What an interesting time it has been these last weeks, announcing in two different posts our favorite books of 2016. We did a long review of Michael Wear’s thrilling new book Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House about the Future of Faith in America and announced that we will be hosting him here at the shop in Dallastown on March 10th for an in-store author appearance. Less than a week ago I did what we think was a particularly important newsletter, describing ten mostly new books, mostly about navigating conversations about civil rights, racial justice and God’s heart for reconciliation. Did you see it?
All of our past newsletters are nicely archived at the Hearts & Minds website so do browse around at those last BookNotes posts.
Our passion for racial justice, social reform, public theology, and offering books to help you be better citizens and agents for the common good — bearing witness to God’s transforming grace over “every square inch” of creation (as the Jubilee Conference 2017 says, cribbing from Abraham Kuyper’s famous phrase) — comes, we hope you know, from the Bible. Why do we think Christians should be in the vanguard of bringing justice and goodness and beauty to the world? The Bible tells us so!
Of course we stock small group Bible study guides on every book of the Bible (and DVD curriculum on many Biblical topics and themes.) We wished we sold more of them. Send us an email or use the inquiry page at the website if you need any help finding resources. Just tell us what your group is like and what you want to study. I’m sure we can make your job easier as a small group leader, Sunday school teacher, campus worker, or pastor. Or just for anyone wanting to dive in a bit deeper…
We regularly reply to customers, creating lists of options, recommending books they can use. And, of course, we list some favorites here in the BookNotes newsletter that can help our readers understand God’s Word and renew their commitments to study it well. We offer books from top scholars; recall how we described the fabulous, serious collection edited by Michael Goheen, Reading the Bible Missionally (Eerdmans; $35.00) or that we named as one of the Best Books of last year the recent big book of Biblical study by N.T. Wright, The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus’s Crucifixion Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus’s Crucifixion (HarperOne; $28.99.)
We’ve been celebrating new books, academic and popular, by John
Goldingay and Chris Wright and Walter Brueggemann, just as other
examples of a great Old Testament scholars that we enjoy.
Or, just for instance, this podcast interview with our friend Michael Gorman, a fabulous NT scholar, talking about a new edition of one of his many books on Paul, Apostle of the Crucified Lord (Eerdmans; $48.00) (that we carry, of course.)
By the way, speaking of Mike Gorman’s serious New Testament scholarship on Paul and the cross, we are thrilled to be joining with the Philadelphia Theological Institute and Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, PA, as they host a woman Gorman (and other Bible scholars and preachers) admires, the Rev. Dr. Fleming Rutledge on March 20th for a day long program they are calling a “Lenten Day.” If you can, you should come.
Rev. Rutledge’s book The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ came out from Eerdmans late in 2015 and we first promoted it at a retreat of Episcopalian clergy from the Diocese of Philadelphia; what fun that was, announcing such a serious book from an esteemed preacher and colleague in ministry. We then had the great privilege of selling it at a lecture in Baltimore (at Saint Mary’s Ecumenical Institute) in December of 2015; it was the first time we met her and it was a joy.
We promptly called The Crucifixion one of the Best Books of 2015. Interestingly, Christianity Today recently named it the Book of the Year for 2016, so sales have picked up on it, I’m told. Happily, it has just been released in paperback, now selling for $30.00, less than the salty $45.00 it was in hardcover. The Crucifixion is mammoth, we know, but it is this kind of deep and careful attention to the text of Scripture that we want to promote.
If the Scriptures are a “miner’s lamp” shining on our work in the world, as John Calvin suggested and as Psalm 119 proclaims, we are to live in its light; in that sense reading it in faith is practical in purpose. Certainly, though, for it to have that informing, shaping, guiding, directive role, we must know what it says and what it means so we can see how it illumines the life of the world.
Of course, many of us need somewhat basic introductions to the Bible.
THE BEST
We often recommend the spectacular, if thorough, paperback intro to the Bible, The Drama of Scripture by Michael Goheen & Craig Bartholomew (Baker Academic; $22.99) or, easier and quicker, even good for sharp youth, the abridged version called The True Story of the Whole World: Finding Your Place in the Biblical Drama (Faith Alive; $16.00.) I couldn’t work on Bible lessons without these two books at my side.
Maybe our biggest selling intro to reading the Bible is the very useful How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Fee & Douglas Stuart 
(Zondervan; $19.99) which shows how to read properly a historical narrative, the prophets, the Psalms, Gospels, Letters, Wisdom Literature and more. Every church library or resource center should have a couple of those around, and its sequel, How the Read the Bible Book by Book: A Guided Tour (Zondervan; $19.99.) I hope you know them and pass ’em out to those seeking to learn to read the Bible well.
SO RIGHT ON
I so enjoyed The Story of God and the Story of Us: Getting Lost and Found in the Bible so creatively written by Sean Gladding (IVP; $17.00.) There is a DVD I often tout and although it’s created with a younger, hip audience in mind, it is very, very insightful and motivating to embody the redemptive story of God.
WELL, THIS WILL MAKE YOU THINK
Many, lately, have appreciated Peter Enns provocative ruminations on the way Scripture works called The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It (HarperOne; $15.99) — even if you don’t come down quite where he does (he is critical of some brands of evangelical inerrency that makes us more interested in arguing about propositional data than being capture of the deep truth behind and through the text. Space does not permit me to do his story justice, but it is a worth reading to be sure we’re grappling with the complexities of the nature of the Word and our deep trust in it.
Another recent book that I am very, very big on was one we awarded as one of the Best of 2016. It is called Saving The Bible From Ourselves: Learning to Read & Live the Bible Well Glenn R. Paauw (IVP) $18.00 Among other things, I wrote that Mr. Paauw offers seven understandings (that may feel “new” to some, but are in fact fairly ancient) of the Bible as “steps on the path to recovering one deeply engaged Bible. His new-sounding understandings are, in fact alternatives to deficiencies. And in naming these oddball ways we (mis) understand and misread the Bible he is brilliant.
Paauw offers here 7 “kinds” or sorts of ways we think of the Bible, and counters each with a more faithful sort. (For instance, in contrast to our presumption that the Bible is essentially “complicated” he unveils the “elegant Bible.” Instead of a “snacking” Bible he invites us to “savor the feasting Bible.” He says we need saved from “my private Bible” and speaks of “sharing our synagogue Bible.” Of course, instead of “our otherworldly Bible” he says we are to be “grounded in the Earthly Bible.” On great problem, “our de-dramatized Bible” takes two sections to refute. He shows how we can “rediscover the storiented Bible” and then shows how we must “preform the stroiented Bible.” There’s more and it is rich, solid, creative, helpful stuff. Blurbs on the back are long and rich themselves, by Walter Brueggemann and Mark Noll, who both commend it earnestly. This is deserving of being on any good list of the best books of the year.
CROSSTALK
Although not as well known, I know folks who have thanked us for recommending CrossTalk: Where Life & Scripture Meet by Michael Emlet (New Growth Press; $17.99.) Michael is a rigorously trained Bible scholar who works as a counselor and in this book he teaches both good exegesis and application — how to take the deeper meaning of a text and see if and how it is to be applied to the quandaries of our daily discipleship. It’s a book that ought to be better known and we are grateful for its wisdom and intelligence in appropriating the Scriptures for real life.
16 WORDS
Just this week we received our order of a great little book that I am eager to promote. It is called The Whole Message of the Bible in 16 Words by Chris Bruno (Crossway; $10.99.) It certainly stands on its own but could be seen as a sequel to his fascinating and highly recommended little book that came out last year, The 
Whole Story of the Bible in 16 Verses (Crossway; $10.99.) Perhaps I can review it more carefully later, but for now, now that I’m really pleased with it’s theology and vision. If last year’s book (explaining the Bible story in 16 verses) was about the plot or storyline of the Bible, this is the structure, the superstructure, if you will, the key teaching of it all, using the metaphor of a building. The chapters include an opening part “The Foundation” which, curiously has, as chapter one “The End” and chapter two, “God.” The next major portion includes three chapters as “The Frame” (which are creation, covenant, kingdom.) The next big part is called “The Superstructure” and includes words such as temple, messiah, Israel, land, idols, judgement, exodus, wisdom, law, Spirit, mission.
That first one is a brilliant little overview, with those 16 stopping points to get at the whole flow of the big story. This one is for those who have a handle on that grand narrative, and want to plumb it’s depth, again, in a quick and easy sort of way, looking at themes. I love this kind of rich scholarship given in a “down and dirty” way for common folks. Kudos to Dr. Bruno.
Some folks like to use a daily devotional guide to actually read the Bible through in a year and there are many “one year” versions of the Bible that make such a plan handy. A devotional we really like for this exact purpose is By Kenneth Boa & John Alan Turner called 52 Greatest Stories of the Bible: A Weekly Devotional (Baker Books; $16.99.)
The 52 Greatest Stories of the Bible: A Weekly Devotional is arranged in a format that is very, very wise, tapping into felt needs of ordinary readers and, I think, offering a somewhat broader scope of how to read the Bible, one grounded in wise and fruitful practices.
The book has 52 chapters (one Bible passage a week for a year)
but each day of each week has a certain way into the text as the history of redemption unfolds. Each day of the week he has a devotional based on that week’s passage, following a “pattern” each week — Monday emphases the story, the Tuesday reflection explores the beliefs in that text, Wednesday always looks at what he calls the values (which includes heart attitudes or principles), Thursday is about action/application and Friday offers a reflection to pray, using the text in meditation, offering three kinds of prayer about the passage (about understanding, belief and action.) So each day has a good devotion, working differently on the same Bible story for a week at a time, each following, week by week, that same pattern of understanding the narrative, the beliefs, the values, an then an application emphasis and a meditative prayerful reflection for Friday and the weekend.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
The New Bible Dictionary I. Howard Marshall et al (IVP Academic) $45.00
The Eerdmans Companion to the Bible Gordon Fee et al (Eerdmans) $40.00
If I were picking just one Bible handbook, I’m quite fond of the awesome, lavish, ecumenically minded The Eerdmans Companion to the Bible edited by Gordon Fee & Robert Hubbard (Eerdmans; $40.00) although it is expensive. Considering the the hours you will get lost in it, and the insight you will glean will be worth every penny.
If you are interested in either of those two “tools of the trade” reference books we could do a 20% discount on those – just remind us when you order and we’ll honor that extra discount deal.
FIRST: A GOOD STUDY BIBLE
But here is what I also think: everybody needs a good study Bible.
A study Bible has annotated notes for almost every passage and explains what is going on in the
Scriptures at that point. Of course there are other features, standard in any good study edition – sidebars that offer extra little background articles or meditations, character studies, timelines, maps, and introductions to each book of the Bible. The large concordances in these big volumes make buying a separate concordance unnecessary for most of us; the cross-references give you plenty of recommended verse to look up to supplement whatever you are studying. The background data and facts and insights about the culture and theology of the ancient world in any good study Bible are worth their weight in gold.
Of course, it should go without saying that the Bible is meant to be read as God’s Word and the study notes are fallible aids; here’s a summary of a good piece by Justice Taylor that was in his Gospel Coalition blog on why and how to use a good study Bible.
A good study Bible, by the way, should not be confused with a devotional Bible that has little devotions scattered throughout, often with some niche-marketing theme. There are inspiring Bibles for all sorts of interests and needs and concerns and they have their place but those are not quite the same as a bone fide, well-balanced study edition. And, speaking of balance, we tend to shy away from study Bibles put together by one person – Scofield, MacArthur, Ryrie, Lucado, Jeremiah, Meyers, etc. No matter how educated and smart some preacher may be, he or she can’t be expected to know everything about everything. The best study Bibles are created with a team of vetted experts.
THE VERY BEST
It is my opinion that the three best overall study Bibles on the market are:
NIV Study Bible
ESV Study Bible
Life Application Study Bible (in various translations.)
Let me tell you why, as briefly as I can.
I determine this mostly due to the sheer quantity of features and the number of notes found in these outstanding, nearly epic, volumes. But also I value their ordinary usefulness for most folks; from the moderate, orthodox, reliable, nature of the content to the tone, design, and approachability, these are the best; we hear it all the time of folks whose Bible reading comes alive once they purchase a solid study Bible designed, as these are, to help the ordinary believer. The three I mentioned above are head and shoulders more thorough and more helpful than most others with their tons and tons of helpful background aids, notes, comments, explanations cross-references, indexes, pull-quotes, sidebars, maps, graphics, color. And they are in the most popular and widely used translations.
I don’t have to explain to BookNotes readers that any book (and certainly any study bible resource) is going to be written out of the viewpoint and angle of vision of the person or team writing it. That’s not a bad thing and the best study Bibles attempt to be balanced, honest, and (usually) up front about any theological biases they hold. As with the Isaiah authorship example discussed below, I think the NIV Study Bible is more likely to show several sides to controversial interpretations of passages and be clear why they often hold to a more conservative conclusion; the various study editions using the NRSV are almost all less conservative, consistently, but some don’t even admit to it, as if their bias is just natural and right; similarly, the ESV Study Bible notes are often exceedingly conservative, even if their notes are extraordinarily smart and beautifully explained.
One important question, then: what translation do you want to use?
