Last week on the Calvin Center for Faith & Writing’s blog, I reflected a bit on the onslaught of end of the year “best-of” book lists and the mountain of accompanying TBR recommendations for 2026 that have been all over my internet feed for the past weeks. And I wondered about the ways in which “BookTok” is driving us to think about reading more as consumption–how many books we read–over other values like “enjoyment, curiosity, wonder.” I’d love to hope that reading isn’t just checking off a to-do list, fulfilling a “should,” but a habit that enlarges us mind, heart, and soul.

It got me thinking about my own reading. As an English professor, I make it a practice to read alongside whatever I assign to my students. I’m also reading and re-reading additional texts to help me prepare to teach well. As the director of the Calvin Center for Faith & Writing, I also read pretty endlessly as we look for new writers to add to our programming. This semester, I’m also reading every work written by the authors I’ll be interacting with at the Festival of Faith & Writing (have you registered yet?) for interviews and the like. And, of course, I have a “fun” pile that I’m working through.

But as I thought more about where my reading time is actually spent, I realized that the big change, especially in the last couple of years, is that I’ve begun to spend more and more time with substacks.

My practice used to be to come home and read the newspaper. On Sundays, I read my local paper, and I also took national papers. I’d settle in on Sunday afternoons and wend my way through all the sections, ending with the comics and the book review. But my hometown paper slowly went to fewer and fewer days of the week until finally it wasn’t worth it to subscribe any more. Same for magazines: I used to love to receive all sorts–for politics and news, entertainment and culture, faith and music. Now, the only periodical I receive is because I’m a member of the Bronte Society, and they send out a quarterly scholarly journal to everyone.

Now, all those subscription dollars are going to support individual writers. To be honest, I’m not a paying customer for every substack I read, but as I surveyed my reading habits (and bank account), I was surprised to find that I am making a substantial contribution. There’s lots of debate right now about the pros/cons of the substack business model, which I’m going to stay out of for now, especially as I don’t know about it from the inside out.

But only as a reader, I will note that from that angle I like that I can encounter a range of voices–and in some cases, help folks profit a little from their work.

At the end of my CCFW piece, I encouraged us to consider our reading “diet”: a good mix of authors, genres, topics, perspectives. So here’s my Substack menu for your dining pleasure.

Great Round-Ups

I’m very fond of hearing great recommendations about everything under the sun. These four come from wonderfully varying points of view but provide hyperlink gardens overflowing with interesting specimens.

• English Teacher Weekly: Not just for English teachers (though Andrew Campbell does teach high school), but a rich collection of literary and cultural resources.
• Prufrock: Micah Mattix likes books that aren’t always up my alley. I imagine if we were in the same department we might find some things (but definitely not all) that we would disagree on. But I’m grateful that he highlights lots of books and reviews I might not see otherwise.           
• The Audacity: Writer Roxanne Gay is in a very different place than Mattix (or Campbell of ETW), but she also curates sources that help me come across conversations I’d probably miss.
• The Pietist Schoolman: Chris Gehrz is a history professor at Bethel University in Minnesota. Unsurprisingly, he brings together history links, but also news and views from higher education (particularly Christian higher education) and wider cultural discussions.

Faithful Reflections

These writers all help me think more deeply about faith. Three of them–Nadia Bolz Weber, Carrie Newcomer, and Barbara Brown Taylor–you’ve probably heard of. Each is such a gorgeous writer and profound thinker. Karen was the pastor of Grand Rapids’ Church of the Servant, where I came to appreciate her sermons (despite attending a different congregation). Now back in her native Northern Ireland, she continues to bring a good word about peace-making and hope, faith and love.

• The Corners by Nadia Bolz Weber
• Gathering of Spirits, Carrie Newcomer
• Coming Down to Earth, Barbara Brown Taylor
• Illuminate’s Substack, Karen Campbell

History, Politics, Current Events, Culture

This is the category where I can only gesture to a few of the many incredible voices writing right now. I’ll admit some are friends: my colleague (and fellow RJ writer) Debra Rienstra helps me navigate all things environmental; my colleague Kristen DuMez provides maps for the current landscape. (I also really benefit from Kristen’s frequent collaborator, Jemar Tisby). Michelle Kuo, who I’ve been a fan of since her book Reading with Patrick, writes with her husband from Taiwan, providing an international angle on world events. Daniel Silliman, late of Christianity Today, but who I know from his little church in Tennessee and our mutual friends, is now bringing his investigative eye and curious mind to a new space. My former colleague and long-time buddy, Mary McCampbell, brings her particular lens to art and faith and culture/film.

Others I’m mostly just a fan: scholars expounding on gender and the Bible, like Marg Mowczko and Sandra Glahn. My favorite British historian, Lucy Worsley, who writes so charmingly about everything from the plague to Victorian murder and more. And finally, like many people these days, I start my morning with Heather Cox Richardson, who is doing herculean work in recording history as it happens.

• Refugia Newsletter, Debra Rienstra
• Du Mez Connections, Kristin Du Mez
• Footnotes by Jemar Tisby
• A Broad and Ample Road, by Michelle Kuo and Albert Wu
• Daniel Silliman
• The Empathetic Imagination, Mary McCampbell
• Marg Mowczko
• Sandra Glahn
• Lucy Worsley: My Life in the Past
• Letters from an American, Heather Cox Richardson

I can already see I’ve left off some good ones. And you, undoubtedly, have your own favorite columnists, including many voices here at RJ (even though we’re not on Substack).

We live in cacophonous times. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the shouting. I’m looking for voices that not only try and speak a good word themselves, but also challenge me, especially by directing me to other sources, other writers, other perspectives. May we be guided by Proverbs 15:2: “The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly” and find guides to lead us to loving God more fully in all the ways we must have courage to do.

Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash