In 2023 I decided to transfer my reading records to The StoryGraph - I still use Goodreads for selected reviews, but I wanted a non-Amazon-owned place to keep records, mainly for myself. After a full year of using The StoryGraph, here's my assessment: What I like Clean and simple interface. Easy to keep track of … Continue reading My #StoryGraph Year
Though doing these lists is a lot of work, I value the opportunity to look back and reflect on my year's reading. Everything has a role to play, not just my favorites, and it's interesting to see the patterns that evolve as I read my way along. This year I made a conscious effort to … Continue reading 2023: My Year in Nonfiction
In the midst of my fiction and nonfiction review posts, I couldn't resist joining in with this Top Ten Tuesday topic, to share some of my favorite books of 2023. It was hard to pick only 10, so I somewhat randomly chose from my top reads of the year. I could do another one or … Continue reading Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite books of 2023
I'm celebrating the New Year by sharing my list of all the fiction books I read in 2023! As you can see, I read quite a lot of books from other countries, which was wonderful. These were some of my most memorable reads of the year and I can highly recommend most of them. I … Continue reading 2023: My Year in Fiction
Well, I tremendously enjoyed rereading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz this month. And here are the posts I found, please add yours in the comments if I missed it: Entering the Enchanted Castle Howling Frog Books Staircase Wit Puss Reboots The Book Stop Rosie Amber Literary Potpourri The Bookworm Chronicles Pages Unbound As a bonus, … Continue reading #Ozathon24: December Wrap-Up
Authors Publish Magazine has just posted an essay of mine that mused on the question: "Is an unpublishable book worth writing?" This came up in connection with my personal experience of writing an entire book I didn't feel able to submit for publication. Was that a waste of time? As I looked into the experiences … Continue reading Over at Authors Publish: Is an unpublishable book worth writing?
This poem was written after a retreat at the Alcyon Center in Maine some years ago. Walking their outdoor labyrinth brought me this experience of how confusion and disintegration can be transformed when we simply focus on our next step, one at a time. As we enter into the turning point of the year, in … Continue reading Labyrinth
Much as I love reading, L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz probably had a greater influence on me through the movie version, which I watched on TV every year -- this was before recordings made it easy to watch our favorite films at the touch of a button. It was a kind of … Continue reading #Ozathon24: Journey into the heart
I'd like to make an official announcement: my book When Fragments Make a Whole: A Personal Journey Through Healing Stories in the Bible will be published by Floris Books in February, 2024! Click on the title to learn more. From the publisher's description: In this candid and courageous book, Lory Widmer Hess describes her experience … Continue reading My Book: When Fragments Make a Whole
My poem "Announcement" has been published at Reformed Journal, and I thought a link would be an appropriate way to celebrate this festive season. This poem was inspired by a painting of the Annunciation that I saw at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston some years ago. I got to talk about a bit … Continue reading A poem and a painting for Advent: Announcement
