Silver City author Bill Charland has had his ninth book published and will be conducting readings from it that are free to the public.

His latest novel, Tenuous State: A Tale of Survival in the West, is an action/adventure story that revolves around a young professor, and newly appointed dean, serving at a small university in the Southwest. The story probes the real world of today's higher education in a setting involving mystery and romance.

Charland, who entered the field of higher education as a graduate student in 1961 and left it when he retired from a part-time position in 2011 from Western New Mexico University, brings his long view of higher education to this, his third novel. During those 50 years he developed a reputation as a careers specialist, working for several years as a nationally-distributed columnist for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colorado, and writing six books on the subject, including Life-Work and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Changing Careers.

Tenuous State book readings are scheduled for 6 p.m., Thursday, July 14 and July 28 at the Little Toad, 200 N. Bullard Street in Silver City, at WNMU's Miller Library at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 10, and at the Silver City Public Library at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 7.