Lory Widmer Hess

Just remembered the Four Quartets connection that was so intriguing with the first three books but didn't come up in this discussion -- thoughts?

Books read in February @thestorygraph.com

Left naked Second week of Lent, 2026

Sharing some reflections on Psalm 22, Sacred Reading project for Lent.

Yes, they are so beautiful! I agree, let's drop "lime" and use "linden" to avoid confusion.

Longing for an answer First week of Lent, 2026

Starting a Lenten study on the Sacred Reading Substack, with a slow read of Psalm 22.

Actually I believe "lime" is the correct translation for linden/tilleuel, but it is a confusing name (it's not the citrus fruit). I had never seen the actual trees till I came to Switzerland, where there are lots. My husband's family lives on Lindenstrasse.

What books from independent publishers have you read lately?

Reading as resistance Sacred Reading Newsletter, February, 2026

My latest post on the Sacred Reading Substack, with a nod to @eightdaysofdiana.bsky.social
sacredreading.substack.com/p/reading-as...

Yes, it was necessary and so worthwhile! I look forward to your episodes, can't wait for the next one to drop. Four hours is not too long.

I read some of these an adult but second the votes!

Cover collage of 10 books

My January reading - see full reviews on The StoryGraph.
#BookSky
app.thestorygraph.com/books-read/4...

Looking back and ahead Twelve years ago, I had moved from a community where I had many acquaintances and cultural activities to a much more rural, isolated place. That's when I started blogging, purely on a whim -- but it quickly became a lifeline for me. This blog and my previous one, The Emerald City Book Review, helped provide the intellectual stimulation to balance out my hands-on daily work of caregiving.

Looking back and ahead - In gratitude for twelve years of blogging

This sounds like a wonderful event!

Ring out the old, ring in the new As I enter my annual blog break over the twelve nights of Christmas, here's a favorite poem - an excerpt from Tennyson's In Memoriam. The first two stanzas are the ones I knew and loved as a child, but as I read the whole passage, I think how applicable it is to our time. Faithless coldness, false pride, party strife...can we really ring them out, and ring in a better future?

Ring out the old, ring in the new...taking a break to reorganize, and wishing you a happy New Year

My top fiction reads of 2025 As I did with nonfiction, I'm listing my favorite novels and short story collections read this year. It's quite an interesting selection! Have you read any of these, or would you like to? What were your books of the year? Little by Edward Carey - Finished February 15. I had no idea of the history behind Madame Tussaud’s wax museum in London -- but this fantastical grotesque novel brought Madame T.

Favorite fiction of 2025

@bookstodon@a.gup.pe
#BookSky

Month in Review: November 2025 What I read this month Despite Nonfiction November, I read only one nonfiction book this month! It was a good one, though...and so were many of my fiction reads. The Collected Enchantments by Theodora Goss Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather - Reread Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman…

November reading in review at Entering the Enchanted Castle

@bookstodon@a.gup.pe
#BookSky

Nonfiction November: My top ten of 2025 I did not manage to keep up with the weekly themes for Nonfiction November this year, but I enjoyed browsing others' posts, and I want to thank all the hosts: Heather – Based on a True StoryFrances – Volatile RuneLiz  – Adventures in Reading, Running and Working from HomeRebekah – She Seeks NonfictionDeb – Readerbuzz At the tail end of the month, I'm chipping in by listing ten of my favorite nonfiction reads this year.

#NonficNov - My top ten nonfiction reads of 2025
@bookstodon@a.gup.pe
#BookSky

An Advent Study Series At my Sacred Reading Substack, I’ve just announced plans for a special study to take place during the season of Advent, starting tomorrow. We’ll work with the three stories from the Gospels in which Jesus raises someone from the dead — stories I found extremely transformative in my own life. I want to explore them from a universal point of view, so please feel invited, whatever your faith tradition may be (or none). If you’re interested, find the details at this post: Hoping some of you will consider joining us!

An invitation to join a community exploring reading as a sacred practice.

Month in Review: October 2025 What I read this month This month, I achieved a perfect balance between fiction and nonfiction - seven books each. However, fiction won big in terms of my ratings, aided by a reread of a favorite series (the Complete Earthsea), two new-to-me books from a favorite author (see below), and a forthcoming short-story collection by an author who seems set to become a new favorite (my review soon to come on Shiny New Books).

