My Body Is Not a Prayer Request: Disability Justice in the Church by Amy Kenny

May 13, 2022November 21, 2025Leave a comment

Book reviews are subjective. I tend to rate books not according to how “perfect” they are, seem to be, or are said to be in general but rather to how perfect they are to me. I received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Description: Amy Kenny, a disabled Christian, reflects on her experiences inside the church to expose unintentional ableism and to cast a new vision for Christian communities to engage disability justice. She shows that until we cultivate church spaces where people with disabilities can fully belong, flourish, and lead, we are not valuing the diverse members of the body of Christ.

My thoughts: What an amazing step along this social journey I’ve been on. If I wrote down every point I wanted to highlight from this book along with my related reflections, my review would be longer than the book itself.

With a mix of (snarky!) humor and grace, the author lays out so much for a critical perspective shift. For instance, when I see her use “disable” as a verb at times, it becomes clearer: inaccessible spaces disable people who have different bodies, whereas accessible spaces ensure that everyone is able to be included. And to hopefully move beyond inclusion to belonging.

The book addresses practical issues concerning disabled people’s civil rights—some issues I knew about and some I didn’t. And how the author gradually explains the prophetic witness of disability, demystifying the truth of disabled people as God’s image-bearers, is nothing short of beautiful.

Plus, the book includes plenty of actionable steps for readers/the church (meaning, people in the church) to take.

One significant step for me as an author: watching how I use disability language in my writing. Granted, in recent years (and especially as my stories’ ranges of characters grow in diversity), I’ve started to feel weird about seeing words like “lame” commonly used as jokes and negative metaphors. Now I have a much clearer picture of why I’ve felt weird—and I can work on my language choices to write in ways that engage, rather than harm, a diversity of readers.

A diversity of invaluable image-bearers.

I highly recommend this book on disability justice in the church.

Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration by Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts

April 29, 2022November 21, 2025Leave a comment

Book reviews are subjective. I tend to rate books not according to how “perfect” they are, seem to be, or are said to be in general but rather to how perfect they are to me.

Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration by Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description: When Tracey M. Lewis-Giggetts wrote an essay on Black joy for The Washington Post, she had no idea just how deeply it would resonate. But the outpouring of positive responses affirmed her own lived experience: that Black joy is not just a weapon of resistance, it is a tool for resilience.

With this book, Tracey aims to gift her community with a collection of lyrical essays about the way joy has evolved, even in the midst of trauma, in her own life. Detailing these instances of joy in the context of Black culture allows us to recognize the power of Black joy as a resource to draw upon, and to challenge the one-note narratives of Black life as solely comprised of trauma and hardship.

My thoughts: This was a hard read for me in some ways, sometimes depressing, but ultimately affirming.

I especially like how the author reiterates that the Black experience isn’t monolithic, that Black individuals each bring our own brand and perspective to Blackness, which is so true.

Again—affirming.

Carved in Ebony: Lessons from the Black Women Who Shape Us by Jasmine L. Holmes

April 8, 2022November 21, 2025Leave a comment

Book reviews are subjective. I tend to rate books not according to how “perfect” they are, seem to be, or are said to be in general but rather to how perfect they are to me. Bethany House provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for an honest review.

Carved in Ebony: Lessons from the Black Women Who Shape Us by Jasmine L. Holmes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While Black women have played critical roles in the shaping of American and church history, so many of their names are often left out of history books. Author Jasmine L. Holmes highlights ten of these American women in Carved in Ebony: Lessons from the Black Women Who Shape Us.

Now, I won’t take for granted that everyone knows this: This biography/memoir isn’t just for Black people to read. You don’t have to be a woman to read it either, any more than biographies and memoirs about men should only be read by men. This book is for anyone with an interest in American history, especially pertaining to church history in America.

I appreciate a certain kind of balance the author applies to this narrative. She conveys the importance of the admirable work and accomplishments of the women in this book without placing them on pedestals, as if they must have been flawless figures that everyone should agree with on every theological or social point. The author doesn’t shy away from unsavory aspects of history that others don’t always touch (for instance, someone being an abolitionist didn’t necessarily mean that person loved or accepted Black people), but the book isn’t a mere indictment of America’s shortcomings or wrongdoings either.

The author uses a nuanced brush to illustrate history here in a way that makes a case for faith while serving as a challenge to herself and to the reader. And her points I found most inspiring are that fame is not the only measure of one’s impact, and even an impact that isn’t broad can be deep.

There’s also a children’s edition of this book!

I Take My Coffee Black: Reflections on Tupac, Musical Theater, Faith, and Being Black in America by Tyler Merritt

September 15, 2021June 14, 2022Leave a comment

Book reviews are subjective. I tend to rate books not according to how “perfect” they are, seem to be, or are said to be in general but rather to how perfect they are to me. I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review.

I Take My Coffee Black by Tyler Merritt

I’ll admit I hadn’t heard of actor, comedian, and activist Tyler Merritt until I found out about his new memoir, I Take My Coffee Black: Reflections on Tupac, Musical Theater, Faith, and Being Black in America.

I read this part of the book blurb:

“He talks about growing up in a multi-cultural community and realizing that he wasn’t always welcome, how he quit sports for musical theater (that’s where the girls were) to how Jesus barged in uninvited and changed his life forever (it all started with a Triple F.A.T. Goose jacket) to how he ended up at a small Bible college in Santa Cruz because he thought they had a great theater program (they didn’t). Throughout his stories, he also seamlessly weaves in lessons about privilege, the legacy of lynching and sharecropping and why you don’t cross black mamas…”

With that, I immediately wanted to read the book. I’m gripped by the occasional memoir, and it isn’t often that I come across a Christian one that draws my interest.

As I got into this book, it didn’t take me long to see, “Ah, yes. Merritt is a comedian, all right.” Plenty of humor in books makes me smile at least, but it doesn’t always make me laugh. This author is definitely laugh-out-loud funny.

And it’s good that “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” (thank you, Mary Poppins), as this author’s voice isn’t only compelling when it comes to fun and games, so to speak. As he conveys the disappointment, fear, anger, and grief wrapped up in his experiences, his voice comes through just as clearly.

One early part that most resonated with me is where the author reflects on being made in the image of God.

However, a content issue that took me completely off guard is the profanity in the book. I expect to possibly run into some language in secular works, and though I’m never comfortable with it, I can usually keep reading when the language isn’t excessive and the book’s overall message is important. But profanity just isn’t something I want to run into and have to push through when I reach for a book from a Christian publisher. After trying to stick with this one for a while, I decided not to push through any further.

Even though I didn’t finish it, I don’t think this author’s story is any less important. For readers who wouldn’t find the language to be an issue, I think this memoir is still worth checking out.