IVP - Strangely Dim - A Likewise Year in Review, and Reviews in the Likewise Year

A Likewise Year in Review, and Reviews in the Likewise Year

Well, good riddance, 2012. We're still here and you're not.

We're just back from the triennial Urbana Student Missions Conference in St. Louis, and while it will take us a good three years to recover, a fickle blogosphere demands constant refreshing of content. So this seems like as good a time as any to look back on the year just ended and celebrate or mourn as appropriate.

Several new Likewise books were released this past year, including

• Everyday Missions, by Leroy Barber, whom Sam Edgin at the Englewood Review of Books lauded for his "incredible ability not only to relate the stories of others, but also to draw new meaning out of Biblical passages most Christians have heard many times over."
• Letters to a Future Church, a collection edited by Chris Lewis, which Blake Atwood at Faith Village called "a challenging and yet ultimately hopeful appeal to the church-at-large to put feet to faith."
• Go and Do, by Don Everts, which Matt Reynolds at Christianity Today praised for its "summons . . . to robust missional engagement." 
• Reborn on the Fourth of July, by Logan Mehl-Laituri, which earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly for its "well-crafted story and . . . compelling narrative" about the competing claims of militaristic nationalism and Christian faith.
• This Ordinary Adventure, by Christine and Adam Jeske, which Grace Biskie praises with a sassy challenge: "You wanna a healthy kick in the tush? Go get it."
• Real Life, by James Choung, about which church planter and missiologist JR Woodward said, "The lessons linger with you long after you shut the pages of the book."
• What Jesus Started, by Steve Addison, which Neil Cole says "contributes a strong focus on the patterns shared by Jesus and Paul in the New Testament and . . . helpful examples of what God is doing today around the world."

Four of these books were designated as Urbana Books of the Day, which should give you a sense both of how long Urbana is and how significant Likewise Books is to Christian students and the missional church. You're welcome, global evangelicalism. 

While at Urbana, I had the pleasure of interviewing three Likewise authors (plus Christianity Today Book of the Year award winner Amy Sherman) for the bookstore team. Amy, Phileena Heuertz, Leroy Barber and Alexia Salvatierra (whose book Faith-Rooted Organizing will release late 2013) were all delightful conversation partners and made me look very smart in front of many of my coworkers.

I would be remiss if I didn't invite and encourage you to review these books yourself. You would be helping these authors and book publishing in general a great deal by posting your thoughts (about these and other books you've enjoyed) at GoodReads, on Amazon, on your blog and other places you have influence.

In sadder news, the band of contributors to Strangely Dim went from a trio to a duet when Lisa Rieck left InterVarsity Press to work for, um, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. You can track her new blogging here. We're hoping to continue to have new posts from her at Strangely Dim, or at least reposts of what she's writing for InterVarsity.

We began our year with a new sister line of books when Biblica International transferred their books program to IVP. We added another line mid-year with the launch of Praxis, a line of books for church and ministry leaders. And in December we sent off to the printer four books that will launch our next line, IVP Crescendo, which showcases women authors. Keep an eye out for that (as if we won't be bothering you about it in the weeks and months to come).

So, that's our year in review. How was your year? Feel free to post your reflections on the last twelve months below. Otherwise, please enjoy "My Year in Review," by the great Bill Mallonee.

Posted by Dave Zimmerman at January 4, 2013 9:18 AM