If you favor the conservative, somewhat stately English Standard Version (ESV), then, obviously, the ESV Study Bible is going to be your go to. Crossway very expertly publishes them and we stock ’em. And what a beautiful array of sizes, designs, editions.
If you like the popular New International Version (NIV), their NIV Study Bible is a natural pick. It is exceptionally well done. (D.A. Carson recently edited the equally thorough NIV Zondervan Study Bible, but, to be honest, I just don’t get its distinctives. Some think it is more rigorous than the classic NIV Study Bible, a few think it more conservative; it does seem to use “biblical theology” with that emphasis of a unified theme and a gospel-centered focus, which is good. I just haven’t used it myself, so don’t yet realize all that it offers, robust as it is.) HERE is a fair-minded review that compares the two in great detail.
These are manufactured by Zondervan and, yep, we stock ’em in all their varieties.
If you like the contemporary-sounding, upbeat, and gender inclusive New Living Translation (NLT) then you most likely will want the Life Application Study Bible in the NLT. (Those creatively worded, practical Life App study notes with an emphasis on living out the meaning of the text (I call it the “so what” study Bible) are also available in the NIV, the KJV, and the NKJV, by the way. For a season or two they made the Life Application Study Bible notes in the NRSV but that didn’t last; if you can find one in a crusty used book store, it’s worth picking up if you use the NRSV. We often recommend this Life Application Study Bible to those who aren’t used to studying as it really does tell you why and how knowing some background stuff helps, and what to do about it in daily living. In that sense it rewards study with clear and pastoral guidance.
I hate to get hairy, here, but, for what it is worth, the NLT does have a considerably more rigorous, less “application” oriented study Bible, a major work called The NLT Study Bible. I’m fond of the Life App notes, character studies, the mega-themes that are always explained in a “why it matters today” chart, so I’m going to suggest the Life App study editions, even though the NLT Study is as thorough and rigorous as the serious NIV Study Bible and the ESV Study Bible. The NLTs are published by Tyndale and they do a very nice job.
(By the way, just a fun fact: acquaintances of ours like Albert Wolters (of Creation Regained) worked on the original NLT translation; Al headed the team that did Job, as I recall. Tremper Longman was involved as were a host of really respected Hebrew & Greek scholars we respect. It is well done!)
We do not know of one truly fabulous study edition that is the stand-out must-have for those who prefer the NRSV.
I think my favorite study edition in the NRSV is the New Interpreter’s Study Bible edited by Walter Harrelson (Abingdon; $48.99.) It draws somewhat on the amazing multi-volume set of commentaries of that name and has that same thoughtful engagement. Walter Brueggemann, just for instance, contributed. It is one I often consult. It is hefty — weighing in at almost 4 lbs. — and includes the Apocrypha.
The Society of Biblical Literature helped sponsor the latest edition of the Harper Collins Study Bible with the senior editor being Harold Attridge with expert help from Wayne Meeks, Jouette Bassler and other major critical scholars (HarperOne; $44.95.) Many think it is the best NRSV study edition, but it does seem a bit dry at times… although there are some wonderful contributors. This comes in hardback or paperback, with or without the Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal books. These sell for $34.99 in paperback or $37.99 in hardcover, without Deuterocanonicals and $39.99 in paperback or $44.99 in hardcover with the extra Deuterocanonical books.)
The Discipleship Study Bible (Westminster John Knox; $40.00) This was created almost a decade ago with the editorial direction of Bruce Birch, Brian Blount, Thomas Long, and Gail O’Day, all serious scholars with great commitment to the mainline churches. I like what the publisher said about it:
Other NRSV study Bibles provide factual information about the biblical text, but don’t include extensive guidance for Christian living. The Discipleship Study Bible is unique in offering both. Its annotations emphasize the personal and communal implications of the Bible for today without sacrificing the tools needed for understanding the ancient texts on their own terms. In combining these approaches to Bible study, a group of gifted writers, editors, and scholars have produced a truly comprehensive resource that includes introductory essays to each book of the Bible by top-notch contemporary Bible scholars
Apparently this is going out of print and we only have a few of these left, but wanted to list it so you knew of it.
All three of these NRSV study volumes have excellent scholarship, if a bit heady at times, with a bit of a critical bent. They are ideal for moderate mainline folks. We happily sell all three but still wish for a more user-friendly, thorough, and theologically consistent NRSV study bible.
In the NRSV we also really, really like the Life With God Bible (HarperOne) in somewhat smaller than compact handsome red or deep brown leather or paperback, which doesn’t have tons of notes and features, but what it does have is really interesting;. It is almost a “study Bible” but it has, admittedly, a somewhat different agenda and not so many notes and maps and such. (It was created in cooperation with Renovare, Richard Foster’s renewal ministry.) The Life With God Bible was compiled by a team headed up by Richard Foster, Eugene Peterson, Dallas Willard and Walter Brueggemann. You can imagine why we like it so.
It comes in a hand-sized, offered in a rich, red leather ($39.99), a deep brownish/gray leather with Deutercanonical Books ($44.99) and in paperback ($24.99.)
By the way, speaking of the NRSV study editions, why some favor The New Oxford Annotated is beyond me: there are, in contrast to the others I’ve mentioned, considerably fewer notes and many of them are nearly useless. Their opinions are not well argued , other than the ubiquitous and dishonest “Biblical scholars agree.” For instance, in contrast, The NIV Study Bible notes offer an explanation for one authorship of Isaiah alongside an explanation for three separate Isaian authors. They argue for the former, but not without giving the later its due. The New Oxford dishonestly says “Bible scholars agree” that there are three Isaiah authors. Apparently they don’t get out much. Once I looked up 10 troublesome passages to see what various studied editions might say–stuff like Romans 13 or Paul saying women should be silent in church. While Bibles like the NIV Study Bible tended to give reasonable explanations, sometimes showing various viewpoints on what the text in question might mean, often the Oxford had nothing! Or it offered arcane details that seemed tone deaf to the reason anyone might need help with the passage. The cross references are meager, the concordance slim and the articles more often than not pretty dry. And yet, religion departments and liberal seminaries recommend it. For the price, it just isn’t as good as it ought to be.
Well, sorry to digress on the perplexities of the New Oxford Annotated — that’s just my way of comparing the benefits of a good and helpful study Bible (and a less than helpful one.) The NIV Study Bible and The ESV Study Bible are, in my view, the Cadillac’s of the biz. They are the crème of the crop, semi-scholarly but clear, with an admittedly evangelical (and in the case of the ESV, Reformed) bias, with solid info designed to help Bible readers understand the Bible, deepen their faith, and live out their discipleship.
The NIV is a bit easier to read and uses gender inclusive language for men and women, which is keeping with the meaning of the Biblical text and common usage, of course. The ESV, based largely on the old RSV, uses antiquated masculine language, I suppose because the editors believe in old school lingo. Some who worked on the editing of the ESV translation complained that the NIV was driven by a gender agenda, but that was, in my view, the pot calling the kettle black. There is little doubt, though, that the ESV claims to be more accurate and elegant.
(And, there is little doubt that the Crossway publishing company creates the best-made popular level Bibles around; I am continually impressed with their aesthetic and crafted quality and the cool, but rarely gaudy, classy design of their numerous covers and layouts. They think well about paper choices, bindings and stitching and such.)
Both the NIV and the ESV translations, as I’m sure you know, are available in various sizes and with a vast array of cover designs. Both publishers have gone out of their way to come up with handsome and beautiful (and sometimes a bit nutty) designs with faux leather that feels soft and looks great. Even their study Bibles come in a real variety of sizes and colors, designs and looks. Their respective web pages show off all the options and we can get them all.
Please let us know if you are looking for any sort of Bible and our staff can walk you through the complicated maze of searching them all out.
Do you know the fairly recent Common English Bible translation, popularly called the CEB? It was created a few years back by a long-standing, hard-working committee of Presbyterians, United Methodists, Church of the Brethren and others. One person on the committee told me they wanted to create a solid translation that was as lively as the Good News (not a bad translation, actually) and the Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase, The Message but that was not only contemporary and upbeat and politically aware, but honest and accurate, and that read well out loud. (They famously spent a year testing it out in a variety of focus groups, getting feed 
back on the hearing of it, in nursing homes and college campuses, in big churches and small ones, among varies ethnic churches and in different parts of the country.) The CEB is a really interesting rendition and I wish it were better known. Their children’s study Bible (The Deep Blue Kids Bible) is mostly really great and their teen edition (The CEB Student Bible) is very good, too. Each come in a variety of styles and we stock them all. We’d love to talk more about this if you have any questions…
A year ago or so the CEB team put out a large study Bible called The CEB Study Bible. (Abingdon Press; $54.99 in hardback; $59.99 with the Apocrypha; there are also some leather-like editions that we have.) It has everything you’d expect in a big study Bible, lots of notes, sidebars, extra articles, expert maps made by National Geographic for this project. Over a hundred different inter-denominational scholars worked on it – some you surely know, from a real variety of corners within the broader church. It’s 2240 pages.
(There is a very classy “Vintage Tweed Hardcover” edition of the CEB Study Bible coming in mid-March that I myself have my eye one; you can pre-order it from us at the discounted price shown at the order link at the end of this newsletter; it will regularly retail for $59.99.)
This recent study edition has amazingly interesting notes, and it is hard to explain – some of it seems a bit progressive, with good notes about lament and injustice and the implications of women named as leaders of the early church (like, say, Junia at the end of Romans.) I won’t say it is inordinately subversive, but it does seem to pack a punch in some of it’s notes. There’s lots of standard stuff in there -charts and maps and background info and nice introductions to each book. Again, it isn’t terribly well known yet, but we’re happy to stock it here.
So, if you need some fresh energy to your Bible reading and want to dig into Bible study a bit more, be sure you have a study Bible. Or, perhaps, just switch up your translation, reading a plain text Bible from a different translation then you are used to.
We are fans of the study Bible, and can help you further in finding the one that is best for you, and then the size, shape, color and price that you prefer. Just give us a call or send us an email.
FOUR EXCELLENT STUDY BIBLES THAT OFFER A UNIQUE THEME
I am usually not a fan of shoe-horning every Biblical text into a pre-determined theme and hence, worry a bit about the mothering Bible or the leadership Bible or the worship Bible.
These four, though, are done by remarkable and thorough Biblical scholars that bring into their notes a bit of insight about how the Biblical text is to be applied to our whole lives before God. In these, the scholars have such regard for the authority of the Word of God that they wouldn’t dare fudge it’s meaning or squeeze texts into some marketing niche. What they are passionate about is seeing how previously under-appreciated (or nearly ignored) themes that regularly appear in the Scriptures might be brought to the fore bringing us new insights. These, then, are not clever marketing ploys to exploit a market, but are at time brilliant interpreters doing what few have done before. We’re happy to promote them and hope you enjoy knowing about them.
The NIV Faith & Work Study Bible senior editor David Kim (Zondervan) $44.99 in hardback; $74.99 in black/gray faux leather
I suppose you know that we have promoted the “faith and work” conversation for decades and have long promoted Christian books which help professionals and others learn to relate their deepest faith commitments to their work-a-day world, careers, and jobs. Whether you are have paid employment, are retired, a student or one who takes seriously the calling of parent or grandparent, you will relish this study edition that highlights Biblical themes that help you in your daily vocation.
Rev. David Kim is the Director of the Center for Faith and Work at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York (and before that worked in campus ministry at Princeton University.) He and his team highlight standard insights, do basic introductory stuff as would any study Bible but when it is warranted they bring out the vivid teaching of God’s missional care for the world and how work and calling matters in the unfolding of God’s plan. You surely know the Bible has hundreds of verses about work, and hundreds more that might be marshaled for helping us develop a Biblical vision of life in the marketplace. This is a wonderful study Bible and we can’t say enough about it. In fact, there are 75 “Deeper at Work” stories which “deliver strength and encouragement from real-life experiences.” (Is it dumb that I’m kinda proud to know a few of the folks whose testimonies are included? I’ll admit I’m jazzed to see folks I know described as something like modern day Bible characters!)
Another good feature of this are the 45 “Core Doctrine” articles that feature teachings from Christian leaders through the ages; this Bible assumes that you have to know core stuff about the Bible and it’s teaching if you are going to faithfully integrate faith and work. This is solid, no-nonsense content. Take a look at the first few pages and the explanation of “the cultural mandate” of Genesis 1 and you’ll see what I mean. This is pure gold!
You may also appreciate the “31-Day Journey” through the Biblical narrative, a nice guide and exercise to help readers grasp the Scripture’s overarching storyline. I already know one person who used this small feature to create a half a year’s worth of Bible curriculum for his youth group.
A number of unsung scholars and writers worked on this. Other contributors who you know from BookNotes include Timothy Keller, Richard Mouw, Nancy Ortberg, and Jon Tyson (of New York’s Trinity Grace and a speaker at the upcoming Jubilee 2017.) This really is an excellent study Bible, worthy of having in your library. I’m sure you’ll find it valuable. Check out this interview with David about the project done by the good folks at Bible Gateway.
The Jesus Bible: Sixty-Six Books. One Story. All About One Name edited by Louis Giglio, Max Lucado, John Piper, Ravi Zacharias, Randy Alcorn and others (Passion Publishing/Zondervan) $44.99 in sturdy linen hardback; $69.99 in Brown Leathersoft or a Robin’s Egg pale blue Leathersoft All have a 8.7 font size.
