Jean Harkin's Blog - Posts Tagged "maren-anderson"

Her-stories at Multnomah Central Library

Five of the “Strongly Worded Women” whose stories appear in that anthology will tell their ‘stories behind the stories’ at the Central Multnomah County Library in downtown Portland, Sunday March 8, 2:30 to 3:30 pm. The presentation is superbly appropriate for Women’s History Month.

“Before, During and After the Pages: Writing Short Stories” will be presented by five of the eighteen women contributors to “Strongly Worded Women.” They will discuss their inspirations, writing processes, and paths to publishing. Ben Gorman, of Not a Pipe Publishing in Independence, Oregon, who published the anthology will discuss the evolution and creation of the “Best of the Year of Publishing Women.”

Presenters of their story backgrounds will be Lizzy Carney, Maren Anderson, Elizabeth Beechwood, Debby Dodds, and Chloe Hagerman. I was a contributing author of the anthology and plan to attend, with other co-authors and fans, to cheer and connect with our esteemed presenters.

This event promises to be free of political issues and anything “frightening” (the library’s stipulations!) So, have no fears of joining us at the Multnomah County Central Library, in the U.S. Bank Room, Sunday March 8, at 2:30 pm.

Copies of “Strongly Worded Women” will be available for purchase, as will some copies of the presenters’ own books.

Sunday March 8 is the first day of Daylight Savings, so set you clocks forward an hour.
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My Year of Books, and Goodreads to You!

I’m starting off the new book year and looking back to share some of my 2021 reading highlights with you. Maybe you’re looking for a short book or a long book, a popular one or one you’ve not yet read, a book by an Oregon author—or something else. Here we go:

I read 36 books in 2021, equaling 9,197 pages! My average rating was 4.3 stars; I gave 5 stars perfect ratings to about 12, so not such a grumpy critic, was I!

The shortest book I read was “The Catalog of Small Contentments,” 120 pages by Portland poet Carolyn Martin. The longest was best-selling “The Lincoln Highway” by Amor Towles. (576 pages.)

The most popular of books I read was “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro. Over one million readers on Goodreads shelved this book. The highest rated on my booklist was “The Point of Vanishing” by Portland-area author Maryka Biaggio.

All of my 36 books are reviewed on Goodreads; my first review of 2021 was “The Girl and the Bombardier” by Susan Tate Ankeny of Newberg, Oregon. I gave this book 5 stars. My last review of the year, also rating 5 stars, was “The Snow Child” by Alaska author Eowyn Ivey.

Other books I read in 2021 by Portland-area authors were “Claws for Concern” by Sheila Deeth, “One Long River of Song” and “Chicago” by the late Brian Doyle, “The Night Always Comes” by Willy Vlautin, “Fuzzy Logic” by Maren Anderson, “The Sound of Murder” by Cindy Brown, “Cat Conundrum” by Mollie Hunt, and “Where Lilacs Still Bloom” by Jane Kirkpatrick.

Happy New Year and Good Reading to All in 2022! If you’re browsing, take a look at the Writers’ Mill’s latest anthology, “The Floor Above,” available on Amazon. Profits go to the Portland-area Cedar Mill Library.
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