Volume 9

Englewood Honor Books – Best Books of 2016

BestOf2016

Here is our list of 2016′s Englewood Honor Books, the 30 Best Books of the year for the life and flourishing of the Church.

Our criterion both for selecting books to review and for honoring the year’s best books is to choose books that are “for the life and flourishing of the Church” – i.e., books that energize us to be the local community of God’s people that God has called us to be and that nurture our mission of following in the way of God’s reconciliation of all things (in all its broadness!).

[ Best of the Best ] [ Fiction ]  [ Theology ]
[ Praxis ] [ Non-Fiction ]  [ Others ]

Our Book of the Year:

[easyazon_image align=”center” height=”500″ identifier=”160142857X” locale=”US” src=”https://englewoodreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/51g2BcxrpBqL.jpg” tag=”douloschristo-20″ width=”333″]

The Very Good Gospel: How Everything Wrong Can Be Made Right
Lisa Sharon Harper

Hardback: Waterbrook
Buy now: [ [easyazon_link identifier=”160142857X” locale=”US” tag=”douloschristo-20″]Amazon[/easyazon_link] ]  [ [easyazon_link identifier=”B015VACI0I” locale=”US” tag=”douloschristo-20″]Kindle[/easyazon_link] ]

Many Christians, especially in the Evangelical tradition, are quick to identify with the gospel (i.e., good news) of Jesus. But why exactly is it good news that God’s kingdom is coming on earth as it is in heaven? This is the question that Lisa Sharon Harper sets out to answer in her superb new book THE VERY GOOD GOSPEL. Focusing on the scriptural concept of shalom, a Hebrew word that is often translated as “peace,” but is much broader than our typical understanding of peace, Harper explores the fullness of the shalom that God intends for creation and why it is indeed good news. The very good news is that God desires us to have shalom with God, shalom with ourselves, shalom between the genders, shalom with all creation, shalom for broken families, shalom in the midst of racial injustice, shalom between nations, and more.

This is a very accessible book (and it includes reflection exercises to help readers engage with it), and it provides one of the richest depictions of the flourishing life God intends for creation. Lisa Sharon Harper will undoubtedly stir our imaginations with her case for why the gospel is extraordinary news!  
– ERB Editor, Chris Smith

 

Best Novel of 2016:

[easyazon_image align=”left” height=”160″ identifier=”1594203989″ locale=”US” src=”https://englewoodreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/51hi92m66BL.SL160.jpg” tag=”douloschristo-20″ width=”106″][easyazon_link identifier=”1594203989″ locale=”US” tag=”douloschristo-20″]Swing Time:
A Novel[/easyazon_link]

Zadie Smith

Hardback: Penguin Press, 2016

Read our review in our Advent 2016 magazine issue

 

Best Nonfiction Book of 2016:

[easyazon_image align=”left” height=”160″ identifier=”0553447432″ locale=”US” src=”https://englewoodreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/41DrJLg2PJL.SL160.jpg” tag=”douloschristo-20″ width=”108″][easyazon_link identifier=”0553447432″ locale=”US” tag=”douloschristo-20″]Evicted: Poverty and Profit
in the American City[/easyazon_link]

Matthew Desmond 

Hardback: Crown Books, 2016

Read our review by Kristin Williams

 

Best Christian Praxis Book of 2016:

[easyazon_image align=”left” height=”160″ identifier=”158743380X” locale=”US” src=”https://englewoodreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/51cBGPNUqFL.SL160.jpg” tag=”douloschristo-20″ width=”102″][easyazon_link identifier=”158743380X” locale=”US” tag=”douloschristo-20″]You Are What You Love:
The Spiritual Power of Habit[/easyazon_link]

James K.A. Smith

Hardback: Brazos Press, 2016

Read our review by Jeff Crosby

 

Best Theology Book of 2016:

[easyazon_image align=”left” height=”160″ identifier=”149829166X” locale=”US” src=”https://englewoodreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/41k48pRilfL.SL160.jpg” tag=”douloschristo-20″ width=”107″][easyazon_link identifier=”149829166X” locale=”US” tag=”douloschristo-20″]Endangered Gospel: How Fixing the World is Killing the Church[/easyazon_link]

John Nugent

Paperback: Cascade Books, 2016

Read our review in our Advent 2016 magazine issue

 

CLICK HERE to see our list
of Englewood Honor Books
from previous years

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Reading for the Common Good
From ERB Editor Christopher Smith


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