Things that Warm My Heart (books ft. one hymn)

(fyi many of my favorite books ever didn't make this list)

1. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

I don't really reread much, but I've reread this more than once because it just feels so much like home it's unexplainable. Sometimes I wonder why, as the other more popular Austen novels don't feel the same.

2. Dickens novels

Dickens is that special author whose novels feel like home. It's not just one of them. He is not the most profound writer or anything, but it must be his style and his portrayal of light in the darkness that warm me.

3. The writings of Amy Carmichael

Amy Carmichael, one of my favorite human beings ever and my role model. The love and passion she has for God make her poems so close to my heart.

4. Paradise Lost by John Milton

Out of all the books I've read so far, this one gives me more hope than anything. I know that's a strange thing to say. It's an epic poem written in the 1600s, not some soft, fluffy piece. But it gives me more hope than any other book because it portrays Christ as our ultimate Hero in such a beautiful and majesty way that's unparalleled. Mr. Milton is, of course, a literary genius.

5. Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery

Ahhh, the nostalgia! My girl Anne slays. It's so warm, both the families and friendships that are portrayed as well as the setting.

6. Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilders

These too are so closely associated with childhood nostalgia: I must have read them countless times by now.

7. "Be Thou my Vision" (especially the old Celtic version)

This has been my absolute favorite hymn for a long time now. Every time I listen to it or sing to it while playing on the piano, I am reminded to exhort myself: may God be my Vision in the next step and for always, for all my life.

Honorable Mentions:

1. Sonnets from the Portuguese and Other Poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

2. The Narnia series by C.S. Lewis