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Shmuley Boteach: Was Jesus Kosher?
RBL catches up with bestselling author Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (Kosher Sex) as he releases the newest installment in his Kosher series: Kosher Jesus. The noted lecturer and TV and radio host tells why this controversial new book that reevaluates the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth will promote religious goodwill even as it has stimulated intense debate across religious lines.
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Books for Lent Encourage Reflection
For many Christians, Lent is a time for prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. For religion publishers, it’s a time to release new titles aimed at helping the spiritually minded gain a new perspective on the liturgical season. Five new books—from Catholic, Episcopal, mainline Protestant, and general trade publishers—help readers to reflect on the meaning of this solemn season and prepare for the joy of Easter.
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Editor’s Note
On the cusp of 2012, a primary preoccupation in the book business continues to be the impact of e-books. After the AAP earlier this month reported more skyrocketing sales, predictions abound and questions remain about what this will mean for publishers and booksellers alike. Now Christian retailers are offering e-books on their Web sites, but the fact that these stores carry such a wide range of products—not only books, but also gifts, décor, apparel, and other “lifestyle” items—may make the effect of e-book sales less significant than for other booksellers. There’s plenty of room for speculation and less for solid projections. For now and the foreseeable future, the digital frontier remains the wild, wild West.
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Tebow Book Sales Drive Toward the End Zone
Sales of Through My Eyes (HarperOne, June), the Christian life story of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, have been climbing rapidly since evangelicalism’s poster boy won the starting job in October. As of Sunday (Dec. 18), Through My Eyes had tallied 220,000 print book sales, making it HarperOne’s biggest book of 2011. That’s saying something. HarperOne made a splash in February with Rob Bell’s Love Wins, which to date has sold an impressive 210,000 hardcovers. But Tebow is known for fourth-quarter heroics, and apparently Q4 2011 is no exception.
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January 2012 Christian Bestsellers: Adult, Children's, Bibles
Tim Tebow moves up the hardcover list, and Idleman overtakes Osteen; The 5 Love Languages returns to the paperback top ten; Bishop Tutu’s storybook Bible for kids debuts at #3; the Bible list is all about the NIV.
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James Dobson Ventures into Fiction
FaithWords has signed a deal with Dr. James Dobson for a fiction trilogy (to be coauthored with Kurt Bruner). Dobson (Dare to Discipline, Love Must Be Tough) is the founder and chairman emeritus of Focus on the Family. This will be Dobson’s first foray into fiction, and the novels will treat some of the same themes as his nonfiction titles, but in a dystopian future world.
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It is Written: News in Bibles & Sacred Texts
Bible translations were so often in the news in 2011 that they landed a berth on the Religion Newswriters Association annual Top Ten religion news stories of the year. Members of the group, journalists who cover religion in secular media, ranked as number ten coverage throughout the year of the 400th anniversary of the King James translation; the update of the widely used New International Version translation; and the completion of the new Common English Bible translation from a consortium of mainline Protestant denominational publishing houses.
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Short Takes
Episcopal Booksellers move their annual meeting; Worthy author will ride in the Rose Bowl Parade; Kingstone, B&H, and Thomas Nelson release new apps; books from White Cloud and Orbis called among the year’s best by HuffPo; Abingdon novel gets the nod from Booklist; Zondervan title recognized by Library Journal; Howard author named Beliefnet’s “Most Inspiring Person”; Signature launches digital products for 300 retailers; Patheos Press debuts; CBA holds training event at Atlanta gift show; Christian book covers win design awards; media attention for PBS series and companion book on Catholicism.
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Religion in Review
The tale of a reluctant pope; practicing Buddhism at work; a new translation of the scholarship of Ghazali; the power of the Bible’s great metaphors; counseling patience for peace; a Kosher Jesus?; mapping the “1,000 days” of Jesus’ ministry; a fresh scholarly look at the Book of Revelation; the truth about Gandhi’s assassination; Jesus as a subversive.
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Mark and Grace Driscoll: Telling the Truth about Marriage
Mark Driscoll, high-profile pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, is known for his honest, often-acerbic speaking style. Even so, for Driscoll and his wife, Grace, to lay out their sexual history in a book for the world to see is risky at best, and potentially lethal to a ministry career at worst. Still, the Driscolls felt they had little choice but to address the topic head on in their new book, Real Marriage: The Truth about Sex, Friendship, and Life Together (Thomas Nelson, Jan.).