Wow. This brand new edition is profound yet accessible and has features that help us meet Jesus throughout the whole of Scripture. The now out of print Gospel Transformation Study Bible in the ESV did this well, and, now, we have a variety of big name evangelicals weighing in on how to see Christ’s unfolding redemptive plan in every book of the Bible. I like their slogan — “there was no B.C.”
Included in The Jesus Bible there are 7 compelling essays on the grand narrative of Scripture – introduced by Louie Giglio, founder of the extraordinarily popular Passion Conferences. (This past year, by the way, in three days of worship and music, they also raised over 1 million dollars to fight sexual trafficking.)
I like the almost square sized shape of this hardback, made with a good linen cover (sans dust jacket.) The text is single column with room for notes and some journaling throughout. There’s ribbon marker and over 300 full page articles that help us “treasure Jesus” and which will “encourage you to faithfully follow him as you participate in his story.” Visit their spiffy website and watch the video trailer here — do come back here, though, please.
The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture Senior Editor, Craig Kenner & John Walton (Zondervan) $49.99, hardcover; Tan/Brown imitation leather, $79.99; “Context changes everything” it shouts on the back cover of this very handsome, very colorful, new study Bible. This edition brings behind-the-scenes background information to the fore so you can see what is really going on–in context, all guided by one of the world’s leading experts on this exact matter, the 
remarkable Craig Keener and John Walton. There is so much rich meaning to be found when you learn just a bit about the historical setting, the archeological evidences, the word meanings or the cultural customs that are in and around any given passage. I am sure you recall a time when a pastor or Bible teacher said “back in those days what this saying meant was…” or “if you only knew what buildings or statues or walls were in that town as Jesus spoke, you’d realize – ” and the like. This gives targeted book introductions that explain the context in which each book of the Bible was written. It has verse-by-verse study notes, of course, but the notes feature new dimensions of insights to even familiar passages by explaining cultural context stuff.
Key Hebrew words (in the Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament) terms are explained and expanded. In fact, there are over 300 in-depth encyclopedia-like articles that explain key contextual topics. The full color reproductions of artifacts, images from around the world, and the hundreds of helpful drawings and illustrations make this nearly lavish. The full color maps are made with world-class excellence.
Years ago we regularly sold books about the customs of Bible times, books with lists of the cities and tribes and worship practices. Many books we carry still offer insight into the literary stylings of ancient near Eastern culture and the writing styles of First Century Judaism. I think the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible is going to appeal to a lot of folks and it will be a very useful took for anyone tasked with teaching the Bible. We are proud to stock it and eager to promote it. You can watch a short video of them describing this project here. Be sure to come back to us, though!
A GLOBAL BIBLE SEEKING THE HEART OF GOD
God’s Justice Study Bible: The Flourishing of Creation and the Destruction of Evil Senior Editor, Tim Stafford (Zondervan) $39.99 I reviewed this when it first came out and exclaimed how great it was – some nice sidebars and articles, some graphic touches that show the overarching plan of God to bring healing and reconciliation and restoration to the broken creation. (I like the single column layout on the page, too.) What is exceptional about this sturdy, useful, edition is that is uses scholars from around the world, and, further, that they are tuned in to the often-missed themes of justice and public righteousness that are evident in any careful reading of these texts. If you are interested – or, maybe, if your not interested – in social justice, this Bible is a must. If you want to learn the meaning of texts from dozens of well-informed, reliable third world Bible scholars, men and women from every continent, then this will bring a somewhat fresh take.
As I said when this first came out, the insights are not excessively political or overly fixated on justice; that is, they are honest before the text and eager to serve readers well by producing a 
useful and reliable study edition. The introductions to each book are very, very good, interesting and informative, well worth reading themselves! But, realize, these texts about justice, about God’s desire for flourishing and public justice and about evil and our role in promoting God’s reign in Christ, are really there and those who can help us see and understand and respond well are allies in our discipleship; perhaps they will help us see a bigger picture of God’s unfolding plan than we saw before. I think this particular 
study Bible is a tremendous resource and I highly, highly recommend it; whether you love the NIV or not, this is such a great study Bible you should seriously consider it.
I happen to know a few of those who worked on The NIV God’s Justice Study Bible and they are leaders of great integrity, I assure you. Thanks be to God for this wonderful opportunity to have as our Bible teachers not only some of the best folks writing today, but men and women from contexts sometimes quite different then our own. Check out their beautiful website here, and then come back to us and order one today.
And, I would be remiss at this point if I didn’t offer a great thank you to those who are designing Bibles well, and even those who are doing somewhat the opposite of study Bibles — simple reader’s editions with single columns, even those, like the new ESV 6-volume sets, without verse numbers, offering an distracted reading experience. See this wonderful video here if this intrigues you. We have had the video over at the Hearts & Minds facebook page and wanted to share it here. It is beautiful; don’t miss it.
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the most racially segregated cities in America, more than 10,000 whites pushed them back in a scene perhaps reminiscent of the bloody day at the famous Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma a few years earlier. For 200 more days the dedicated black and white marchers protested, pushing on to symbolically insist on fair treatment and desegregation. For 200 more days they were abused, pushed back, shot at with sniper fire, their NAACP headquarters burned, their clergy leaders arrested. Two hundred persistent days in a row! 
March Book Three John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (Top Shelf Productions) $19.99 This third and final installment of the award-wining graphic novel trilogy was released late last year and has garnered award after prestigious award. 
The End of White Christian America Robert P. Jones (Simon & Schuster) $28.00 This powerful and significant book is not brand new but it was released in the late summer of the 2016. It is a major work, provocative and fascinating, “clarifying and useful” as one white pastor noted. It has been called “brilliant” and “eloquent” and the author himself has been called “intelligent and fair-minded.” I cannot give a full accounting of it but I can assure you it is one of the important books to help us put into context much of the anxiety and fear pervasive in our culture these days. It is an argument many have alluded to — I’ve heard Walter Brueggemann and Leonard Sweet and Tom Sine and Marva Dawn give their variations of this general critique decades ago. There is simply no doubt that a certain sort of hegemony has eroded in the last generation or so and there is also no doubt that it has caused resentment in some quarters and anxiety nearly everywhere. (It is to this anxiety that David Gushee addressed his helpful, recent book, A Letter to My Anxious Christian Friends, suggesting that for people of faith it isn’t so bad since we have Biblical and spiritual resources to cope, and it is to this situation that Rod Dreher offers his important, dire proposal in the soon-to-be-released The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation. PRE-ORDER that from us if you’d like; we’ll have it March 14, 2017.)
Dream With Me: Race, Love, and the Struggle We Must Win John M. Perkins (Baker Books) $19.99 There is hardly anyone I esteem more within the broader evangelical Christian community that John Perkins. When I was doing my own little book, a collection of inspirational speeches turned into essays for young adults, I said quite simply that I had to have a chapter by John Perkins. I had a number of pretty famous contributors but John’s role was a deal-breaker for me. Graciously he and his staff gave us a tape to transcribe and we happily put it in Serious Dreams: Bold Ideas for the Rest of Your Life. I say this to assure you that I’m not blowing smoke here: you should read Dr. Perkins’s books and this brand new one looks tremendous. It came two days ago so is brand, brand new.
Living into God’s Dream: Dismantling Racism in America edited by Catherine Meeks (Morehouse Publishing) $18.00 I was thrilled to see this book, published by the Episcopalian publishing house, put together by this strong black woman who I was first introduced to, I believe, by John Perkins. Meeks now serves the Diocese of Atlanta as the chair of their Commission for Dismantling Racism, called “The Beloved Community.” Before that, she was a Distinguished Professor of Socio-Cultural Studies at Wesleyan College. She wrote a previous book we’ve stocked called Standing on Their Shoulders: A Celebration of African American Women.
Holding Up Your Corner: Talking About Race In Your Community F. Willis Johnson (Abingdon Press) $15.99 This book came out in the middle of the holiday selling season a few weeks ago and I just didn’t have time to study it. Now, after a few weeks of flipping around through it, I’ve concluded I really do need to work with this. And some of you do, too. It is for Christian leaders (pastor’s mostly, I gather) inviting and equipping them to “respond with confidence when crises occur, lower their own inhibitions about addressing the topic of race, and reclaim their authority as prophetic witnesses and leaders in order to transform their communities.” This book promises practical and foundational sorts of guidance, empowering leaders to:
Who Lynched Willie Earle: Preaching to Confront Racism Will Willimon (Abingdon) $17.99 This brand new book came last week and I am thrilled to recommend it. Willimon, you surely know, was Dean of the Chapel at Duke and then a United Methodist Bishop in Alabama. He’s known as an elegant writer and eloquent speaker, even when he’s blunt and insistent on being faithful to the ways of Jesus. (He has pondered about this kind of stuff for years: the classic book written with Stan Hauerwas, Resident Aliens, was re-issued a year or so ago in an anniversary edition and last year he released Fear of the Other, a small but potent book on why we fear “the other” and how to Christianly attend to xenophobias of various sorts.) 
Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon To White America Michael Eric Dyson (St. Martin’s Press) $24.99 Well, if conventional, evangelical sermonizing taught by the likes of seminary prof Will Willimon isn’t your literary cup of tea, then perhaps this master of passionate, bold, literary prose who is a sociology prof (at Georgetown) will grab your heart and imagination. Dyson, an old Philly guy, as I recall, is known for writing fun and informative stuff on a wide variety of topics. He’s written about race and power and religion but often gets at that by way of pop culture, sports and music and more. I loved his old book on Tupac (Holler If You Hear Me) and we used to carry his one on Marvin Gaye. Between God and Gangster Rap was a pivotal resource. He’s written bunches of other work – hardly any other black public intellectual has been so prolific – including well received books about Malcolm X and about King and, in 2016, an important work on Obama called The Black Presidency: Barak Obama and the Politics of Race in America. The former President, himself (who read widely as we know) has said, “Anyone who speaks after Michael Eric Dyson pales in comparison.”) 
Race and Place: How Urban Geography Shapes the Journey to Reconciliation David P. Leong (IVP) $16.00 IVP can always be counted on to offer some of the most astute, insightful, and useful books on racial justice, multi-ethnic ministry, and authentic visions of reconciliation. They keep offering new ones, with new angles, fresh authors, important aspects of this big call to embody diversity and be effective in evangelical ministry in a culturally a racially diverse culture. So I trust them. A lot.
By the way, I have to insert here that there is an African American pastor and writer who cites both King and Wendell Berry named Leonce Crump, whose book Renovate: Changing Who You Are By Loving Where You Are [Multnomah Press; $14.95] is spectacularly interesting and immensely helpful. I reviewed it less than a year ago at BookNotes and am thrilled to share that he is speaking from the main stage at
A Theology of Race and Place: Liberation and Reconciliation in the Work of Jennings and Carter Andrew T. Draper (Pickwick Publications) $40.00 I suppose I don’t have to say it, but this is a scholarly work, emerging from Andrew’s doctoral dissertation. Draper is a Visiting Professor of Theology at Taylor University (where he also directs the Honor’s Guild.) He is the founding senior pastor of Urban Light Community Church in Muncie Indiana, a Church of God congregation. 
PRE-ORDER: Do All Lives Matter?: The Issues We Can No Longer Ignore and the Solutions We All Long For Wayne Gordon & John M. Perkins (Baker Books) $12.99 This title not yet released – due February 14, 201. Who hasn’t wanted to agree with the slogan and hashtag Black Lives Matter. After the long list of often unarmed black men shot, sometimes even in the back, by police, our hearts go out, our voices rise, insisting that this can’t be right. Made in God’s image, Black lives matter! And who among us wouldn’t say that Blue lives matter; of course. Police, as such, are not all at fault, and we want to affirm their bravery and service; especially after the sniper shooting of police in Dallas last summer. Of course.
The Soulmaking Room Dee Dee Risher (Upper Room Books) $16.99 I really should have named this in the previous list as it truly was one of the most moving books I read last summer. Dee Dee Risher used to write for The Other Side magazine, a journal that was very influential in our lives, one we read up until it closed a decade ago. Committed to serious cultural engagement through the lens of the poor, the marginalized, and always looking for ways to make Christian discipleship and spirituality energetic and involved, the magazine and the intentional community that sustained it was something like, say, Sojourners, and early on they had much in common (and maybe some friendly competition in the post-evangelical peace and justice world of 80s and 90s, say. If Sojo got a bit bigger, telling stories of national interest with globally known writers, The Other Side seemed to double down, stay local, keeping it real in a very rough part of Philly. At the center of this ministry carried into the new millennium was the remarkably gifted writer and activist, Dee Dee Risher, a Southern, rural gal who found her way to China and then urban Philadelphia. The Soulmaking Room tells her story, a memoir that tells of her journey to be her most authentic self, being true to her convictions and her heart, forging a lifestyle of consistent, persistent resistances the principalities and powers.
