The Appalling Strangeness of the Mercy of God is a real book about a real person — a smart, honest, devoted, humble one who changed lives. The late Ruth Pakaluk was a good woman — a loving wife, mother, and friend. She was giving, challenging, and welcoming. Through this collection of her letters and speeches, she can be your friend, too, continuing to give and challenge and welcome readers thanks to the work of her husband in putting it together for us. It’s an accessible and enriching read.

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encounter so many people who still have not discovered Abby Johnson’s Unplanned. I realize a book about abortion isn’t exactly a relaxing, beach-trip material. But it’s a humane testimony, taken both deep into the contentious political debates, and twelve steps back, too.

Don’t go another season without reading Eric Metaxas’s biography,Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, especially if you’ve never thought to read a book on Dietrich Bonhoeffer before.

Give a twenty- or thirtysomething you love Fr. Jonathan Morris’s God Wants You Happy: From Self-Help to God’s Help. He may not thank you quite right away, but he may pick it up when he needs it.

David and Nancy French’s Home and Away, about life as a military family, is the story of less than one percent of us, to whom we owe so much.

— Kathryn Jean Lopez is editor-at-large of National Review Online.

Read more summer book recommendations here.