Shelter Me
But then I reached, my hands shaking, for the two books on my nightstand. I don’t even remember making the decision to pick them up. I was able to read the words. I was able to turn the pages. I didn’t feel whole again, but I found some shelter from the storm.
One hundred and fifty-two years ago yesterday, Susan B. Anthony cast her vote, illegally, in Rochester New York. She was subsequently arrested, but so began a movement. I read about this two days ago with my group of rowdy fourth grade boys. We did the math together: 2024-1872=152.
Eight years ago today I woke up to the feeling of the rug ripped out from underneath me. But I quickly pivoted to anger and found my footing. I marched.
Four years ago today, I woke up to my husband whispering to me, before his usual early morning departure, “Joe won.” I exhaled a breath I had been holding for four years, and fell back to sleep with a smile on my face.
Today, I woke up a little after he left for work. I knew. I knew because he didn’t wake me this time to tell me the world was ok. It took some time to work up the courage to check the news on my phone. I tried to cry, but it came out as a dry wailing, and I didn’t want to wake my teenage son.
I hadn’t realized it along the way, these past few weeks, but I had allowed a hope to grow inside me. It was a warm, glowing thing, that swelled comfortably inside my ribcage, tucked just below my heart. This morning I felt it pulled out all at once, leaving a jagged cavern. Immediately a biting, screaming, cold blast tried to push its way in. It didn’t ask permission. It felt entitled to the space.
In that moment, I was too world-weary to fight. My hands felt to fragile to form into fists. I was sure they would crumble, like cracked teeth in a nightmare.
But then I reached, my hands shaking, for the two books on my nightstand. I don’t even remember making the decision to pick them up. I was able to read the words. I was able to turn the pages. I didn’t feel whole again, but I found some shelter from the storm. I read for over an hour.
The cover of Foote, by Tom Bredehoft, is the green of Appalachian ramps. It’s about a small town detective from West Virginia who also happens to be a Big Foot.
Spark is a collection of essays about how fanfiction and fandom can ignite creativity. It was edited by Atlin Merrick, one of my favorite writers. Its bookmark is an index card that Atlin sent me in the mail, along with a crisp dollar, for contributing to her press’s newsletter. It was my first paid writing gig.
They didn’t need to be inspirational, life-changing words. I just needed to hide for a while. When I put them back on my nightstand, I didn’t feel all better. But I was able to get up, get a shower, feed the dog, take my son to school, and take me to work. Those fourth graders and I still had more reading comprehension work to do for the story about Susan B. Anthony.
Maybe someday I’ll tie on my marching boots again. Maybe I’ll turn into the most radical, feral, totally-jacked, female rage machine the world has ever seen.
Today, though, I couldn’t manage the laces of those boots. Today, not even one whole day “after”, I just needed to take shelter.
Dearest readers, for as long as you need, allow yourself to be sheltered. Hold your book, and be held in turn.
The TBR
Every reader has their strategy for tackling this pleasant problem called their TBR collection: aka To Be Read.
Collecting books is an entirely separate hobby from reading them. It is an easy habit to fall into. After all, books are everywhere, even at yard sales and the supermarket. Although hardcovers can be a little pricey, paperbacks, ebooks, and second-hand purchases don’t cost an arm and a leg. Compared to some other leisure pursuits, books don’t take up too much room. With careful arrangement, perhaps among a smattering of tchotchkes, they can be charming home decor.
Books make for lovely and comforting company. The stories they hold are the promises of adventures yet to come. The pitfall is when one collects books faster than one can read them. Every reader has their strategy for tackling the pleasant problem called their TBR collection: aka To Be Read.
The Planner
A Planner may map out what books to read for the upcoming month or even the next year. Possible motivations include preparation for an event, a project, or for the goal of self-betterment. What these all have in common is some degree of “I should”. Some examples include, “I don’t read much poetry, I should make a point to do so.” Or, “Man, I should read more books by POC authors. I think I’ll spend the summer doing that.” Reading with a purpose in mind is helpful when someone wants to work their way through certain books they always meant to peruse, but haven’t yet. The downside is the higher possibility of getting bored with the content, and the motivation of “should” running out before completing every title on the docket.
The Mood Reader
Mood reading is picking up whichever book strikes one’s fancy at that moment. Because the chosen selection is handpicked to fit a current literary craving, the experience should be highly enjoyable and satisfying. The drawback is this can leave many other books languishing on the shelves for months or years, waiting for fortune, and their owner’s mood, to grace their spines.
