Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Humor

The 2022 SOMERSET CIBAs Semi-Finalists for Literary and Contemporary Fiction
The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, magical realism, or women and family themes. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2022 Somerset Literary and Contemporary Fiction Short List to the 2022 Somerset Book Awards SEMI-FINALISTS. Entries below are now in competition for 2022 Somerset Finalists. The Semi-Finalists will compete for the Finalist positions. Winners will be selected from the Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2022 Somerset Book Awards novel competition for Literary and Contemporary Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
- Conon Parks – Everything That Was
- Michael Richard – Chosen’s Beautiful Heart
- Karla Huebner – In Search of the Magic Theater
- Maggie St. Claire – Into the Wind
- Vee Kumari – ANKANAM
- Linda Moore – Attribution
- Kathleen Stone – Tell Me You Love Me
- Datta Groover – The Reluctant Visionary
- Rebecca Miller – Touch
- Robert Tucker – The Discontent of Mary Wenger, Paper Dolls, Book 1
- Patricia Sands – The Secrets We Hide
- Meredith Berlin – Friends with Issues
- Frances Howard-Snyder – A Willow Cabin at Your Gate
- Julia Tvardovskaya – Identifiable
- Michael Chatlien – Northern Lights
- Julia Brewer Daily – The Fifth Daughter of Thorn Ranch: A Modern Ranch with an Ancient Secret
- Ellen Sherman – Into the Attic
- Fran Hawthorne – I Meant to Tell You
- Jeff Hartman – The End Of The War
- Leslie Kain – Secrets In The Mirror
- Patricia Averbach – Dreams of Drowning
- Tom Stewart – Immortal North
- Jeffrey Dale Lofton – Red Clay Suzie
- Brenda Stanley – The Still Small Voice
- John Hansen – Hired Hand
- Jo Deniau – Stiff Hearts
- Dianne C. Braley – The Silence in the Sound
- Maggie Smith – Truth and Other Lies
- Susan Lynn Solomon – Raising Kane
- Lynn Byk – The Fearless Moral Inventory of Elsie Finch
- Edward Pontacoloni – The Rookery
- Lee Bukowski – A Week of Warm Weather
- Betsy Withycombe – The Murder of Sarah Grosvenor
- Morgan Sloan – Scars and Honey
- Harriet Cannon – Exiled South
- Ann Marie Stewart – Out of the Water
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 Somerset Awards is Lies in Bone by Natalie Symons

Click here to see the 2021 Somerset Book Award Winners for Literary and Contemporary Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2023 Somerset Book Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The 2023 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2024.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2022 Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 27-30, 2023! Register Today!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 11th annual conference and discover why!
February 28, 2023
The 2022 SOMERSET CIBAs Short List for Literary and Contemporary Fiction
The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, magical realism, or women and family themes. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2022 Somerset Literary and Contemporary Fiction Long List to the 2022 Somerset Book Awards SHORT LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2022 Somerset Semi-Finalist. The Semi-Finalists will compete for the Finalist positions. Winners will be selected from the Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2022 Somerset Book Awards novel competition for Literary and Contemporary Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
- Conon Parks – Everything That Was
- Michael Richard – Chosen’s Beautiful Heart
- Karla Huebner – In Search of the Magic Theater
- Maggie St. Claire – Into the Wind
- Vee Kumari – ANKANAM
- Linda Moore – Attribution
- Kathleen Stone – Tell Me You Love Me
- Datta Groover – The Reluctant Visionary
- Ja-ne de Abreu – The Energy Inside Valsin’s Choices
- Rebecca Miller – Touch
- Grace Marcus – Visible Signs
- Robert Tucker – The Discontent of Mary Wenger, Paper Dolls, Book 1
- Patricia Sands – The Secrets We Hide
- Meredith Berlin – Friends with Issues
- Frances Howard-Snyder – A Willow Cabin at Your Gate
- Julia Tvardovskaya – Identifiable
- David B. Seaburn – Give Me Shelter
- Michael Chatlien – Northern Lights
- Julia Brewer Daily – The Fifth Daughter of Thorn Ranch: A Modern Ranch with an Ancient Secret
- Ellen Sherman – Into the Attic
- Fran Hawthorne – I Meant to Tell You
- Antonia Gavrihel – Back to One: Take 2 Ambient Light
- Karen Heenan – Coming Apart: A Novel of the Great Depression
- Jeff Hartman – The End Of The War
- Leslie Kain – Secrets In The Mirror
- Patricia Averbach – Dreams of Drowning
- Tom Stewart – Immortal North
- Jeffrey Dale Lofton – Red Clay Suzie
- Brenda Stanley – The Still Small Voice
- John Hansen – Hired Hand
- Jo Deniau – Stiff Hearts
- Drema Drudge – Southern-Fried Woolf
- Dianne C. Braley – The Silence in the Sound
- Maggie Smith – Truth and Other Lies
- Susan Lynn Solomon – Raising Kane
- Barbara Francesca Murphy – Lucina’s Letters
- Lynn Byk – The Fearless Moral Inventory of Elsie Finch
- Peter McDade – Songs By Honeybird
- Edward Pontacoloni – The Rookery
- Lee Bukowski – A Week of Warm Weather
- Betsy Withycombe – The Murder of Sarah Grosvenor
- Gloria Mattioni – California Sister
- Morgan Sloan – Scars and Honey
- Harriet Cannon – Exiled South
- Ann Marie Stewart – Out of the Water
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 Somerset Awards is Lies in Bone by Natalie Symons

