In this episode of Gospelbound, Collin Hansen takes the interviewee seat, diving into the abiding value of reading fiction. Guest host Kendra Dahl asks Collin about his favorite genres to read, from historical to Scandinavian, Russian, and Southern fiction, and how each offers unique perspectives on humanity and culture. Hansen shares personal connections to these genres, recommending books that have deeply affected him, from his personal faith to his evangelism.
They also discuss how fiction can cultivate empathy, deepen our understanding of others, and help us appreciate the complexities of human nature—all through the art of storytelling.
Collin Hansen’s fiction recommendations:
Historical Fiction
Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Scandinavian Fiction
A Fortunate Man by Henrik Pontoppidan
The Emigrant series by Vilhelm Moberg (4 books)
Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy by Sigrid Undset
The Hammer of God by Bo Giertz
Giants in the Earth by O. E. Rölvaag
Babette’s Feast by Isak Dinesen and Karen Blixen
The Good Hope by William Heinesen
Russian Fiction
War and Peace / Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Brothers Karamazov / Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Life and Fate / Stalingrad by Vasily Grossman
Southern Fiction
To Kill a Mockingbird / Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (see also Atticus Finch: The Biography by Joseph Crespino)
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
Jayber Crow / Hannah Coulter / The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry
Authors: Flannery O’Connor / Robert Penn Warren / William Faulkner / Pat Conroy
Also Mentioned:
The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (nonfiction)
The Civil War trilogy (Shelby Foote wrote history as a novelist)
Everything Sad Is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Collin’s Top Recommendations:
Historical: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Scandinavian: A Fortunate Man by Henrik Pontoppidan; Babette’s Feast by Isak Dinesen and Karen Blixen
Russian: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky; One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Southern: Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
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