Everywhere God: Exploring the Ordinary Places Alicia Brummeler (Kalos Press) $14.99 I discovered this book late in the year and you may not have heard of it, even though the publisher, Kalos Press, should be better known for doing fine and thoughtful, nearly literary works created out of a Christian worldview. This book is wonderful in many ways but has as its main burden the task of overcoming vestiges of an older and unfaithful assumption about a split between the so-called sacred and secular. That is, this author is giving us stories from her life about how to encounter God in the ordinary, how to think realistically and beautifully about the goodness and brokenness that pervades our common life. When I realized that she was been influenced by the writings of Edith Schaeffer I was very excited. When I saw the blurb by Random Fellowship writer Margie Haack, I knew this woman must be very special, very honest, and probably a lot of fun to be around.
How I Shed My Skin: Unlearning the Racist Lessons of a Southern Childhood Jim Grimsley (Algonquin Books) $16.95 Algonquin is known as a publisher that only releases the finest writers and they often do good stuff that is particularly Southern. Although this book came out in ’15, we didn’t discover it until ’16 and it became one of the most thought-provoking books I read all year. I recall reviewing it at BookNotes and trying to explain how moving it was, how well written, and how this author shows — in a thoroughly enjoyable memoir — how racism can be learned and, in some ways, unlearned.
Crossing the Water: Following Jesus Through the Storms, The Fish, the Doubt and the Seas Leslie Leyland Fields (NavPress) $15.99 The day my “Best Books of 2016” post went live I got my first email reply and it was a customer raving about this, his favorite book of the year. I suppose he was wondering why I hadn’t listed it since I had so enthusiastically endorsed it at BookNotes earlier in the year, and to him, as a good read he’d enjoy.
At Home in Exile: Finding Jesus Among My Ancestors & Refugee Neighbors Russell Jeung (Zondervan) $17.99 This is another exception book that we’ve seen this year, a spiritual memoir of a unique sort. With the tragic refugee crisis emerging in the last year or so we are paying a bit more attention to the stories of refugees, immigrants, and others who are exiled or homeless. We stock a number of helpful books trying to help us want to offer Christ-like compassion and develop a Biblically-informed perspective on immigration issues, but this is not one of those. This is a story — joyful and at times harrowing — of living in East Oakland (in a neighborhood ominously called Murder Dubs) where he has to battle drug dealers who threaten him, exorcising a spirit possessing a teenager, and the big story of joining with 200 Cambodian and Latino friends and winning a landmark housing settlement against slumlords.
Science Fiction and the Abolition of Man: Finding C.S. Lewis in Sci-Fi Film and Television edited by Mark J. Boone & Kevin C. Neece (Pickwick Publications) $41.00 Well, I didn’t list this on the Best of 2016 list because I haven’t read a bit of it yet. But it released at the very end of December and, man, does it ever look great! You may recall that I reviewed and heartily recommended The Gospel According to Star Trek: The Original Crew by my friend Kevin Neece; he was involved in this, a somewhat more scholarly, ambitious, and brilliant project. As the title suggests this brings into conversation the classic and hugely significant work by C.S. Lewis (The Abolition of Man) and other writings of his with various sorts of sci-fi projects (books, films, TV shows.) In this extraordinary volume we have 21 hefty chapters linking parts of sci-fi films or books to particular lines or theories or theme from Lewis’ body of work. 
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City Matthew Desmond (Crown) $28.00 Anyone who reads reviews about books exploring current events on contemporary issues has most likely seen very positive reviews of this major work. From Barbara Ehrenreich (“Astonishing. Desmond has set a new standard for reporting on poverty”) to Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, who says it is “beautiful, harrowing, and deeply human” and “a must-read for anyone who cares about social justice in this country.” It is very well researched and has been commended by the best social scientists and urban activists, including the eminent Harvard professor William Julius Wilson. Evicted is a powerful study of economic hardship and life on the margins 
What Falls from the Sky: How I Disconnected from the Internet and Reconnected with the God Who Made the Clouds Esther Emery (Zondervan) $19.99 This handsome-looking books with an evocative snowy cover arrived the week before Christmas and we put it on our “new release” table and eyed it up from time to time. It sure looked inviting but, to be fully honest, I’d had enough of the “I’m getting off the internet” genre — see Christina Crook’s The Joy of Missing Out: Finding Balance in a Wired World for one of the most thoughtful or, say, The Wired Soul: Finding Spiritual Balance in a Hyperconnected Age by Tricia McCary Rhodes for a truly lovely reflection.) I have to admit I don’t like the all or nothing approach this book offers and, hey, anyway, if somebody goes off line, how will they read my book reviews? So, let’s not go overboard here, people.)??The other day I opened this book to see endorsements hidden inside. As you may know, these kinds of blurbs mean a lot to me — they usually tell you what orbit an author is in, and the advanced reviewers give you a hint by what they say (or don’t say) about both the content and the quality of the pages to come.
Chasing Slow: Courage to Journey Off the Beaten Path Erin Loechner (Zondervan) $24.99 I had an advanced copy of this and was really, really excited to see how it would actually look — there were already hints that it was going to be a very modern look. But didn’t see the real lay out and full color design until just before the new year. This, it seems to me, ought to be a 2017 release — fresh, new, helpful, a perfect example of an applied faith lived out with artful intention for those making new declarations. Chasing Slow is a book which surely deserves to be named as the best designed and most handsome Christian book of many a year. That the author herself is a former art director and stylist in Los Angeles and a HGTV.com star (and that she written for Elle Decor, Mari Claire, Dwell, and her work showcased in The New York Times) gives us a clue: this book is about designing one’s life, learning to slow down and think well, trusting that we will be given all that we need. In some sense the sturdy but gorgeous packaging is part of the message.
Overplayed: A Parent’s Guide to Sanity in the World of Youth Sports David King & Margot Starbuck (Herald Press) $15.99 I agree with John R. Gerdy (author of Ball or Bands) who says “This book is a must-read for parents. It offers solid, helpful suggestions as to how we can, once again, make youth sports about the kids.”
From Bubble to Bridge: Educating Christians for a Multi-Faith World Marion Larson & Sarah L.H. Shady (IVP Academic) $19.99 There are dozens of books on Christian faith and world religions; some are more classically liberal almost glibly over-estimating our unity and commonalities. Some are so eager to testify to the uniqueness of Christ that they are nothing but rants against Everybody. Some are balanced, thoughtful, careful., showing how historic, Biblical Christian faith compares and contrast with other world religions. (By the way, for the record, I often suggest the very interesting book by Stephen Prothero God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World as a non-partisan overview of the distinctives.) Anyway, although there are many solid handbooks to world faiths and many that are evangelically minded and reliable, I’ve not found one that does what this new one does. It is, in a way, nearly historic, to see such a nuanced and thoughtful work stepping into the fray.
Kierkegaard: A Single Life Stephen Backhouse (Zondervan) $24.99 Who knew that there wasn’t a singular fine biography of the depressed Danish philosopher that was informative and interesting and accessible? Now we have it, an introductory bio, wonderfully-written, highly-regarded, a fresh look into the life and teachings of a scholar who is cited as one of the primary thinkers of the last century. Along with the likes of Einstein Freud, Darwin, Marx, Kierkegaard is one of those geniuses who have left their mark, for good or for ill. 
Excellent Preaching: Proclaiming the Gospel In Its Context & Ours Craig Bartholomew (Lexham Press) $11.99 We have dozens of new books on preaching — homiletics, as we say when we want to sound smart — and I get a kick out of reading them. I skim and become familiar with many and they seem to fall into a couple of categories: some are rather curious, academic, drawing on some often eccentric scholarly theory or rhetorical school of thought. We’ve got ’em, but nobody ever buys them. Then there are more useful ones, designed to help pastors preach better, more faithfully and with more passion and interest. These can be thoughtful or simplistic, more liberal or more conservative, but they are usually practical. Some are quite clever. 
Closer Than Close: Awakening to the Freedom of Your Union With Christ Dave Hickman (NavPress) $14.99 I have recently re-read this splendid book and was, again, moved by his honest teaching about grace and the goodness of God and how our being one with Christ is the key to understanding our salvation and our ongoing growth and spiritual maturity. It is down-to-Earth and not overly academic and perhaps that is why I didn’t list it among the top books of 2016. I think I should have — when he talks about weeping after reading a quote by Brennan Manning and tells of his friendship with Fil Anderson (whose Running on Empty told a similar story of ministry burnout and longing for inner transformation through more deeper awareness of God’s presence) I just knew that this is one of the very good books of this year. I’ve enjoyed telling folks about it, glad for our little connection through mutual friends at Montreat College in North Carolina, and I sincerely want to give an honorable mention to Dave Hickman for offering us this reminder of what the life of faith is about, how we are closer to God — really closer — than we know.
When Breath Becomes Air Paul Kalanithi (Random House) $25.00 I liked the look of this hand-sized hardback with embossed, textured cover and deckled pages and knew it was going to be nice. We put it in our large section of books about death and dying, grief and loss, and for a bit forgot about it. Later, I read a story from a New York Times Sunday Magazine article that was so beautifully written, by the soon-to-be widow of a dying doctor, that I cried and cried and sent it to Beth. Alas — yep — it was written by Lucy, Dr. Paul Kalanithi’s wife and it told of his efforts writing this book as he was ill, how she intended to finish it for him, the very book we had but I hadn’t looked at. Of course, we immediately paid more attention and realized this is a very exceptional book.
Broken Hallelujahs: Learning to Grieve the Big and Small Losses of Life Beth Allen Slevcove (IVP) $16.00 Beautifully written narration of this Lutheran spiritual director’s disappointments, losses, hardships, both minor and major. She searches for “hidden beauty in the dark” with candor and wit and grace. Excellent. 
The Gift of Hard Things: Finding Grace in Unexpected Places Mark Yaconelli (IVP) $16.00 Whoah, what a book. Kenda Dean says “I am undone… The Gift of Hard Things is a book of dazzling grace, a slice of holy ground, as life giving as water in a desert.” Anne Lamott says “A book absolutely after my own heart…” Wow.
Losing Susan: Brain Disease, The Priest’s Wife, and the God Who Gives and Takes Away Victor Lee Austin (Brazos Press) $19.99 Austin is a scholar and priest and this is his eloquent testimony — “painfully truthful” as one reviewer put it, drawing on theological wisdom, without sentimentality. Some have compared it to the enduring memoir about grief of C.S. Lewis.
Cancer Is Funny: Keeping Faith in Stage-Serious Chemo 
The Face of the Deep: Exploring the Mysterious Person of the Holy Spirit Paul J. Pastor (David C. Cook) $16.99 I have to admit, sinfully quirky reader that I am, that I didn’t read this right away. I was frustrated by this because a blurb on the back says, “Finally, somebody is writing about the Holy Spirit!”
Revelation: A Search for Faith in a Violent Religious World Dennis
Creation Care and the Gospel: Reconsidering The Mission of the Church edited by Colin Bell and Robert White, introduction by Edward R. Brown (Hendrickson) $29.99 I’ll admit, again, that I haven’t really read this — it came near the end of the year — but I can assure you it is one of the major releases because it is a document and set of study chapters developed by the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, the international evangelical mission network, famously founded in 1974 by Billy Graham. Perhaps you’ve seen the Cape Town Commitment, a small book that came out of their 2010 South African gathering. (Lausanne has only met three times in global Congresses (in 1974, 1989, and 2010.) In that Cape Town challenge it named a number of key topics that were to be urgent aspects of their movement’s philosophy of mission. It insisted that creation care was an important, integral aspect of faithful holistic mission and that more work needed to be done to develop a serious theology of environmental concern, emerging from the global church, related to themes of evangelism, justice, spirituality and mission. And so, the Jamaica Consultation was held in late 2012, the “Jamaican Call to Action” was written, and this stunningly comprehensive work emerged from that gathering. We are thrilled to stock it and commend it.
The Great Spiritual Migration: How the World’s Largest Religion is Seeking a Better Way to Be Christian Brian D. McLaren (Convergent) $21.00 I truly enjoyed this book and I think I have read all of Brian’s fascinating, important works. He has shifted in this thinking over time and he has increasingly become known not as emergent or a “new” kind of Christian, but as a progressive, mainline denominational voice. With endorsements on the back from Diana Butler Bass (who says it is his “finest book, a beautiful exploration of a hopeful, joyful, mystical, and just faith…”) and Richard Rohr, Joan Chittister, and Pete Enns, you can see this isn’t some youthful swagger about postmodernism. This is serious stuff, and for those of us within mainline churches, it seems like a fresh way to say what many have said all along. Which is to say this isn’t simple and it is in some ways controversial. I am not at ease with all of it, but I think as a sociologist of religion, a storyteller from the front lines, an evangelist for the commonwealth of God, he is explaining and showing what, in fact, is a reality for many folks — this is their interpretation of faith and it seems reasonable and right and faithful. Sister Joan is right to say the book is, “A refreshingly honest, totally committed, enriching, and profound analysis of the Spiritual Moment that is changing all our lives.” She continues, “If you are concerned — and excited — by what is going on in churches these days, read this book.” 