Click here to see the 2021 Somerset Book Award Winners for Literary and Contemporary Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2023 Somerset Book Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The 2023 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2024.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2022 Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 27-30, 2023! Register Today!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 11th annual conference and discover why!
February 22, 2023
The Humor and Satire CIBAs 2022 Short List
The Humor and Satire Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Humor and Satire. The Humor and Satire Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring satire, humor, political ideology, parody, fantasy, and allegory or fable. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2022 Humor and Satire Fiction entries to the 2022 Humor and Satire Book Awards SHORT LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2022 Humor and Satire Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC23).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference–whether virtual, hybrid, or in-person.

These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2022 Humor and Satire Book Awards novel competition!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
- Reenita M. Hora – Operation Mom – My Plan to Get my Mom a Life and a Man
- David Bush – General Jack and the Battle of the Five Kingdoms
- Rob Roy O’Keefe – Small Stories: A Perfectly Absurd Novel
- Mike Murphey – The Outlaw Gillis Kerg … Physics, Lust and Greed Series, Book 4
- Matthew J. White – A Feral Chorus
- Daniel Eric Finkel – Mr. Taffle’s Pants of Insanity
- Dennis M. Clausen – One Flew Under the Bus
- Junior Burke – Buddha Was A Cowboy
- Steven Mayfield – Delphic Oracle, U.S.A.
- Mike Davis & TL Banks – Drunk Talk
- Marco Ocram – The Awful Truth About The Name Of The Rose
- Marco Ocram – The Awful Truth About The Herbert Quarry Affair
- Marco Ocram – The Awful Truth About The Sushing Prize
- Ben Bongers – The Saint Nicholas Society
- Micah Thorp – Uncle Joe’s Muse
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 Humor and Satire Awards is Roger Wilson-Crane for Certified

Click here to see the 2021 Humor and Satire Book Award Winners.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2023 Humor and Satire Book Awards. The 2023 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2024.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2021 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

Join us April 27 – 29th, 2022! Register Today!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 11th annual conference and discover why!

