Publishers Weekly - Religion BookLine
  October 31, 2007
 
• BEHIND THE NEWS
  • POD House Steps into Acquisitions
• SHORT TAKES
  • Judson Book Hits the NASCAR Circuit; Rob Bell Tour Dates Selling Out; Harvest House Launches New Line; SAMP Ramps Up Web Publishing; Whirling Dervishes Tour East Coast
• BOOKS BRIEFLY
  • Full Circle: Buddhist Meditation Teacher Returns to Poetry
• RELIGION IN REVIEW
  • Four Reviews Coming in Publishers Weekly on Monday, November 12
  • Children's Religion Reviews
  • A Starred Review Coming in PW
• BESTSELLERS: October Catholic Bestsellers
• COMING ATTRACTIONS
• HOW TO SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE
BEHIND THE NEWS
POD House Steps into Acquisitions
by Amy Tracy
By the end of November, Xulon Press, an evangelical Christian POD publisher, is expanding their services to include a new division focused on acquisitions. Founded in 2000 by Tom and Nancy Frieling and purchased by Salem Communications in May of 2006, the publisher will primarily reach out to pastors. This is Xulon's first foray into traditional publishing. 

"We decided to establish this new division in order to fill a growing need for pastors of larger churches to create quality books in a timely manner for their congregations and communities," said Paul Allen, a pastor and former editor of Rev. Magazine (a bi-monthly publication for pastors) who is Xulon's choice to lead the division. "Contrary to the confines of the current industry, pastors [will] now have the opportunity to publish their books on their own terms. I believe 'there's a book in every pastor' and my passion is to provide the tools to allow them to see their publishing dreams become reality." 

Xulon is not ruling out contractual agreements that are a hybrid between POD and traditional acquisitions. "We'll have a foot in each world," said Jim Kochenburger, director of operations. "Some [clients] may pay for certain services up front. Every case will be unique; every deal could be slightly different depending on the profile of the pastor, size of the ministry, number of books, editing package, etc. We'll share the burden with the pastor and bring their book to fruition." 

Read the full story...
SHORT TAKES
Judson Book Hits the NASCAR Circuit; Rob Bell Tour Dates Selling Out; Harvest House Launches New Line; SAMP Ramps Up Web Publishing; Whirling Dervishes Tour East Coast
by Lynn Garrett
Judson Press drew hundreds of NASCAR fans at the Atlanta Motor Speedway this past Sunday (Oct. 28) to a pre-race signing of Before the Thunder Rolls: Devotions for NASCAR Fans by author Dale Beaver and NASCAR driver Ryan Newman. Beaver is a former Motor Racing Outreach (MRO) chaplain with NASCAR's Nextel Cup series, and Newman, driver of the No. 12 car that day, wrote the foreword for the book. Released last week, the book also features a foreword by Sunday's race winner, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 car. Before the Thunder Rolls is part of the NASCAR Library collection, and NASCAR's royalty will be donated to the NASCAR Foundation.

Read the full story...
 
BOOKS BRIEFLY
Full Circle: Buddhist Meditation Teacher Returns to Poetry
by Marcia Z. Nelson

At age 70, Buddhist meditation teacher and writer Stephen Levine is back to where he began his writing career with Breaking the Drought: Visions of Grace (Larson Publications, Nov.), a book of poetry. His first book of poetry, A Resonance of Hope, appeared in 1959. In between those two volumes, he taught meditation in prison and spent more than 30 years working with the dying and grieving. He also wrote a number of books—A Gradual Awakening and A Year to Live, among others—that together have sold more than a million copies.

From his perspective, his work is all of a piece. "I was working with poetry, and through my spiritual practices was drawn into serving others with those techniques," said Levine. "All the books about working with dying, grieving or meditation had poems that I had written." Not surprisingly then, his book has spoken across specialties, drawing endorsements from Buddhists, the poet Robert Bly, and John Fox, director of the Institute of Poetic Medicine, which promotes poetry and the expressive arts for mind and body healing.