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Lauren Winner: Exploring the Spiritual Middle
Lauren Winner (Girl Meets God, Mudhouse Sabbath), assistant professor of Christian spirituality at Duke Divinity School and former book editor for Beliefnet.com, has just published Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis (HarperOne, Jan.). The book explores a passage in her faith journey that caught her by surprise, a stage during which God seemed to be hiding. She spoke to RBL from her home in Durham, N.C.
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Hanukkah Books: A Treat for Everyone
This year’s assortment of new releases for Hanukkah is not too different from one of Hanukkah’s favorite treats, latkes. Some are big, some small, some thinner, some fatter, but all are tasty and worth having, including a superbly intricate pop-up book, the story of a boy with an autistic brother, a new tale about Engineer Ari, two photograph books new in paperback, a title featuring the Golem, new lyrics for a traditional Hannukah song, and a retelling of the classic story of the holiday.
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Christian Children's Series Sells One Million
Concordia Publishing House, the publishing arm of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, has announced that its bestselling children's series, God, I Need to Talk to You About... has reached the 1 million mark in sales. The series, for readers ages 4–7, launched in 1984 with eight titles.
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Christian Fiction for African-Americans: A Dilemma
Along with the general popularity of the Christian and inspirational fiction genre, the visibility of African-American authors who write Christian-themed stories has increased. But some authors and editors complain that the category can present a dilemma. While African-American readers often actively search out Christian fiction, readers of other backgrounds may reject books with a blatant religious slant. And some black writers looking to attract nonblack readers feel stuck in a double bind, noting that often those readers are not only turned off by the “Christian fiction” label but sometimes feel uncomfortable looking for titles in the African-American section of the book store.
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Academic Religion Meetings Reunite, Publishers Rejoice
Thousands of religion scholars descended on San Francisco Nov. 19-22 for the annual meetings of their largest professional groups, the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature, and publishers were relieved to once again be part of a combined book exhibit, instead of having to staff and ship to separate meetings.
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Editor’s Note
We’ve just returned from the annual meetings of the two largest learned societies for scholars of religion and biblical studies, and the love of the writing, making, selling, and buying books was much on display. Academic publishing is as challenged as publishing in general, and in some ways more so, with the added complications of classroom use. Everyone—publishers, professors, students—is scratching their heads about how or whether e-books will change what they do (though no one believes the printed book will vanish anytime soon). Right now there are only questions, and lots of them. The answers are somewhere down the road, as technical innovation and creative publishing continue to alter the landscape.
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It Is Written: News in Bibles and Sacred Texts
Saint Benedict publishes NABRE as its first e-book; Common English Bible Blog Tour spans the holidays; Cook is updating The Toddler’s Bible; Zondervan’s NIV Once-a-Day Bible releases.
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December 2011 Christian Bestsellers: Adult, Children's, Bibles
Sarah Young bounces back to #1; Billy Graham on aging debuts at #3; Rosenberg’s latest Middle East novel comes in at #5; the first Christmas books of the season; Bible storybooks for kids; and Bibles for all ages in all colors, shapes, and sizes.
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Short Takes
Abingdon hires new publicity manager, releases Advent app; Eerdmans promotes Dykstra; Munce Group celebrates 20 years; Baker fiction titles selected by LJ; IVP recognized as a green business; Richard Foster draws 225 to signing; Worthy acquires new book from John Hagee; Christy nominations open; Pilgrim Press has new publisher; Zondervan releases One Thousand Gifts app; Concordia wins Baldrige Award; two Master Books honored.
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Religion in Review
Urging attention in an age of distraction; a church runs a sexperiment; facing down the rhino to find the life you want; Buddhist wisdom for the pursuit of happiness; can the Divine Feminine save the world?; evangelicals weren’t always right-wingers; a history of Inquisitions; bar-hopping with the Buddha; do we get three free sins?; learning to be still in the midst of life’s losses; intimacy with God through the five senses; Joseph Smith on death and Heaven; for kids, parables and Tim Tebow; plus Web exclusive reviews.
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