The Shape of Words

This week in the #100Daysof Notebooking Facebook page, Cathy Hutter shared this poem from Sean Thomas Dougherty on her notebook page. 

Why Bother?

Because right now there is someone

out there with 

a wound in the exact shape

of your words.

~Sean Thomas Dougherty

It made me wonder if our words could be shapes, what would they be? What would be their purpose? This is my thinking and my hope that our words can heal, bring hope, and offer peace.

The Shape of Words

May my words 
be a circle
to wrap around you

and hold you tight

during those times

you are falling apart,

a squiggly line
to remind you to laugh
on days you want to cry,

an arrow

to gently lead you 

in another direction

when you may have lost your way,

a semicircle

to encourage you 
to open your arms 

and welcome the invitation

to breathe,

to love,
to live.

I offer you my words;

may they be the shape

you need

in this moment

of life.

I’m joining an open community of writers over at Sharing Our Stories: Magic in a Blog. If you write (or want to write) just for the magic of it, consider this your invitation to join us. #sosmagic

#MustReadin2022 Challenge Book List

 

I love reading challenges even though I am not always successful at them. But I guess that is why they are called "challenges," huh?

My #MustReadin2022 list is comprised of books that I have on my shelf or in boxes at home. And of course, this list is only part of what is in those boxes or on those shelves!

I have narrowed my list down to twelve - some new, some old; some adult, some middle-grade; some fiction, some nonfiction, but all unread.

Brave in the Woods by Tracy Holczer

Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk

Linked by Gordon Korman January 17th

 

Greenlights by Matthew Mcconaughey

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig  January 8th

Unbroken by Laura Kilenbrand

Pax, Journey Home by Sara Pennypacker

Pony by R.J. Palacio

Up for Air by Laurie Morrison

The Captive Kingdom by Jennifer Nielsen

Rivals by tommy Greenwald

From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks

Titles from #MustReadin2021 that I did not get to yet still want to read.

Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly

The Fountains of Silence by Rua Sepetys

Code Word Courage by Kirby Larson

We Had to be Brave by Deborah Hopkinson

Pride by Ibi Zoboi

Captured by Alvin Townley

My one little word for 2022 is invite. I know I need to invite reading back into my life, and I am hoping this challenge will inspire me to pick up a book instead of my phone. I invite you to do the same!

#MustReadIn2022 Round-Up

 

Does this picture look familiar? Are your book stacks tumbling over or piling up?

If you answered yes to either of these questions, then you might want to join us for the #MustReadIn2022 reading challenge. For this challenge, you take a look at the books you wanted to read in 2021, but for whatever reason, did not get to them.  You then make your own personal list of books you want to commit to reading in 2022. 

The best part about this challenge is that there are no rules - just reading for fun and tackling titles that are tumbling in your stack. There is no set number of books to read, and books can be published from any year, in any genre or format, and in any category. 

We all know these books will not be the only ones we read this year but will be the ones included in our personal challenge.

I will round up the initial posts here on my blog, and Cheriee at Library Matters will host the update posts on hers at the end of April and August. I will end the year with the round-up post in December, but remember update posts are always optional.

If you would like to create and share a book list, click on the link-up below to add your blog post. Feel free to use the graphic above to include in your post, too. Don't forget to check back regularly to see the reading plans everyone has made - you might just find ANOTHER great title to add to your own list. The link is live until January 31st, so take your time and share those great books!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter