Every year I find one publisher to be at the top of the list for the best new books, so here is my rating for this year:
I’m biased: I must say Paraclete did a great job this year. And Zondervan had some good books — but I had already purchased them. (But, as I said, I’m biased.)
The academic publishers this year shook out like this for me, and I mention these in the order in which these publishers had books that appealed to me.
1. Eerdmans: many, many new good books; solid scholarship; innovative ideas.
2. InterVarsity Press: well above last year’s offerings; variety and excellence.
3. BakerAcademic/Brazos: whether it is Rodney Clapp or not, an innovative publisher.
4. Baylor University Press: a publisher on the rise; Carey Newman’s one of the best.
5. Fortress/WJKP/Abingdon: good books, but not enough creative offerings.
6. Hendrickson: maybe #5. A few very good selections.
7. HarperSanFrancisco: 3-4 important offerings (Borg, Levine, Bass).
Books of the Year:
R. Jewett, Romans (Hermeneia)
Chris Wright, Mission of God (IVP)
M. Volf, The End of Memory (Eerdmans)
R. Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (Eerdmans)
C. Evans, Fabricating Jesus (IVP)