Reading as a Spiritual Practice | Jeff Crosby

What if picking up a book could become a form of prayer? In this conversation, host John Terrill sits down with Jeff Crosby — publisher, author, and lifelong champion of the written word — to talk about his book World of Wonders: A Spirituality of Reading (Paraclete Press, 2025).Jeff brings more than four decades in bookselling and publishing to a deeply personal question: why should we read? His own reading life began with Sunday comics in the Indianapolis Star and baseball biographies, until one book — The Admiral’s Daughter, heard about on Good Morning America — “flipped a switch” and opened, in his words, “this idea of a world of wonder.” From there, a career took shape: 13 years as a bookseller, 24 years at InterVarsity Press (ultimately as its publisher), and now as president of ECPA, the trade association of Christian publishing.In this episode, John and Jeff discuss:How a liturgy before reading — drawn from Douglas McKelvey’s Every Moment Holy — can transform how we approach any bookWhy reading diverse voices (across gender, ethnicity, and genre) is a pathway toward becoming more human and more ChristlikeThe practice of rereading: how books like Markings by Dag Hammarskjöld and Kent Haruf’s novels serve as lifelong companionsThree practical strategies for becoming a wiser reader — including the one question Jeff asks almost everyone he meetsWhy Jeff’s bookstore friend was counseled to fast from books — and what that revealed about his relationship to scriptureHow reading together (from team check-ins at ECPA to hosting 75–100 person “Books in Nature” dinners) transforms communityJeff’s next book: The Spirit in the Sky — on music, spirituality, and 17 artists from Paul Simon to Marvin Gaye (Bloomsbury, October 2025)Jeff recorded this conversation the day before his mother’s memorial service, turning to the Psalms and a poetry collection called Joy (edited by Christian Wiman, Yale University Press) as companions in grief. His witness here is as much lived as written.Guest BioJeff Crosby is the president and CEO of ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association) and has worked in bookselling and publishing for more than 40 years — from running a Lagos bookstore near Indiana University to 24 years at InterVarsity Press to leading the trade association of Christian publishing. He is the author of World of Wonders: A Spirituality of Reading (Paraclete Press, 2025) and The Language of the Soul. His writing has appeared in Publishers Weekly, Books & Culture, CRUX Journal, and other publications. He lives in the Chicago area with his wife, author Cindy Crosby. Resources MentionedJeff’s website: jeffreycrosby.netWorld of Wonders: A Spirituality of Reading — Jeff Crosby (Paraclete Press, 2025)The Spirit in the Sky: The Power of Music and Our Search for Graceland — Jeff Crosby (Bloomsbury, October 2025)Every Moment Holy — Douglas McKelveyMarkings — Dag HammarskjöldReading for the Love of God — Jessica Hooten Wilson (Brazos Press)Joy (poetry anthology) — edited by Christian Wiman (Yale University Press)The Meaning of Your Life — Arthur C. BrooksSend us Fan MailCONNECT WITH USSubscribe to The UpWords Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and visit slbf.org/studio to learn more about our work at the intersection of faith, the academy, and the marketplace.This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO at Upper House.Produced by Daniel Johnson and Dave ConourEdited by Dave Conour