Jeff Crosby, the CEO of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, as well as a former publisher and bookstore owner, writes in his new book, World of Wonders: A Spirituality of Reading (Paraclete, out now) that God speaks to us through books. His 40 years immersed in this book world, he says, have shown him signs of God’s presence “through the ideas and imaginations and stories of other people who are created in the image of God and who wrestle with many of the same questions we do and who harbor many of the same dreams.”
PW spoke with Crosby about the many forms that wonder can take.
You published your spiritual memoir, The Language of the Soul: Meeting God in the Longings of our Heart (Broadleaf), in 2023. Why this new book now?
I think every author asks him or herself: Does the world need another book on by me? That certainly occurred to me. This is different because it is an attempt at a memoir without it being about my whole life but about being tutored by and accompanied by books.
But it really was also to tell the story of moving from someone who wasn’t a reader, except for the comics in the Sunday morning newspaper, until I was in high school. Now, when I encounter people who say, “I’ve just never been able to get into reading,” I say, “It’s never too late to start.” So, this book is also a bit of an apologetic for reading.
Every chapter concludes with a list of authors ranging from Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy to Amor Towles, John Steinbeck, Sandra Cisneros, Chaim Potok, and Karen Swallow Prior. Why is that?
Reading is a way of fulfilling Jesus’s commandments to love one’s neighbors. It’s not love if you don’t know them or name them or see their struggles and triumphs. Reading diverse voices is a pathway toward Christlikeness.
You learn something about yourself when you write a book. What did you discover?
I discovered how deeply poetry is speaking to me. That was a fresh insight in into who I am. It wouldn’t have been true 15 or more years ago. Poetry, in a sense, touches you in a different way — you see the world differently because you read it.
Why does reading change some people’s lives and not others?
If I had the answer to that question, I could start a consultancy and make a lot of money. Transformation isn’t a sure thing in life. But I do believe that if you’re a reader and you’re really diving deeply and trying to apply and reflect on what you find in great books, then your life is likely to be changed in a good way.
In one chapter you make some gentle jabs at devotionals, noting that their brief daily Bible verses and commentary are like loading up on “snack” food in the scripture aisle at the spirituality grocery store. What’s the problem with “snacking”?
You’re going through the store and you’re picking out the nutritional one, the fun one, you know, the sugary one, the good for you one, but it’s not the same as having dinner. However, it is an entry point, and I appreciate that it has value for some people. For some people, reading a bit of scripture in the morning and applying it is like falling off a log. That has never been true for me.
What is your hope for this book and what’s next?
I hope this book will bring people along, and cause people to continue to read as long as they can. Next, I may rest up after writing three books in four years. The manuscript for the third book, about the power of music, is already off to Bloomsbury to publish next year.
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