The ten best new books I’ve read over the last month are
- (5.0) United States of Grace: A Memoir of Homelessness, Addiction, Incarceration, and Hope by Lenny Duncan (Broadleaf Books, 2021)
- (4.5) White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America by Anthea Butler (University of North Carolina Press, 2021)
- (4.5) Praying with Our Feet: Pursuing Justice & Healing on the Streets by Lindsey Krinks (Brazos Press, 2021)
- (4.5) Made, Known, Loved: Developing LGBTQ-Inclusive Youth Ministry by Ross Murray (Fortress Press, 2021)
- (4.5) How to Change: The Science of Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Katy Milkman (Portfolio/Penguin, 2021)
- (4.0) Blessed Union: Breaking the Silence of Mental Illness and Marriage by Sarah Griffith Lund (Chalice Press, 2020)
- (4.0) The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr (Brazos Press, 2021)
- (4.0) The Future Earth: A Radical Vision for What’s Possible in the Age of Global Warming by Eric Holthaus (HarperOne, 2020)
- (3.5) The Post-Pandemic Nonprofit: 12 Disruptive Trends Your Nonprofit Must Master by Jeremy Reis (Nonprofit Donor Press, 2021)
- (3.5) Hinge Moments: Making the Most of Life’s Transitions by D. Michael Lindsay (IVP, 2021)
United States of Grace
Rev. Lenny Duncan is a public theologian, an Evangelical Lutheran Church in American pastor, and a prophetic writer. He first appeared on So What Faith in 2019 when his first book was published. I selected Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination by Lenny Duncan (Fortress Press, 2019) as one of my top two books of 2019, and as one of my top twenty books of the 2010s.
As a straight cisgender white male who grew up in the church in a family with happily married parents committed to my development, the world Lenny Duncan speaks of in United States of Grace is foreign to me. And, yet, it is a world I want and need to better understand. Duncan tells his own story plainly. He doesn’t gloss over the difficulties nor does he moralize his missteps. Duncan’s account of his life is the best extended story of grace I’ve read in a very long time.
For those considering picking up a copy, please note the following warnings: (1) don’t heed the temptation to stop reading when his story makes you uncomfortable and (2) do expect to find a number of f-bombs along the way.