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Being young, single and free to choose one’s path is a good subject for an author’s debut novel. What Amor Towles has done is place his characters in 1938 New York, where opportunities are scarce and living conditions still harsh. Rules of Civility is not a happy story, though it begins…

There are many stories about how people deal with grief. Alice Sebold tells her story through the eyes of a murder victim. Susie Salmon is fourteen when a neighbor lures her to her death. Watching from a kind of limbo she calls heaven, she describes in poignant detail the reactions…

October 2023 New Releases More in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the ACFW Fiction Finder website Children’s: Road Trip Rescue by Becca Wierwille -- After spotting a photo of her lost dog, twelve-year-old Kimmy embarks on a wild road trip to bring him home with her pink-haired,…

Today I’d like to introduce Karen Richardson. This is the latest in my occasional features in which authors tell us about their books, their writing lives, and anything else they wish to share. Karen has always observed the world as a running narrative, and encounters with others as fodder for a story.…

If robots take over the world someday, as some people fear, I hope they will be as nice as Klara, the narrator of Kazuo Ishiguro’s immensely appealing novel. Klara’s story begins in a retail store where she stands in a display window, waiting for someone to purchase her. Eventually she…

Jason Fitger of Payne University is a frustrated professor trying to remain afloat in a leaky academic boat: English literature. He writes mountains of recommendation letters on behalf of his students, most of whom he finds unworthy of the effort. Some are seeking job placements, others various academic opportunities. Dear…

Today I’d like to introduce K.A. Cummins and her new children’s book, Bold & Brave. This is the latest in my occasional features in which authors tell us about their books, their writing lives, and anything else they wish to share. K.A. Cummins is an award-winning author and an artist.…

American Christian Fiction Writers, an organization I recently joined, posts a monthly list of books by its members. Below is the list for September. Enjoy! Chevron Ross September 2023 New Releases More in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the ACFW Fiction Finder website Contemporary Romance: A Louisiana…

Thirty years have passed since Red Mars was published. Considering that in 1993 the internet was in its infancy, and cell phones were nonexistent, Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel holds up well. His chronicle of the countless problems involved in colonizing a hostile planet is what makes this book compelling. Just…