Are you getting tired of reading the same old story told in the same old way? Have you been using the New York Times best sellers list as your reading guide? Kick that habit! Go for the gusto! Be more adventuresome in your book selections. An easy way to find something new to read is by giving first time authors a chance to dazzle you with a new point of view, a new voice, a breath of fresh air.

Malcolm Brooks author of Painted Horses will be coming to Lewistown for our annual author dinner in May (tickets are going fast) so we will be hearing about his interesting take on the western myth as his book is set in 1950’s Montana. If female outlaws is a subject you haven’t read much about try Burial Rites by Hannah Kent set in Iceland around 1829 or The Untold by Courtney Collins set in Australia in the 1920’s both based on actual women. Family secrets and mythology are central to most storytelling. These outstanding examples that blend both are: The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh (a very fast read) The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey and Touch by Alexi Zentner. It is the unique author, Thomas Fox Averill who can add recipes and menus to that blend and tell the Secrets of the Tsil Café. If good writing is your thing, try reading anything by Poe Ballantine. Please email me your list of great first efforts here is mine.

DEBUT NOVELS
Painted Horses – Malcolm Brooks
The Snow Child – Eowyn Ivey
Touch – Alexi Zentner
The Weight of Blood – Laura McHugh
The Untold – Courtney Collins
Burial Rites – Hannah Kent
God Clobbers Us All – Poe Ballantine
Rush Home Road – Lori Lansens
Revolutionary Road – Richard Yates
Secrets of the Tsil Café – Thomas Fox Averill
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet – Jamie Ford