The Good Farmer and the Worried Donkey by Hanna Harrison

 Charlie is a small donkey who works for the miller, but he’s not the strongest and he sometimes makes the miller mad. When a farmer comes and takes Charlie to a beautiful farm, Charlie worries that if he disappoints the farmer, the farmer will no longer want him. But Charlie is in for a surprise, because his farmer is a Good Farmer who is patient, wise, understanding, and strong. Through both touching and humorous moments, Charlie learns about his special place on the farm and why he can trust the Good Farmer with his worries.

The Bible is full of references to seeds, wheat, and farming, but what do those stories tell us about the attributes of God? Or how can we learn to rely on God? In a time when anxiety rates among children are on the rise, The Good Farmer and the Worried Donkey uses a relatable character and a riveting story to bring biblical truth to life for kids and illustrate how we can cast our cares on God.

From Hannah Harrison, the author and illustrator of Christlit Book Award winning and ECPA bestselling The Good Shepherd and the Stubborn Sheep, The Good Farmer and the Worried Donkey is perfect for:

• children ages 4 and up
• family devotions and bedtime reading
• discussions about what it means to have a burden and a yoke, the meaning of the parable of the sower, and the importance of casting your cares on God
• Sunday school lessons and church libraries

• fall and harvest celebrations and gift giving occasions

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Amazon.com: The Good Farmer and the Worried Donkey: A Story About Finding Peace in God's Strength: 9780310163992: Harrison, Hannah E.: Books

Hannah E. Harrison is the author and illustrator of the Christlit Book Award winning picture book, THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE STUBBORN SHEEP. An Amazon and ECPA bestseller, the book was named Children’s Book of the Year by The Gospel Coalition and Christianity Today, and received an honorable mention from WORLD. Some of her other picture books include EXTRAORDINARY JANE, named a Kirkus Best Animal Book of the Year; BEAR IS AWAKE!, an Amazon Editors’ Pick; MY FRIEND MAGGIE, winner of the Bill Martin Jr. Award; and POOPSIE GETS LOST, which won the Redbud Read-aloud, Golden Sower, and Volunteer State Book Awards. Her books have also received numerous starred reviews and been included in book clubs such as Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the Junior Library Guild, Scholastic, and Amazon Book Box. Her illustrations are all hand-painted and have been selected repeatedly for The Society of Illustrators Original Art Exhibit. Hannah was born and raised in New Hampshire, but now lives in Oklahoma with her husband and two daughters.

Lower City by Alex Spring

 It’s October 2025 and Hamilton, Ontario is a city on edge—job insecurity, rising rents, and polarization combine in dangerous ways. When a series of abductions plunges the city into chaos, an unsuspecting hero arises: a young steelworker struggling to find his place in the world.

At twenty-six years old, Danny Clarke’s greatest concerns are: the Blue Jays World Series run, maintaining a friendship with his ex-girlfriend (and definitely not vying to win her back), and becoming a good man—or at the very least, figuring out what that means. In other words, he mostly cares about himself.

On a crisp October evening, during his break at the plant, Danny witnesses the abduction of Braden Steel CFO Jonathan Lean, his hands and feet bound as he’s dragged out of the office by three masked kidnappers. Capitalizing on the existing social tension in the city, the criminals begin terrorizing Hamilton, abducting one person per day in a twisted mission to form “the perfect family”—a play on Braden Steel’s motto, “Strong as steel, strong as family.” Jonathan will be the father, with more family members to follow, people whom the kidnappers blame for the city’s misfortune.

The criminals flood social media with harrowing images and clips of the hostages designed to go viral, and Danny and his two cousins, Priya and Kabir, can’t look away. As paranoia and panic take hold of Steeltown, the Clarke trio race to find the kidnappers and stop them before they can fulfill their ominous threat of making an example of their “family.” Galvanized by a newfound sense of purpose, Danny stops watching life from the sidelines and steps up to take responsibility for himself and others. Because, as he will learn, the only way to save the day is to grow up.

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Amazon.com: Lower City: A Novel (The Danny Clarke series): 9781039016675: Spring, Alex: Books

Alex Spring AKA JARED BLAND  is a writer, editor, and consultant who lives in Toronto and Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He is the former publisher of McClelland & Stewart and was a vice president of Penguin Random House Canada. He also served as the Arts editor of The Globe and Mail, a senior editor at House of Anansi Press, and the managing editor of The Walrus. In 2024, he founded Occasional Rain, a consultancy specializing in serving individuals and organizations in the creative industries.

