By Joy Allmond
It’s the time of year when bibliophiles wait with baited breath to line up their reading lists to conquer once the calendar flips.
It’s not only Christmastime; it’s book-of-the-year season.
Winning the Christianity Today Book of the Year award—“The release that best embodies our pursuit of Beautiful Orthodoxy,” according to their website—is Russell Moore’s The Storm-Tossed Family.
“He explains persuasively how the church is our first family while giving practical, realistic direction in how to nurture and maintain a healthy, biblical family life, one that reflects the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord,” wrote Mark Galli, Christianity Today editor-n-chief.
“In other words, he tells the truth about what it means to be a biblical family (orthodoxy) and does so in a way that makes the family good news (beautiful).”
The Gospel Coalition also weighed in on 2018 top releases. Among the honors is Gay Girl, Good God, by Jackie Hill Perry (winner, first-time author).
In Gay Girl, Good God Perry shares her journey past same-sex attractions to the Savior who never stopped loving her.
“My story is certainly not the standard,” she recently told Facts & Trends. “It’s just the one God chose to give me, and I’m so grateful for it.”
Other releases honored within Christianity Today‘s and TGC’s lists include:
- The Forgotten Church: Why Rural Ministry Matters for Every Church in America, by Glenn Daman / Christianity Today; award of merit, church/pastoral leadership (Read more on the rural church in our recent issue: “Hidden Mission Field: Why We Need Rural Churches.”)
- Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions About Life and Sexuality, by Nancy Pearcey / The Gospel Coalition; winner, public theology and current events
- The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World, by Rosaria Butterfield / Christianity Today; winner, Christian living/discipleship
- Faith Among the Faithless: Learning from Esther How to Live in a World Gone Mad, by Mike Cosper / The Gospel Coalition; winner, popular theology
- Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels, edited by Barry Beitzel / Christianity Today; winner, biblical studies
- All That’s Good: Recovering the Lost Art of Discernment, by Hannah Anderson / The Gospel Coalition; winner, Christian living
- Expository Exultation: Christian Preaching as Worship, by John Piper / The Gospel Coalition; runner up, ministry
Joy Allmond
Joy is the editorial chief of staff at Christianity Today and former managing editor of Lifeway Research.