The Rabbit Hole Diver
Somewhere between the Mood Reader and the Planner is the Rabbit Hole. This is when an individual obsesses over one topic, genre, or fictional world. Falling further and further into this passionate compulsion, the inflicted consume every written word they can get their hands on which relates to their fascination. What starts as an infatuation becomes a mania. Less organized than the Planner, their path from one volume to the next is more organic and feelings-driven. As far as addictions go, it’s not a bad problem to have. The risk is the potential of getting burnt out on the subject matter.
The Mighty Bookworm
Nose to the grindstone, this reader plows through volume after volume without coming up for air. They conquer their TBR by having a book within reach, in one format or another, 24/7. There’s a paperback in their backpack, a full-to-the-brim e-reader in their desk drawer, hardcovers on their nightstand, and audiobooks on their phone for every moment in between. They may juggle up to a half-dozen tomes at a time. The drawbacks? Details may blend together and get muddled along the way.
The Mystery Lover
No, this is not referring to someone who reads who-done-it’s like they’re going out of style (see: Rabbit Hole Diver). This is someone who likes to play games with themselves to get through the TBR. It’s a recent trend on book-focused social media accounts. Some put all their books on their TBR shelf with the page ends facing out instead of the spines, then do a blind pull. Voila! Their next read! Another tactic involves wrapping all of one’s unread hopefuls in plain brown paper, labeling each with a number. Draw a number from a hat and grab that corresponding book. Sounds fun! But what happens when the lucky winner is not what the person was in the mood for? Cue the “Waa-waa-waaahh” sound effect of classic game shows when the contestant finds out that behind curtain number two was…a goat.
The Dragon
Getting through the TBR is not the point. The Dragon takes pleasure in immersing themselves in their hoard of books. Their presence is aesthetically pleasing and fosters feelings of cozy contentment. The keeper of the hoard will defend it tooth and nail. They know the risk of being buried under a mountain of books, but The Dragon accepts that fate with a toothy grin.
The Chaos Goblin
Picking up books at random, reading a chapter here, a passage there, and then putting them back down again, that is the Goblin’s modus operandi. Bookmarks, real or improvised, may or may not be involved. No plan exists. There is no distinction between unread, in progress, or already read. There is just the pile.
The Unicorn
The Unicorn is the most elusive of all readers. They are fabled to exist, but are seldom encountered. This person actually reads every book that comes into their possession right after they get it, and before they obtain another. There is no TBR. It’s the stuff of fairy tales, but it’s nice to dream about.
Which One Are You?
Do you see yourself in the descriptions above? For me, I think I’m a hybrid Planner & Mood Reader, an aspiring Bookworm, with a healthy dash of Book Dragon.
All these bookish creatures have one thing in common: they all get a twinkle in their eyes as their eager hands embrace a new book. In the end, there’s no wrong way to enjoy one’s personal library, and there’s nothing wrong with an expansive TBR. So grab one off the pile, get comfy, and enjoy.
Thanks for reading!
Sarah
P.S. Some writers choose to use subscription services or other pay-to-read options for their blogs and newsletters. As for me, I’d like to keep these articles free to read. But hey, if you would like to make a little contribution through Ko-fi, that would be cool! It helps to pay my website fees and feed my fancy pencil addiction.
In Support of Indie Books
Indie books have more freedom to experiment with narrative structure, mix genres, and tackle unconventional themes. The result is fascinating, innovative stories.
What Makes a Book an Indie?
An indie book is any work that is NOT produced through the Big 5 publishing houses or one of their imprints. This means the author either self-publishes, or they work with a small, independent press to bring their book to print.
Independent authors and publishers aren’t ruled by the almighty bottom line like the big publishing conglomerates are. Therefore, they can put out literature that doesn't fit neatly into current market trends. Indie books have more freedom to experiment with narrative structure, mix genres, and tackle unconventional themes. The result is fascinating, innovative stories.
Did you know that indie authors and indie presses are also small businesses? We, the readers, are their customer base. Who doesn’t like supporting small businesses and getting new books? But unless you are lucky enough to have unlimited funds, your wish list is probably more ambitious than what your budget can manage.
So, what can you do to support indie authors and presses without breaking the bank? Here are 15 suggestions.
Head to the Library
1. Borrow their book from the library. Do they get royalties from checkouts? No. They earn royalties from the book’s sale to the library but not from it being in circulation. However, having a book checked out on a frequent basis could influence the acquisitions librarian when it is time to purchase more works from that author.
2. Speaking of libraries, did you know you can request that they add a book to their collection? At my local library, I can pick up a form from the information desk, fill it out for my desired title, and hand it in. Although this doesn’t guarantee that they will buy it, it helps to put little-known books on their radar.