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at info@ChantiReviews.com.
January 31, 2023
The 2022 SOMERSET CIBAs Long List for Literary and Contemporary Fiction
The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, magical realism, or women and family themes. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2022 Somerset Literary and Contemporary Fiction entries to the 2022 Somerset Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2022 Somerset Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalist positions. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2022 Somerset Book Awards novel competition for Literary and Contemporary Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
- Conon Parks – Everything That Was
- Michael Richard – Chosen’s Beautiful Heart
- Karla Huebner – In Search of the Magic Theater
- Maggie St. Claire – Into the Wind
- Vee Kumari – ANKANAM
- Linda Moore – Attribution
- Kathleen Stone – Tell Me You Love Me
- Datta Groover – The Reluctant Visionary
- Theresa Griffin Kennedy – Talionic Night in Portland
- Ja-ne de Abreu – The Energy Inside Valsin’s Choices
- Rebecca Miller – Touch
- Grace Marcus – Visible Signs
- Robert Tucker – The Discontent of Mary Wenger, Paper Dolls, Book 1
- Patricia Sands – The Secrets We Hide
- Meredith Berlin – Friends with Issues
- Frances Howard-Snyder – A Willow Cabin at Your Gate
- Zubin Aibara – Gulliver’s Tramps
- J. F. Alexandria – Children of the Sun
- Julia Tvardovskaya – Identifiable
- David B. Seaburn – Give Me Shelter
- Michael Chatlien – Northern Lights
- Julia Brewer Daily – The Fifth Daughter of Thorn Ranch: A Modern Ranch with an Ancient Secret
- Ellen Sherman – Into the Attic
- Fran Hawthorne – I Meant to Tell You
- Antonia Gavrihel – Back to One: Take 2 Ambient Light
- Karen Heenan – Coming Apart: A Novel of the Great Depression
- John Nicholson – The Parables of Chance
- Terry Tierney – Lucky Ride
- Jeff Hartman – The End Of The War
- Leslie Kain – Secrets In The Mirror
- Patricia Averbach – Dreams of Drowning
- Tom Stewart – Immortal North
- Jeffrey Dale Lofton – Red Clay Suzie
- Brenda Stanley – The Still Small Voice
- John Hansen – Hired Hand
- Jo Deniau – Stiff Hearts
- Drema Drudge – Southern-Fried Woolf
- Dianne C. Braley – The Silence in the Sound
- Maggie Smith – Truth and Other Lies
- Susan Lynn Solomon – Raising Kane
- Barbara Francesca Murphy – Lucina’s Letters
- Lynn Byk – The Fearless Moral Inventory of Elsie Finch
- Peter McDade – Songs By Honeybird
- Edward Pontacoloni – The Rookery
- Lee Bukowski – A Week of Warm Weather
- Betsy Withycombe – The Murder of Sarah Grosvenor
- Gloria Mattioni – California Sister
- Morgan Sloan – Scars and Honey
- Matthew Marullo – Welcome To Opine
- Robert Steven Goldstein – Will’s Surreal Period
- Karen S. Bell – Like a Lily Among the Thorns
- Harriet Cannon – Exiled South
- Ann Marie Stewart – Out of the Water
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 Somerset Awards is Lies in Bone by Natalie Symons

Click here to see the 2021 Somerset Book Award Winners for Literary and Contemporary Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2023 Somerset Book Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The 2023 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2024.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2022 Chanticleer In’tl Book Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

IN-Person – April 27-30, 2023! Register Today!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 11th annual conference and discover why!
January 26, 2023
November SPOTLIGHT on the 2022 Somerset Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction

November brings insight, reflection, and contemplation of the state of affairs in which we find ourselves. As the year winds down, so, too, we reflect and ponder what we have done, who we are, and who we would like to be.

It’s a perfect time to curl up with a good novel, you know, the type that grabs you and lives with you long after you put it down.

This is why we celebrate novels that are literary, satirical, and contemporary. This is why we celebrate the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards – Somerset Literary Novels Writing Competitions.

We chose William Somerset Maugham because we love his work and love what he has to say about it:

“I am a made writer. I do not write as I want to; I write as I can… I have had small power of imagination… no lyrical quality… little gift of metaphor I had an acute power of observation, and it seemed to me that I could see a great many things that other people missed.” W. Somerset Maugham

W. Somerset Maugham was a British author who wrote plays and short stories and novels. He was a dashing and daring man who did not wish to follow the other men in his family to practice law. Imagine, an individual in the Victorian Era… He was born on January 25, 1874, in Paris (at the British Embassy) and died on December 16th, 1965, in Nice, France.

