SBL 2012 Exciting Book Releases!

If you got your program for SBL yesterday, then, like me, you immediately turned to the advertising section to check out new book releases for the conference from the plethora of publishers.

Here is my top 10 list of book releases (keep in mind I am not putting down books that have already been released and that I own)
[In no particular order] 1. Invitation to the New Testament, by Ben Witherington III (Oxford Press). I am interested in seeing what an “Oxford” introduction looks like from Witherington. I know he is up for the challenge and this could be very rewarding.
2. The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion, by Rodney Stark (HaperOne). Not quite sure this fits as a “Biblical title,” but Stark is a fantastic historian and I expect this book to be worth the read.
3. The Meaning of the Bible: What the Jewish Scriptures and Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us, by A-J Levine and D. Knight (HarperOne). $13 for a 500-page book? I’m intrigued…

4. Seven Events that Shaped the New Testament World, by Warren Carter (Baker). The big 7 are: the death of Alexander the Great, the production of the LXX, the rededication of the temple, the Roman occupation of Judea, the crucifixion of Jesus, the writings of the NT, the process of “closing” the NT canon. These are all important events, but what about the destruction of the second temple? Still, this should be good.
5. Luke, by John Carroll (NTL, WJK). At 560 pages, this is on the heavier ends of the NTL series. Joel Green gives it high praise, especially for its sensitivity to literary concerns and theological insight.
6. Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, edited by J. Davila and R. Bauckham (Eerdmans). This probably takes the cake as most hotly awaited book – “more noncanonical scriptures.” At 800 pages, it will be a luggage-killer so I assume many will take advantage of ordering it at a discount and having it shipped!
7. God’s Saving Grace, by Frank Matera (Eerdmans). This is Matera’s attempt at focusing Paul’s theology on the concept of grace. I am teaching a course on Paul in the spring and I have decided to adopt this book as the “theology” textbook. I have not even seen the book yet, but I have good confidence that it will be a stimulating and reliable treatment. It receives high praise from Gorman, Achtemeier, and Soards.
8. Jesus, Criteria, and the Demise of Authenticity, edited by C. Keith and A. Le Donne (Continuum). I was sad not to have been able to attend the recent JCDA conference (I have dubbed “JCDA” as an official acronym now!), so I will try to make up for it by getting my hands on this book.
9. Dictionary of the Old Testament Prophets, ed. by M. Boda and J.G. McConville (IVP). I don’t quite have the whole set of “black dictionaries” from IVP, but I have almost all of them. Most of them I have in print, with a couple only on Logos. I am eager to add this to my collection.
10. I could not decide what to put as #10. Please leave a comment as to what I have missed or overlooked! What are YOU excited to see (and maybe purchase!) at the conference?