Recommend
3. Write a review on a site such as Goodreads, BookBub, or Amazon. Reviews are free advertising for authors. Positive starred reviews influence the all-important marketing algorithms, pushing the listing up the search results, making it more likely to get noticed.
4. Speaking of algorithms, putting a book on your “Want to Read” list on Goodreads or a “Wish List” on Amazon also positively influences the digital powers that be and gets it more exposure.
5. Tell your friends! Word of mouth is a powerful factor when someone chooses their next read.
6. Do you belong to a book club? So many times, clubs make selections recommended by celebrities or best-seller lists. Bring up indie works! Explain how important it is to support books that don’t get as much press. You may create a whole new group of fans. Sometimes, small presses or individual authors offer incentives for book clubs, such as discounts on orders or sending swag such as bookmarks or stickers. They may even be willing to video conference into your club meeting. (Psst! My publisher does offer bookclub discounts! Also, I LOVE visiting book clubs. I even bring along themes goodie bags for those in attendance!)
7. Post what you love about the book on social media. Reading communities on Instagram and TikTok, referred to by the hashtags “Bookstagram” and “Booktok,” are where thousands of folks find out about new books to add to their shelves. And if you do make such a post, remember to tag the author, the press, and include a link to where an interested party can purchase the book.
Follow and Share
8. Follow your favorite indie authors and presses on social media and sign up for their email lists. Strong follower counts can benefit authors who are querying new works among agents and presses, showing they have a ready-made audience base for their work.
9. Share their posts on your accounts. Are they promoting a new project or a literary event? You can help them get the word out with the press of a button.
10. When scrolling through your feed, if you see a picture or quote that reminds you of a theme, scene, or image from an indie book, take a moment to add a comment about that connection. These organic mentions happen in casual conversation all the time, so why not online as well?
All Hands on Deck
11. Are one of your favorite indies taking part in a festival or other event, either in person or online? Attend it! Invite a friend! Your presence is like a vote cast in favor of that festival or platform hosting that author again.
12. There are a variety of contests that acknowledge indie authors, illustrators, editors, and publishers. It often only takes a few minutes of your time to fill out a questionnaire and cast a vote.
Read, Read, Read!
13. Most authors are not one-trick ponies. They often have a back catalog of short stories, articles, blog posts, and other material, many of which are available online for free. Some platforms allow you to leave comments. And, hearkening back to tip #9, share those articles on social media so that others can also discover these little-known gems.
14. Independent small presses sometimes establish lists of dedicated readers they will send digital advance reader copies to, commonly known as ARCs, ahead of official release dates. The only thing they ask for in return is that the recipient writes an honest review and, if they feel moved to do so, help hype the book online. Individual authors may put out calls for ARC readers as well.
Get Personal
15. Tell indie book producers what their work means to you. Writers will slave over every word they put down for months or even years at a time, often with little to no feedback. Independent publishers often work without pay or make just enough to keep the lights on and to produce the next book. You, sitting there and enjoying the fruits of their labors of love, are why they do this. So tell them. Did you see yourself in one of their characters? Did something they wrote help heal a hidden hurt you carry around with you? Was the story they shared able to bring you joy and escape during a hard time in your life? Let them know. The world needs their stories. Sometimes, they need you to remind them of that.
Here’s the thing, fellow indie readers, I know we can’t buy every new release or throw dollars at every crowdfunding endeavor. But by doing a little here, and a little there, and encouraging others to join in, those efforts can accumulate into a movement of support that is greater than the sum of its parts. We can each play a valuable role in the ecosystem that brings new books into the world.
Thanks for reading!
Sarah
P.S. Some writers choose to use subscription services or other pay-to-read options for their blogs and newsletters. As for me, I’d like to keep these articles free to read. But hey, if you would like to make a little contribution through Ko-fi, that would be cool! It helps to pay my website fees and feed my fancy pencil addiction.
Magical Convergences
Is there a reading version of a double take? I suppose instead of a turn of the head, it’s a flick of one’s eyes back over what they just read. It’s a jolt of familiarity, a sense of déjà vu. I’m referring to those magical moments when you read something that harkens back to a different book, and it enhances both experiences.
Is there a reading version of a double take? I suppose instead of a turn of the head, it’s a flick of one’s eyes back over what they just read. It’s a jolt of familiarity, a sense of déjà vu. In that moment, you feel all your synapses light up, forming new connections of understanding.
I’m referring to those magical moments when you read something that harkens back to a different book, and it enhances both experiences. I think some of the best of these convergences involve intersections of nonfiction and fiction.
Allow me to provide some personal examples. Around the beginning of 2022, I was finishing Cosmos, by the incomparable Carl Sagan. It was a weighty endeavor which took me over a month to finish. But Sagan made the topic of astrophysics digestible, and he served it with a side of wonder.