During the First World War, our Somerset proved his valor by serving with the Red Cross in the ambulance corps (remember his earlier medical training) and was recruited by the British Secret Intelligence Service right before the October Revolution in 1917.

Somerset dove into medicine and was fairly good at it until he wrote his first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897) and all bets were off. The book flew off the shelves and people were reportedly wrestling in the streets for copies to gift their loved ones. (*Creative license at work – however, you don’t know that this did not happen…) He was known to say, “I took to it (writing) as a duck takes to water.”

At the age of sixty-six, he had to flee with only a suitcase from the encroaching Nazis as they advanced across Europe. He escaped to England and then on to South Carolina, in the U.S. where he continued to work on the screenplay for Razor’s Edge. He moved to Hollywood and then eventually back to France.

Did we mention that W. Somerset Maugham was repudiated to be the highest-paid author of the 1930s?

It’s obvious why we chose Somerset to represent our Literary & Contemporary Fiction Awards!

Submit your novel or manuscript to our Somerset Awards today!

Here is a listing of the Somerset Book Awards Hall of Fame Winners!

The 2018 Somerset Award Grand Prize Winner was:

Hard Cider – a novel by Barbara A. Stark-Nemon

Abbie Rose Stone is a woman determined to follow her newly discovered dream of producing her own craft hard apple cider while navigating the ups and downs of family life with her grown sons and husband.

Abbie Rose knows how to deal with adversity, and dives headfirst into this new chapter of her life with energy and passion. She describes her early adulthood years of infertility struggles and the hardscrabble way she built her young family through invasive medical procedures, a surrogate attempt, and adoption barriers.

The 2019 Somerset Award Grand Prize Winner was:

The Proprietor of Theatre Life by Donna LeClair

Still in progress, we’re excited to review Donna’s book when it comes out!

The 2020 Somerset Award Grand Prize Winner was:

Gregory Erich Phillips for A Season in Lights

Gregory Erich Phillips’ A Season in Lights is a well-crafted, engaging exploration of creatives, each following their heart and trying to reach their dream.

Against backdrops of the 1980s AIDS crisis and the more recent COVID-19 pandemic, the story entwines the lives of a 30-something dancer and an older musician as they strive to make their artistic mark in the cultural capital of New York City.

Here in a two-fold unveiling, the story comes to life from the first-person perspective of Cammie, a starry-eyed aspiring dancer from Lancaster, PA, and the third-person reveal of Tom, a more seasoned black pianist. He longs for a classical career but is too often labeled a jazz musician. Cammie first encounters Tom in a studio dance class where he’s taken a job as the musical accompanist. Befriended by the gay dance instructor, Tom heeds the worldly advice offered about surviving in the Big Apple. “All you’ve got to do is convince people that you belong. You’ve got to tell them who you are before they tell you.”

The 2021 Somerset Award Grand Prize Winner was:

Lies in Bone Natalie Symons

A review of Lies in Bone is forthcoming. However, we know you’ll love this intricate story told with beautifully tight control. A mystery lies at the heart of this book that has the feeling of a grown-up To Kill a Mockingbird meets Serial Production’s S-Town Podcast. Highly Recommended.

Will your novel be recognized as the best of the best in the Somerset Awards for 2022? Find out!

Submit your work to the Chanticleer International Book Awards – today!

The last day to submit your work is November 30, 2022. We invite you to join us, tell us your stories, and find out who will take home the prize at CAC23 on April 29th.

As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your literary novel deserves! Enter today!

The SOMERSET Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards – the CIBAs.

The winners will be announced at the CIBA Awards Ceremony on April 29, 2023, which will take place during the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference. All Finalists and First Place category winners will be recognized, the First Place Winners will be whisked up on stage to receive their custom ribbon and wait to see who among them will take home the Grand Prize. It’s an exciting evening of dinner, networking, and celebrations!

First Place Winners and Grand Prize winners will each receive an awards package. Whose works will be chosen?

