In the previous post, I shared some of my adventures at the International Christian Retail Show in Denver. The trade show has over 9,000 attendees – book buyers, book sellers, all the Christian publishing houses, authors, musical artists, media, and sellers of the kinds of products you see in your local Christian book stores.

Because the publishers use the ICRS as the venue to tout their new and upcoming releases, it’s a great place to learn about the latest, greatest adoption books. Here are several I discovered while I was there (reviews will follow in upcoming posts, after I’ve had a chance to read them).

Successful Adoption: A Guide for Christian Families by Natalie Nichols Gillespie (August 2006, Integrity Publishers, $19.99)

The press release describes this book as “a practical and spiritual view of adoption.” Each chapter covers several issues of adoption, such as:

• How much adoption costs and how the IRS will help you pay for it



• What questions to ask to find an agency or attorney you can trust



• Where adoptable children are



• What paperwork has to be done and how you get started—and finished



• How long it really takes before you can bring your child home



• The differences between domestic and international adoption



• How to help orphans at home and abroad, if you are not adopting

The book is filled with true stories of adoptive children and parents, from Steven and Mary Beth Chapman to Stormie Omartian to U.S. Senator Sam Brownback and others.

So You Want to Adopt…Now What? by Ruth Graham and Sara Dormon (August 2006, Regal Books, $12.99)

The press release indicates that this book will guide people interested in adoption through the legal, financial and practical aspects of the adoption process.

The book also prepares readers for the spiritual, emotional and mental aspects of adoption. Ruth graham shares the viewpoint of the birth mother, based on her experience of walking through her daughter’s decision to place her child for adoption.

Topics include:

• What to expect from a homestudy



• Open versus closed adoptions



• Domestic or international



• Meeting the birth parents



• Agencies or private adoptions

In the next post, a preview of more books you might enjoy.