More in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the ACFW Fiction Finder website Children’s/Middle-Grade Chapter Books: Charly’s Volcano by Lorisa D. Wiedenheft -- It’s the fall of 1993 in small-town North Carolina. Twelve-year-old Charly is in seventh grade and excited to be in junior high. But then her best friends start trying new things. Wya joins the basketball team, and June decides to be a cheerleader. Charly feels left out and can’t shake the anger simmering inside her. One minute she’s fine, and the next she’s blowing up at the people she cares about most.. (Children’s/Middle Grade, Independently Published) Contemporary Romance: Falling into Us by Denise Hunter -- When a reluctant woman travels to Gibson, NC to deliver her late mother’s final letter to the grandmother she’s never known, she strikes a deal with a widowed journalist seeking a career-making story—only to discover that healing old wounds might require risking their hearts. (Contemporary R...
A Taste of Fall Fall brings yellow, orange and red leaves, football, arts and crafts festivals and apple cider with mulling spice, which originated around 500 BC when the Greek Physician Hippocrates mixed wine with spices to treat various physical ailments. The Romans adopted the practice to mask spoiled wine and add flavor. By the Medieval Period the idea had spread to Northern Europe as a way to improve the taste of wine and promote health. Those in Victorian England used the spices for their drinks at holiday gatherings. There are many recipes for mulling spice. Here’s one given to me by a friend years ago. Mulling Spice Recipe Ingredients: 1 cup of sugar, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 ½ tsp. cloves, ¼ tsp. allspice. Enough equal portions of tea, apple and orange juice to make a gallon or half gallon of liquid. If making a gallon add four tablespoons of mulling spice. If making a half gallon, add two tablespoons. Mix the spice and liquid and heat in a pan on the stove, the microwave or a...