The excitement builds for the 2022 SOMERSET Book Awards competitions.

November 10, 2022
CERTIFIED by Roger Wilson-Crane – Family & Relationships, Humor, Modern Life

Certified by Roger Wilson-Crane is a multi-award-winning comedy-drama, following one man down three sharp turns in his life trajectory.

Based on real-life events, Certified shows the narrator’s birth, marriage, and death, three of the most significant milestones in human life. The book is divided into three sections.

“One Unexpected Birth” explores his flawed string of relationships until he meets Dawn, the love of his life. However, a woman from the past makes a comeback, threatening to shatter his newly found happiness.

“One Hapless Wedding” careens about his well-planned wedding in Puglia, Italy, which is trampled by Justin Timberlake who wants the same venue. “One Bizarre Death”, on the other hand, follows the loss of the narrator’s loved one and the pain and confusion that surrounds an unexpected death. Certified is full of humor, heart, and unexpected gems that one might find in a trunk of well-lived memories.

A work of depth, this story is carefully wrought with nuance and wisdom, serving up a worthy exploration of the human imperfections in our contemporary world.

With honesty and sensitivity, Author Crane makes this chronicle of a man’s choices inviting and restorative. Even with our best efforts and good support, the myriad attachments we develop over a lifetime, to desires, expectations, people, possessions, and ideas, all keep circling back to clutter the pathway and entangle us. Crane’s novel manages to give an empathic portrait of the struggle to break free and find peace.

Backstory weaves naturally with the narrator’s present life, making the plot easy to follow and understand. Dialogue and prose are well-balanced, working together to show the emotional depth of the characters. The most striking aspect of Certified is the quality of writing, which is original, fresh, and unique. Every word counts throughout the protagonist’s thoughts, emotions, and opinions on life.

With its stellar prose, the text introduces new characters along the way who are equally fleshed out.

Certified emphasizes the impact of small, seemingly insignificant moments on its characters, showing their capacity to change people and the world around them.

It takes natural talent for an author to make a fictional narrative appear to be a real-life story. Crane offers readers this rare experience, prompting readers to see themselves in the story. Themes of hope, heartbreak, loss, love, and change flow seamlessly, leaving no cliffhangers as they propel toward the end.

Overall, this is a tightly woven and intelligent comedy-drama that, despite its length, is compelling enough to binge-read in the course of a weekend. Comedy fans will enjoy Certified by Roger Wilson-Crane along with the heartfelt lessons that it imparts.

Certified by Roger Wilson-Crane won Grand Prize in the 2021 CIBA Mark Twain Awards for Humor and Satire Fiction.

November 7, 2022
OPERATION MOM: My Plan to Get My Mom a Life and a Man by Reenita Malhotra Hora – YA, Romance, Comedy

Master storyteller Reenita Malhotra Hora’s YA romance Operation Mom: My Plan to Get My Mom a Life and a Man takes us on a charming journey through the life of one teen, Ila Isham.

Hora introduces Ila and her best friend Deepali, two boy-crazy teens on a summer quest. Readers will fall in love with the smart, sassy, angst-filled, rebellious Ila. A typical teenage girl, Ila lives in Mumbai with her mom and Sakkubai, their house manager. Ila’s mother calls her obsessed, but that seems unfair. Is she obsessed just because her every waking minute is spent thinking of Ali Zafar, famous pop icon, singer, and heartthrob? Or is she obsessed with fellow classmate Dev?

No, Ila couldn’t be taken with Dev because he’s one of three young men that her best friend Deepali is juggling in her summer experiment of exploring her “feminine mystique.” This turn of phrase becomes just one of many opportunities for Hora’s humor to shine as Ila remarks, “That’s a book by Gloria Steinem . . . no Betty Friedan.” Deepali’s response? “Yaar. Don’t be so literal.” The delightful balance between Ila’s book smarts versus Deepali’s street smarts carries us through Hora’s expertly crafted story.

