Summer Reads 2026
For this issue of A Public Witness, we offer our fifth annual list of books recommended by Word&Way writers that will be perfect for wherever you find your happy place this summer.
Review: Better Than Normal
Author and pastor MaryAnn McKibben Dana delivers a powerful critique of society’s restrictive expectations while offering a transformative vision for human flourishing.
Review & Giveaway: Chosen Land
Matthew Sutton’s expansive new book is the perfect resource for understanding what the United States has been over the past 250 years, not what some people wish it would be.
Review: Genealogy Theology
Bringing together a love of storytelling and decades of experience in pastoral ministry, Frank G. Honeycutt invites readers to explore the spiritual twists and turns in their family trees.
Review: Emotion in Early Christianity
In this groundbreaking book, Andrew Crislip illuminates how emotion shaped Christian identity, community practices, and theological understanding.
Review: Early Christian Theology
Writing with an experienced teacher's gift for making history meaningful, J. Warren Smith explains the development of Christianity in terms of diverse efforts to make sense of intellectual and spiritual complexities within Scripture.
Review & Giveaway: Becoming Neighbors
Amar Peterman’s new book makes the case that how we interact with our neighbors forms who we are as Christians. It contains wisdom for scholars, pastors, and lay Christians working to remain steadfast to the hope they profess.
Review: Feasting on Hope
Through sharing her personal story of deep loss, Hannah Miller King reflects on how the ancient Christian practice of communion can reframe our grief by embedding it in a larger picture of gospel hope.
Review: Witness — Converting Worlds
The latest book from Amos Yong recasts what Christians call the missiological question first and foremost to those who would be true believers, including all who might wish to bear appropriate witness to their faith in a pluralistic world.
Review: Suicide and the Communion of Saints
Drawing on her vocational insights and personal experiences, Episcopal priest, historian, and spiritual director Rhonda Mawhood Lee offers a compassionate vision for understanding and responding faithfully to suicide.