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{"id":103800,"date":"2023-12-27T02:00:23","date_gmt":"2023-12-27T06:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/?p=103800"},"modified":"2023-12-26T20:57:50","modified_gmt":"2023-12-27T00:57:50","slug":"my-year-in-books-and-a-few-for-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2023\/12\/my-year-in-books-and-a-few-for-next-year\/","title":{"rendered":"My Year in Books (And a Few For Next Year!)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

But writing is communal, so I didn\u2019t only<\/em> focus on my own book project. Not only do authors rely on the scholarship that\u2019s come before and the keen editing insights of colleagues, but we are also inspired by the work of other writers. I\u2019ve been a better writer this year for getting to enjoy a number of other books. I\u2019ve had the opportunity to highlight several on them on the Anxious Bench, and I also include here bonus books from this past year as well as several I\u2019m looking forward to next year.<\/p>\n

This will surprise no one, but the books I read turned out to cluster into history, biography, and theology. So pick your favorite genre below, and hopefully you\u2019ll find a great new read to ring in the new year!<\/p>\n

HISTORY<\/p>\n

In my first post of the year, I had the opportunity to interview Paul Gutacker<\/a> on his book The Old Faith in the New Nation: American Protestants and the Christian Past<\/em>. I also enjoyed reviewing Peggy Bendroth\u2019s new book Good and Mad: Mainline Protestant Churchwomen, 1920-1980<\/em> <\/a>for The Journal of Presbyterian History<\/em>.<\/p>\n

BIOGRAPHY<\/p>\n

I likewise had the opportunity to interview Nancy Koester<\/a> on her biography of Black abolitionist and feminist Sojourner Truth and to interview Lucy S. R. Austen<\/a> on her biography of missionary and theologian Elisabeth Elliot. I also had the great privilege of reviewing All My Knotted-Up Life<\/em><\/a>, the autobiography of Southern Baptist-turned-Anglican women\u2019s Bible teacher Beth Moore.<\/p>\n

THEOLOGY<\/p>\n

I also really enjoyed the opportunity to review Abigail Favale\u2019s Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory<\/em><\/a>. Favale\u2019s book contributes to the project of developing a more robust theory of gender difference egalitarianism, which I believe would greatly benefit the church. I then also got to interview Karen Swallow Prior<\/a> on her new book The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis<\/em>, which, perhaps true to form for my taste, is not only theology, but also history and cultural studies.<\/p>\n

I also read some good books in this category solely for personal enrichment. Because I\u2019ve been privileged to be on research leave, I sought out Ruth Haley Barton\u2019s Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest: From Sabbath to Sabbatical and Back Again<\/em><\/a>. She writes a theology of Sabbath in general, and, in an unusual move, dedicates the second half of the book to Sabbatical in particular. Her focus is true sabbaticals (when, unlike a research leave, there\u2019s no \u201cdeliverable\u201d) for people in ministry. But a lot of the wisdom for navigating such a reset time of rest is applicable to academics on research leave\u2026or even just over the summer. The first half, on weekly Sabbath, is of use to everyone.<\/p>\n

I also participate in a really nerdy adult Sunday School\u2014I mean catechesis\u2014class. We have been discussing Christian virtue formation with the help of books by two thoughtful authors on the topic: theologian and New Testament scholar N. T. Wright\u2019s After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters <\/em><\/a>and philosopher Robert C. Robert\u2019s Spiritual Emotions: A Psychology of Christian Virtues<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Finally, I was amused to notice that my top three \u201cto read\u201d books as I start 2024 fall into my three categories of history, biography, and theology. If you read them along with me, I\u2019d love to hear your thoughts:<\/p>\n

HISTORY: Nadya Williams\u2019s Cultural Christians in the Early Church: A Historical and Practical Introduction to Christians in the Greco-Roman World<\/em><\/a>. I have learned so much from Anxious Bench historians of not-the-United-States like Williams. This book promises to help me better understand both the New Testament and the Early Church Mothers and Fathers.<\/p>\n

(AUTO)BIOGRAPHY: Esau McCaulley\u2019s How Far to the Promised Land: One Black Family\u2019s Story of Hope and Survival in the American South<\/em><\/a>. I have appreciated McCaulley\u2019s writing for many years (and known him since we both graduated Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 2005!). I look forward to reading his most recent offering.<\/p>\n

THEOLOGY: Fellipe do Vale\u2019s Gender as Love: A Theological Account of Human Identity, Embodied Desire, and Our Social Worlds<\/em><\/a>. This book also looks like it will provide resources for developing a more robust gender difference egalitarian theology, and I look forward to reading it!<\/p>\n

If you particularly loved a book you read in 2023, I\u2019d love to hear your recommendation in the comments!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"