The two girls decide to help each other conduct their “summer experiments,” but for Ila to achieve her goal of meeting Ali Zafar, they must find a diversion to preoccupy Ila’s mom, Veena, a successful journalist, author, and intellectual.

The way to do that, they both decide, is to introduce her to a man who will sweep her off her feet. So sayeth the boy-crazy girls, and thus begins the antics of Ila and Deepali. Ila trusts and admires her best friend’s knowledge on the subject of romance, which is her biggest mistake, and with Deepali in charge, the two find themselves in constant mix-ups and fantastic situations.

To top it off, Dev, Deepali’s boyfriend “number three,” helps them create a dating app profile for Ila’s mom, but they give her the unlikely moniker “Venus” because no one uses their real names on these apps. When Ila begins fielding replies from prospective suitors, she finds she is out of her league—big time.

Enter Dev to aid and assist our hero. Ila’s attraction to the “unachievable” Dev is an impetus for her attraction to Ali Zafar, a more attainable target according to Ila. But Dev’s physical presence nags on Ila. Dev is there, and Ali is not. Yet, Dev was Deepali’s, so Ila, out of loyalty to her friend, pushes him away. The more he helps her, though, the more difficult that becomes.

Hora’s tale showcases what it is to be seventeen with a protective Punjabi mom – or any mom for that matter.

She captures the sometimes-difficult relationship between mother and daughter, friend and friend, husband and wife, and boy and girl. Her exploration of coming of age in a world filled with imperfect people is both humorous and heartfelt, and from beginning to end, we love her for her innocence, stubbornness, and intelligence.

This book will have you laughing out loud. It will keep you reading into the night to see what life has in store for these lovable characters who leap off the page and capture your heart and your imagination. Reenita Malhotra Hora’s novel, Operation Mom: My Plan to Get My Mom a Life and a Man, is a highly recommended and delightful five-star read.

September 9, 2022
DRUNK TALK by Mike Davis & TL Banks – Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Humor

Authors Davis and Banks have combined forces to create this humorous but practical look at how people think and why they act as they do.

The essential message of this satiric volume is that most people tend to nurse false notions about their lives and the universe in general – notions that the authors rapidly and thoroughly debunk. They take the stance of a drunk hanging out at a bar, hearing about everything that goes on in people’s minds. In forty-eight segments, various human problems are examined, derided, and substituted for what many readers will consider far more rational viewpoints.

Some issues raised seem trivial – “Celebrities” who do not, as might be supposed, get to enjoy their fame since the general attitude toward them is “shut up and entertain us or else.” Other matters are significant. One of the longer treatises focuses on “Gods,” with the authors asserting that God is merely an imaginary projection, and religion only a means of seeing and believing what people want, “even if it’s not real or makes no sense.” A true, non-superstition-based belief system would impel people to help others more and take full responsibility for their actions.

Science is also a target for this lively discourse, questioning, for instance, that since the Big Bang Theory “is only a theory,” why do people consider it an absolute happening? A repeated motif often placed at the ends of chapters is that we all have the option to “view the glass as half-empty or half-full,” to refill our glass, or even try the middle ground.

Davis and Banks, the creators of this highly unconventional, witty, and wise exploration of human nature, are professional wordsmiths who write with verve and intelligence, spiced with sardonic humor.

They invite readers to see the frailties and flaws in human nature, along with the potential for rational change. They have organized their work neatly, following their narrative segments with a lengthy list of “Drunken Quotes to Keep You Focused,” including such zingers as “Never stand underneath what you can’t lift,” and “Like pets, people are rewarded for being well trained.”

Their book propounds a general sense that one must ignore convention and avoid conformity to succeed. It is filled with thought-provoking concepts couched in curse words that, in their opinion, represent a break with “the ruling majority.” With its undeniably alluring title, this book can help readers organize their personal philosophies and adopt a new, more dynamic way of dealing with life’s thorny issues.

August 17, 2022
Part Two of The 2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards (#CIBAs) Overall Grand Prize and Division Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners
We are deeply honored and excited to continue to announce the 2021 Winners of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs) with our second of three official postings.