Breaking the Huddle: How Your Community Can Grow Its Witness Don Everts, Val Gordon, Doug Schaupp (IVP) $16.00 About ten years ago a book came out that was essential reading — it remains so, I think — for anyone doing campus ministry or interested in talking about faith with skeptics, seekers, or the ubiquitous un-churched. Co-authored by Don Everts and Doug Schaupp, it was called I Once Was Lost and it was based on massive interviews with un-church college students and those who had come to faith in their college years. It was trying to figure out what emotional, relational, intellectual and other hurdles such young adults had to get over before they could even consider the truth claims about who Jesus was and is. Interestingly, their massive data suggested a process of learning to trust a real Christian — a harder thing then you might suppose — and then several other major steps. These stages, so to speak, towards faith, were then used to help earnest evangelists learn how to more effectively share the gospel with skeptics and postmodern seekers.
When In Romans: An Invitation to Linger with the Gospel According to Paul Beverly Roberts Gaventa (Baker Academic) $22.99 I mostly wanted to list this because the title was so darn clever and the subtitle was nice — the gospel according to Paul. Dr. Gaventa is a well-known Christian educator and scholar, an Emerita Professor of New Testament at Princeton and now a Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Baylor. In fact this year she has served as the President of the Society of Biblical Literature.
The Story of God Bible Commentary (Zondervan) $29.99 There have been several new ones in this set that have been released this year and I am increasingly impressed. I don’t name these books as some of the important ones of the year because of the authors, really, although they are all stellar. I want to commend Zondervan — and the general editors Tremper Longman and Scot McKnight — for overseeing this ongoing series. It started out a year or two ago with a couple of volumes and I want to celebrate that 2016 
saw a number of new ones in this useful series.
A Unique Time of God: Karl Barth’s WWI Sermons Karl Barth (Westminster/John Knox) $35.00 I don’t know if new stuff by the esteemed and extraordinarily important German theologian is considered by many a “publishing event” but we can’t let this late-in-the-year release slip by without some hubbub. This is the first time these sermons have been published in English and people in the know say that these sermons not only offer great theological and Biblical preaching in the midst of a global crisis but show how these sermons “are the true beginning of Barth’s later theology.” 
Like You Give a Damn! Join the Changemaking Celebration Tom Sine (Cascade Books) $24.00 I know the title can be off putting, but I’m telling you — as I did when I first celebrated this in our BookNotes newsletter review — this is well worth reading, a major call to action and a remarkably buoyant reminder of how God is alive and well, inspiring many to do such good, change-making stuff. It brings to our attention a new generation of activists and public servants, missionaries and social entrepreneurs. It is just jam-packed with stories and examples and cannot help but make you smile — and maybe make you wonder how you, too, might be involved. As Walter Brueggemann says in his remarkable endorsement, “Such as fresh, imaginative engagement will surely yield a “well done” from the Lord of the church who makes all things new.”
The Faithful Artist: A Vision for Evangelicalism and the Arts Cameron J. Anderson (IVP Academic) $26.00 Published in cooperation with CIVA (Christians in the Visual Arts) this is the second important volume in their newly launched “Studies in Theology and the Arts” series. And, wow, is it important. It surely is a notable thing that CIVA’s President, Cam Anderson, has finally done a book. It has been long-awaited and he is uniquely situated to offer such a fresh, well informed view. Further, it is a notable thing that this series has gotten launched. (The first volume causes a bit of a stir — maybe you read my long review of Modern Art and the Life of a Culture: The Religious Impulses of Modernism by Jonathan Anderson & William Dyrness.) With blurbs on these from the likes of major scholars of aesthetics like Nicholas Wolterstorff and Calvin Seerveld, and wonderful patrons and practitioners like Luci Shaw and Makoto Fujimura, you can see that these are essential books for the library of anyone thinking seriously about faith and the arts.
The End of Protestantism: Pursuing Unity in a Fragmented Church
edited by Amy Black (Zondervan; $19.99) or Church, State and Public Justice: Five Views edited by P.C. Kemeny (IVP Academic; $22.00) or the feisty back and forth debate like Left, Right, and Christ: Evangelical Faith in Politics between Lisa Sharon Harper and D.C. Innes (Elevate Faith; $19.99.)
employees to use these kinds of abortifacients. (Think of the Hobby Lobby lawsuits and others, such as the Obama Administration’s legal battle against the Little Sisters of Jesus, a group of elderly nuns who serve the poorest of the poor but couldn’t agree to pay for contraception for their support staff’s insurance if it included what they believed to be something sinful.) All of this led to much-publicized Supreme Court rulings and Mr. Wear, despite misgivings, was working hard to build relationships of trust within various religious quarters, helping explain what increasingly became hard to explain. No matter where you stand on these issues, this chapter will keep you turning the pages, hearing from the inside how things went down.
You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit James K.A. Smith (Brazos Press) $19.99 I’ve been saying this is the most important and truly best book of 2016 since I read an early version in February or March. It is informed by important stuff of the sort we’ve been talking about for years; it really is a Hearts & Minds-ish kind of read. It has been widely acclaimed and although I value the “cultural liturgies trilogy” from which it is drawn and popularized (Imagining the Kingdom and Desiring the Kingdom are the first two published with the third to come out next year) this one volume summary is substantive enough to be a serious read, but accessible enough for nearly anyone to work through. The ideas in You Are What You Love are fresh, the writing vivid and urgent, the vision broad and culturally significant. It is, without a doubt, my pick for Best Book of 2016. It covers topics such as worldview and cultural engagement, worship and liturgy, habits and how personal change happens, and what it means to live out a new set of Kingdom desires and God-shaped practices in daily life, in home, work, and society. Buy a few of this winner, please, knowing that you are helping create a different sort of conversation in the Christian community, knowing that many from all over are reading, discussing, plotting about, and drawing upon this bold, good work. Allow me to be clear” of the thousands of books I’ve reviewed and the many, many more I’ve read in my life, this, I think, is in the top handful of most important books I’ve ever read. 
Strong and Weak: Embracing a Life of Love, Risk, and True Flourishing Andy Crouch (IVP) $20.00 Again, you can see my long review of this at the Hearts & Minds BookNotes newsletter and I do hope you go back and find it — I explained this book in great detail as it is such a very fascinating idea. It is not about “balancing” strength and weakness but it is about fully embracing both, living a life of exercising cultural power and trusting the process of risk-taking; that is, being both strong and vulnerable, using power but being willing to suffer the price. It is about Christ-like postures of cultural engagement, giving a very unique description and stamp upon our daily Christian habits and lifestyles and tendencies. Beth and I both have been taken by Andy’s good work and this stimulating book has charmed and challenged us, as it will you, I’m sure, for years to come. I do hope you have read his Culture Making and Playing God which, in a way, is somehow connected to this one, or so it seems to me. Strong and Weak: Embracing a life of Love, Risk and True Flourishing is without a doubt one of the very best books of this year. Very, very highly recommended.
Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life Tish Harrison Warren (IVP) $16.00 I think this may be the non-fiction book I enjoyed the very most this year and from what I hear it is the favorite of many, even though it only came out in late November. As I explained in our long BookNotes review it is about the spirituality of the daily, walking through a day in the author’s rather normal life, informed by spiritual attitudes learned through Christian worship. She is drawing on Jamie Smith (yes!) and the wonderful forward is by Andy Crouch (yes, again!) No wonder I love this woman and her new book — what a helpful approach, wise and thoughtful, artful and solid. It allows us to see God’s hand in everything, to make beautiful the ordinary stuff of daily life, and it shows how worship, while firstly about God, is also about God’s reign being incarnated in our own feeble lives as we connect the liturgies of Sunday with the rituals of our day to day lives.
Reading for the Common Good: How Books Help Our Churches and Neighborhoods Flourish C. Christopher Smith (IVP) $16.00 Well. Do I hear an “A-men?” Or as Springsteen put it, “Is anybody alive out there?” This is a book that is so naturally important to the Hearts & Minds community that it deserves perhaps some special award of merit, some blue ribbon, some commemorative plaque. I am surprised that every Christian bookstore in America isn’t touting this; if I had the money I’d be giving it away by the box-load. Truly, the vision of reading well, reading widely, missionally, using our minds, the gifts of writers, poets, scholars who create books, is so clearly stated that Chris Smith has become nearly the patron saint for booksellers and book lovers everywhere. And yet, oddly, I don’t think the book is zooming up the best-seller charts. Why is that?
The Very Good Gospel: How Everything Wrong Can Be Made Right Lisa Sharon Harper (Waterbrook Press) $19.99 For the last five years Beth and I have hosted a major lecture in Pittsburgh which we’ve underwritten in order to give back to our many friends and customers in Pittsburgh a bit of excitement that comes with meeting an author with a big new book. Lisa Sharon Harper is a woman we’ve know a bit over the years and is a person we admire a lot. Her work with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and her leadership in New York Justice and eventually her finding a home working with our old acquaintance Jim Wallis at Sojourners just has left us glad and inspired. Agree or not with all of her activism, she is a Godly woman with a love for Christ and His ways that is palpable. Her balance of prayerfulness and evangelism, social action and prophetic political witness is a sight to behold. Her work deserves to be known, her witness is commendable and this book is fabulous.
Adventures in Evangelical Civility: A Lifelong Quest for Common Ground Richard Mouw (Brazos Press) $24.99 I hope my previous BookNotes newsletter review of this was interesting to you — the book might sound a bit arcane if you don’t know and esteem Mouw as we do. I mentioned that I selected him to be in my little book that I edited (Serious Dreams: Bold Ideas for the Rest of Your Life ) not to brag (well, okay, I’m bragging a little) but to let you know that Mouw is an author that we truly esteem, who is in our circle of favorites, that represents much that we value. And he is such a thoughtful and clear writer. If you like Hearts & Minds or find us interesting at all, you should know that we get some of it from Mouw. If you like us, you should read him. And this is one of his to read, for sure!
The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus’s Crucifixion N.T. Wright (HarperOne) $28.99 This is a must-read for anyone interested in Biblical studies or contemporary theology. It is a key book in the Wright opus, a long-awaited follow up to his seminal Surprised by Hope. As I explained in my positive review when it released, it essentially is a study of the cross of Christ in the New Testament, explored in light of the “end of the story” — the restoration of creation. If that renewal of creation is the “end game” of the Biblical story, then we should understand Paul and the other New Testament writers teaching about the cross in light of that truth. This wonderful book uses new creation “realized eschatology” as a lens to study the cross of Christ. In this reading, Good Friday becomes “the day the revolution begins” and helps us live into Easter hope here and now. This is just fantastic — Biblical study with a big picture and inviting us to ponder the vision of how we embody and live out this “revolution” of new creation. One of the best Tom Wright books yet, and surely one of the best books of 2016.
Silence and Beauty: Hidden Faith Born of Suffering Makoto Fujimura (IVP) $26.00 Oh my, I do hope you know this. It is, as I explained in our March BookNotes, a companion to the famous Japanese novel Silence by Shusaku Endo; we were delighted that many mail order customers and a few local friends here in the shop bought both the Fujimura book and Endo’s Silence (in its handsome new movie tie-in edition.) This is very relevant now as the long-awaited film version of the novel, directed and produced by Martin Scorsese, just released to much acclaim.
A Woman’s Place: A Christian Vision for Your Calling in the Office, the Home, and the World Katelyn Beaty (Howard Books) $22.99 Of course our very favorite books of the year have already been reviewed at greater length at BookNotes and A Woman’s Place is no exception. You can visit our BookNotes review by searching our archives at the website. I was initially worried that although we have many, many books on the relationship between faith and work and the notions of vocation and calling as we live out faith in our job sites and workplaces that not too much more could or needed to be said. Many of the very good books we’ve seen in recent years are fine, but do not present much new.
Life’s Too Short to Pretend You’re Not Religious David Dark (IVP) $20.00 This almost didn’t made it into our Hearts & Minds top ten of Best Books of 2016 even though I personally would say that it was one of my very favorite books of the year; heck I got a certain pleasure from reading it that I can hardly name — it’s one of the most curiously interesting books I’ve read in years! I don’t always recommend it with such abandon to everyone, though, because, well, it is quirky, perhaps not for everyone; an acquired taste. Still I have to honor it — David is a robust writer and Life’s Too Short to Pretend… is truly a great book, colorfully written, eccentric at times, curious, interesting, deep, honest, prophetic. It challenges both the glibly “spiritual but not religious” crowd insisting that everyone is fundamentally religious — driven by some stories or images that become narratives of ultimate concern — as well as those who want to reduce religion to a formula or dogma or creed as if intellectual assent to some set of truth claims is all there is to the mystery of faith, religion, life. He’ll have none of it — but yet, Dark doesn’t spend much time denouncing inadequate social imaginaries or bad, dualistic stories or shallow, selfish visions. He just offers a better vision, tells a deeper story, invites us into his own ruminations as he shares, wearing his heart on his sleeve, bearing witness that deep stuff happens when one is attentive.
Boys in the Bunkhouse: Servitude and Salvation in the Heartland Dan Barry (Harper) $26.99 This thick book is an epic bit of investigative reporting and was, of all the books I read this year, the most haunting, and the one that I find the most heart-rending of all. I will never forget it. It is a long story, beautifully told by an excellent, insightful writer. If you don’t believe me about Dan Barry’s exquisite style, see his stunningly well-written memoir, which I also enjoyed this year, Pull Me Up: A Memoir or his well received and often-honored book about the longest baseball game Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball’s Longest Game.
