September 13, 2006   • BEHIND THE NEWS   • Cross-town Rush Hour: Cook Hires Five from Industry Neighbors   • Baylor Study Offers Data on Reading Habits • Q&A   • Amir Hussain: Oil & Water: Two Faiths, One God • SPOTLIGHT ON...Faith and Food   • The Spiritual Side of Cooking and Eating • RELIGION IN REVIEW   • Three Reviews Coming in Publishers Weekly on September 25   • Two Starred Religion Reviews Coming in PW on September 25 • BESTSELLER BYTES • BESTSELLERS: September PW Religion Bestsellers • COMING ATTRACTIONS • HOW TO SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE BEHIND THE NEWS Cross-town Rush Hour: Cook Hires Five from Industry Neighbors by Marcia Z. Nelson In notable traffic across town in Colorado Springs, evangelical Christian publisher Cook Communications Ministries has added four top people from NavPress Publishing and one from the literary agency Alive Communications. Today Cook announced the hiring of a publisher for its newly formed book division—industry veteran Don Pape, most recently with Alive but prior to that v-p and publisher at WaterBrook Press. Last week Cook announced the hiring of Terry Behimer as editorial director/associate publisher and Andrea Christian as development/acquisition editor, in Cook’s book group; Mike Kennedy as senior director of marketing and Douglas Mann as director of marketing, in the house’s product marketing group. All had the same, or similar, positions at NavPress. What might look like a raid really isn’t, according to Cook spokesperson Michele Tennesen. The company is restructuring itself under the leadership of president and CEO Cris Doornbos, who arrived a year ago from Zondervan, where he had been executive v-p of sales. Although total head count hasn’t changed, Cook has reconfigured itself internally and assembled new leadership for its new groups. “We are very attractive to a lot of people right now, and we are purposeful in trying to talk to people right now,” said Tennesen, corporate publicity manager. Read the full story... Baylor Study Offers Data on Reading Habits by Juli Cragg Hilliard Baylor University religion sociologists—in what they think is a first-of-its-kind study of America’s religious landscape—found that most readers stick to their affiliations when it comes to reading religion bestsellers like the Left Behind series and The Celestine Prophecy. Questions about selected religion bestsellers were included in The Baylor Religion Survey, released this week. The survey of more than 1,700 adults found Americans classifying themselves less often by denomination than by beliefs, and showed that perceptions of God as authoritarian, benevolent, critical or distant markedly influence individuals’ world views. The survey team also asked about reading—of popular books, sacred texts, and other materials—to study how Americans consume religion beyond worship services and electronic media, said Jerry Z. Park, assistant professor of sociology at Baylor. “Nobody else had actually covered that before, at least not from a sociological perspective,” he said. “One of the big contributions was showing that religion isn’t just confined to Sunday morning and to houses of worship. Religion is portable, and it’s diffused everywhere in people’s lives.” Read the full story...   Q&A Amir Hussain: Oil & Water: Two Faiths, One God by Juli Cragg Hilliard A Muslim author and Loyola Marymount University associate professor confronts Christian perceptions of Islam. RBL: What is the significance for a Muslim writer’s book to be published by a Christian press? Hussain: Many of my teachers and friends have been Christian, so the interfaith stuff is not just something I do in an academic setting. To me, it’s incredibly powerful that the book is going out to a Christian audience from a Christian publisher. RBL:What do you hope to achieve with this book? Hussain: There are lots of introductions to Islam out there. There are not a lot of books written for a Christian audience. Secondly, it’s to help a Muslim audience understand about Christianity. RBL: How do you explain violence by Muslims in the name of Islam? Hussain: It troubles me tremendously. I’d like to say that it’s extremists and misguided people. The danger is people—Muslim, Christian, Jewish or whatever religion—who understand their tradition in such a narrow and extreme way. The day-to-day reality of American Muslims is that we are not plotting the downfall of America. Read the full story... SPOTLIGHT ON...Faith and Food The Spiritual Side of Cooking and Eating by