.) Barker created the character of bisexual soldier Billy Prior, whose story is told alongside those of Sigfried Sassoon, Wilfrid Owen, and W.H.R. Rivers, each historical figures. Among his adventures, Billy Prior encounters a shady character named ‘Birtwhistle’ (OMG, a long lost fictional cousin!). Wikipedia describes Barker’s work as ‘direct, blunt, plainspoken’ — I’d add the word ‘gritty’. But I was sad when the series ended.

“Hardball: A Season in the Projects” by Daniel Coyle

Here’s a ‘Book of the Week’ as Little League ball nears the half-way point. ‘Hardball’ chronicles a season with white (and white-collar) coaches leading a team of players (the Kikuyus!) drawn from the infamous Cabrini-Green housing project of Chicago. One reviewer called it a ‘dazzling, disturbing book.” I loved it. Not at all how my ‘Burg Little League coaching with Ken Phillips, Billy Robinson, and my brother Ben went back in the day!

“Tarnished Crown” by Carol Flake

In honor of Preakness Saturday, today’s Book of the Week is ‘Tarnished Crown’ by Carol Flake. A journalist and non-fiction author, Carol Flake followed her curiosity into the world of thoroughbred racing to tell the story of Chief’s crown, a grandson of Secretariat and winner of the two-year old championship in 1984. A total novice, she explored every aspect of the racing scene, including Chief Crown’s losses in each of the Triple Crown races in 1985, followed by a victory in the Travers at Saratoga. Because she was a novice, as most of us are, she writes with the joy of discovery, and, as sports nuts say, ‘the agony of defeat.’ Highly recommend if you want to learn about the so-called ‘Sport of Kings.’

“The Given Day” by Dennis Lehane

The New York Times called it ‘a majestic, fiery epic’! nearly 700 pages long, the novel deals with Boston during the dramatic events of 1918-1919 — the end of WWI, the deadly Flu outbreak, racial and ethnic unrest, the policemen’s strike of 1919. In addition to the vivid fictional characters (an Irish cop and an African-American drifter), Lehane creates cameo appearances for Babe Ruth, John Reed, John (J. Edgar) Hoover, even Calvin Coolidge! I usually have trouble finishing books this long, but this one kept me hooked until the end. My brother Ben recommended it to me, I recommend it 2 U!

“Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia” by Dennis Covington

A Baptist-raised journalist in Alabama, Covington became interested in the serpent-handling churches of Appalachia. The book chronicles the months he spent visiting (and finally participating in) several of these churches. It’s an honest, fascinating, well-written account of a religious sub-culture which still exists along the Appalachian chain. One of my all-time Top Ten.

“Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction” by Eric Foner

I am reading this as we speak. It’s a very clear account of a very murky period in American history. Eric Foner is one of our top historians. And it’s not a Huge book!

“The Valley Forge: A Novel” by MacKinlay Kantor

Best book I’ve read on the American Revolution, published in 1975 — raw, gritty, realistic. May read it again this week…

“If Grace is True: Why God Will Save Every Person” by Philip Gulley and James Mulholland

Book of the Week by two ministers in the Quaker tradition. These guys here expound the view usually known as ‘Universalism,’ as they say, ‘God Will Save Every Person’ (not ‘might, not ‘may’, but WILL!). This is almost the opposite view I grew up with as a traditional Southern Baptist, today expounded by the great and Powerful Al Mohler, who insists that hell as ‘Eternal, Conscious Torment’ is one of the major ideas of the Faith.

This is not a great book — its dealing with scripture is faulty. They write that scripture teaches ECT — I disagree! — so they simply say, We reject scripture at that point. It is not systematic theologically — it is a book written from the hearts of these two very good, very kind men. Based on many anecdotes, their experience with Jesus/God convince them of their conclusion: ‘God Will Save Every Person.’

If this subject interests you, here is a good place to start. Other members may recommend Rob Bell’s ‘Love Wins’ or Hans Ur von Balthasar’s ‘Dare We Hope That All Men Be Saved?’ (neither of which I have read).

I like these guys — not sure I can completely follow them — yet…

“Mariette in Ecstasy” by Ron Hansen

From the jacket, ‘Mariette’ is ‘a stunning immersion into the society of a small (Catholic) convent at the turn of the century (1906).’ Mariette is a beautiful 17-year old newby, who lives at the intersection of sensuality and spirituality, exhibiting dramatic religious experiences, including the stigmata (wounds of Christ). The community divides over Mariette, with some thinker her a fraud or even demonic. The tension builds as the story proceeds through the feats and seasons of the Christian year. As a church history, religious experience geek, I found it enthralling. Most amazed that a middle-aged male writer (Ron Hansen) could capture the daily details of an imaginary convent in western New York in 1906-7, in such vivid, poetic language. Not for everyone, but maybe for you.

“A Long Way form Tipperary: What a Former Monk Learned on His Search for Truth” by John Dominic Crossan

Book of the Week. While he is not in favor among GC NT scholars, I enjoy Crossan, a jaunty Irishman with a constant twinkle in his eye. His life has had more drama than the usual academic’s, and who among us has not wondered often about how a world-famous biblical scholar becomes such? :-)

I enjoyed the book, it’s @Amazon for .01, and if U R a particular kind of geek, U might as well. :-)

“A Place of Greater Safety” by Hilary Mantel

After a couple months of reading, I have finished Hilary Mantel’s 768 page book about the French Revolution. Most normal people have neither the curiosity nor the persistence to complete such a task, but I was determined to get a handle on the French Revolution — there has to be an easier way! That said, I enjoyed the story, told through the intertwined lives of George-Jacques Danton (1759-17940, Maximillien Robespierre (1759-1794), and Camille Desmoulins (1759-1794). You may sense something ominous in 1794!

Hilary Mantel is a verbal artiste with joys on every page. Recommended, but only if you have lots of time to read!

“Birdsong” by Sebastian Faulks

Just finished ‘Birdsong,’ a 1993 World War I novel by Sebastian Faulks. It’s a winner. In the early pages, there are some splendidly steamy love scenes, soon to be supplanted by many incredibly gory battle scenes, including the final episode which takes place far underground. Faulks wrote that he aimed to bring recognition to the WWI generation of Brits, and that he does. With the WWI centennial in 2014, there will be more of these efforts, which is good news.

“Gods of Noonday” by Elaine Neil Orr

Just finished ‘Gods of Noonday,’ (2005) by Elaine Neil Orr (b. 1954) a professor at North Carolina State University who grew up as the daughter of Southern Baptist missionaries in Nigeria. It is a terrific book—I learned lots about: 1) the realities of Baptist mission work in Africa; 2) the history of the independence of Nigeria and the resultant Biafran war; 3) a ‘coming of age’ story of a brilliant, sensitive young woman. Elaine Orr appears to have almost total recall of her childhood and adolescent years, combined with an account of her serious illness as a young adult which resulted in two successful organ transplants. I’d describe her writing as ‘luminous’. She has a recent novel which I am including on my ample to-read list. I recommend this one highly.