Around that same time, I also picked up “Time Thief” by Sir Terry Pratchett. Having read other works in his Discworld universe, I was familiar with Pratchett’s style of zany humor, satirical world-building, and moments of unexpected wisdom. I felt the title of this installment made it a fitting choice for the turn of the new year.
I enjoyed reading about how the Monks of History keep order in the world of “Time Thief”. An old master and his precocious novice are on a quest. They need to prevent an all-to-gifted clockmaker from making a clock that could trap, and stop, Time. Then, out of the blue, PHYSICS! As the monks run faster and faster, they see their surroundings bathed in crimson. This is an accurate portrayal of an actual scientific phenomenon known as red shift, which I had just learned about in Cosmos. As two astral bodies move apart from one another, the light wavelengths are stretched longer. Our human eyes perceive them as red.
This particular bit of imagery stuck with me, so I added another facet to this particular convergence by including a reference to red shift in a piece of my own writing. “Self Care”, a surreal parody of a health magazine article about treating yourself to some wellness and pampering, went on to be featured in the anthology Already Gone: 40 Stories of Running Away from Alan Squire Publishing, edited by the wonderful Hannah Grieco.
Need another example? Next up: neuroscience! In Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind by Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire, the authors show how creativity can be influenced by play, new experiences, and adversity. Then, in the sci-fi classic Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card*, I noticed how the military used games to train and evaluate their child recruits’ tactical skills. Ender’s advanced empathy skills, something that Kaufman and Gregoire also discuss the benefits of, play significantly into his advanced aptitude.
But wait, there’s more! I also like to nerd out about the topic of linguistics. The language that we think in and communicate in can shape our reality, perspective, and perceived possibilities.
Robin Wall Kimmerer discusses the differences between English and the Indigenous Potawatomi language in her acclaimed bestseller, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants:
“English is a noun-based language, somehow appropriate to a culture so obsessed with things. Only 30 percent of English words are verbs, but in Potawatomi, that proportion is 70 percent.”
She goes on to explain that many words we English-speakers take for granted as being nouns, are instead expressed in an animate verb form in Potawatomi. For example, instead of calling a moving body of water a “river”, their language translates to “being a river”.
“To whom does our language extend the grammar of animacy?” Kimmerer asks.
The Potawatomi extend this honor to plants and animals, but also the elements, the land itself, and places. This consideration then plays into the belief system of respectful reciprocity with the natural world that the Potawatomi hold dear.
Now let’s turn to some examples in fiction. Two stories in Ted Chiang’s award-winning collection, The Story of Us and Others, display how particular speech can limit or expand one’s ability to process and interact with the world.
In “Understand”, Chiang depicts a medically enhanced genius who has to write his own new internal language in order to fully think as expansively as he has the capacity to. The character’s creation is a hybrid of traditional vocabulary, math, and 3D geometric rendering. In “The Story of Us”, which inspired the movie Arrival, Chiang has an alien species teach a human linguist their form of communication, in which there are no tenses. Everything happens simultaneously. Subsequently, this allows her to view her own life’s events in a nonlinear way.
Charlie Jane Anders’ “Promises Greater than Darkness”, the last installment of her Unstoppable trilogy, provides an additional example. The alien species, the Grattna, have three eyes, three limbs, and three wings. They see all decisions as having three possible outcomes, and their grammatical structure weaves together three comparisons or relationships throughout. As the human characters learn the Grattna language, and to respect their civilization, they find new ways to open up their black-and-white thinking.
The thing is, once you are in tune with the possibility of these beautiful convergences happening, you see them more and more often. It starts as a little tingle, dancing there at the edge of your awareness. Before you know it, it’s jumping off the page at you as if it is written in neon lettering. So keep your eyes peeled and your mind open. You’re in for a treat.
Thanks for reading!
Sarah
P.S. Some writers choose to use subscription services or other pay-to-read options for their blogs and newsletters. As for me, I’d like to keep these articles free to read. But hey, if you would like to make a little contribution through Ko-fi, that would be cool! It helps to pay my website fees and feed my fancy pencil addiction.
*Disclaimer about Orson Scott Card: His fiction is brilliant, but he’s a homophobic twit. It blows my mind that someone that wrote the Ender’s Game series, with its themes of interplanetary species diversity and understanding, could be so closed minded and hateful when it comes to the diversity of human love.
All the Books
But why? Why ALL the books? Because authors wield magic.
