Why am I passionate about this?

I write science fiction mostly. I’ve recently turned my attention to history. The shared interest is in the changing ground of human interaction. In a way, we are all aliens to each other (which is one of the chief fascinations with fiction to begin with, the psychologies involved). After 30-plus years as a writer, I am more and more drawn to work that reveals the differences and the similarities. Unique contexts throws all this into stark relief.


I wrote

Granger's Crossing

By Mark W. Tiedemann,

Book cover of Granger's Crossing

What is my book about?

St. Louis in 1780, a French village governed by the Spanish when the war for independence brings Americans to the…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Spare Man

Mark W. Tiedemann Why did I love this book?

Science fiction and mystery are in many ways kindred forms and when they are successfully combined, the results are marvelous.

The Spare Man is Nick and Nora Charles in space. A “closed spaceship” murder mystery with a great cast of characters and a plot Hammet would be proud of.

Tesla Crane, heiress and CEO of a major manufacturing company, is on her honeymoon with Shal, a retired security specialist, when a murder occurs practically in front of them. Of course they have to get involved.

But they’re on a ship heading for Mars and the staff and crew are only so helpful...

By Mary Robinette Kowal,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Spare Man as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hugo, Locus, and Nebula-Award winner Mary Robinette Kowal blends her no-nonsense approach to life in space with her talent for creating glittering high-society in this stylish SF mystery, The Spare Man.

Tesla Crane, a brilliant inventor and an heiress, is on her honeymoon on an interplanetary space liner, cruising between the Moon and Mars. She’s traveling incognito and is reveling in her anonymity. Then someone is murdered and the festering chowderheads who run security have the audacity to arrest her spouse. Armed with banter, martinis and her small service dog, Tesla is determined to solve the crime so that the…


Book cover of Rebecca

Mark W. Tiedemann Why did I love this book?

Novels written as contemporary narratives can age into historicals by the simple passage of time.

Rebecca is a classic and now can be read for the period as well as the fascinating mystery at the center of this, one of the best British manor house mysteries, psychologically intense, with a satisfying twist.

By Daphne du Maurier,

Why should I read it?

47 authors picked Rebecca as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

* 'The greatest psychological thriller of all time' ERIN KELLY
* 'One of the most influential novels of the twentieth century' SARAH WATERS
* 'It's the book every writer wishes they'd written' CLARE MACKINTOSH

'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . .'

Working as a lady's companion, our heroine's outlook is bleak until, on a trip to the south of France, she meets a handsome widower whose proposal takes her by surprise. She accepts but, whisked from glamorous Monte Carlo to brooding Manderley, the new Mrs de Winter finds Max a changed man. And the memory…


Book cover of The Galaxy, and the Ground Within

Mark W. Tiedemann Why did I love this book?

Not a mystery, but one of the finest science fiction novels about a subject not often encountered in SF:  kindness.

A group of travelers arrive at a way station, each on their way elsewhere, when a catastrophe strands them. None of them are human, they are all aliens, and they default to helping each other, and by the end friendships are forged.

Chambers is amazing at exploring the heart of cooperation and recognition. Their are tensions born of mutual ignorance, but the default here is to figure the problems out and build. Refreshing. 

By Becky Chambers,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Galaxy, and the Ground Within as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR AND HUGO AWARD WINNER FOR BEST SERIES. Winner of The Kitschie Red Tentacle for Best Novel.

The stunning finale to the award-winning Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers, author of the beloved The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.

When a freak technological failure halts traffic to and from the planet Gora, three strangers are thrown together unexpectedly, with seemingly nothing to do but wait.

Pei is a cargo runner at a personal crossroads, torn between her duty to her people, and her duty to herself.

Roveg is an exiled artist, with a deeply…


Book cover of Bannerless

Mark W. Tiedemann Why did I love this book?

An elegant mystery set in a near-to-partly-cloudy future. In the wake of some sort of apocalypse, communities have rebuilt.

In the Coast Road region, a sustainable civilization based on careful attention to quotas and mutual regard would seem an idyll of peaceful coexistence.

And yet. Enid is an investigator, called upon at times of uncomfortable questions.

She and her partner are called to look into a suspicious death. The buried realities encountered reveal a less-than-ideal picture of communities coping with things that do not fit with their presumptions.

A quiet mystery built atop a fascinating portrait of What Comes Next. I was drawn to the characters, the situation, but most especially the questions hovering just outside the confines of the story.

