The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell
This is one of those beautifully devastating books that's impossible to describe. Yes, at its bare essentials, it's about Jesuits traveling to space and meeting aliens. But it's also about colonialism and pain and romance and asceticism and so much more. It's science fiction, technically, but it's much more a study of how much trauma one man can endure (and inflict?). Emily and I read this together and it will stick with us forever.
A Black Theology of Liberation, James Cone
It's a shame that this book wasn't required reading in undergrad or seminary. It's such a necessary corrective to the standard, white, European ways of understanding salvation as purely spiritual and afterlife-oriented.
"The content of Christian theology is the liberation of the oppressed...Any message not related to the liberation of the poor is not Christ's message...Any theology indifferent to liberation is not Christian theology."
Dominion, Tom Holland
It is now taken as a given to suggest that any human rights violations you're aware of were probably justified, or created, by Christians. In fact, I've probably said it myself in a sermon. However, the very concept of human rights is, itself, a product of Christian theology and thought. In fact, the argument of this history book is that much of what we take for granted in the modern world (public education and health care, pluralism, non-violent diplomacy) are all products of Christian thought. Incredibly argued and well-documented.
The Lost Story, Meg Shaffer
Another Emily-and-me read. A wistful novel that, in the author's own words, is "American Narnia for grown-ups." But also a queer romance, dealing with trauma and grief. Really loved it.
Honorable Mentions
Honorable Mentions = I liked these books, probably quite a bit, but not as much as the books above.
Shogun, James Clavell
Caliban's War (The Expanse, #2), James S.A. Corey
Jesus Takes a Side, Jonny Rashid
The Teller of Small Fortunes, Julie Leong
Sacred Self-Care, Chanequa Walker-Barnes
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, Lindsay C. Gibson
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid
Out of the Embers, Bradley Jersak
The Dark Night of the Soul, St. John of the Cross
Mislaid in Parts Half-Known (Wayward Children #9), Seanan McGuire
A New Kind of Christianity, Brian McLaren
Nightwatch on the Hinterlands and Nightwatch over Windscar, K. Eason
Revelation for the Rest of Us, Scot McKnight
Reversed Thunder, Eugene Peterson
The Theology of the Book of Revelation, Richard Bauckham
Holy Hurt, Hillary McBride
The Small and the Mighty, Sharon McMahon
Among Others, Jo Walton
Also
I didn't dislike these books, but I didn't love them either.
The Midnight Bargain, C. L. Polk
Hell Yeah or No, Derek Sivers
Crucifixion, Martin Hengel
Faithful Politics, Miranda Zapor Cruz
Your Music and People, Derek Sivers
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels, India Holton
A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping, Sangu Mandanna
The Art of Loving, Erich Fromm
The Oldest Book in the World: The Teaching of Ptahhotep, Bill Manley
Do Not Recommend
Kaiju Preservation Society, John Scalzi — The inciting incident of this book doesn't start until like 80% of the way through. Most of it is reading a bunch of made-up science about something that doesn't actually exist.
The Trellis and the Vine, Colin Marshall and Tony Payne — This is one good metaphor (your church needs a structure, ahem, a trellis, but people's spiritual lives are the vines) stretched out over 190 pages.