Holly Lebowitz Rossi For people of faith, every aspect of their lives is subject to spiritual analysis and insight. Food is no exception, as evidenced by a spate of new books that cast food, its preparation and consumption, in a faith-based light. One new book, The Cosmos in a Carrot: A Zen Guide to Eating Well (Parallax Press), is less concerned with what people eat than how they eat it .Author Carmen Yuen is a practicing Buddhist who has found personal comfort in applying the Buddhist principle of mindfulness to everyday food choices. Mindfulness is about being “fully present” at any given moment, said Yuen, who sees a social component in mindful eating as well as a personal benefit. “When you're not mindful of what you’re ingesting, then you’re not at your best to interact with others,” she said. Yuen’s personal relationship with food improved when she adopted the mindful eating habits she outlines in her book, which will be published in November. “It was certainly a way for me to slow down, plan ahead, think about what I’m taking in and how I feel about how I’m taking it in,” said Yuen, who is just 22 years old and beginning classes at Yale Law School. Read the full story... RELIGION IN REVIEW Three Reviews Coming in Publishers Weekly on September 25 Short Trip to the Edge: Where Earth Meets Heaven—A Pilgrimage Scott Cairns. Harper San Francisco, $22.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-06-084322-9 As a former Baptist who passed through the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches on his way to the Orthodox Church, Cairns, a poet and professor of literature and creative writing at the University of Missouri, offers readers a unique and often compelling perspective on life as a pilgrim on Mount Athos, Orthodoxy’s holy mountain. READ FULL REVIEW What Makes You Not a Buddhist Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse. Shambhala, $19.95 (128p) ISBN 978-159030-406-8 Here at last is a crisp new voice in Tibetan Buddhism. Khyentse, a lama from an influential family and Buddhist lineage in Bhutan, is also a filmmaker, responsible for the sleeper hit The Cup, about a group of Tibetan monks obsessed with soccer. The monk brings the same multicultural fluency to his first book. READ FULL REVIEW The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On Dawn Eden. W, $13.99 paper (224p) ISBN 0-8499-1311-X New York Daily News columnist and blogger Eden offers a Christian apologetic for premarital chastity, aimed at “marriage-minded single women who’d had enough of the Sex and the City lifestyle.” READ FULL REVIEW Two Starred Religion Reviews Coming in PW on September 25 Confessions of an Amateur Believer Patty Kirk. Nelson, $13.99 paper (275p) ISBN 978-0-7852-2041-1 Kirk came to Christian faith kicking and screaming after years as a lapsed-Catholic atheist, but once in the fold she embraced her newfound relationship with God with passion. That passion, however, wasn't all happiness and love. Kirk's candor, humor and sarcasm show us a woman who struggles to understand how God would have her live each day as a parent, teacher, wife and daughter. "My own experience of getting to know him has been more about moving toward him—and often away from him—through conflict and questioning and struggle," she says. Her 33 brief essays are divided into four sections: "Meeting God", "Struggling", "Progress" and "Rest". Kirk's thoughts on concepts such as servanthood, intercessory prayer, fairness and priorities glitter with humor and honesty. On a deeper level, her ruminations shine with a heart-deep knowledge that God understands her struggles, and that her trials are made easier by knowing him. This is a lovely book both for Kirk's fine writing and for her search for God that encompasses all readers. "If, in the darkness, I stop worrying to listen—which I often don't, or can't, or won't—I hear God's voice under the narrative of my own worries and accusations: That's enough." (Jan. 2) The Way into the Varieties of Jewishness Sylvia Barack Fishman. Jewish Lights, $24.99 (250p) ISBN 1-58023-030-X Anyone who's befuddled by the differences among Jewish communities will appreciate this marvelous primer by Brandeis University professor Fishman. Before turning to the many expressions of Judaism found in America, she devotes the first two chapters to a useful summary of the history of Judaism in the ancient world and in Europe. Then she examines contemporary Judaism's three main branches—Reform, Conservative and Orthodox. Here she explores many fascinating