By Carrie Vaughn,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Bannerless as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE PHILIP K. DICK AWARD

A mysterious murder in a dystopian future leads a novice investigator to question what she’s learned about the foundation of her population-controlled society

Decades after economic and environmental collapse destroys much of civilization in the United States, the Coast Road region isn’t just surviving but thriving by some accounts, building something new on the ruins of what came before. A culture of population control has developed in which people, organized into households, must earn the children they bear by proving they can take care of them and are awarded symbolic banners to demonstrate…


Book cover of There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness: And Other Thoughts on Physics, Philosophy and the World

Mark W. Tiedemann Why did I love this book?

A quantum physicist encounters the world outside science.

A touching collection of essays by one of the best science writers today, Rovelli examines the interface of critical thinking, science, and life as lived daily by ordinary humans.

Rovelli has become one of my favorite science writers, but it is his humanity on display in these pieces. 

By Carlo Rovelli,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One of our most beloved scientists, a fearless free spirit, Carlo Rovelli is also a masterful storyteller. In this collection of writings, the logbook of an intelligence always on the move, he follows his curiosity and invites us on a voyage through science, literature, philosophy and politics.

Written with his usual clarity and wit, these pieces, most of which were first published in Italian newspapers, range widely across time and space: from Newton's alchemy to Einstein's mistakes, from Nabokov's butterflies to Dante's cosmology, from travels in Africa to the consciousness of an octopus, from mind-altering psychedelic substances to the meaning…


Explore my book 😀

Granger's Crossing

By Mark W. Tiedemann,

Book cover of Granger's Crossing

What is my book about?

St. Louis in 1780, a French village governed by the Spanish when the war for independence brings Americans to the Mississippi. Young Ulysses Granger finds his best friend’s body in the aftermath of battle. It is clear that this was murder and Granger is determined to find the killer. Before he can, he meets Martine, who captures his imagination. And then he is called away by duty. Three years go by before he can return. When he does, he has two missions—find his friend’s murderer and renew, if possible, his relationship with Martine.

Book cover of The Spare Man
Book cover of Rebecca
Book cover of The Galaxy, and the Ground Within

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,163

readers submitted
so far, will you?

You might also like...

Raising an Entrepreneur: How to Help Your Children Achieve Their Dreams - 99 Stories from Families Who Did

By Margot Machol Bisnow,

Book cover of Raising an Entrepreneur: How to Help Your Children Achieve Their Dreams - 99 Stories from Families Who Did

Margot Machol Bisnow Author Of Raising an Entrepreneur: How to Help Your Children Achieve Their Dreams - 99 Stories from Families Who Did

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve become passionate about telling parents how to raise happy, resilient, creative, confident, entrepreneurial children who are doing something that gives them joy. So many young people are unhappy; parents don’t understand how to help. They think their children should follow their path, but that no longer works for many. For the last 10 years, I’ve been speaking to parent groups; I was an Advisor to EQ Generation, an after-school program that gives children the skills to succeed; on the Advisory Board of MUSE School, preparing young people with passion-based learning; and on the Board of Spark the Journey, mentoring low-income high school students to achieve college and career success. 

Margot's book list on learn how to raise confident children

What is my book about?

This book shakes longstanding assumptions of parenting.

Through 99 stories of people who are now changing the world, it shows how to raise creative, confident, resilient children who are filled with joy and purpose. Based on interviews with top entrepreneurs and their parents, it guides you to help your children identify their passion and figure out how they can spend their professional lives doing something they love. 

Parents' well-intentioned efforts often boomerang. By ignoring their children’s skills and interests, parents can inadvertently create pressure and anxiety, thwarting their children's ability to excel and find happiness. Too often, following your heart…

Raising an Entrepreneur: How to Help Your Children Achieve Their Dreams - 99 Stories from Families Who Did

By Margot Machol Bisnow,

What is this book about?

Learn how successful entrepreneurs were raised! Could your children start a company that disrupts existing industries? Or a non-profit that helps people around the world? Or follow their passion as an artist or activist? And most important, lead a life of joy and purpose, to be happy and fulfilled? Margot Machol Bisnow, mother of two thriving entrepreneurs, reveals how to raise creative, confident, resilient, fearless kids who achieve their dreams, through 99 stories of families who did it.

Read stories from 70 families who raised true game changers. See family photos of these thriving entrepreneurs, both when they were young…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in romantic love, presidential biography, and London?

Romantic Love 943 books
London 862 books