The Best Christian Fiction Books for Every Kind of Reader

This fictionalized account of Mary Magdalene's life sees the eponymous heroine freed from a life of darkness and despair by one rabbi who is radically different from the rest: Jesus Christ. She makes it her life's mission to serve the one who freed her, terrified of straying and returning to her former bondage. Even when tragedy strikes, and her savior is sentenced to execution, she remains by his side until the end. 

Desperate to support her family, Roxannah takes up employment as a cook in Queen Esther's kitchens. In the lavish palace of Susa, Roxannah tries to survive the spiteful games of the other cooks as she climbs through the rank. Her loyality earns her Queen Esther's trust, but when Roxannah discovers a secret plot against Esther's archenemy, Roxannah knows she must find the culprit. As secrets unravel and alliances are tested,  the fate of Esther's reign hangs in the balance.

Ahinoam flees her family farm with her eccentric father to join a band of misfits led by the shepherd-turned-warrior David ben Jesse. Under the shadow of King Saul's treasonous accusations, Ahinoam is convinced that David is indeed Yahweh's chosen king, sending her on a dangerous journey to Moab and into Judah's harsh wildnerness. 

Amid impossible challenges, Ahinoam forms a bond with David's sister and gains respect among David's men through her knowledge of Kenite metalworking. Scarred by her past, Ahinoam refuses to acknowledge her growing feelings for the renegade king, but as King Saul's army closes in, Ahinoam must confront the true meaning of love, loyalty, and courage. 

This incredible fictional account of Jesus' miracle at Cana follows Thomas and Tasmin, twins hired to oversee a wedding feast in Cana. All is going according to plan when disaster strikes: the party runs out of wine. Bewilderingly, a guest tells Tasmin to fill all the pitchers with water from the cistern—and she and all the guests are amazined to find not water in the pitchers, but the finest wine ever tasted in Cana. 

Thomas immediately resolves to follow the guest, a prophet from Nazareth, but Tasmin has her doubts. Reluctantly, she follows Thomas and the Nazarene's group with the plan o revealing the truth about the prophet and bringing he brother home. But the truth about Yeshua of Nazareth, as Tasmin is about to learn, may surprise her. 

In Biblical times, dust was thrown over one’s head to signify grief, hence the title of this Martha of Bethany re-telling by Heather Kaufman. Martha’s story is not very fleshed out in the Bible, but we get an incredibly moving and hopeful reimagining in this story that features love, loss, and redemption. 

Martha is responsible for raising her siblings Lazarus and Mary following their mother’s untimely death. While making new friends and experiencing love for the first time, things start to look up. But Martha’s feelings are squashed by her father’s disapproval and unforeseen hardship, leaving Martha broken and guarded. Years later, she meets Jesus of Nazareth unexpectedly, and the life-changing encounter encourages Martha to heal, despite an unknown future.

An exploration of the early days of the church, The Woman From Lydia depicts the Christian struggle as they tried to stay true to their faith in the midst of pagan culture. Eudoia, a widow looking for a new start in Philippi, has met Gentile apostle Paulos and is no committed to helping those in need. 

When she hears that a gifted slave named Sabina is being mistreated, she knows she must help. Eudoia attempts to buy Sabina so that she can be set free, but the sale is revoked when her masters realize they might profit from Sabina's abilities. Still, Eudoia and her followers will not give up on setting Sabina free. 

Voice of the Ancient is both a coming-of-age tale about four cousins desperate to prove themselves on the battlefield with King Saul, and a story of faith and trust in the eternal King of Israel as two people escape the fates laid out for them by their families and rely on the fates laid out for them by Jesus. 

Avidan, the eldest son of a Levite and a Philistine, is torn between his duty to uphold the family legacy and the desire for something more. But when an enemy strikes too close to home for comfort, he goes on with his cousins to fight for King Saul. Then a tragedy on the battlefield leads him to Keziah, the daughter of a powerful Manassehian clan chief on the run from an abhorrent forced marriage. Making a pact to travel together, the two learn to trust each other, but also to trust in God’s plan.

As can likely be foretold from the title, The Ark and the Dove is a retelling of the story of Noah and the flood from the perspective of Noah’s wife, Zara. With a fresh perspective on the judgment and sabotage from their loved ones during the building of the ark, to the boarding of the ark, to their time on the ark, and their deliverance on dry ground, we get an entirely inspirational account of the struggle, the transition to normal life after the flood, choices, faith, judgment, and family. 