trends, ranging from the rise of feminism in Modern Orthodox Judaism to the tensions between more and less observant Conservative Jews. Fishman also discusses Reconstructionist, Renewal and secular Judaism, and she spends an entire chapter on converts to Judaism ("Jews by choice"). Today's Jewish communities face challenges. Reform Judaism, for example, must balance some members' growing interest in traditional practices with the resistance of other congregants. Conservative Judaism struggles with self-definition and loses some members to Reform and Orthodox communities. But all in all, Fishman finds contemporary American Judaism having a renaissance, with more Jews of all stripes availing themselves of top-notch adult education and taking advantage of the constant publication of Jewish literature and scholarship. This is an excellent introduction to the diversity of Jewish life. (Dec.)   BESTSELLER BYTES Chart Topper Commentary by Daisy Maryles “Five out of ten marriages today are ending in divorce because love alone is not enough. Yes, love is vital, especially for the wife, but what we have missed is the husband’s need for respect. This Love and Respect message is about how the wife can fulfill her need to be loved by giving her husband what he needs—respect. And the husband can fulfill his need to be respected by giving his wife what she needs—love.” —From the first paragraph in Emerson Eggerichs’s bestseller, Love & Respect. He and his wife host “Love and Respect” conferences nationwide. Since its September 2004 publication, the book has sold more than 400,000 copies. Read the full story... PW RELIGION BESTSELLERS: September Hardcover Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul John and Stasi Eldredge. Thomas Nelson, $22.99 ISBN 0-06-055828-8 The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief Francis S. Collins. Free Press, $26 ISBN 0-7432-8639-1 The Purpose-Driven Life Rick Warren. Zondervan, $19.99 ISBN 0-310-20571-9 Your Best Life Now Joel Osteen. FaithWords, $19.95 ISBN 0-446-53275-4 For Women Only Shaunti Feldhahn and Jeff Feldhahn. Multnomah, $14.99 ISBN 1-59052-317-2 The Rapture Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Tyndale, $25.99 ISBN 1-4143-0580-X Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why Bart Ehrman. Harper San Francisco, $24.95 ISBN 0-06-073817-0 Heaven. Randy C. Alcorn. Tyndale, $24.99 ISBN 0-06-073817-0 Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires, the Respect He Desperately Needs Emerson Eggerichs. Integrity, $21.99 ISBN 1-5914-5187-6 For Men Only Shaunti Feldhahn and Jeff Feldhahn. Multnomah, $14.99 ISBN 1-59052-572-8 Paperback Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World John Hagee. FrontLine, $14.99 ISBN 0-8423-8744-7 The Five Love Languages Gary Chapman. Moody/Northfield, $12.99 ISBN 1-881273-15-6 Battlefield of the Mind Joyce Meyer. FaithWords, $14.99 ISBN 0-446-69109-7 Like Dandelion Dust Karen Kingsbury. Center Street, $12.95 ISBN 1-9317-2285-4 Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis. Harper San Francisco, $10 ISBN 0-06-065292-6 Wild At Heart: Discovering The Secret Of A Man's Soul John Eldredge. Thomas Nelson, $13.99 ISBN 0-7852-6371-3 Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality Donald Miller. Thomas Nelson, $13.99 ISBN 0-7852-6370-5 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life Don Piper with Cecil Murphey. Revell, $24.99 ISBN 0-8007-5949-4 Found Karen Kingsbury. Tyndale, $13.99 ISBN 0-8423-8745-5 The Case for Christ Lee Strobel. Zondervan, $13.99 ISBN 0-310-20930-7     COMING ATTRACTIONS Next week in RBL we’ll have a company profile of Sounds True, which is celebrating its 21st birthday this year; a Q&A with Frederick Lane, author of The Decency Wars: The Campaign to Cleanse American Culture; and a feature on books connecting faith with responses to global warming.   PW Religion BookLine from Publishers Weekly Editors: Lynn Garrett (lgarrett@reedbusiness.com); Daisy Maryles (dmaryles@reedbusiness.com) Contributing Editor: Jana Riess © 2006 Reed Business Information. Published weekly. If your links aren't working, you can view this newsletter by copy and pasting the following URL into your browser: publishersweekly.com/eNewsletter/CA6371156/2287.html To read past issues, click here. TO UNSUBSCRIBE You are currently registered to receive PW Religion BookLine at: michael.gwertzman@reedbusiness.com To unsubscribe, e-mail us here TO VIEW OUR UPDATED PRIVACY POLICY Click here. 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