Reading is one way we are reminded: stay human.
Book corner + a bonus soapbox on why it's important to read right now in particular
Hi friends,
This week features our regular edition of Field Notes wherein we talk about one of my favourite subjects: books! (To loop in our newer subscribers, once a quarter or so, I typically share what I’ve been reading myself, select a favourite or two from that stack, and then we all chat about books in the comment section like we’re bloggers from 2006. You can find my 2024 Favourite Books here as well as the most recent book corner here but these round-ups are all through the archives if you want to go browsing.)
It may seem an odd time to discuss novels or memoirs or historical fiction but I’m feeling protective, maybe even defensive, about reading at the moment so here we are at the book corner again. That protectiveness is not simply because I’m a writer myself or because I’m a pseudo-hermit bookworm since childhood who has always been deeply formed by the pages of books but because we are being reminded of its importance, and the risk of being passively entertained to death right now.
Reading books has always been a political action, but good gracious, are we being reminded anew of the subversive act these days, eh? Libraries, writers, books, and freedom of thought are under attack or under suspicion or even simply ignored. We are being spooned amusements that require no thought, no engagement, no heart, only our constant consumption, perhaps so that we are distracted from larger stories and important developments around us in a classic “bread-and-circuses” move. Plus we are trapped algorithms that often reinforce the worst of us. At times, those entertainments even actively dismantle our empathy.
Reading has always been part of how we resist tyranny, not only of our bodies but of our minds and hearts. And that’s not only true if a book’s content relates in a non-fiction direct action sense to an issue or topic, but because it is always a political act to think for yourself, to use your imagination, to reject the AI slop which one writer decried as “soulless mimicry of human life”1 being churned out, to visit the library, to develop language, to learn without control, to keep local bookstores open, and to read “dangerous” books with stories that may build empathy, compassion, thoughtfulness, and resilience.
Lately I have been profoundly reminded of the line in Harper Lee’s classic, To Kill A Mockingbird, when our protagonist Scout is told not to read in her early school days as she isn’t supposed to “know how” yet. The teacher distrusts how she was taught and tries to tell her she isn’t allowed to read anymore.
“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing,” Scout admits. It’s a pretty universal experience to admit that we may not know how much we love the thing we are taking for granted until we nearly lose it.2 All of which is to say, whether you read the Big Important Book of The Day on important issues at hand or a romance, an economics tome on tariffs or a chapbook of poetry, it’s no small thing to keep reading, to visit libraries to check out stacks of books, to patronize local bookstores, or talk about books with your people in these days.
To be honest, I am pretty lit up with repressed Enneagram 9 anger these days and I did not at all intend to go off on this today,3 so I’ll wrap up the tangent here and simply say: reading is never a waste of your time. It is not merely an escape (although, if you need an escape, no shame here), it is not selfish or silly or indulgent or useless.
Reading is still yours. Reading unlocks doors, expands borders and horizons, develops intelligence and thought and values that will guide you in these days. You deserve stories and solidarity, subversive truth and solace.
These days, we can easily drown in the constant deluge of bad news, lose the plot, become overwhelmed by despair, but reading is one way we are reminded: stay human. Keep caring. Show up. Find your family, remember what is worth saving.Use your imagination, your empathy, your capacity for complex thought. These stories, this solidarity, this empathy, this wisdom, even this laughter and joy is part of what keeps us tethered to why we fight, why we resist, and who we will be in this moment.
*tucks away the once-dusty soapbox, which clearly may be back in rotation more often*
My Favourite Recent Read
I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I had at least five contenders for this spot this time around but, given our current apocalypse, this is the one I chose for my most favourite. Orphean in scope and set in a not-too-distant America, it’s storytelling that we need right now: resilience, connection whether through friendship or unexpected kindness, rebellion against empire in our ordinary ways, and even beauty. This was haunting but hopeful. And I just loved our protagonist so very much. (I will be using that wonderful phrase, “I cheerfully refuse,” an awful lot in the coming years so please be forewarned.)