We also get an inside look into the story that the Bible does not account for: the process of capturing the animals, what life was really like on the ark, how Noah’s family coped with the transition, and more. All in all, it’s an incredible piece on the realities of how difficult it is to walk with the Creator, but also how rewarding it can be. 

Set in Depression-era Mississippi, Julie Cantrell’s bestselling novel Into the Free introduced readers to Millie Reynolds, a young woman determined to end her family’s cycle of abuse. In this unforgettable sequel, Millie’s journey continues in the wilds of Colorado, where she is helping to build a working ranch. 

Here, her grandmother’s Choctaw traditions will help Millie to find a way forward and build a new life where forgiveness and the lessons of the past can help to create a more beautiful future for everyone. Though Millie may feel that forgiveness is as impossible as moving a mountain, she will find that sometimes, even mountains move.

The legend of Robin Hood is one that has been told and re-told for centuries, always taking on new dimensions and changing to meet the changing needs of each new generation. 

In this book steeped in Celtic mythology, the first part of the King Raven series, bestselling author Stephn R. Lawhead breathes new life into the story. Hood transposes the legend of Robin Hood to the forests of Wales, and tells a tale that combines actual British history with fanciful new ideas that are sure to keep you turning the pages.

Books featuring a member or leading figure of the Church such as a pastor or deacon are popular in Christian fiction. The insight of a person balancing being a model of the religion and being human is fascinating and entertaining, simultaneously.

Here the reader gets to know Father Leffingwell. He was seemingly retired but gets pulled back into the service of the Church. He tends to parishioners who are struggling with the mundane to the heartbreaking while dealing with a very ill son of his own. Father Leffingwell is not perfect, just like those who he seeks to help, and that can be a comfort in facing the ups and downs of life together.

This book pulls from the Bible as its source of inspiration and re-imagines one of its most oft told stories. Noah’s Ark is the subject of prior retellings, Christmas ornaments and even a real life duplicate as a museum in Kentucky. But this version is quite unique.

Meet Ham. He is the youngest of three and the son of Noah. And he wants to set the record straight. He claims that the real events of the building of said ark have not been fully revealed. Especially the part where Noah’s own family balks at the idea of an ark.

Winner of the Christy Award, this short novel provides a modern parable, as three very different people find themselves directed to retrieve their luggage from a mysterious Baggage Handler, who shows them that they might be carrying – and holding onto – more than they realize. 

With discussion questions perfect for book clubs or Bible study, “The Baggage Handler is a tale that will resonate deeply with those who have held on too tightly, for too long, to the things that hold them captive” (James L. Rubart, author of The Man He Never Was).

We’ve all heard the teachings of Jesus Christ, but prepare to experience his ministry in a whole new way, as we see the story of Jesus told through unlikely eyes – those of a dog named Barley. Living in Jerusalem, Barley begins as a starving, nearly drowned puppy, taken in by a woodcarving family. 

However, as the teachings of Jesus begin to spread throughout the land, Barley will find himself on new adventures that will take him face to face with the Messiah in this “page-turning read that stops and opens the heart” (Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley).

A child’s faith can be unwavering and pure. And when this type of faith is witnessed, it can be inspiring for an adult. This is the premise of the relationship that develops between seven-year-old Analisa and a grownup, world-weary Claire.

This relationship does not start off in person. Analisa writes a very heartfelt letter and leaves it in a tree in Mulberry Park. And while this letter is not meant for Claire, she is the one who stumbles upon it and decides she just has to write back. This decision will have consequences that benefit not only Claire and Analisa, but all the regulars of Mulberry Park.

Bestselling author and legal analyst Lis Wiehl brings her expertise along with her knack for crafting “smart, suspenseful” stories to this “stunning crime series debut” (Linda Fairstein, New York Times bestselling author), introducing readers to Mia Quinn, a tough and committed mother who also works in the prosecutor’s office. When she overhears the murder of a friend and colleague, she finds herself thrust into a case that may put her and her family in a killer’s sights.

Carrie Stuart Parks is an FBI-trained forensic artist, and she brings her expertise to this thrilling story of a forensic artist whose work reconstructing the skulls of those slain in the notorious 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre may provide clues to a much more contemporary and pressing threat. 

Former FBI Counterterrorism and Forensic Science Researcher Carter Cornick calls this, “A unique novel on forensics and fanaticism. A good story on timely subjects well told.”

Power and greed have long lured us human beings into doing things that we know aren’t right. In this book, the lure of high political office is hard to resist for Lawrence Simmons. He is in the middle of a critical campaign and cannot afford any impropriety.