Read the full story...
RELIGION IN REVIEW
Four Reviews Coming in Publishers Weekly on Monday, November 12
Abraham's Curse: Child Sacrifice in the Legacies of the West
Bruce Chilton. Doubleday, $24.95 (263p) ISBN 978-0-385-52027-0
In this thought-provoking study, Bard College professor Chilton (Rabbi Jesus) asks how the Abrahamic faiths have understood Genesis 22, the story of the binding of Isaac.
READ FULL REVIEW
What the Gospels Meant
Garry Wills. Viking, $24.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-670-01871-0
Wills's follow-up to his bestselling works, What Jesus Meant and What Paul Meant, sheds new light on the four books of the Bible best known to most Christians.
READ FULL REVIEW
What Do Buddhists Believe? Meaning and Mindfulness in Buddhist Philosophy
Tony Morris. Walker, $9.95 paper (112p) ISBN 978-0-8027-1655-2
This book, meant to be a short and understandable introduction to Buddhism in a series about the world's belief systems, succeeds in many respects.
READ FULL REVIEW
Your Whole Life: The 3D Plan for Eating Right, Living Well, Loving God
Carol Showalter and Maggie Davis. Paraclete, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-1-55725-556-3
In the 1970s, Showalter founded the 3D movement, one of the first major Christian diet programs in the nation, to help people focus on diet, discipline and discipleship.
READ FULL REVIEW
Children's Religion Reviews: Hanukkah
Letter on the Wind: A Chanukah Tale
Sarah Marwil Lamstein, Illus. By Neil Waldman. Boyds Mills, $16.95 ISBN 978-1-932425-74-1
Lamstein (Annie's Shabbat) polishes up timeless motifs about the mysterious ways of God in this dexterous retelling of a folktale from the Middle East.
READ FULL REVIEW
Hanukkah Moon
Deborah Da Costa, Illus. By Gosia Mosz. Kar-Ben, $17.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-58013-244-2; $7.95 pa-per ISBN 978-1-58013-245-9
A thin plot nevertheless affords an unusual and inviting glimpse of Mexican-flavored Hanukkah fes-tivities as well as of Rosh Hodesh, or new moon, the first day of the month in the Jewish calendar.
READ FULL REVIEW
A Starred Review Coming in PW on November 12
Spiritual Formation as If the Church Mattered: Growing in Christ through Community
James C. Wilhoit. Baker Academic, $17.99 paper (224p) ISBN 978-0-8010-2776-5
The title of this tightly woven, consistently challenging meditation on Christian spiritual formation serves notice that this book is going to be more than another self-help manual. Indeed, Wheaton College professor Wilhoit, author of The Christian Educator's Handbook on Spiritual Formation, asserts that although developing "Christlikeness" in its members is the church's main job, many congregations have either abandoned old practices without developing new ones, or have relied on stratagems instead of on God's grace. Because he views spiritual growth as a lifelong process, Wilhoit delineates a communal perspective on responding to Jesus' invitation to love God and neighbor, emphasizing shared practice and learning. His "four pillars of formation" include receiving, or being open to God's grace; remembering, or understanding who we are and why we were created; responding in service to neighbors and the world; and building relationships in the context of community. In alternating chapters, Wilhoit gives readers theological and biblical foundations for each principle, then suggests a set of practices. While it would be easy to get lost in the sober volume, this skilled writer uses many pedagogical tools to keep his audience focused. Clearly written from an evangelical perspective, this cogent and passionate book deserves to have wide appeal. (Feb.)
An Original RBL Review
The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever
Selected and with introductions by Christopher Hitchens. Da Capo Press, $16.95 paper (384p) ISBN 978-0-306-81608-6
Hitchens, an avowed atheist and author of the bestseller God Is Not Great, is a formidable intellectual who finds the notion of belief in God to be utter nonsense. The author is clear in his introduction that he believes religion has caused more than its fair share of world problems. "Religion invents a problem where none exists by describing the wicked as also made in the image of god and the sexually nonconformist as existing in a state of incurable mortal sin that can incidentally cause floods and earthquakes." The readings Hitchens chooses to bolster his atheist argument are indeed engaging and important. Hobbes, Spinoza, Mill and Marx are some of the heavyweights representing a philosophical viewpoint. From the world of literature the author assembles excerpts from Shelley, Twain, Conrad, Orwell and Updike. All are enjoyable to read and will make even religious believers envious of the talent gathered for this anthology. What these dynamic writers are railing against often enough, however, is a straw man: an immature, fundamentalist, outdated, and even embarrassing style of religion that many intelligent believers have long since cast off. It could be that Hitchens and his cast of nonbelievers are preaching to the choir and their message is tired and spent. However, this remains a fascinating collection of readings from some of the West's greatest thinkers. (Nov.)
BESTSELLERS: October Catholic Bestsellers
Hardcovers
  1. Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light
    Mother Teresa with Brian Kolodiejchuk. Doubleday
  2. Introduction to the New Testament
    Raymond E. Brown. Doubleday
  3. Jesus of Nazareth
    Pope Benedict XVI. Doubleday
  4. The Dream Manager
    Matthew Kelly. Beacon Publishing/Hyperion
  5. Simply Christian
    N.T. Wright. HarperOne
  6. Mother Angelica's Little Book of Life Lessons and Everyday Spirituality
    Raymond Arroyo. Doubleday
  7. The Apostles
    Pope Benedict XVI. Our Sunday Visitor
  8. Celebration of Discipline, 25th Anniversary Edition
    Richard Foster. HarperOne
  9. Catholic Household Blessings & Prayers
    USCCB Publishing
  10. Wisdom Books: The Saint John's Bible
    Donald Jackson. Liturgical Press

Paperbacks

  1. Catechism of the Catholic Church
    Doubleday/Our Sunday Visitor/USCCB Publishing
  2. Mere Christianity
    C.S. Lewis. Harper San Francisco
  3. My Life with the Saints
    James Martin. Loyola Press
  4. United States Catholic Catechism for Adults
    USCCB Publishing
  5. The Screwtape Letters
    C.S. Lewis. Harper San Francisco
  6. The Great Divorce
    C.S. Lewis. Harper San Francisco
  7. The Handbook for Today's Catholic
    A Redemptorist Pastoral Publication. Liguori
  8. My Struggle with Faith
    Joseph Girzone. Doubleday
  9. Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
    Libreria Editrice Vaticania/USCCB Publishing
  10. Seminary Boy
    John Cornwell. Doubleday
© 2007 Catholic Book Publishers Association, Inc.
 
 
 
 
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Look for the next issue of Religion BookLine on November 14.
 

PW Religion BookLine from Publishers Weekly
Editors: Lynn Garrett (lgarrett@reedbusiness.com);
Daisy Maryles (dmaryles@reedbusiness.com)
Contributing Editor: Jana Riess
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