Recommendations from Cal Morris, Church Street Coffee & Books Owner
My wife, Heather, and I own Church Street Books and Coffee. The idea of community is very important to us, and one hope we have for Church Street is for it to be a place where people connect with others and have meaningful interactions and conversations. Below are five great books that focus on elements of community.
Jayber Crow
By Wendell Berry | Fiction
This title was translated into the biggest grossing movie of its day. The book has many different scenes not shown on the screen and makes for a delightful and easy read.
Just Mercy
By Bryan Stevenson | Nonfiction
We sell a lot of nonfiction books at Church Street, and this is one of the best ones I’ve read. Stevenson writes about his work with a man sentenced to die for a murder he didn’t commit. His time working with Walter McMillian changed Stevenson and has the capacity to enlarge our views of mercy and justice while also broadening our definition of who our neighbors are.
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
By William Joyce and Illustrated by Joe Bluhm | Children
This beautiful children’s book provides great lessons about the intermingling of joy and sorrow and tragedy and hopefulness. It also emphasizes the importance of everyone’s stories. We recently highlighted this book on the Church Street website. It’s one of our most-loved books for kids.
Plainsong
By Kent Haruf | Fiction
This novel was a National Book Award finalist. It tells a story of a community whose members move from isolation into community. It’s a gorgeous book full of grace and redemption. Haruf’s characters come alive for his readers. You won’t want this one to end.
The Sacred Enneagram
By Christopher Hertz | Nonfiction
Knowing your Enneagram type can tell you a lot about yourself and how you relate to God. But what I really like about this book is how the author also writes about how the Enneagram can help us relate to other people. Hertz provides guidance on personality types so we can better know ourselves better and better know members of our communities.