As the daughter of this politician, Paris understands what’s involved with winning but she cannot understand how her adoption of a little girl can possibly impact her father. As her father and husband throw up roadblocks to the adoption, Paris uncovers a scandal and a woman who will fight the uphill battle for doing what’s right instead of what’s convenient.

Testing of one’s faith is a common theme in Christian literature and it is a feature in this book as well. Ben has been working the railroad for a long time and has seen a lot of things. But when a train master is found dead in the railyard, Ben is puzzled as to how and why.

Add to that confusion the fact that the accused murderer, a fellow locomotive engineer, has always given Ben a hard time about his faith. That doesn’t make it easy for Ben to want to find out the truth of what really happened to the train master, but it doesn’t stop Ben from doing the right thing. But will he be successful in uncovering who the real murderer is in time?

Take a trip back in time to when German settlers came to America to start the first Amish community. Since this occurs in the eighteenth century, there are many obstacles in establishing this new community and finding strength is essential to survival.

Jacob thought his life was just beginning in America when his son was born. After losing his wife, he feels like his life is over. Greta suffers the loss of her father on the way to the settlement and ends up taking over the care of twins whose parents also perished on the voyage. Jacob has his hands full already, but feels compelled to help his new and somewhat frustrating neighbor, Greta. Will this relationship give them the strength needed to carry on?

Three friends, three different stories, all finding themselves challenged as their hopes, their dreams, their convictions, and their beliefs confront the realities of a life that they never planned for themselves. 

One longs to be married, while still finding herself single at forty. One thought she had the perfect marriage, until she discovered her husband’s affair. One struggles with her own husband’s lack of faith, and her attraction to another man, who seems to be just what she has always wanted. 

Together and separately, they will find their way forward in this page-turning novel by the celebrated author of Cherished, The Color of Hope, and Hidden Blessings.

Caleb Holt is a dedicated firefighter, but at home his marriage is suffering. He and his wife Catherine were happy once, but after seven years of marriage, it seems like they argue all the time – about money, about Caleb’s use of internet pornography, and much more. 

Finally, she serves him with divorce papers, but his father and a fellow firefighter convince him to try the “Love Dare,” a challenge that changes how he interacts with his wife, and how he sees their relationship. The 2008 film became a breakout hit, and this novelization brings the story home, complete with photographs from the film and a study guide.

Who better than the major figures of Christianity to discuss the fate of humanity? Usually, Lucifer and the Archangel Michael are discussed with some distance, but Taylor Caldwell imagines getting inside their heads. 

Here, the reader is immersed in the thoughts of these figures with the device of letter writing. The letters by Lucifer, Michael and Gabriel allow for the discourse on man. Is man really worthy of an afterlife? Is there really free will? The one thing that we can all agree on is that this book presents multiple opinions that may just have you questioning your own.

It’s an epic story that could have come out of a stirring fantasy novel, but instead it comes from the pages of Scripture itself. Lucifer is one of the great archangels, but when he learns that God has created something new, humans made from little more than clay and yet formed in the image of God Himself, he is consumed with jealousy and resentment. The resulting fall will create an enemy that will plague humanity for the rest of its days, and begin a story that must be read to be believed.

These short stories center on a young boy named Yeshohuah who is on his own in Egypt learning a lot about the world and himself in the process. 

The first of two tales starts with Yeshohuah taking care of a rich boy’s camel. This boy named Pakko is arrogant and greedy and goes on to steal the only things of value that Yeshoshuah owns. But in that loss, Yeshoshuah finds the meaning of what is truly valuable. The second tale involves a Sphinx that poses riddles to the boy and the answers themselves foreshadow the life that the young Jesus will go on to lead.

Dorothy is eighty-seven years young and just getting started. She lives in Partonville and knows every one of its residents. They each have their own trials and triumphs but through it all they have each other.

Get to know Dorothy as she hilariously helps her friends, new and old, navigate life in a small town, whether that means saving a farm or convincing a newcomer to stay. If you like a cozy read infused with humor and people coming together, this is just one of a series.

Action adventure in Christian fiction? You bet. If you’re a fan of archaeology and treasure hunts, then you’ll be glad to make the acquaintance of Adam Livingstone.

This Indiana Jones-ish character is on a mission to find the real Ark of the Covenant. And everything seems to be standing in his way including forces of evil, naysayers and red herrings. Is Adam on a fool’s errand, or will he just manage to pull off the unthinkable?