Blogs

In the world of dystopi­an fic­tion, two books have become the stan­dard-bear­ers for rad­i­cal­ly dif­fer­ent visions of soci­ety: 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Hux­ley. One is hailed as a chill­ing warn­ing of sur­veil­lance and total­i­tar­i­an­ism; the oth­er, a pre­scient cri­tique of con­sumerism and mind­less plea­sure. But what hap­pens when these two col­lide? Are we wit­ness­ing a bat­tle of ide­olo­gies,…

If you’re a fan of lyri­cal fic­tion, sto­ries about iden­ti­ty, grief, queer­ness, and the immi­grant expe­ri­ence, then chances are Mar­tyr! by Kaveh Akbar and On Earth We’re Briefly Gor­geous by Ocean Vuong are already on your radar—or your TBR pile. But which one hits hard­er? Which one lingers longer? Let’s dive into the beau­ti­ful messi­ness of both nov­els and see how they stack up.…

🎬 Introduction — Why Read All Fours and I Love Dick Side-by-Side? Fem­i­nist aut­ofic­tion has explod­ed into main­stream con­ver­sa­tion over the past decade, but Miran­da July’s All Fours (2024) and Chris Kraus’s I Love Dick (1997; re-issued 2006) still feel unique­ly com­bustible. July’s menopausal nar­ra­tor and Kraus’s younger avant-garde per­sona crack open desire, art-mak­ing, and domes­tic rebel­lion with wit and for­mal audac­i­ty. Read­ing the…

Frank Herbert’s Dune is more than a sweep­ing space epic; it’s a sur­vival man­u­al for the soul, a chron­i­cle of inter­nal con­flict cloaked in the robes of desert war­fare, polit­i­cal intrigue, and inter­stel­lar empire. Like Mar­tyr , Her­bert’s work explores the clash between exter­nal pres­sure and inter­nal trans­for­ma­tion, between des­tiny and self-deter­mi­na­tion, and between faith and fear. The Desert as Spiritual Terrain Arrakis—Dune—is not…

Tara Westover’s Edu­cat­ed took the world by storm with its grip­ping tale of resilience, self-dis­cov­ery, and the trans­for­ma­tive pow­er of edu­ca­tion. If you were cap­ti­vat­ed by Westover’s jour­ney from a sur­vival­ist upbring­ing to earn­ing a PhD from Cam­bridge, you’re not alone. Her sto­ry is more than just a memoir—it’s a tes­ta­ment to the human spir­it. If you’re crav­ing more reads that mir­ror the emo­tion­al…

Introduction His­tor­i­cal fic­tion lives or dies on plau­si­bil­i­ty. A nov­el­ist can pile on cliff-hang­ers and lyri­cal prose, yet if the era feels flim­sy, dis­cern­ing read­ers slip out of the sto­ry as sure­ly as pilots slip­ping across the Pyre­nees. Kristin Hannah’s The Nightin­gale (2015) claims a lofty ambi­tion: to illu­mi­nate the large­ly unsung wartime hero­ism of French women. How faith­ful­ly does the nov­el hon­or the…

Gre­go­ry Maguire’s Wicked is far from a tra­di­tion­al fan­ta­sy nov­el. While it draws inspi­ra­tion from L. Frank Baum’s The Won­der­ful Wiz­ard of Oz, Maguire’s work offers a much deep­er explo­ration of themes like moral­i­ty, pow­er, and iden­ti­ty. It rais­es crit­i­cal ques­tions about what it tru­ly means to be “good” or “wicked,” and whether such labels are fair or even rel­e­vant in a world full…

If you’re a fan of Jack Reacher’s no-non­sense, action-filled adven­tures, you’re like­ly always on the look­out for sim­i­lar books that deliv­er the same thrilling ride. Whether it’s the lone-wolf hero or the grit­ty, high-stakes mis­sions, there’s some­thing uni­ver­sal­ly com­pelling about a book that’s packed with sus­pense, action, and char­ac­ters you can’t help but root for. Below are some books and series that will keep…

Introduction Gary Paulsen’s clas­sic Hatch­et remains a rite-of-pas­sage read for many young adven­tur­ers. Bri­an Robeson’s bat­tle against the raw Cana­di­an wilder­ness speaks to some­thing pri­mal in all of us: the need to test our lim­its, to impro­vise under pres­sure, and ulti­mate­ly to dis­cov­er who we are when there’s no one left to lean on but our­selves. If you—or the read­ers you guide—have fin­ished those…

Chris­t­ian nov­els offer more than just engag­ing storytelling—they dive deep into the human expe­ri­ence, explor­ing themes of faith, grace, redemp­tion, and the endur­ing love of God. Whether you’re look­ing for spir­i­tu­al encour­age­ment, a thought-pro­vok­ing nar­ra­tive, or a cap­ti­vat­ing jour­ney of trans­for­ma­tion, the best Chris­t­ian fic­tion can leave a last­ing impact on your heart and mind. Here’s a roundup of some of the most beloved…