Best Books of the First Half of 2012!

Looking for some summer reading?

Here are our picks for the best books of the year so far…

(Sorted alphabetically by title… We’ve provided links to our review where possible)

• Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening
  Diana Butler Bass.    [ Our review by Jess Hale ]  Buy now: [ Amazon ]   [ Kindle ]

   

• The Cross and the Lynching Tree.
  James Cone.  [ Our review by Chris Smith ] Buy now:  [ Amazon ]  [ Kindle ]

   

• Earth Works: Selected Essays
  Scott Russell Sanders. [ Interviewed in the Lent 2012 print issue ] Buy now:  [ Amazon ]  [ Kindle ] [ Recent recording of Sanders on the importance of public libraries ]

   

• Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash
  Edward Humes.  [ Our review by Gary Wake ] Buy now:  [ Amazon ]  [ Kindle ]

   

• How to Do Things with Books in Victorian Britain.
  Leah Price.  [ Reviewed in the Eastertide 2012 issue ] Buy now: [ Amazon ] [ Kindle ] [ Read an excerpt of the book here … ]

   

• Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul?: A Narrative Approach to the Problem of Pauline Christianity
  J. R. Daniel Kirk  [ Our review by Christian Amondson ] Buy now: [ Amazon ] [ Kindle ]

   

• No One is Here Except All of Us: A Novel
  Ramona Ausubel  [ Reviewed in the Lent 2012 print issue ] Buy now:  [ Amazon ]  [ Kindle ]

   

• Our God is Undocumented: Biblical Faith and Immigrant Justice.
  Ched Myers and Matthew Colwell. [ Our review by Jonathan Felton ] Buy now: [ Amazon ]

   

• Pity the Beautiful: Poems.
  Dana Gioia  [ Our review by Ragan Sutterfield ] Buy now:  [ Amazon ]

   

• Power over Peoples:  Technology, Environments, and Western Imperialism, 1400 to the Present
  Daniel Headrick. [ Our review by Myles Werntz ] Buy now:  [ Amazon ]

   

• Together: The Rituals, Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation
  Richard Sennett [ Reviewed in the Lent 2012 print issue ] Buy now: [ Amazon ] [ Kindle ] [ Read an excerpt of the book here … ]

   

• Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism
  Alvin Plantinga. [ Our review by Shaun Brown ]  Buy now: [ Amazon ] [ Kindle ]

Honorable Mentions:

• Compassion, Inc.: How Corporate America Blurs the Line Between What We Buy, Who We Are, and Those We Help
  Mara Einstein. [ Read our review ] Buy now: [ Amazon ]  [ Kindle ]
• Imagine: How Creativity Works
  Jonah Lehrer [ Read our review ] Buy now: [ Amazon ]  [ Kindle ]
• Junia is not Alone:Breaking Our Silence About Women in the Bible and in the Church Today
  Scot McKnight [ Read our review ] Buy now: [ Kindle ]
• Living with Other Creatures: Green Exegesis and Theology
  Richard Bauckham. [ Read our review ] Buy now: [ Amazon ]
• The Rule of Saint Benedict: A Contemporary Paraphrase
  Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove [ Reviewed in the Eastertide 2012 issue ] Buy now:  [ Amazon ]  [ Kindle ]

**** AND, in case you missed it,
our most popular post on the website so far in 2012 has been:

Flannery O’Connor – Listen to Rare Recordings!

— ————–

What are your picks for the best books of the year so far?

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C. Christopher Smith

C. Christopher Smith is the founding editor of The Englewood Review of Books. He is also author of a number of books, including most recently How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church (Brazos Press, 2019). Connect with him online at: C-Christopher-Smith.com