Word by Word: A Daily Spiritual Practice Marilyn McEntyre (Eerdmans) $17.99 Oh my, yes: this is a great, great book, a treasure for those who value good writing, who care about words, who want to ponder reflectively and would enjoy thinking about the meaning and implications of common words rather than a Bible devotional. One reviewer said it blends “exegesis, philology, lectio divina, and prayer.” In a way, it is similar in tone to her wonderful little 2014 volume that is Bible-based called What’s in a Phrase?: Pausing Where Scripture Gives You Pause. McEntyre is a poet and writer who teaches literature in a med school. (She has two excellent, small books emerging from her work in hospice care, A Faithful Farewell: Living Your Last Chapter with Love and A Long Letting Go: Meditations on Losing Someone You Love.)
Celtic Daily Prayer: Book Two: Farther Up and Farther In Northumbria Community (William Collins) $34.99 We stock a good number of prayer books of various kinds and the first volume of this — Celtic Daily Prayer — has been one of our most popular for years, now. This sequel, with a beautiful cover and a few small format changes, is even better. This is a brand new two-year collection of daily readings and prayers, with Celtic themes and inspiration and we’re thrilled to name it as one of the best resources of the year.
Love, Henri: Letters the Spiritual Life Henri
Strangers in Their Own Land : Anger and Mourning on the American Right — A Journey to the Heart of Our Political Divide Arlie Russell Hochschild (The New Press) $27.95 This has appeared on many lists and the reasons are at least two fold: it is a serious, remarkable study about folks in Louisiana that support conservative politicians who want to gut EPA restrictions even as they lament the way pollution has ruined their livelihoods as shore-men and shrimpers and even as they are aware that the toxic pollution has given them exceedingly higher rates of cancer (in “Cancer Alley”) than nearly anywhere in the country. What a top notch bit of investigative reporting this is as the author embeds herself in this hurting community, so abused by chemical and oil companies, hearing them deeply about their own political convictions. So that’s one reason the book is achieving such renown — it’s a helluva story, vividly told, a story of great pathos about fellow citizens that needs to be told. 
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis J.D. Vance (Harper) $27.99 I have not yet published by long review of this and perhaps will soon but I must say this is without a doubt one of the most discussed, most appreciated, and biggest selling books of 2016. Although Vance writes for the conservative National Review and his story of the dysfunctions of poorer white folks in Appalachia and Rust Belt America has been used to explain the popularity of Mr. Trump, the book is not a political story but a human-scale memoir about a crazy family, broken social systems, and a guy who ends up in Yale Law School having made something of himself with help from loyal relatives, a reliable faith, and a stint in the US Marines. Some are saying this is their favorite memoir ever and while I wouldn’t say that, it was truly difficult to put down and I wouldn’t stop talking about it for months. If you haven’t read it yet, you really should. Hold on to your hat, it’s quite a story. One of the Best Books of 2016 without a doubt.
Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work ( Storycorps Book ) Dave Isay (Penguin Press) $26.00 There have been many books over the years on the relationship of faith and work, informed by a Biblical vision of calling and the theology of vocation. This book came out of the beautiful, inspiring Storycorps radio program so is not overtly religious but it is, without a doubt, an enjoyable and inspiring read for people of faith and offers much to us to realize how so many different kind of people, in so many different kinds of job, talk about their work. In a way, this secular complication is one of the most beautiful examples of people’s search for meaning and the hope for purpose, articulated in various ways and tones and accents. No matter what your job is, reading these folks describe their own sense of passion about their work will inspire you. I was glad to introduce this at BookNotes when it first came out and think it is one of the best books of many a year.
Impossible People: Christian Courage and the Struggle for the Soul of Civilization Os Guinness (IVP) $20.00 I did a long BookNotes review of this when it first came out and it is one of my favorite books of the year, even if it made me both uncomfortable in a good way and a bit irritated. I appreciate authors who are uncompromising in their conviction and Os is one of those leaders I count on for unsullied truth telling, courage and compunction. He is prophetic and yet caring, culturally savvy and yet helpful. This is Guinness at his feisty best.
The Fractured Republic: Renewing America’s Social Contract in the Age of Individualism Yuval Levin (Basic Books) $27.50 Many social critics and political theorists have raved about this. It comes out of his work as a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a conservative think tank and is one of the most discussed books about public life that has come out this year. I’ve written about it a few places and highlighted it more than once in interviews and book talks. Here’s some of what I said in one BookNotes post: I hope that you have seen this reviewed and cited on the internet or in significant journals — I cannot wait to read this yet this summer as it has been promoted across the political spectrum as substantive and thoughtful. Left-leaning Jonathan Haidt (The Righteous Mind) says “this is the book American most needs in 2016” and Paul Ryan says “Yuval Levin is one of the most insightful and original thinkers of our time.” We are dangerously fragmented in this “age of individualism” and we must radically rethink our embeddedness in the ways of modernity which are played out here; Levin can help us develop a critique that is beyond the conventional far left and far right, showing how mediating structures and non-government institutions and neighborhoods can help rebuilding our republic. George Packer says of his humane and good writing that “His work gives the sense that our future needn’t be as grimly divided and dysfunctional as the present seems.” Let us know. This surely deserves to be considered one of the most significant books of 2016.
Habakkuk Before Breakfast: Liturgy, Lament and Hope Brian J. Walsh (Books Before Breakfast) $14.00 Done with the Wine Before Breakfast community at the University of Toronto, a group of students and others who gather for an early morning Eucharist service, this book offers the sermons and messages, the liturgies and litanies, the questions about music and the descriptions of songs played at their creative alt-services. Although the book is anchored by the study of this Old Testament prophet, there is tender stuff here (about a homeless guy who became an beloved member of their gang) and great reflection about the struggle to find mostly contemporary rock music that captured the themes of the service. The prayers and liturgical pieces are inspiring and useful, the Bible study stunning, the prophetic application uncompromising. I wrote a longer review back at BookNotes if you want to hear more but this truly is an extraordinary work. I assume you know Walsh from books like Transforming Vision, Truth Is Stranger Than It Used to Be, Colossians Remixed, or Beyond Homelessness. (Not to mention his wonderful survey of the lyrics of rock great Bruce Cockburn called Kicking at the Darkness: Bruce Cockburn and the Christian Imagination.) He’s long-time pals with NT Wright who noted how this fierce book “shakes us up and makes us realize that God’s loving justice is the only firm ground on which anyone — or any society — can ever stand.
The Justice Calling: Where Passion Meets Perseverance Bethany Hanke Hoang & Kristen Deede Johnson (Brazos Press) $19.99 We helped launch this extraordinary book at Jubilee 2016 last year in Pittsburgh and here is some of what I wrote in one of my discussions of it: “…both women are exceptionally well-schooled and committed to educating for lasting, formational transformation in readers so that we might be the kind of people who are empowered to be healthy activists in church and world. They understand the big flow of the Scriptures, the story, as we say, and place God’s relentless call to do justice in that context.” Andy Crouch has called it “a deep, wide, wise contribution to a truly comprehensive Christian understanding of Justice” and says, “I can’t imagine a better biblical and theological introduction to the topic of justice.” In a year with a handful of very good social justice resources that stand out, this is rises above them all, a must read, beautiful, very insightful and important book of truly lasting significance.
How to Survive the Apocalypse: Zombies, Cylons, Faith and Politics at the End of the World Robert Joustra & Alissa Wilkinson (Eerdmans) $16.00 Of the many, many intriguing books that offer uniquely Christian cultural criticism this year, this is the most audacious, the most fascinating and — for those who like to read seriously thoughtful stuff written about fun stuff — best book of its kind in years. I’ve recommended it almost everywhere I’ve gone this year and wrote about it more than once. I recommended it in a book list I wrote for a column for the Center for Public Justice this summer, and wrote this: This new book by Wilkinson, a respected film critic for Christianity Today and Joustra, a professor of international studies at Redeemer University in Ontario, is a blast. It offers a great overview of recent themes in popular culture, from The Walking Dead to Game of Thrones to House of Cards, and yet it is serious-minded, drawing significantly on Charles Taylor and his analysis of the malaise of secular modernity. Its basic premise is this: in a culture where our best storytellers and artists are telling us that things are falling apart and that there is no hope, how do we act in the public square for the common good as people of hope? What do dystopian narratives tell us about our culture’s worldview and how do we live well in such anxiety-laden political terrain? Indeed, this is serious business, and yet, as Michael Wear says on the back, “Who said the apocalypse couldn’t be fun?” Zombie plots, Battlestar Galactica, Scandal and the work of being Christian citizens? Yes, yes indeed.
Rescuing Jesus: How People of Color, Women, & Queer Christians Are Reclaiming Evangelicalism Deborah Jian Lee (Beacon Press) $26.95 I suspect that naming this one of the best books of the year will annoy many and I understand that it moves in a direction that will be offensive, even, to some. It could be argued that it ought to be read by those who have a visceral reaction to a call to be more attentive to the changes happening within evangelicalism, and perhaps to be more inclusive to those who have been marginalized and hurt. Whether you are drawn to this topic or not, this is a book that is informative and will offer a behind the scenes look at how these hot topic issues (and, more, the people involved) are changing para-church groups, evangelical college campuses, mega-churches and their leaders, the publishing world and more. The book is exceptionally well researched and very well told as it follows a select handful of persons through their time within the evangelical movement; some remain intense followers of Christ within a broad evangelical tradition while others no longer find themselves affiliated with evangelical faith; a few no longer see themselves as Christians.
Punching Holes in the Dark: Living in the Light of the World Robert Benson (Abingdon) $16.99 I do not think I have read a Robert Benson book that I was not sad to see end — surely the mark of a good book is when you want more words, more pages, more chapters. And, oh how I felt this way with Benson’s Punching Holes in the Dark… I said out loud to nearly anyone around me when I was reading this last summer that I didn’t want this book to end. Benson is a charming, enchanted writer with a style I cannot describe. He has an economy of words and is clear as a bell, even though his content is mature and thoughtful and deeply wise. He has funny stories — a few I’ve read out loud at workshops — and he has tender tales and you will simply have to take this up yourself to see if he resonates with you has he does with so many of his appreciative fans. One of whom happens to be Frederick Buechner, by the way, who has a rare blurb on the front of the book, noting its “candor and hope.”
Light When It Comes: Trusting Joy, Facing Darkness & Seeing God in Everything Chris Anderson (Eerdmans) $16.99 It is hard to explain the charm and value of this wonderful collection of short essays. It is pitched as a book that helps us “see God in everything” and you may recall a list I wrote not long ago at our BookNotes newsletter that listed 15 such books, all older. This new one could easily have been added to such a list but it isn’t exactly what I’d call “spirituality.” It is less about the God encounter in the quotidian, but about the goodness of the experiences of life itself. Yes, yes, God is there; revelation happens as we come to see the Light. But, again, these are stories and ruminations on life, episodes and glorious snatches of God-light in the realness of daily living. This guy is a great writer and a good observer. I love these kinds of collections of essays and want to honor it as the best of its class.
Two Views on Homosexuality, The Bible, and the Church General Editor, Preston Sprinkle (Zondervan) $16.99 We often recommend the many, many books in the Zondervan Counterpoint series and for obvious reasons we have needed a book like this for decades. I have read for decades almost everything I can get my hands on studying this topic and there are oodles of books that bring all sorts of perspectives and orientations. No book heretofore has attempted what this brave paperback does: it offers two evangelical scholars who hold to the conventional, orthodox view that same sex erotic relationships are forbidden by Scripture and two that suggest otherwise. I know of only one good book that shows “both sides” pro and con around the exegesis of the Bible and, to be honest, for a variety of reasons, it hasn’t been that helpful. Here we have four scholars who all agree with the most fundamental assumption that the Bible is God’s inspired and authoritative word and that our practices must be informed by careful study of the truest meaning of the Bible itself. The two that oppose same sex relationships are gracious and candid and bring two slightly different views to the conversation; the two that are supportive of inclusion and marriage equality do so for slightly different theological reasons. As with others in this large series of books, after each chapter the other three participants offer critique. So by the end of the book readers have engaged not only four distinctive positions but have seen the rebuttals and responses from the others.
The Mind of the Spirit: Paul’s Approach to Transformed Thinking Craig Keener (Baker Academic) $32.99 There are many, many academic books that deserve honorable mention and so many that, although I haven’t read them, they seem just spectacular. As you know, I’m a sucker for good blurbs and I take seriously the recommendations of scholars I respect. Although he have a lot of Biblical studies that are scholarly in nature, and many have gotten great reviews this year, I want to hold up this one at least. It is a rare combination of scholarly rigor and yet aimed at a subject that should affect us all — nurturing the “mind of Christ.” If you are among the many who regularly reflect on the implications of Romans 12: 1-2 — and most book lovers, do, realizing as we do that books are tools for life long learning — then this book on how Paul envisions the transformed mind will certainly attract your interest.
Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Through Deep Difference John D. Inazu (University of Chicago Press) $29.99 We usually name a few books that are scholarly in nature and this, obviously, is published by one of the most esteemed academic presses in the world. Yet, it isn’t dry or dusty nor it it primarily written for the scholarly guild. This is a book for nearly all citizens who want to get beyond the simple call to civility and to probe more deeply about how the structures of our society could enhance greater diversity, making room for faith-based differences even in how the government funds programming and more. I’ve read a lot in these related fields — personal civility, conflict resolution, and questions of religious liberty and such. Insights from those who study civil society, the role of mediating structures and such will be glad for his appreciation of a multi-dimensional view of society. (That is, society is more than just government and individuals and the questions for public philosophy need to be more than whether we want big government or small government.) Yet, how do we get along when our fundamental vision of the meaning of government and the direction of social institutions are so very contested?
All Things New: Rediscovering the Four Chapter Gospel Hugh Whelchel (Institute for Faith, Work & Economics) $8.00 I don’t need to say much about this except this over the top exclamation (that I have been made repeatedly since I saw this remarkable Bible study resource) — this is the best small group Bible study I’ve seen on this kind of topic and one that many of us have longed for, literally, for decades! (As a matter of fact, I had considered trying my hand at doing this kind of a small group study, realizing the big hole in the market for Bible study on this topic.) All Things New is an absolutely must-use, big-picture small group discussion guide that I believe will be transformative for many who use it. We have a lot of great small group Bible study books and discussion resources but there is simply nothing like this in print!
Ministry Mantras: Language for Cultivating Kingdom Culture J.R. Briggs & Bob Hyatt (IVP) $17.00 This was a hard call to make as we have so many great, useful, inspiring, helpful books about congregational life and church renewal that it is hard to pick just one to highlight. There are many books about parish life and several that we sold well at church events written for leaders and pastors. This one, though, is by an author I really, really like, a man I esteem greatly, and has a rather unique formate which sets it apart as interesting and easy to read . And — believe me — readers get a lot for their investment here as there is tons of information, insight, inspiration in Ministry Mantras. It deserves to be touted as one of the very best books of the year and my pick for my favorite book in the area of congregational life and church leadership. It’s a great, fun read!
Essential Worship: A Handbook for Leaders Greg Scheer (Baker Books) $19.99 There are bunches of books about worship and, I am convinced, many are very important. We’ve seen some excellent ones this year but if I were to choose just one to commend, this would be it. We just cannot stop learning about how to worship well, what that means and could mean, and how to improve our liturgical practices. I hope this gets a wide readership. Greg Scheer is involved a bit in the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship which itself is legendary and greatly appreciated by folks across the theological and liturgical spectrum; he himself serves a liturgically, aesthetically and missionally aware CRC church in Grand Rapids and this book emerges from his decades of serving the gathered people of God. (He has worked in a Southern evangelical church, a mainline Presbyterian congregation, and this large, lively CRC parish.)
Eucharistic Prayers Samuel Wells & Abigail Kocher (Eerdmans) $40.00 We have many books of prayers. Some are designed for personal use — think Valley of Vision, for instance or the two evocative ones by Walter Brueggemann (Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth and Prayers for a Privileged People) or the wonderful classic A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie. We remain fond of the big one put together by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro called Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals that can also be used communally for worship.
More with Less Cookbook 40th Anniversary Edition Doris Longacre (Herald Press) $22.00 “A World Community Cookbook” with Rachel Stone We recommended this last month in a BookNotes post about various sorts of books that make great gifts. We noted that “we have stocked this marvelous Mennonite cookbook since the day we opened and Beth and I have given quite a few away over the years — it remains a wonderful, wonderful gift, a great cookbook to use (even for those who aren’t advanced or skilled) made all the better in this very handsome, very new, 40th anniversary edition. Earlier editions have sold over 1 million copies! We enjoy all three in the “World Community Cookbook” series — More-With-Less, Simply in Season, and Extending the Table, but More-with-Less remains the classic.” It uses simple, natural ingredients, offers a gentle sense that we can be better stewards of the gifts of creation (and our family budgets) by spending less and being joyful extravagant in ways that are simple and cheaper. In this new edition there’s some updated recipes, some great new essays, wonderful full color design and pictures. Some may still want the older spiral bound edition but this new one has a “lay flat” binding that promises to be useful in the kitchen.
Art of Memoir Mary Karr (Harper) $24.99 I hope you recall our announcing this — both a good guide to being a writer, the art of doing memoir, and a bit of a continuation of her story, told so well in Liar’s Club, Cherry, and Lit — some of the most memorable memoirs of our generation. If anyone can tell us how it’s done, Karr is it. Technically, this came out in ’15 but I wanted to list it as a new paperback — and one I didn’t read until 2016. If you’ve been undecided, maybe this will help:
A Letter to My Anxious Christian Friends: From Fear to Faith in Unsettled Times David Gushee (Westminster/John Knox Press) $15.00 This book deserves to be noted and I think it has much usefulness, even now. It came out long before the election, but captured something brewing for years, now, coming to a head in this season — namely, that many good Christian folks are fearful that things are coming undone. Many of us are anxious, not just about Trump (that’s another story) but about the larger trends in our culture, the shifts in church life, the changes in thinking about sexuality and the changes in the conversations about that; we are concerned about pop culture, about guns and immigration and poverty; we are nervous about foreign affairs, about ISIS and more. We are wondering about doctrine and the Bible and God and the future of our churches. Much of our anxiety revolves around the lack of civility in our civic discourse and the polarization that seems as bad as ever. What even is America (a Christian country, or no?) Who are we, what should we make of the political parties and our apparently deepening fractures?
The Spirituality of Wine Gisela H. Kreglinger (Eerdmans) $24.00 I’m not a fan of the medieval tapestry cover art but this beautiful book nonetheless is a personal favorite and should be on the shelf of anyone who is interested in wine, or anyone interested in a theology of the goodness of creation, anyone interested in Christian views of farming and land use, or anyone interested in the Bible at all, actually. The author grew up working in her family’s European vineyard and is now (besides being a trained theologian) a world-renowned vintner. This great book looks at wine in the Bible, wine in religious customs, the abuse of alcohol, and, yes, offers lovely details of the growing of grapes, the making of wine, the world of wine tasting, marketing, selling, enjoying. If you are a casual enjoyer or a serious connoisseur, you will love this thorough, serious work. There is a foreword by Eugene Peterson — makes sense. But what other theological book has a blurb on the back by Alice Waters (one of the iconic food writers of our time), Carolo Petrini (of the Slow Food Movement) and heavy-weight German theologian, Jurgen Moltmann? Salute!
Becoming Wise: An Inquiry Into the Mystery and Art of Living Krista Tippett (Penguin Press) $28.00 I suppose it is no surprise that we list this — we love memoir and storytelling and appreciate those who are perhaps not Christian who are still eloquent about their own quest for wisdom and meaning and purpose. Tippett is, of course, the host of the wonderful, wonderful “On Being” radio show and has interviewed some of the most interesting people on the planet.
When the Roll is Called: Trauma and the Soul of American Evangelicalism Marie T. Hoffmann (Cascade) $20.00 Now is not the place to describe this book in great detail but it is a short work, developed nicely from a set of lectures, a part of the new “Fuller School of Psychology Integration Series.” (The first in this new series, by the way, was by Messiah College anthropology professor Jenell Paris called The Good News About Conflict: Transforming Religious Struggle over Sexuality) which itself is remarkably insightful and obviously important.
The Bride(zilla) of Christ Ted Luck & Ronnie Martin (Multnomah) $15.99 There are dozens of helpful little books that come out each year on congregational life, on church stuff, on community and Christian views of conflict and such. There is nearly a cottage industry these days writing books about those who are irritated at the church, those who no longer want to attend, or about those who have been hurt by religious shenanigans (real and imagined.) What do we do when local church folks have hurt us — mildly so, or seriously so? What do we do when the Bride of Christ ends up like a manic bridezilla?
Almighty: Courage, Resistance, and Existential Peril in the Nuclear Age Dan Zak (Blue Rider Press) $27.00 I have told you about this before and it is without a doubt one of the best books I have read all year. It is thick, wide-ranging, and remarkably well research and well-written. There is history here, science, politics, all good background for the basic story this feisty reporter tells — the story of three Christian radicals who feel called to protest the making of nuclear bomb components throughout the country, but mostly at Oak Ridge Tennessee. If you have any interest in why people of faith do courageous and seemingly foolish things like getting arrested to make statements about faith and justice, this book will be illuminating. If you wonder how people come to the place where the dangers of nuclear holocaust consume them, and how they live with themselves facing decades of jail time, this study is brilliantly illuminating. If you need to be reminded of the grave moral threat that our weapons policies and budgets present to our culture and our souls, this book might be transformative for you. Agree or not with Zak’s mostly favorably telling of the lives of Michael Welli, Sister Megan Rice and Greg Boertje-Obed, this is a vast and mighty book, insightful and stimulating. It isn’t many books that near 400 pages that I didn’t want to end, but this is the case with Almighty. I wanted even more, eager to be engaged with this Quixotic movement of “beating swords into plowshares” carried on by hundreds of underground religious people inspired, originally, by the dramatic actions of civil disobedience of the Berrigan brothers, Philip and Daniel. In this year that Daniel died I read a remarkable collection of the prison letters written back and forth for half a lifetime by Dan and Phil. This book, though, is the best way to understand their legacy. Read it.
Caring for Creation: The Evangelical’s Guide to Climate Change and a Healthy Environment Mitch Hescox & Paul Douglas (Bethany House) $14.99 I’ve wanted to name this as one of the best books of the year from the moment I read it; that we hosted both authors in the store here the week before the book came out makes it truly one of the most important books of our year. Mitch (the former engineer in the coal industry turned pastor turned creation-care activist) is an old friend and Paul (the weatherman and digital weather-tracking entrepreneur) a new one, and together they hit a big home run, offering Biblical insight, good science, moderate political solutions and good ideas for individuals or churches to pursue in being the caretakers of creation we are called to be. I love these guys and love this book!
Ruined: A Memoir Ruth Everhart (Tyndale) $14.99 This has been one of those books that has stayed with me for months after having read it and we still get orders based on the review I wrote when it came out last August. You may recall that this book tells the story of Ruth Everhart being a student in the late 1960s at Calvin College in Grand Rapids Michigan where she and her housemates were raped. The story is told well, with enough pathos and tragedy to make it hard, at times (how could it not) but the criminal tragedy itself is not the only story being told. She struggles with the hard questions of God’s sovereignty and why bad things happen –what scholars call theodicy — and rejects some of her conservative Reformed community’s beloved doctrines. Everhart’s faith journey continues as she experiences some healing and hope (but how can one ever fully get over such a devastating assault?) and ends up happily married and a pastor in the PC(USA.) Ruined is “told with candor and unflinching honest” the publisher says, it is “an extraordinary emotional and spiritual journey.” It has won a number of other book awards this season and has been on other “best of the year” lists. Highly recommended.
Go: Returning Discipleship to the Front Lines of Faith Preston Sprinkle (NavPress) $14.99 There have been lots of books out these days about whole-life discipleship, about moving beyond nominal faith or internal spirituality, and about actually living out faith as followers of Jesus. A few of these use the insights of the “missional church” movement and invite us to a sort of faithful discipleship that is missional. This one is one of the very best I’ve seen in this simple genre — exciting, visionary, practical, though, and incorporating various insights from the missional movement. There are more academic ones, and we have them. This one, though, is practical and energetic. It’s got some info graphics and data (discovered by research commissioned by the Navigators and the Barna Group, newly presented here) that is usefully shown in order to help us appreciate the urgency of the priorities we will have to attend to if we’re going to return discipleship to the front lines of our faith communities. 
Money and Possessions Walter Brueggemann (Westminster John Knox) $40.00 Do you know the popular “Interpretation” Bible commentary series? Somewhat in the spirit of these mainline denominational semi-scholarly commentaries this publisher inaugurated a few years ago a series called Interpretation Resources for the Use of Scripture in the Church. That is, they’ve brought similar sorts of good scholars who are willing to summarize complex theological and Biblical themes in one handsome hardback book on a topic, not a certain book of the Bible. There have been several volumes in this series: one on the sacraments, one important one called Canon and Creed; the one on violence in the Scriptures by Pittsburgh Theological Seminary’s Jerome F.D. Creech is very good. Ellen Davis did one on Biblical prophecy with the subtitle “Perspectives for Christian Theology, Discipleship, and Ministry” and Richard Lischer did the one on reading the parables. There is a big one on the Ten Commandments offering ways to preach and teach and live by these texts within our contemporary setting. You get the picture, eh?
Hamilton: The Revolution Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter (Hachette/Grand Central Publishing) $45.00 Well, yeah. Of course. The ground-breaking musical won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and this book gives readers an unprecedented view of both revolutions — the US one in which that the poor kid of the Caribbean fought against the British and this hip-hop once-in-a-generation theatrical piece that broadened the sound of Broadway. This over-sized book tells the history of the show, features photos and excerpts of notebooks and emails, interviews with Questlove and Stephen Sonheim and over 40 other people involved in the production which has become a national phenomenon. We have only sold a few of these but what a blast showing it off and seeing the joy when customers realize we carry it. This is a very important and truly handsome, fantastic volume that you will want to keep.