We Wish You a Messy Christmas by Melody Carlson

 This Christmas, the perfect gift might just be learning to let go and love the chaos.

It's Christmastime, and Olivia Bradshaw is dating her childhood neighbor, veterinarian Malcolm McEntire. Life should be merry, but Olivia is worried about her mother Jane's reaction to this budding romance. Their families couldn't be more different. Perfectionist Jane cannot tolerate the unorganized, messy, fun-loving McEntires, and the thought of being permanently linked as in-laws will surely send her over the edge.

Desperate to save both Christmas and her romance, Olivia and her dad concoct an intervention to turn Jane's holidays into a big mess. But they barely launch their plan before fate intervenes with a serendipitous mess of its own.

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We Wish You a Messy Christmas: A Contemporary Christian Holiday Romance Novella with Forbidden Romance and Complicated Family Dynamics - Kindle edition by Carlson, Melody. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Melody Carlson has written more than 200 books (with sales around 6.5 million) for teens, women and children. That's a lot of books, but mostly she considers herself a "storyteller." Her novels range from serious issues like schizophrenia (Finding Alice) to lighter topics like house-flipping (A Mile in My Flip-Flops) but most of the inspiration behind her fiction comes right out of real life. Her young adult novels (Diary of a Teenage Girl, TrueColors etc.) appeal to teenage girls around the world. Her annual Christmas novellas become more popular each year. She's won a number of awards (including Romantic Time's Career Achievement Award, the Rita and the Gold Medallion) and some of her books have been optioned for film/TV. Carlson has two grown sons and makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and yellow Lab dog. To find out more about Melody Carlson, visit her website at http://www.melodycarlson.com/

Another 5 star must read Christmas novella from Carlson. I devoured this book in one sitting and loved every page.

Big & Lily by Lisa Roe

 A sharply funny, deeply heartfelt novel about two sisters who discover the best way to find yourself is by getting lost.

For her entire life, Bridget “Big” Ackerman Petty has struggled to hold everything together—her kids, her husband, her demanding mother, all in dizzying orbit around her. While the kids are grown and her husband is retired, every day still feels like a to-do list she can never quite finish. Why is everything so effortless and easy for her sister Lily—a woman blessed with a magnetic personality, a thriving business, and a husband who adores her.

But when Lily discovers her husband’s been cheating, her “perfect” life implodes. Devastated and overwhelmed, she decides to run as far away as possible: to Alaska to lose herself on a hardcore survival trek—and she’s dragged her reluctant sister Big along.

No cell service, no easy exits—just grizzlies, outdoor plumbing, and a group of strangers who know how to read a compass. As the sisters navigate freezing rivers, unmarked trails, and more than one near-death experience, the defenses they’ve used to protect themselves begin to crumble, and they’re forced to face everything they’ve spent decades avoiding: resentment, regret, envy, and the terrifying possibility that the other one’s life might not be as easy as it looks.

Big & Lily is a laugh-out-loud, emotionally rich novel about second acts, sisterhood, and the unexpxpected ways we find ourselves when we’re truly lost.

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Big & Lily: A Novel: Roe, Lisa: 9780063474918: Amazon.com: Books

After graduating from the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and spending many years as an advertising creative director and copywriter in New York City, Lisa Roe accepted the tougher job of stay-at-home mom and turned to writing fiction — mostly to entertain her kids, but then to tell her own stories. A classic first born, a reluctant empty nester, and a Dr. Doolittle wannabe, Lisa lives in New Jersey with her husband and three incorrigible dogs. She is the author of WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD and BIG & LILY.

The Fall Affair by Vi Keeland

 

Some people go to Tuscany to find themselves.
I went to escape—New York, my ex’s new relationship, and a career that derailed the moment I was passed over for partner.
My plan was simple: settle my eccentric Italian grandmother’s estate, sell whatever wasn’t nailed down, and return to the life I’d worked too hard to lose.
Instead, I walked into a mess—a crumbling antique shop, two hundred acres of leased vineyard land, and one infuriating clause in the will: Live and work in the shop for three months, or inherit nothing.
Then there’s the neighbor I clash with instantly. Matteo Lucchese is the infuriatingly handsome winemaker who leases my family’s land and refuses to be impressed by my credentials—or my attitude. He’s rugged and stubborn, stuck living in a time that has long passed us by, and the word rush isn’t part of his vocabulary. Basically, we’re exact opposites.
But as the days stretch into weeks, Tuscany chips away at the armor I didn’t realize I was wearing, and Matteo shows me the appeal of slowing down, of staying rooted, of wanting something other than climbing the corporate ladder.
I came to Tuscany to escape.
But now that the countdown to going home was on, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to leave.