The winners were recognized at the CIBA ceremony held on June 25th, 2022 In-Person and broadcast live via ZOOM at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether, Bellingham, Wash.

The CIBA announcements were made LIVE with Chanticleerians flying in and watching from around the globe and North America.

We cheered on the CIBA winners with our drink of choice, whether in-person or Virtual!

Btw, Kiffer’s favorite Champagne!

We want to thank all of the CIBA judges who read each and every entry and then comment, rate, and rank within each of the 25 CIBA Divisions. Without your labors of love for books, the Chanticleer International Book Awards would not exist. THANK YOU!

We want to thank all of the authors and publishers who participated in the 2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards (the CIBAs). Each year, we find the quality of the entries and the competitiveness of the division competitions increasing exponentially. We added a new level to the judging rounds in 2021—the premier Level of FINALIST per each CIBA Division. The CIBA judges wanted to add the Finalist Level of Achievement as a way to recognize and validate the entries that had outstanding merit but were not selected for the very few First Place Award positions within each genre division.

This post will recognize the First Place and Grand Prize Winners for the Laramie, Chaucer, Goethe, Hemingway, Chatelaine, Mark Twain, and Somerset Awards.

For the Cygnus, Ozma, Paranormal, Global Thrillers, M&M, Clue, Little Peeps, Gertrude Warner, and Dante Rossetti Book Awards, please click here for Part 1.

For the Journey, Hearten, Nellie Bly, I&I, Mind & Spirit, Harvey Chute, Military & Frontline, Series, and Shorts Book Awards, place click here for Part 3

Coveted Chanticleer Blue Ribbons!

We are honored to present the

2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards

Grand Prize Winners

The 2021 CIBA Winners!

The LARAMIE Book Awards for

American, Western, Pioneer, Civil War, and First Nation Novels

The Grand Prize Winner is

TOM SAWYER RETURNS by E.E. Burke
- Chris Bennett – Road to the Breaking
- George T. Arnold – Wyandotte Bound
- Pamela Nowak – Never Let Go
- David Fitz-Gerald – The Curse of Conchobar: A Prequel to the Adirondack Spirit Series
- Glen Craney – The Cotillion Brigade: A Novel of the Civil War and the Most Famous Female Militia in American History
- T.K. Conklin – Outlaw’s Redemption
The CHAUCER Book Awards for

Pre-1750s Historical Fiction

Grand Prize Winner is

TOO SOON THE NIGHT by James Conroyd Martin
- John A. Martino and Michael P. O’Kane – Olympia: The Birth of the Games
- Janet Wertman – The Boy King
- Wendy J. Dunn – Falling Pomegranate Seeds: All Manner of Things
- Rebecca D’Harlingue – The Lines Between Us: A Novel
- Patricia Bracewell – The Steel Beneath the Silk
- James Hutson-Wiley – The Travels of ibn Thomas
The GOETHE Book Awards for

Post-1750’s Historical Fiction

Grand Prize Winner is

AFTER THE RISING by Orna Ross
- Ron Singerton – The Refused
- Drema Drudge – Victorine
- Lee Hutch – Molly’s Song
- Adele Holmes, M.D. – Winter’s Reckoning
- Mike Jordan – The Freedom Song
- Michelle Rene – Maud’s Circus
The HEMINGWAY Book Awards for

20th Century Wartime Fiction

Grand Prize Winner is

EO-N by Dave Mason
- Murray Pura & Patrick E. Craig – Far On The Ringing Plains
- Marian Exall – Daughters of War
- Marina Osipova – Too Many Wolves in the Local Woods
- Richard Alan Schwartz – The Soldier: A Novel of the Vietnam War Era
- Jerena Tobiasen – The Emerald, Book II of The Prophecy
The CHATELAINE Book Awards for

