Over the last several weeks, I’ve read a wide variety of new books. The list below features the ten best books I read in the last month that were published in 2019.
- (5.0) Christ in Crisis: Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus by Jim Wallis (HarperOne, 2019)
- (5.0) How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going: Leading in a Liminal Season by Susan Beaumont (Rowan and Littlefield Publishers, 2019)
- (4.5) Miracles and Other Reasonable Things: A Story of Unlearning and Relearning God by Sarah Bessey (Howard Books, 2019)
- (4.5) Helping People Change: Coaching with Compassion for Lifelong Learning and Growth by Richard E. Boyatzi, Melvin L. Smith, and Ellen Van Oosten (Harvard Business Review Press, 2019)
- (4.5) Reinventing the Organization: How Companies Can Deliver Radically Greater Value in Fast-Changing Markets by Arthur Yueng and Dave Ulrich (Harvard Business Review Press, 2019)
- (4.0) How to Be an Inclusive Leader: Your Role in Creating Cultures of Belonging Where Everyone Can Thrive by Jennifer Brown (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2019)
- (4.0) Stand for Something: The Power of Building a Brand People Authentically Love by Brian Burkart (Lioncrest, 2019)
- (4.0) Love is Just Damn Good Business: Do What You Love in the Service of People Who Love What You Do by Steve Farber (McGraw-Hill Education, 2019)
- (4.0) River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey by Sister Helen Prejean (Random House, 2019)
- (3.5) That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation by David Bentley Hart (Yale University Press, 2019)
So What?
The authors of this month’s books receiving perfect ratings have both been featured on So What Faith multiple times in recent years.
Over the last decade I’ve reviewed, rated, otherwise discussed books by more than 500 authors here at So What Faith. Jim Wallis is one of just 12 authors to appear on more than one of my top books of the year lists (2013:
On God’s Side: What Religion Forgets and Politics Hasn’t Learned About Serving the Common Good and 2016: America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America). His new book – Christ in Crisis: Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus – calls those who follow the Way of Jesus to action inviting us not to go right or left politically or theologically, but rather to go deeper. For Wallis, reclaiming Jesus happens when modern day disciples apply Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels to eight contemporary challenges, including learning to love the other as neighbor and living as just peacemakers.
Susan Beaumont is an ordained American Baptist minister best known for her work as a consultant to large congregations. As someone who has served primarily in large congregations, I’ve followed her work and benefited from her wisdom for many years. I especially appreciated her last book – Inside the Large Congregation (2011) – which I reviewed in 2012. Her new book – How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going: Leading in a Liminal Season (2019) – speaks to a much wider audience: all who seek to lead congregations through seasons of change. Beaumont shares the story of how her own work as a consultant shifted when she studied spiritual guidance and sensed a call to serve as a spiritual director to organizations. Leveraging this new perspective she provides priceless guidance to pastors and other leaders of congregations and non-profits who shepherd organizations during liminal seasons when traditional leadership stances and practices are not effective.