December 06, 2005 8:23 AM

BELIEFNET.COM NAMES

“CHRIST THE LORD: OUT OF EGYPT”

BEST SPIRITUAL BOOK OF 2005

ANNUAL FEATURE ALSO HIGHLIGHTS NINE TOP CONTENDERS INCLUDING A GUIDE TO JEWISH PRACTICES, A DETAILED PORTRAIT OF A MORMON PROPHET, AND A COLLECTION OF TALES OF A FAMILY RECONCILIATION

New York, NY – December 5, 2005 – Beliefnet, Inc., the leading multi-faith spirituality media company and online community, announced today that they have chosen “Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt” by Anne Rice as the Best Spiritual Book of 2005. As part of their annual feature, Beliefnet’s editors have also compiled a list of top contenders for 2005. From inspiring tales of family reconciliation to a guide to Jewish practice to detailed portrait of the Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith, Beliefnet’s editors chose the books that they personally found to be the year’s most diverse, compelling and acclaimed releases of the past year.

“Beliefnet was impressed with the unique spin that Anne Rice, better known for writing about vampires, brought to one of the world’s most pivotal religious figures,” said Steve Waldman, editor-in-chief and CEO of Beliefnet.com. “Rooted in the Gospel, “Christ the Lord” is incredibly imaginative, and readers of any faith will find her depiction of the young Jesus fascinating and moving, thus making it the obvious choice for Beliefnet’s Book of the Year.”

Beliefnet’s Best Spiritual Books package also features author interviews and excerpts from many of the selected books.

The following is a complete list of the ten Best Spiritual Books of 2005:

* “God’s Politics” by Jim Wallis

“Wallis, editor-in-chief of the progressive Christian magazine Sojourner’s and founder of the anti-poverty organization Call to Renewal, explains how the political left can better relate to religious people and why important political issues like poverty, race, the environment, and war should be discussed in religious terms.”

* “Jewish with Feeling” by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

“Drawing on his own vast store of Jewish learning and his broad experience with other

religions, Rabbi Zalman helps Jews who think they want a watered-down version of Judaism connect with the deep treasures of their tradition, from observing the Sabbath in a creative and personal way to expanding individual concepts of God.”

* “Velvet Elvis” by Rob Bell

“Bell, pastor of the 10,000-member Mars Hill megachurch in Grand Rapids, Michigan, offers a fresh take on contemporary Christian faith in this bold and candid book. Comparing contemporary Christian culture to a velvet painting of Elvis that he owns–it’s earnest but kitschy, an emblem of another era–Bell explains that God is constantly renewing his own creation, and Christians must do the same with their faith.”

* “Why Do I Love These People” by Po Bronson

“As he did in the best-selling “What Should I Do With My Life?” author Bronson traveled the U.S. and some of Europe collecting stories of all types of ordinary people. This time he focuses on families, sharing their inspiring tales of how they have been broken apart and pieced back together. Bronson explores how our concept of family is changing and why family bonds are still necessary.”

* “Any Bitter Thing” by Monica Wood

“This beautifully written novel tells the story of Lizzy Mitchell, who, at age 2, was sent to live with her uncle Mike, a parish priest in Maine, when her parents were killed in a plane crash. As a child, Lizzy lives an idyllic life: She is doted on by her uncle, she has a surrogate family next door, and she loves participating in church life. But her utopia is destroyed when Father Mike is accused of molesting her and sent away to a recovery center for troubled priests. In telling the story from the points of view of both Lizzy–as a child and as an adult recovering from a near-fatal accident–and of Father Mike, Wood deals movingly with the larger themes of faith, loss, trust, fatherhood, and renewal.”

* “Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling” by Richard Lyman Bushman

“Published to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith’s birth, this biography sketches a compelling and detailed portrait of the Mormon prophet. Bushman, a historian and a practicing Mormon, fairly illustrates how Smith, who grew up in a poor family in upstate New York, became what the author describes as “the closest American has come to producing a biblical-style prophet.”

* “Minaret” by Leila Aboulela

“In Aboulela’s touching novel, main character Najwa’s life is shattered when her family is forced to flee its home in Sudan after a mid-1980s political coup. She goes from living the life of a wealthy, Westernized teenager to that of a poor, single maid in London. Aboulela’s novel is primarily a story about faith, but it’s also a heartfelt love story: it is both Najwa’s return to faith and her secret love affair with her employer’s younger, more religious brother that alters her life and helps her find peace.”

* “Field Notes on the Compassionate Life” by Marc Ian Barasch

Barasch takes readers on a journey through compassion, exploring how this virtue is revealed both in everyday life and in extraordinary moments. Kindness, he argues, is not just a moral imperative but also “a prescription for authentic joy.” He looks at compassion as it relates to health, interviews a man who donated a kidney to a stranger, and considers how compassion could solve the Middle East crisis.”

* “The Translucent Revolution” by Arjuna Ardagh

Spiritual thinker Ardagh proposes that the people who are most at peace with themselves and with the world aren’t the spiritual ascetics who remove themselves from the modern world. Instead they’re “translucents,” people who undergo a spiritual awakening but remain involved in everyday life. Translucents often have a sudden instance of spiritual clarity that changes their lives. Ardagh explores how ordinary people can open themselves up to translucence, how to recognize translucent moments, and what to do with this new sense of reality once one finds it–both in one’s personal life and in the surrounding world.”

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