C easeless work is not a divinely-sanctioned pattern of life. Summer vacation offers a time to read and rediscover the vastness of the world and our place in redemption. So what books can help towards those ends?
If you only have time for small books, or cannot fit anything larger in your beach bag, you might try some of the following.
On The Incarnation by St. Athanasius. If it weren't for this book, you would be a Jehovah's Witness right now! Athanasius argued the case that Jesus was God when the majority believed, as do the Jehovah’s Witnesses today, that he was only an angel. Get the edition from St. Vladimir's Seminary Press with C.S. Lewis's wonderful forward "On the Reading of Old Books"
On Liberty by John Stuart Mill. A classic case for a very limited government position. Mill also argues that where force is no longer used to achieve social goals, social pressure becomes more important.
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. Everyday life in light of eternity. Get a version that includes "Screwtape Proposes a Toast". This is no frilly add-on, but is missing from some versions. Lewis's views on education beat Dennis Prager to the punch by 50 years.
The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton. A consideration of man, from cavemen to Christ. Sweeping but carefully executed. You will see the same evidence discussed on the Discovery Channel, minus Chesterton’s astounding insights.
History and Christianity by John Warwick Montgomery. The case for Jesus’s Resurrection. After mastering this, a reader will want to move onto other books with more historical detail. But this is an unbeatable introduction to the core of the argument.
If you have more time, or a deeper travel bag:
The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel by C.F.W. Walther. Evening lectures to seminary students on the central Lutheran doctrine. Walther explains why pastors should preach “faith into a person’s heart by laying the Gospel promises before him.” These lectures show a true pastor’s heart, especially where he shows why the “unforgiven” (not “unforgivable” as so many carelessly state) sin is not a barrier to salvation by being a worse sin than others, and how a desire to be forgiven of the sin is proof one has not committed it.
Living by Grace by William Hordern. Yes, Virginia, the Lutherans do have a doctrine of Sanctification. Hordern’s starting point is with an exacting description of the nature of true righteousness, a nuclear blast of a chapter compared to the attainable holiness described by other writers. When “This sounds too hard” is replaced by “This is impossible,” the Gospel will have a chance.
Miracles by C.S. Lewis. If Naturalism holds, then we can write off all historical accounts of miracles. But strict Naturalism undermines the validity of thought itself. If we are not in a naturalistic universe, then miracles are probable, and the evidence is good for the Grand Miracle, where death itself is reversed.
Here I Stand by Roland Bainton. Bainton would not publish anything on a subject until he had researched exhaustively. His students feared the loss to the world if he died first. He reassured them that until he published, he would neither fly in an airplane nor swim alone. Bainton writes an almost poetic prose, and has a journalist’s eye for the striking incident. He will make you feel like you lived through the Reformation.
The Hammer of God: a novel about the cure of souls by Bo Giertz. Bishop Giertz was a believing bishop in the very liberal State Church of Sweden. Giertz shows how the old Lutheran theology can speak to both to liberal churchmen who have nothing to offer to the spiritually oppressed, and to pious believers who place more emphasis on spiritual experience than on God’s promises.
If you have time for a tome:
Church History by Eusebius. If you want to know where all the traditions come from about where the disciples travelled after the Resurrection, or how they died, read Eusebius. Don’t let yourself get bogged down by reading all the footnotes. Read the text itself. You can become your congregation’s sage who knows the history.
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Philosopher J.P. Moreland offers the “Grand Inquisitor” chapter of this book as the most powerful argument for atheism he knows, and the rest of the novel as the theist’s reply. Get the translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. If you were considering reading War and Peace just to say you did it, then bump it down the list and let this one take its place.