ASHEVILLE, NC/Christian Newswire/ — WORLD Magazine has named the English Standard Version Study Bible, published by Crossway Books, as its “Book of the Year.” That recognition is included in 21 pages of coverage of the book world in WORLD’s 2009 Books Issue, released June 19.

In naming the ESV Study Bible its “Book of the Year,” WORLD Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Marvin Olasky writes: “It adds to the accuracy and readability of the ESV 20,000 notes based on top evangelical scholarship, 80,000 cross references, 400 maps and charts, and much more, all under the supervision of two splendid theologians, Wayne Grudem and J.I. Packer.” Olasky goes on to call the notes and commentary “informative throughout and spectacular in parts.”

Olasky said picking a Bible as the “Book of the Year” might strike some people as odd, perhaps even a trivialization of the Bible, which Christians believe is a book that stands in a class by itself. Olasky responded: “The Bible is the book for all years; this study Bible is a particular winner in the year of our Lord 2009.”

WORLD magazine is the nation’s most widely- read Christian news magazine, and the fourth largest newsmagazine in the United States. WORLD maintains staff writers in Washington, New York, and other key U.S. cities, and has a network of correspondents around the world.