• Academic Book of the Year: Strange Religion: How the First Christians Were Weird, Dangerous, and Compelling by Nijay K. Gupta
https://bakerpublishinggroup.com/products/9781587435171_strange-religion
 

Within Roman society, the earliest Christians stood out for the oddness of their beliefs and practices. They believed unusual things, worshipped God in strange ways, and practised a whole new way of doing religion that would have been viewed as bizarre and dangerous compared to other religions of the ancient world.
 

In Strange Religion, award-winning author and New Testament teacher Nijay Gupta traces the emerging Christian faith in its Roman context, showing how the first Christians dared to be different and pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable, believed, worshipped, and lived in radical ways, transformed how others thought about religion, and started a movement that grew like wildfire. Brought to life with numerous images, this book shows how the example of the earliest Christians can offer today's believers encouragement and hope.

• Christian Life Book of the Year: Reclaiming Quiet: Cultivating A Life of Holy Attention by Sarah Clarkson
https://bakerpublishinggroup.com/products/9781540900524_reclaiming-quiet

We are often too busy and distracted to notice the people and situations God has placed in our path for our spiritual benefit. Reclaiming Quiet is your invitation to discover the profound joy of resisting our cultural obsession with distraction and instead cultivating a life of holy attention. With practical strategies to add stillness, listening, and rest into your daily rhythms, this book shows you how to care for your inner life, listen to the voice of God in the everyday, and stay grounded in the now while looking with hope and expectation to the future.

• Fiction Book of the Year: Tea with Elephants by Robin Jones Gunn
https://bakerpublishinggroup.com/products/9780800744823_tea-with-elephants

Ever since they met as teenagers volunteering at a conference centre in Costa Rica 20 years ago, Fern Espinoza and Lily Graden have shared a close friendship, even though they live in different states. They can hardly believe it when their teen dream of traveling to Africa together becomes a reality. It's the trip of a lifetime--but life sure isn't what they thought it would be back when they were young.

Along with their suitcases, each woman brings along emotional baggage that weighs heavily on them. Yet the people they meet and the places they experience have the power to change their hearts--but only if they surrender to the lessons God wants to teach them in this unexpected land of emerald tea fields, graceful giraffes, and rambunctious elephants.