When I tell someone that I want to read all the books, they often respond with a polite chuckle followed by a good-natured remark about knowing I am a nerd. If they are avid readers, they may nod in understanding and companionable agreement. I could leave it at that. I would have communicated that I love to read. However, I fear that the receiver of this message might inaccurately assume that I am utilizing hyperbole to make my point. So, I feel the need to clarify.
“No,” I explain with an air of gravity, “I mean I want to read ALL the books.”
This includes the books already lost to time, violence, and decay. Have I cried about the conflagration of the great library of Alexandria? Yes. Shed tears over the mountains of books burned by the Nazis? Yes, angry tears. And think of all the oral traditions that ancient humans learned, repeated, and performed across generations long before the invention of print. Someone, millennia ago, told a tale for the last time. It floated away on the wind, gone forever.
Then there are all the books that will enter the world after I am dead and gone. There are brilliant characters who I will never know. Breath-taking worlds, built up word by word with such care and imagination, I will never step foot in. There may be entire genres, not yet invented, that I won’t be around to experience, and a part of me already mourns these missed opportunities.
Do I even want to read the books that I would hate? This may be surprising, but yes. I could still learn from the mistakes made by others and their boring, vitriol-filled, or poorly written works. And if I only read what I already agree with, I will build an echo chamber too thick to let in new perspectives or ideas.
But why? Why ALL the books? Because authors wield magic. The effort involved takes dedication, time, and the following of a thought from the start to the finish, enough to fill the pages from cover to cover. I want to go along for the ride, whether direct or winding, factual or frivolous. It’s a way of living a thousand lives, seeing the world through different eyes, all while clutching a stack of paper with combinations of the same twenty-six letters. It’s nothing short of amazing.
When I wrote my debut novel, Bookstories, my love letter to the world of books, I had to include a reference to this specific kind of longing. And I knew which character had to be the one to express it. My main character, Dottie, is a publisher and bibliophile with the special empathic gift of being able to pick up the emotions and intentions of authors just from reading their words. In her hands, a book isn’t just a story, it’s a time capsule peeking into that author’s heart and mind when they put their pen to paper.
In the chapter that shares a name with this blog post, Dottie tearfully laments:
“It’s silly, really, to get upset and despondent over something so… laughably unrealistic yet so mundane all at the same time. Every book lover says it at one tome or another, don’t they? That they want to read ‘all the books’?”
Like Dottie, I understand that this real and unshakable want is unrealistic. So much of my precious time is spent on necessities like meal preparation and consumption, housekeeping, washing myself, sleeping, and maintaining relationships with the people I love. I’ve done the math. If I manage to read even two hundred books a year over the forty to fifty-odd years I may have left, it’s still a drop in the bucket.
It’s a doomed endeavor. I try not to dwell upon it. I’ve got reading to do.
Thanks for reading!
Sarah
P.S. Some writers choose to use subscription services or other pay-to-read options for their blogs and newsletters. As for me, I’d like to keep these articles free to read. But hey, if you would like to make a little contribution through Ko-fi, that would be cool! It helps to pay my website fees and feed my fancy pencil addiction.
An Introduction Is in Order
What does it mean to be “well read”? For the purpose of this blog series, it simply means you are reading literally anything.
What does it mean to be “well read”? For the purpose of this blog series, it simply means you are reading literally anything. Fiction? Great. Nonfiction? Amazing. Poetry? Fantastic. Flash stories you found on the internet? Excellent. Graffiti haiku? Badass. The back of a cereal box? Yes, and don’t forget to solve the little maze that’s on there too.
So now that we’ve gotten that settled, let’s talk about reading.
It’s many things for many people. It can be an escape or a coming home. It can bind a community or shake up the status quo. Reading can teach, inspire, and open a reader up to a world of possibilities they would have never known had they not glanced at the page. Books are just, *sigh*, amazing, you know?
I think Carl Sagan phrased it best:
“Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of different epochs, who never knew one another. Books break the shackles of time, proof that humans can work magic.”
In this blog, we will explore a myriad of topics related to reading. We’ll talk about the joys, the trials, the tropes, the weird stereotypes, and everything in between. Truth be told, I previously published iterations of many of these articles on the website Coffee House Writers. When I parted ways with them in 2024, I regained possession of all the work I published on that site. I plan on expanding several of those original articles and adding new discussions along the way.
Are there any reading matters or questions that you would like to see featured in this blog? Would you like to contribute as a guest blogger? Feel free to contact me about your ideas.
Thanks for reading!
Sarah
P.S. Some writers choose to use subscription services or other pay-to-read options for their blogs and newsletters. As for me, I’d like to keep these articles free to read. But hey, if you would like to make a little contribution through Ko-fi, that would be cool! It helps to pay my website fees and feed my fancy pencil addiction.