It's Halloween, and that means it's the first day of Witch Week, a special time for fantasy lovers. This is a blog event I created in my first year of The Emerald City Book Review, and I'm delighted that Calmgrove and Lizzie Ross decided to take it over when I stopped. This year, the theme … Continue reading Witch Week begins!
Hooray, Nonfiction November is back! A mostly new team of hosts has taken on the blogging event that many of us look forward to all year. This week's topic is hosted by Heather of Based on a True Story. Week 1 (10/30-11/3) Your Year in Nonfiction: Celebrate your year of nonfiction. What books have you … Continue reading Nonfiction November: My year in nonfiction
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
