“Wrestling with God” Got a Starred Review From Publishers Weekly — And I’m Doing the Happy Dance

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

I’d planned to give my readers a little break from chatter about my book this week. I had intended to talk about something else for a change — the Super Bowl, or quilting, or atheists, or green tea, something totally not “Wrestling with God.”

But then I got some news. Huge news. “Wrestling with God“ got a starred review from Publishers Weekly this week. They reviewed my book, and they gave it one of their big, fat, red stars.

I’m not kidding. “Wrestling with God“ got a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

For those of you not familiar with PW and its stars, it’s one of the preeminent trade magazines for the book industry. Librarians read it. Publishers read it. Agents read it. Bookstore owners read it.

With a review — a starred review — from Publishers Weekly, “Wrestling with God” is sure to sell some copies here and there, in addition to the ones you, I hope, I hope, will buy, dear readers. (Release date is coming soon . . . you’ll be the first to know when you can get a copy at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your local bookstore.)

I have to confess, my very secret, long-held but never-before-admitted-to hope for WWG was to win one of those flashy, red PW stars. Being reviewed in PW would mean that my reading, writing, publishing colleagues thought my book was making a contribution. What more could a writer want?

I know, as a writer I shouldn’t pay too much attention to reviews, especially since sooner or later some bad ones will come my way. But, you know, I don’t write for myself; I write for readers, and I care whether people get what I’m trying to say.

Meanwhile, I’m doing the happy dance, and last night I opened a very special bottle of Piesporter brought up from Rancho Cucamonga by a special friend. It had been waiting and waiting for an occasion big enough to crack it open.

Cheers, everybody. Thanks for being there.

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