In Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious (2012), Chris Stedman tells his story-so-far -- he was only 23 at the time of writing -- to show that atheists and the religious should still be able to talk respectfully to one another. The first part covers Stedman's mostly religion-free childhood in a … Continue reading Engaging with atheism: Faitheist
In the latest issue of Authors Publish Magazine, there's a piece I wrote about the process of choosing a title for my forthcoming book: When a book I’d written chronicling my spiritual and healing journey was accepted by a publisher, I didn’t expect the process of publication itself to hold further spiritual challenges. Choosing a … Continue reading Over at Authors Publish: A Title Is Born
These "clubs" happen twice a year, each time focusing on books published in a particular year between 1920 and 1980 or so. It's always so interesting to read the variety of reviews! Thanks so much to Simon and Karen for hosting. I don't always manage to be organized enough to join, but this time I … Continue reading #1962Club: A Murder of Quality
During our fall break, we went to Meiringen in the Bernese Oberland -- a place we'd been wanting to visit for a while. Located beyond Interlaken, at the other end of the Lake of Brienz, it's a renowned destination for both skiing and hiking. It's also famous as the place where Sherlock Holmes met his … Continue reading Postcards from Switzerland: Meiringen
Literature I only finished five books this month, though one of them was actually four books in one. Then there were a couple of much-anticipated recent releases -- one of which I thought was worth the hype, and the other not. Some rereading, which brought me comfort and also a bit of discomfort. And a … Continue reading Month in Review: September 2023
In my last Make me read it poll, blog readers selected Sweet Bean Paste as the book I should read next, out of several that I'd recommended to the library. And I enjoyed it, but I find that I do not have much to say about it. It was a heartfelt little tale about prejudice … Continue reading You made me read it, and Around the World update
What? Prince Harry's royal tell-all Spare, a spiritual memoir? I admit that I did not initially pick it up as one. But as I read, it made me think about the role of royalty in regard to spirituality. For that alone, I decided to count it for my spiritual memoir challenge -- in the category … Continue reading Spiritual Memoir Review: Spare
I'm very pleased that I finished reading Krabat by Otfried Preußler this summer. Taking it slowly, one part per month, helped me get through and feel that I'd made a real step in German fluency. Here follows my summary of the third part in German and English, and some final thoughts in English. Nach Michals … Continue reading Krabat: The Third Year
Summer is over, and it's time to wrap up my 10 Books of Summer challenge. I packed my list with books I wanted to complete for various other challenges -- The #LoveHain readalong, #ReadingtheMeow in June, Read All Around the World, Spiritual Memoir Challenge, and StoryGraph Onboarding Challenge -- or that had been on my … Continue reading 10 Books of Summer / Summer in Other Languages Wrap-Up
The online magazine Motherwell, which describes itself as "telling all sides of the parenting story," has published an essay I wrote about reading to my son, titled "Why it's important to read aloud to our teenagers." Here's how it starts: “Mom, could you read to me?” Virus-ridden and miserable, my son was lying on the … Continue reading Over at Motherwell: Bringing back read-aloud time with a teenager
