2023 Anticipated Books
time to burn through that book budget y'all
What’s good, everyone?
Before getting into the books I’m anticipating most this year, I want to recommend The Scandal of Reading podcast with Jessica Hooten Wilson. Austin Carty and I are the season two co-hosts. Look at this stellar slate of guests and convos:
On that feed, Austin and I will be doing a run of episodes called Lit Pulpit (preview here) where we—two literature loving pastors—discuss literature through the lens of discipleship and formation. We’re honing in on James Baldwin’s Go Tell it On the Mountain, and episodes will run weekly starting this month. Check our Facebook group for questions and convos that we’ll take up in the podcast. I hope you’ll listen in.
2023 Anticipated Books
Let Us Descend, Jesmyn Ward
Is Ward the best living American novelist? She’s definitely in the running. Let Us Descend is described as “a blend of magical realism, historical narrative and Dante’s ‘Inferno.'” In a recent statement Ward said “It took years and multiple drafts to understand how Annis [the protagonist] and enslaved people might have retained their sense of self, their sense of hope, in a time and place that attempted to negate both, day in and out.” Releases October 3 2023.
How Far to the Promise Land: One Black Family’s Story of Hope and Survival in the American South, Esau McCaulley
As writer, McCaulley does it all: biblical scholarship, a modern classic in Reading While Black (my review here), and compelling public theology for the New York Times. Now he turns backward, time-wise, to reflect on his family’s history coming up in Alabama. I have high hopes for this offering. Releases Sept 12 2023.
Pierced by Love: Divine Reading with the Christian Tradition, Hans Boersma
What a pleasant surprise to see another book on Scripture from Dr. Boersma. Pre-order, clear your schedule for a day or two, and prepare to feast. Releases February 15 2023.
Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation, Collin Hansen
Who is on your personal Mt. Rushmore of intellectual influences? Tim Keller is certainly among mine. Hansen is a skilled and steady writer, and I expect this volume to be fascinating and illuminating. I must say this sort of release makes me itch for a Fleming Rutledge biography. Released February 7 2023.
Do Black Lives Matter? How Christians Scriptures Speak to Black Empowerment, edited by Lisa Bowens and Dennis R. Edwards
This volume is “a collection of essays and sermons that highlights Black resilience and the importance of Scripture to this resilience.” Bowens and Edwards, two NT scholars I greatly admire, gather the voices of “Black scholars in biblical studies, ethics, history, and theology, all of whom employ their expertise, their research, and their writings as tools for the struggle.” Releases June 1 2023.
What books are you looking forward to in 2023?