Month in Review: October 2025
Coming back to Willa Cather, some books that were not what I expected, and an upcoming writing conference

#BookSky
@bookstodon@a.gup.pe

Postcards from Switzerland: Lower Engadin The Engadin, the valley of the En or Inn river in Eastern Switzerland, is, so far, my favorite region of the country -- I previously shared photos from a trip to the Upper Engadin. In early October this year we planned to visit another part of the valley where we'd not yet been. I was very excited as the time approached, but also apprehensive; I had not reckoned on the fact that fall weather in that region was likely to be cold, stormy, even snowy...

Postcards from Switzerland - Lower Engadin

#1925Club: The Professor’s House I keep meaning to read through my Library of America edition of Willa Cather's work, catching up on her novels and stories I've not yet read, because everything I have read has been marvelous -- but somehow, I never get around to it. Therefore I'm very glad the latest "club week" hosted by Simon and Karen inspired me to read…

#1925Club - The Professor's House, another brilliant work by Willa Cather
@bookstodon@a.gup.pe
#BookSky

Month in Review: September 2025 Fall weather is in the air; we're just about to leave on a trip to the mountains for a few days, and I hope we won't be rained or fogged or snowed in! But if we are, I'll be sure to bring along plenty of reading material. Here's what I polished off this month: What I read in September: The Woman Who Borrowed Memories…

September reading in review: A foodie leaving New York for the country, a nun leaving her convent, Jane Austen's foremothers, and more.
#BookSky
@bookstodon@a.gup.pe

Do you ever write to writers? When I was a child in school, I was never assigned the task of writing to an author -- thank goodness, as such mandated correspondence is the dullest and most pointless kind. However, I did once write to the favorite author of my adolescence, Robin McKinley, and she not only answered with a real letter, which she sat down and typed on official stationery in her publisher's office (this was 1984), but sent me a copy of a book of hers I had not been able to find, not yet having access to online bookstores.

Do you ever write to writers?
#BookSky
@bookstodon@a.gup.pe

The Enchanted Circle: September 2025 Musings and News from Lory

The latest musings and news from me. A birthday adventure, a prophetic publication, and a work of art narrowly saved from destruction.

S2 Bonus Episode 1 - With Farah Mendlesohn by @Rebecca Fraimow and Emily Tesh The thing we must notice is frequently identified by what is not described or told or explained. In our first Season Two bonus episode, Farah Mendlesohn -- who literally wrote the book on Diana Wynne...

for the first of our S2 bonus episodes, we had the absolute joy of talking with critic and historian @effjayem.bsky.social for an hour and a half about historical context, book-hunger, and DWJ as a critical writer of critical texts

zencastr.com/z/MEQO-ixY

It's been fun to meet you in this literary blogworld. I blog less and use social media way less since I left Facebook. But I still hope to stay connected here and on Shiny. And I want the news about your book!

Month in Review: August 2025 As I reported last week, reading books by women in translation was something I wanted to do this summer, and I did it! Four of those were in August, plus one by a man in translation (I had been confused), and three mysteries. I do seem to gravitate to those in the summer. What I read this month Temple Alley Summer…

Month in Review: August 2025

@bookstodon@a.gup.pe
#BookSky

Women in translation and ten books of summer I aimed to read women in translation this summer (August is earmarked as #WITMonth), and I did read quite a few. I'm happy I got to meet so many new-to-me authors, and revisit a couple of favorites, but regret the lack of diversity in my list. I need to branch out beyond Europe and Japan! Next year I'll make that a priority.

Women in Translation and Ten Books of Summer
#WITMonth
#20BooksofSummer
@bookstodon@a.gup.pe
#Booksky

What Is Sacred Reading? What is the practice of sacred reading? This episode offers a brief overview of the origins and form of the practice, which is rooted in the monastic tradition of lectio divina. The four movements or steps of the practice are described: read, reflect, respond, and rest, and some suggestions and resources for further exploration are given.

📣 New Podcast! "What Is Sacred Reading?" on @Spreaker #contemplative #practice #reading #sacred #spiritual

It's a horror book, isn't it? Not really for children at all, I'd say. And oh, that ending! I was so confused when I read it, probably around age 18. Only after I had nearly gotten divorced (but didn't) could I even start to understand the power of Nowhere.