The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More Than Our “Correct” Beliefs Peter Enns (HarperOne) $25.99 I reviewed this cautiously, not wanting to give the impression that the book throws out notions of truth or doctrine or that I fully agreed with Pete’s provocative prose. But many others I respect have grappled with this and I think the consensus is that even if he overstates this just a bit — and he is adamant that reading the Bible honestly can be damaging to one’s faith, given the sordid stuff found in the Word of God and is adamant that trusting God is something other than agreeing to certain theological dogmas — this is a thoughtful, winsome, inviting story of one man’s journey, offering permission for others to doubt, to struggle, to reject parts of the dogma passed down (especially from evangelicalism) and to forge a living relationship with the God who is there and who loves us so. I think it is a great gift for those skeptical of faith because they know a bit and have catapulted overboard, angry about easy answers they’ve been given, frustrated that the Bible seems to be racist and sexist and full of wrath and genocide. This book not only invites folks to honor their own questions and doubts but, in fact, says it is an idol to pretend to have ultimate certitude. Good stuff, but perhaps supplement it with the more classic view of knowledge implicit in the Keller book below.
The Broken Way: A Daring Path Into the Abundant Life Ann Voskamp (Zondervan) $22.99 I am a fan of Ann Voskamp and loved her famous One Thousand Gifts that invited us to embrace and be grateful for the goodness of God’s world, finding grace in the ordinary and beauty in the here and now. It became a best seller for good reason — it is nicely written, creatively considered, lovely, a tiny bit edgy but utterly orthodox, despite what a few cranks said. Her two on Advent were devotional and handsome, too. This one, though, moves her prose to a deeper level as she offers a profound (but not too heavy) study of the brokenness we encounter, embracing our pain, moving into the realities of who we are as hurting people. In an earlier BookNotes review I noted that there were very good blurbs on the back from Philip Yancey (who called it “rich” and “gritty”) and from Eugene Peterson. Christine Caine, naturally, raved. It’s really good.
Hammer is the Prayer: Selected Poems Christian Wiman (Farrar Straus Giroux) $26.00 I’ll be the first to admit I am not a connoisseur of fine poetry and although we enjoy having a rather eccentric poetry selection, none of us here are qualified to say what is “the best.” But I know enough to know that there are a handful of poets whose work is highly regarded and whose own faith journey we know has informed their serious work. Wendell Berry comes to mind, of course, and we value the wonderful work of Mary Oliver (whose collection of essays this year, Upstream, is a volume we’ve so enjoyed promoting.) His memoir of Christian faith, My Bright Abyss: Meditations of a Modern Believer is extraordinary. Christian Wiman, you should know, edited for decades the important Poetry Journal. He now teaches religion and literature at Yale Divinity School. This is the first major compilation of selected poems and it seemed an obvious choice to honor this year.
Christian Practical Wisdom: What It Is, What It Matters Dorothy Bass and others (Eerdmans) $30.00 We easily like to suggest that someone is wise and I often use the word to describe certain books. But what do we mean by that? Are we maybe too glib about that? What practices are rooted in creational wisdom, hearing the voice of God’s truth embedded in the realities of God’s creation? How good are we at intuiting the ways of the Lord — even if we know our Bibles well? Does faithful insight about daily living really matter and if so, how so? What does it look like and how can we deeper our formation in daily wisdom? These collected essays are fairly academic but there is no volume quite like this in print and some approach sheer brilliance. It’s maybe a bit too much for ordinary book clubs or Adult Ed classes at church and perhaps it isn’t useful as a theology textbook as such — although I’d say without irony that it would be a wise move to use this book in educational settings. Books like this are worth their weight in gold but sadly are often not given their due. Kudos!
The Way of Love: Recovering the Heart of Christianity Norman Wirzba (HarperOne) $25.99 I’m not sure why this book didn’t take off — the publisher didn’t seem to do much with it, it seems., but what a book it is! Wirzba is a thoughtful and important scholar (his speciality area is environmental theology and he has books about Wendell Berry and a very sophisticated study of the theology of food, so he’s kind of a cool writer these days.) Even with a lovely foreword by Diana Butler Bass, drawing on her beautiful study called Grounded and blurbs by the likes of Eugene Peterson (who says “Connecting love and the hope of heaven, Wirzba provides a most satisfying and convincing conclusion”) it just hasn’t been widely acclaimed. There frankly aren’t that many profound books on this focal point of Christian faith; I wonder why that is? Are we afraid to buckle down and study love? Do we not think that love is a way of life? This book should be better known among us.
Executing Grace: How the Death Penalty Killed Jesus and Why It’s Killing Us Shane Claiborne (HarperOne) $17.99 I can’t tell you how much I admire Shane and how much I agree with him in this book; one of the first campaigns of political activism I joined in college was an effort to stop executions in our state. Yet, despite my passion and my affection for Shane, I’ll admit this book has some weaknesses not the least of which is that the subtitle is off putting for some, suggesting that the death of Christ on the cross and the atonement are somehow problematic, which is not the topic of this book. That Shane doesn’t do a systematic Bible study hurts the book’s cause, too (mostly that would be in his avoiding Genesis 9.) Nonetheless, the passion for justice and the human kindness that is on display here, coupled with tons of fresh research, storytelling, political analysis and spiritual reflections makes this a must-read. You should know that even some who think that capitol punishment is in principle allowed by Scripture still think, given the racism and injustices so deeply enmeshed in our current criminal justice system, that it cannot be applied justly and they therefore oppose it. (That was the position, by the way, of one of the most rigorous theological voices in the field of criminal justice, Charles Colson, which surprisingly got him on the cover of Sojourners magazine. I myself talked to Chuck about that briefly before he died…) Anyway, I wish more folks had open minds about learning about this topic and were willing to give this very informative, very moving book a try. Kudos to those who did.
Union with Christ: The Way to Know and Enjoy God Rankin Wilbourne (Cook) $19.99 Although its a bit lengthy, I think I will honor this book by repeating what I wrote about it when I featured it in September in our BookNotes: Every now and then a book comes along that I categorize as a “sleeper.” That is, few know the author, the publisher isn’t particularly renowned, the national press most likely isn’t going to do stories about it. But it is worth its weight in gold, ought to be known, is a true winner. We can only hope that Wilbourne’s new book gets noticed and used and stays in print long enough to become very well known. Union with Christ is a book that does what we might think of as basic Christian growth, just solid teaching about the nature of God and how God works with and within us, but it is better than most such books. It offers clear-headed (and often very inspiring) advice, not terribly dressy or loud, just solid teaching, guidance, motivation, good stories, good quotes, well put. Union with Christ: The Way to Know and Enjoy God answers big worldviewish kinds of questions – who am I? Why am I here? Where am I headed ? How can I become that which I want to be? Pastor Wilbourne is good on questions like “what is the gospel” and invites us into a way of thinking about Christian formation that is practical and wise. 
Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell (Whitaker House) $23.99 Well, I am not one to say that theology doesn’t matter or that ideas about God are somehow beyond thinking well about and while I don’t want to overstate the role of theology — an old mentor of mine used to rail about turning theology into an idol which he called theolog-ism — I do think that theology matters. A lot. I agree with Tozer when he said that the most important part of anyone’s worldview is their view of God. So this is vital, important stuff.
Dimestore: A Writer’s Life Lee Smith (Algonquin Books of
Testimony Robbie Robertson (Crown Archetype) $30.00 Oh man, this had my name all over it — the story of the early days of the guys who became Dylan’s backup band when he notoriously went electric, The Band, and their whirl-wind careers writing in New York city, later at Big Pink, playing Woodstock, doing early Americana music — who doesn’t love them singing in rough Appalachian harmonies “take a load off Fanny” from “The Weight” or “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” or the Canadian-Cajun story of “Acadian Driftwood”? It tells of their friendships with old bluesmen, soul singers, Van Morrison, Joni MItchell and everybody from Eric Clapton to the Beatles to Dylan, of course, all play major roles. All manner of folks show up, from Salvador Dali to Japanese filmmakers to drug dealers of every imaginable sort. It tells of their fraught lives up until their big ending with the extraordinary show that became the Scorsese rock documentary The Last Waltz. With big fat bios from heros of mine like Bruce Springsteen and Paul Simon last month, this is the one I curled up with first.
We Were Feminists Once: From Riot Grrrl to Covergirl, the Buying and Selling of a Political Movement Andi Zeisler (Public Affairs) $26.99 I am not kidding, this is maybe my favorite book of the year. Beth and I have long identified as feminists and this feisty young woman — she founded Bitch magazine — is wonderfully written, incredibly energetic, a storyteller and cultural critic who is a force to be reckoned with. Of course as an evangelical Christian I disagree with basic stuff in her worldview and despise some of her views (and on occasion found her vulgarity gratuitous.) Still, her critical engagement with how pop culture co-opts big ideas and how even revolutionary ideology can be tamed and sold is so interesting and so valuable. She looks at TV, at books, at movies, and rock and pop music (up to and including a splendid analysis of Beyonce.) Her chapter on feminist advertising and the reforming influence feminism had (and is having) on corporate culture is brilliant, entertaining and insightful. More broadly, I’m interested in anyone who can show how radical ideas can or cannot be applied to culture and what true, lasting reform looks like. As a case study in cultural influence and as a morality tale about the dangers of being co-opted, We Were Feminists Once is very important. For anyone who likes to read about pop culture, it’s a blast. 
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear Elizabeth Gilbert (Riverhead Books) $16.00 I didn’t read this when it came out late in 2015 (even though I absolutely adored her epic novel The Signature of All Things that year) but took up Big Magic at the end of 2016 when it came out in paperback so feel like I can name it now. I firmly disagree with her basic thesis that the muse has personality — creativity for her, as with many ancient pagans, can literally visit you (or depart if you are not cooperative) sort of like spirits or angels. I disagree with this view of how creativity works and think a Christian aesthetic theory that is consistent with a Biblical worldview (as explored, say, by Calvin Seerveld or Nicholas Wolterstorff or Jeremy Begbie) presents a very different view and thereby leads to different attitudes and maybe different practices. Yet, she tells some unforgettable stories that are nearly incredible about her view, including one encounter involving her friend and fellow writer Ann Patchett (perhaps you saw her stunning TED talk on this. Wow.) I chose not to take her idea literally, and that freed me up to so enjoy this sweet and I think very wise book.
Almighty: Courage, Resistance, and Existential Peril in the Nuclear Age Dan Zak (Blue Rider Press) $27.00 I wrote a bit about this above and in a big December post naming books that might make good gifts, suggesting this for anyone involved in peacemaking, protest, or who wants to see how America’s nuclear weapon’s program developed and has been resisted by an underground movement of faith-based folks inspired by the likes of Dan and Phil Berrigan. I’ve admitted before that I have been found with some of these folks and have participated in some of these kinds of dramatic actions of civil disobedience before, so in a way this was reading about folks I know, including at least one event about which I had some very inside knowledge. So this was a very important book for me this year and I kept wondering how readers would feel about this big book if they where not already convinced that making nuclear weapons is (as the Roman Catholic church has said) is a sin (since to use them would be a sin.) It is my hunch that this is so well written and so dramatic and such a sprawling story that agree or not, many would find it hard to put down. It is a learned, important bit of social history, scientific expose, religious testimony and the chronicling of a movement of bravery and faith. It was one of my favorite books of the year.
After College: Navigating Transitions, Relationships and Faith Erica Young Reitz (IVP) $16.00 I have reviewed this great book elsewhere at BookNotes and hope you recall it. It is a book, obviously, designed for college seniors or those right out of college and we can’t say how much it means to us to see it in print. Erica is a long-time supporter of our store, a very, very fine campus minister with the CCO, and she has specialized in this work of preparing collegiates to transition well into young adulthood after college. I know she is thoughtful and caring and a good writer — she did the afterward to my own book for young adults, Serious Dreams: Bold Ideas for the Rest of Your Life, after all. But when I got my hands on this when it released, and Beth and I started to read it, I was more than pleasantly surprised, I was deeply delighted at just how very good After College was. There are hundreds of very useful and inspiring books of basic Christian growth and books about maturing in faith and I get to skim a lot of them. Some are really good, and this is one of those — wonderfully written, drawing on great stories and the occasional well placed literary quote, written with charm and grace. I’ll admit I read it through the lens of my own friendship with the author who I so admire and also my own interest in my own young adult kids, not to mention many other young friends who I thought would enjoy it. But the fact of the matter is I was elated to read this, enjoyed it a lot, and think it is one of the great releases this year. Kudos to IVP for taking a chance on this first time author and doing right by her with this great release. Cheers! 
Great Tide Rising: Towards Clarity and Moral Courage in a Time of Planetary Change Kathleen
The Bookstore That Matters David Almack (FaithLit Publications) $14.99 I do hope a few of our favorite customers order this but I’ll admit it is mostly an in-house guide to running a Christian bookstore and therefore of most interest to fellow retailers or those in the religious publishing industry. David is a respected acquaintance and his telling of his work in Philadelphia as a book lover and book seller as one who sees the possibility of Christian bookstores as a key to ministry makes for a fine read for anybody who loves Christian literature. His legendary work in urban Philly is cool, too — he’s brought in Christian hip hop artists and done all kinds of literacy work and outreach through the CLC shops. That he very kindly mentions Hearts & Minds and commends our BookNotes reviews is a very serious compliment and I am deeply gratified to have found our work mentioned in this book. Thanks, Dave.