Romantic Fiction and Women’s Fiction

Grand Prize Winner is

THE LONG DESERT ROAD by Alex Sirotkin
- Deborah Swenson – Till My Last Breath, Book One in the Desert Hills Trilogy
- Valerie Taylor – What’s Not Said — A Novel
- Evie Alexander – Highland Games
- Tina Sloan – Chasing Cleopatra
- Kana Wu – No Secrets Allowed
- Emma Lombard – Discerning Grace
- John W. Feist – The Color of Rain
The MARK TWAIN Book Awards

for Humor and Satire

Grand Prize Winner is

CERTIFIED by Roger Wilson-Crane
- Charlie Suisman – Hot Air
- Elizabeth Crowens – Babs and Basil, and the Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles
- Lou Dischler – My Only Sunshine: Getting Straight with the Bomb
- Andy Becker – The Kissing Rabbi: Lust, Betrayal, and a Community Turned Inside Out
- Anne Pfeffer – Binge
The SOMERSET Book Awards

for Literary, Contemporary, and Mainstream Fiction

Grand Prize Winner is

LIES IN BONE by Natalie Symons
- Alex Sirotkin – The Long Desert Road
- Robert Gwaltney – The Cicada Tree
- Judy Keeslar Santamaria – Jetty Cat Palace Cafe
- Kent Politsch – Beebe and Bostelmann, a historical novel
- Douglas Green – A Dog of Many Names
- Barbara Linn Probst – The Sound Between the Notes
- M. J. Simms-Maddox – The Mysterious Affair at the Met
Congratulations to ALL!

We will email each winner with more information about their prize packages and more information.

Be sure to FOLLOW and LIKE us Facebook and on Twitter @ChantiReviews

Not seeing your Division? Try the links below!

For the Cygnus, Ozma, Paranormal, Global Thrillers, M&M, Clue, Little Peeps, Gertrude Warner, and Dante Rossetti Book Awards, please click here for Part 1.

For the Journey, Hearten, Nellie Bly, I&I, Mind & Spirit, Harvey Chute, Military & Frontline, Series, and Shorts Book Awards, place click here for Part 3

And the OVERALL GRAND PRIZE for the 2021 CIBAs!

Stay Tuned for Part 3 which will announce the Overall Grand Prize Winner!

We are now accepting entries into the 2022 and 2023 Chanticleer International Book Awards.

Click here for more information and submission deadlines: https://test.chantireviews.com/contests/

As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please email us at Chanticleer@ChantiReviews.com — We will try our best to respond within 3 business days.

Thank you for joining us in celebrating the 2021 CIBA Winners! – The Chanticleer Team
July 12, 2022
The MARK TWAIN 2021 CIBA WINNERS for Humor and Satire Fiction
The Mark Twain Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Humor and Satire. The Mark Twain Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring satire, humor, political ideology, parody, fantasy, and allegory or fable. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

The 2021 MARK TWAIN Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the MARK TWAIN Grand Prize Winner were announced by Lisa Dailey on Saturday, June 25, 2022 at the Hotel Bellwether and broadcast via ZOOM webinar.

This is the OFFICIAL 2021 LIST of the MARK TWAIN BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the MARK TWAIN Grand Prize Winner.

Join us in celebrating the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
- Anne Pfeffer – Binge
- Charlie Suisman – Hot Air
- Roger Wilson-Crane – Certified
- Andy Becker – The Kissing Rabbi: Lust, Betrayal, and a Community Turned Inside Out
- Elizabeth Crowens – Babs and Basil, and the Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles
- Lou Dischler – My Only Sunshine: Getting Straight with the Bomb
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 MARK TWAIN Awards is:

Certified

by Roger Wilson-Crane

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

Attn CIBA Winners: More goodies and prizes will be coming your way along with promotion in our magazine, website, and advertisements in Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards long-tail marketing strategy. Welcome to the CIBA Hall of Fame for Award Winners!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, for Facebook to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Facebook and Twitter handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

The 2022 MARK TWAIN Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC23 on April 29, 2023. Save the date for CAC23, scheduled April 27-30, 2023, our 10 year Conference Anniversary!

Submissions for the 2022 MARK TWAIN Book Awards are open until the end of November. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in August. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. We thank you for participating in the 2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards!
July 3, 2022