The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) announced Tuesday night the winners of the 2015 Christian Book Awards and the Christian Book of the Year—representing the best Christian book and Bible releases of the year in seven categories. The announcements were made at the ECPA Awards Banquet, held in conjunction with the ECPA Leadership Summit hosted in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

The highest honor of Christian Book of the Year went to The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life by Pastor Rick Warren, Daniel Amen, M.D., and Mark Hyman, M.D. (Zondervan, 9780310344292). The New York Times best-seller with a strong and regular presence on the ECPA best-seller list is described as “creating a health plan” that adds faith, focus and community to the usual “food and exercise” approach to weight loss and health. The plan is credited for helping 15,000 of Warren's Saddleback Church members lose a quarter-million pounds in the first year.

Warren is also the author of The Purpose Driven Life, the highest best-selling nonfiction hardcover in publishing history with more than 32 million copies sold. The Purpose Driven Life made history a decade ago as it was named Christian Book of the Year for two consecutive years (2003, 2004).

The 2015 Christian Book Awards winners are:

BIBLES

NIV First-Century Study Bible, with notes by Kent Dobson, Zondervan, 9780310938903

BIBLE REFERENCE

1, 2 and 3 John: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, Karen H. Jobes, Zondervan, 9780310244165

CHILDREN

My Bible Animals Storybook, Dandi Daley Mackall, llustrated by Heather Heyworth, Tyndale House Publishers, 9781414383538

FICTION

The Advocate, Randy Singer, Tyndale House Publishers, 9781414391304

INSPIRATION

The Hardest Peace: Expecting Grace in the Midst of Life’s Hard, Kara Tippetts, David C Cook, 9780781412155

NONFICTION and NEW AUTHOR

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, Nabeel Qureshi, Zondervan, 9780310515029

“The Christian Book Award winners not only represent the best books in our industry, but in their variety, they represent the transforming power of Christian content that impacts all of life,” said ECPA President/CEO Mark Kuyper. “Our industry continues to produce ‘Good Books that Feed the Soul’ for all ages, seasons and interests.”

Inspiration category winner The Hardest Peace: Expecting Grace in the Midst of Life’s Hard by mom blogger Kara Tippetts was named the winner just days before she died of breast cancer. The book is a memoir about Tippetts finding grace “in the midst of life’s hard”—the difficult experience of dying from cancer as a wife and mother of four young children. ECPA and Tippett’s publisher, David C Cook, worked with her family to share the confidential news of the title’s win with her so that she would know of her enduring legacy of inspiration and help to others.

New author Nabeel Qureshi’s first published book, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, won in both New Author and Nonfiction categories—the first incident of a double-category win in Christian Book Award history.

The evening’s news culminated in a “Thunderclap social media campaign” where the news was tweeted and posted to more than a half-million accounts. Industry publishers, companies, professionals and friends signed up to allow the winning news to be posted to their account feeds through an ECPA awareness campaign called #ReadGoodBooks.

Christian Book Award winners also receive recognition and support through multiple retail and media outlets. Christianity Today will continue its partnership with the program through ad campaigns in its digital and print publications May through December of this year.

To view the finalists and winners, visit christianbookawards.com.

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