My cmnt: A novel I would recommend is Borrowed Time by John Nolte published in late 2023 or early 2024. This novel evidences a Judeo-Christian worldview w/o being a distinctly “Christian” novel. I have read it and it is a fast and entertaining read with unique and imaginative story lines. The language of some of its characters may be offensive to some people and it does contain some gruesome depictions of some rather depraved people. So caution is recommended as it is written for mature audiences.

Film Critic Sasha Stone Praises John Nolte’s ‘Borrowed Time’: An ‘American Masterpiece’

By WARNER TODD HUSTON – 26 Oct 2023 – Breitbart News

Sasha Stone, a film industry critic and chief of the popular film awards website Awards Daily found herself transfixed by John Nolte’s new novel, Borrowed Time, an adventure she calls an “American masterpiece.”

Stone, who has worked as a journalist for such publications as Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Wrap, posted her review of Nolte’s novel at her “Free Thinking” Substack, in which she writes: “John Nolte’s debut novel about love, immortality and faith is a winner.”

Stone, who describes herself as a “former Democrat and Leftist who escaped the bubble to get to know the other side of the country and to take a more critical look at the left,” noted that Nolte’s novel is not a “right-wing political screed,” but is instead a novel “about love, immortality and faith.”

She found herself transfixed by Nolte’s story and insisted that the work was a “distant call from the past, back to the days when stories were meant for everyone when we would all share the plight of characters so real we could almost reach out and touch them.”

“Nolte has said he didn’t want to write anything political. It’s not a seething indictment of the Left (although if you read between the lines…) or ‘cancel culture’ or anything like that. Its value is that it exists far outside the squabbling of our daily lives,” Stone writes.

Indeed, Stone told her readers that she rarely bothers with literary fiction anymore because they are all so textbook, rote, left-leaning screeds that have jettisoned telling a story in favor of pushing a narrative and bending every character and every scene to that agenda. However, Nolte’s novel is not patterned as just a political mirror image of the currently “approved” left-wing template being published these days.

“Borrowed Time is a love story. It’s a horror story. It’s a near-future, dystopian fiction story. It’s as much about Nolte himself as it is about our modern world. It is about his peculiar perspective as an outsider observing every horrible and great thing humans have manifested. And it is about faith,” Stone gushed.

“It is as grotesque at times as it is tender. It is horrific, and it is beautiful. It dwells in that binary as a story about the good vs. evil in our world and ourselves,” she said. “It is a book for everyone, not just a select few.”

“But ultimately, this is a human story. If you are uncomfortable with religion, parts of it might not resonate. And, if you aren’t comfortable with graphic depictions of violence or curse words, you might have a tough time getting through some of it,” she wrote.

Stone said she felt “safe” in Nolte’s hands as a writer: “It’s one of those books that expands outward as it goes along, from the desert to Washington DC, from the past all the way into the future. It tells us what is eternal and what is only fashionable for a moment. ”

“Borrowed Time soothed my aching heart in many ways,” she exclaimed. “It made me think about the things that really matter in life and the things that don’t. It made me think about true love, about finding one person to spend your life with – something that has always (and probably will always) eluded me. And it made me think about death, about why we need to believe there is a hereafter because, without it, life becomes unbearable.”

“What you take away from it will depend on what you believe about your own fate… I highly recommend Borrowed Time,” Stone concluded.

You can buy Borrowed Time for your collection here, or the audiobook here.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, or Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston

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My cmnt: Here’s another review of the book.

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Book Review: Borrowed Time, An American Masterpiece

John Nolte’s debut novel about love, immortality and faith is a winner

My cmnt: You can read her review of this book here.

SASHA STONE – OCT 20, 2023

My cmnt: I have not read any of the One Lincoln books listed below from the LJS. The brief reviews look interesting but I doubt that any of these works comes from an author holding a Christian worldview.

The three books come from the 71 titles nominated by community members, which a committee of 15 members narrowed to 10, then three. Now, community members are encouraged to vote for their favorite until Aug. 31, and the winner will be the top featured book in the 2024 reading program.

“We look forward to receiving votes throughout the summer and learning which book our community selects as their One Book One Lincoln shared community read,” said Ryan Wieber, Lincoln City Libraries director.

Allysa Diehl, the chairperson of the One Book One Lincoln committee, said there is something for everyone within these three books.

“I really think there’s just nice variety in the top three,” she said. “Lots of different stories, but really great writing.”

“The Berry Pickers,” a debut novel written by Amanda Peters, is a national bestseller, 2023 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize Winner and winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. The book takes readers through the nearly 50-year-old unsolved mystery of a missing 4-year-old girl from the blueberry fields of Maine.

Hanif Abdurraqib’s essay collection, “A Little Devil in America,” is the first collection to be featured in the One Book One Lincoln competition. The collection is a finalist for the National Book Award and Pen/Diamonstein-Spielvogel award, winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal and the Gordon Burn Prize, and one of the top 10 best books of the year, according to the Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer and more.

Diehl said some committee members paused their reading to research certain parts of the story, learning about multiple generations through stories of different centuries, all encompassed in one book.

“North Woods” by Daniel Mason is the story of a house in the New England woods, told by the many inhabitants who have lived there over many centuries. The book is a national nestseller, a New York Times and Washington Post top 10 book of the year, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and one of the best books of the year, according to Time, NPR, The Boston Globe and more.

All three books are available in print, audio and e-book formats and can be borrowed from the library through its catalog.

This event has been held annually since 2002, letting Lancaster County residents connect through reading the same books and discussing them together.

“What we’re looking for are books that have good writing and opportunities for lively discussion,” Diehl said.

Community members are invited to begin nominating