(Nashville, Tenn) Thomas Nelson, Inc. is pleased to announce that four of its titles have been selected as finalists in ForeWord Magazine’s 2008 Book of the Year Awards. The awards were established to bring increased attention to librarians and booksellers of the literary and graphic achievements of independent publishers and their authors. This program was designed to discover distinctive books across a number of genres.

The unique awards process brings readers, librarians, and booksellers together to select their top categories as well as choose the winning titles. Their decisions are based on editorial excellence, professional production, originality of the narrative, author credentials relative to the book, and the value the book adds to its genre. The winners will be announced at a special program during BookExpo America being held at the Javits Center in New York City on May 29th.

THE THOMAS NELSON FINALISTS ARE:

Together by Tom Sullivan and Betty White
(Audio Fiction)
Sometimes you can’t see what matters most until it’s gone. Brenden McCarthy feels like he’s lost everything. His fiancee. His independence. And his passion for life. All due to one tragic misstep while mountain climbing that cost him his sight. But he’s about to gain the last thing he ever expected. A big-hearted black Labrador named Nelson who’s given one last shot at being a Seeing Eye dog. Both are beyond hope and resigned to live alone. And both are about to experience a bond of friendship that develops when they least expect it. Together is a heartwarming story for anyone who’s ever lost sight of what matters most in life . . . but has hope that there’s more. Together is written by two of Hollywood’s strongest dog advocates–Emmy Award-nominated actor and singer Tom Sullivan, and his dear friend and Emmy Award-winning actress Betty White.
Red Helmet by Homer Hickam
(Audio Fiction)
Forever unlucky in love, Song Hawkins has the reputation of being a cold-hearted yet beautiful businesswoman. But everything changes when this New Yorker finds the man of her dreams in Cable Jordan, the manager of a West Virginia coal mine. After they marry, it quickly becomes apparent Cable has no intention of leaving his beloved hometown of Highcoal. Reluctant at first, Song is soon swept up in the strange, funny, and always interesting highjinks of the little mining town’s quirky citizens. But things turn deadly serious when, to save her husband and her town, she must put on the red helmet of the new coal miner and make a life-changing sacrifice. West Virginia native Homer Hickam is best known for his novel Rocket Boys which was made into the movie October Sky.

The Word of Promise® New Testament MP3 Audio Bible
(Audio Nonfiction)
This award-winning scripted dramatization of the New King James Version (NKJV) of the New Testament is presented in a compelling, dramatic audio theater format. The project features the talents of actors such as Jim Caviezel (”The Passion of the Christ,”), Michael York (”Romeo & Juliet,” “Austin Powers”), Golden Globe winner Stacy Keach (”Prison Break,” “Hemingway”), Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Lou Gossett, Jr. (”An Officer and a Gentleman,” “Roots”), Kimberly Williams-Paisley (”According to Jim,” “Father of the Bride”), Ernie Hudson (”Ghostbusters,” “Miss Congeniality”), and Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei. Complete with production by AFTRA Award winner Carl Amari, an original music score by prolific Italian composer Stefano Mainetti (Abba Pater & The Shooter), and movie-quality sound effects produced, engineered, and mixed at Cerny American Creative in Chicago–an award-winning facility ranked in the Top 3 in the nation for sound design headed by the acclaimed director JoBe Cerny. A CD format is also available.

Reflections of God’s Holy Land: A Personal Journey Through Israel
by Eva Marie Everson and Miriam Feinberg Vamosh
(Travel Essays)
This unique armchair tour of Israel which includes four-color photographs, related scriptures, historical and archaeological information about each area, and a description of what it looks and feels like to be there today. Providing more than a coffee table book of slick photographs, authors Everson and Feinberg Vamosh (one Christian from America, one Jewish from Israel) enlighten readers with a deeper understanding of the land of Israel–the land that holds not only God’s story but the story of His people.

Contact:    Brenda Smotherman
Publicist
tel:    (615) 902-2231
fax:    (615) 902-1132
email: bsmotherman@thomasnelson.com

This entry was posted on Friday, March 13th, 2009 at 2:09 pm and is filed under Awards, Bibles and Reference, Fiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.