Bright Lights, Dark Nights: The Enduring Faith of 13 Remarkable Australians by Simon Smart (Blue Bottle Books)
Catherine's Gift: Inside the World of Dr Catherine Hamlin by John Little (Pan Macmillan Australia)
Leadership on the Front Foot by Zachary Veron (Anglican Press Australia)
No Ordinary View: A Season of Faith and Mission in the Himalayas by Naomi Reed (Ark House Press)
Now That You Are Back: A Journey Through Depression by Richard Beeston (Blue Bottle Books)
Preach or Perish: Reaching the Hearts and Minds of the World Today edited by Donald Howard (Donald and Nan Howard)
Refuge on the Roper: The Origins of Roper River Mission, Ngukurr by Murray Seiffert (Acorn Press)
Take Heart: For Families Living with Disability by Kate Hurley (Blue Bottle Books)
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This year's judges are:
Alex Crawford holds degrees in arts, law and theology. He is a practising barrister in Brisbane. He is interested, outside the law, in books, music and art. He is married to Penny. They have three children and attend St Mark's Anglican Church, Clayfield. He is the secretary of the Mathew Hale Public Library based in Brisbane.
Kel Richards is an author, journalist and broadcaster. He currently works as a Presenter and Producer for the ABC's national News Radio network and the ABC's News Division, and writes and presents the daily Word Watch radio program. Kel has written 41 booksincluding the best sellers The Case of the Vanishing Corpse and The Aussie Bible. Kel was awarded the degree of Master of Letters at the level of High Distinction by the University of New England for his thesis critiquing the noted atheist writer Richard Dawkins. Kel is a lay canon of St Andrews Cathedral. He is married to Barbara and they have two adult children.
Sally Smith is passionate about nurturing writers towards excellence and has spent the last 16 years in the book industry as a curriculum writer, author and Commissioning Editor for Scripture Union. Together with a role in children's ministry development for Baptist Churches NSW, she is a freelance editor and writer of Christian education resources and books for children. Her own writing has been published overseas and by four different Australian publishers. Sally is a long time member of BelAir Baptist church in Newcastle where her husband is an elder. They have 3 married daughters and 5 grandsons.
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The 2009 Australian Christian Book of the Year award winner will be announced at a prize giving ceremony in August 2009
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More information about the award can be found at http://www.spcka.org.au/ACLS_About.htm