We’re excited!

George and Laura share the “unboxing” of two new books!

And we’ve officially got our first cozy mystery ready for your orders!

COVER STORY—Please, take a look at our Front Edge Publishing news this week. We’re just bursting with excitement over these two books that are coming soon. And, yes, you can pre-order both of them right now.

And please—would you also take a moment to do a good deed for our community of authors? After you read this Cover Story, would you share it with friends on social media or via email? Millions of readers love cozy mysteries. Please, help us share our excitement.

Holidays & Milestones

Memorial Day

Howard Brown on Memorial Day Memories:
How do our memories shape our lives today?

AUTHOR HOWARD BROWN shares a fascinating story about his father who served with U.S. forces in the liberation of Italy during World War II—and Howard asks a thought-provoking question about how our memories shape our approach to our communities, today.

Resources for a Memorable Weekend

HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS COLUMNIST STEPHANIE FENTON reports on the many ways families are celebrating this annual milestone, including helpful links to more than 200 recipes and ideas for family activities this holiday weekend.

In her column, Stephanie Fenton also mentions Pulitzer-Prize-winning Yale Historian David Blight, who has shared his research into the roots of American Memorial Day via PBS documentaries, books and magazines, rewriting our national memories of this observance to honor the courageous former slaves who first decided to honor our Civil War dead. We originally published this story in 2022, and thousands of readers continue to re-read this account of Blight’s work.

WANT TO SEE ALL OF THE UPCOMING HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS?—It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances. Just remember the web address: InterfaithHolidays.com

And more from our authors

Larry Buxton

Suffering Vines May Give Us the Best Wine

COLUMNIST LARRY BUXTON—author of 30 Days with King David on Leadership—shares a heart-felt column this week about the ways in which suffering can shape our lives. Larry draws on wisdom that the veteran New York Times wine columnist Frank Prial liked to share with his readers: “Grape vines must suffer to make good wine.” Larry and his wife recently heard that wisdom repeated during a European tour and it sparked this reflection of how much we can learn from those vines planted in hard-scrabble soil.

David Gushee

Our ‘Devastating Cultural Failure’

CHRISTIAN ETHICIST DR. DAVID GUSHEE—author of the new Introducing Christian Ethics—also addresses a deeply emotional issue in American life today in a column headlined, “Our weekly gun massacres mark a devastating cultural failure.” In this column, Dr. Gushee asks: “Where are the moral forces that once trained people in love of neighbor, the sacred worth of others and self-restraint? What is happening in the souls of people who decide mass murder is the best concluding act for their lives?”

Click on this movie poster to read Ed McNulty’s review of AIR, now streaming via Amazon.

Faith & Film

Click on this image to learn about the latest issue of Visual Parables Journal, which includes reviews and discussion guides for many current films.

ED McNULTY, for decades, has published reviews, magazine articles and books exploring connections between faith and film. Most of his work is freely published. Ed supports his work by selling the Visual Parables Journal, a monthly magazine packed with discussion guides to films. This resource is used coast-to-coast by individuals who love the movies and by educators, clergy and small-group leaders.

Here are some of Ed’s most recent free reviews and columns:

AIR—(Streaming) “In director Ben Afleck’s fifth film, the race is a heated one—a commercial race between three sneaker shoe companies: Converse, Adidas, and Nike.”
LET ME HAVE MY SON—(In theaters) “Writer/director Cristobal Kruson’s newest film is a fictionalized story of his own spiritual journey that centers on his son’s descent into mental illness.”
ON A WING AND A PRAYER—(Streaming on Amazon) “Sean McNamara’s film is based on a true story in which a seasoned pilot of a private twin-engined plane suffers a fatal heart attack.”
THE LOST KING—(In theaters) “That truth is sometimes more bizarre than fiction is well demonstrated in Director Stephen Frears latest film, a historical detective story.”
OPERATION MINCEMEAT—(Streaming on Netflix) “For those of us who missed 1956’s The Man Who Never Was, Netflix’s current film will introduce us to one of the great deceptions of WWII.”