And the life I was falling for came with a looming expiration date.

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The Fall Affair (Standard Edition): Keeland, Vi: 9781464293658: Amazon.com: Books

Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles are currently translated in twenty-seven languages and have appeared on bestseller lists in the US, Germany, Brazil, Bulgaria, Israel and Hungary. Three of her short stories have been turned into films, and two of her books have been optioned for movies. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.

Stop by and meet Vi in her private reader group, Vi's Violets, on Facebook!

Oh, my goodness, does anyone want to take me to Tuscany. After reading this book I to need to escape to Tuscany right away.
I have yet to read a Keeland book that I didn't devour in one sitting.
I Highly recommend this one. I am not going to give anything away. I loved listening to and reading along with this one. I loved the audio book so much great duet narration.
Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Tangled Weds by Callie Coles

 To the outside world, Sage Deverill has it all. In truth, her marriage is a gilded cage.

When Sage flees from her marriage at a crumbling Panamanian estate, she takes her young son to the only place that has ever felt like home: her grandparents’ estate in Newmarket, the beating heart of the racing world in the British countryside. Surrounded by ivy-clad walls, the kindness of her family and the thunder of hooves on the heath, Sage reconnects with the place, people and creatures she loves most.

Riding beneath the wide Suffolk skies, Sage encounters Rafe Dunbarton—an ambitious, intriguing racehorse trainer with a gentle soul. What begins as friendship soon becomes an irresistible pull between two people who never expected to find each other.

But just as Sage rediscovers her freedom, her past returns in a tangle of destruction and lies and she is forced to decide how much she is willing to risk for her future . . .

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Tangled Webs: A Novel (The Spinning Silks Saga, 1): Coles, Callie: 9780063579453: Amazon.com: Books

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Callie Coles is a British novelist whose love of animals, nature and family life in the countryside infuses her storytelling. Callie balances her life as a mother with her passion for writing and horses, sharing her journey through her Instagram and Substack, where she has a following of over one million. In addition to her work as a novelist, Callie has contributed to various publications and collaborated with several leading British brands. Her writing reflects themes of resilience, connection to the land, and the emotional bonds between people and animals, all set against the vivid backdrop of rural life. Tangled Webs is her first novel and the first installment in the Spinning Silks trilogy.

Codebreakers by Stella Sands

 Maggie Moore and Detective Jackson, the genius sleuths introduced in the brain-teaser mystery Wordhunter, are back to solve another crime.

Steamy, seedy, swampy south-central Florida once again serves as the backdrop for the unlikely duo of loquacious, tattooed, trash-talking Maggie Moore and laconic Detective Silas Gabriel Jackson―linguistic genius and genius detective, respectively. Now operating their own agency and using their extraordinary skills in forensic semiotics (her), and good old-fashioned observation (him), the pair decode clues embedded in words and symbols to uncover a sadistic criminal who preys upon unsuspecting men.

The troubled and painful pasts of both Maggie and Jackson come into play as they try to track down bad guys and old friends, figure out how to trust―and whom to love. Once again, Stella Sands delivers a snappy, sharp-tongued and well observed story about life, love, and language.

Pick up your copy here...                                                                                                                                     Amazon.com: Codebreakers: A Wordhunter Mystery - The Captivating Sequel Featuring a Puzzle-Solving Detective Duo: 9780063475359: Sands, Stella: Books

Stella Sands is the bestselling author of six true-crime books: Baby-Faced Butchers, The Dating Game Killer, Behind the Mask, Murder at Yale, Wealthy Men Only, and The Good Son. She is also the author of a children’s book, Odyssea, and many educational books, and served as the Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning magazine Kids Discover for nineteen years. She has appeared on numerous television shows, including People Magazine Investigates, ABC’s 20/20, and several episodes of Investigation Discovery. Her plays, Lou Passin’ Through, Black-eyed Peas, and E-me, have been produced in Off-Off Broadway theaters in New York City. Sands lives in Sag Harbor, New York.