Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill Genre: Fiction Pages: 201 Format: Hardcover Buy Local Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Summary
A House is a Body is a bold and provocative collection of short stories from emerging author Shruti Swamy. Her collection contains twelve short stories that are set in India and the United States. Each one is an intimate dive into the human experience. Her narratives redefine the genre of domestic fiction, focusing on the tension of relationships and the inevitable isolation of being human. Swamy doesn’t hold back any punches. She navigates the challenging circumstances of birth and death, love and loss, betrayal and redemption as if she’s been writing for a lifetime. Swamy’s ability to craft authentic domestic turmoil within such a small space on the page is both impressive and unsettling.
Thoughts
I was beyond excited to pick up my copy of A House is a Body. I discovered Swamy’s collection on a list of exciting books to anticipate in 2020 and was intrigued by the description of her writing as a marriage between the realistic and the fantastic. I couldn’t wait to experience what promised to be a literary uprooting of the domestic. Her stories did not disappoint—each narrative was more compelling than the last, pulling me through the entire collection in a matter of hours.
One of my favorite stories in the collection is titled “The Siege.” The story is told from the point of view of a young queen who is married to a selfish and violent king attempting to steal the wife of another man. The circumstances are dramatic and devastating, yet I still had so much fun reading a story that was placed in a setting with royalty and wars fought over romance. Swamy’s depiction of the setting was fantastic—within just twenty pages she was able to build a world with complex characters and conflict. This story is a can’t miss for anyone who enjoys the fantasy genre.
Another one of my favorites was titled “Wedding Season.” This story takes on a very different tone from the one in “The Siege.” The story is centered on two young women, Teja and Al, who travel from the United States to India for Teja’s counsin’s wedding. The young women are forced to hide the romantic nature of their relationship for fear of being ridiculed for their sexuality. Swamy’s narration manages to be beautiful despite the tragic circumstances. The stark contrast between the beauty of India and the tension of the lovers’ secret makes the story captivating. This is definitely a story for the modern world. I was impressed by how Swamy addressed the subjects of sexuality and identity with such boldness. Her story left me trying to decide if the ending should be considered happy or sad. What I am sure about is that it’s worth reading to decide for yourself.
It’s not often that I find a collection of short stories where I can say I enjoyed every story, but I can confidently say I enjoyed every story in A House is a Body! I would recommend this collection to readers who enjoy strong female characters and the uneasiness of the mundane. In other words, if you like “The Yellow Wallpaper” or “The Story of an Hour,” Swamy is the contemporary voice you’ve been waiting for. This collection is an impressive and promising start to a young author’s career, and I can’t wait to see what’s next for Shruti Swamy.
Thank you to Changing Hands for providing an ARC in exchange for this honest and unbiased review.
Publisher: Tor Books Genre: Thriller, Fantasy Pages: 352 Format: Hardcover Buy Local My Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Summary
The stage is set in pre-second-world-war New York with an oracle, an assassin, and an underworld gang about to lose its alpha—all thriving in a be-bop jazz bar, brazenly ignoring the Prohibition. Phyllis Green, blessed with saints’ hands, is mob boss Victor Dernov’s executioner. Known to some as Victor’s angel, and to most as Victor’s knife, she goes by Phyllis LeBlanc in downtown Manhattan, meting out mob justice with her holster of knives.
That is until she meets Dev. Playing judge, jury, and executioner turns out to be a lot more complicated when she falls in love. Devajyoti Patil, bartender at The Pelican, is also blessed with saints’ hands – he can detect threats on a single touch. But unlike Phyllis, he does not use them to throw knives. Just when Phyllis believes she can act on her promise to Dev of never killing again, she is given a task that forces her to go back on her word.
Someone is killing people with “the hands” and leaving the corpses behind with bleeding stumps and clear signs of having involved them in some form of dark ritual. It’s obvious—they’re trying to steal the power of these hands. Victor’s lieutenant, Red Man, tells Phyllis that the murderer is Trent Sullivan, and that she must take him out.
Having grown up in an all-Black neighborhood, Phyllis has spent her whole adult life trying to pretend that she’s not. Owing to her lighter skin, she passes scrutiny in most segregated places in 1930s New York. She has even taken care to change her name, so no one can trace her back to her old neighborhood—it’s how she has survived. But a decade after she executes Sullivan, and Dev leaves her for it, she finds that her heritage is about to be revealed, and that, suddenly, her life depends on her proving her whiteness.
A lot of factors wrestle for priority as Dev returns unexpectedly to her life as she’s simultaneously given a new assignment. Not to mention, the draft creeps up and starts upending the lives of everyone she holds dear.
Thoughts
The struggles of people of color before World War II that changed society in many irreversible ways are depicted in sincere detail in this book. Skin trumps economic status as Phyllis, Dev, and their friends find themselves increasingly vulnerable as they try to get away from the criminal element that has protected them so far.
It is really promising to find that BIPOC literature is finally making its way into the limelight. The story is set at a time when very few would think to write a novel with a black woman and an Indian man as the lead duo. Hopefully, we are at a time when we can look back at these immortal years from a different perspective than we are used to.
Thank you to Changing Hands Bookstore for providing an ARC in exchange for this honest and unbiased review.
Every October a craving begins for pumpkin spice-flavored anything, sweet tooths start aching, and harmless orange fruit becomes the bearer of terrifying and toothless grins. The yearning for a good scare also grows as full as a harvest moon as we flock to haunted houses and corn mazes, or even to Netflix to give us that shot of fear-based adrenaline. Another surefire way to create some chills is simply turning to some classic horror stories—and there are a plethora of short story anthologies to get your spine tingling and your heart racing. In this classic selection of oldies-but-goodies, there will be aches (but not the sweet tooth kind), the bittersweet taste of revenge, mad men, and weird women a-plenty. Enjoy, but be sure to read with the lights on.
Norman Bates has nothing on some of these psychos…
Psychos—Robert Bloch. Not to be confused with Bloch’s classic Psycho, this collection centers around madness and its many forms. Whether it comes under the guise of a seemingly benign object with murderous intention, the most intense road rage on record, a meticulously planned revenge plot on a drunk driver, or a “oops” of an autopsy, these stories will genuinely freak you out. A notable tale from this anthology is “Grandpa’s Head” by Lawrence Watt-Evans, which will make you rethink the pasts of every single person in your family, even the most innocent-seeming!
These ladies were ahead of their time…
Weird Women: Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers (1852-1923). More recently published, yet by no means modern, Weird Women is a collection from the female perspective. Compiling work from such greats as Louisa May Alcott, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Frances Hodgson Burnett, these stories are beautiful, bold, and brooding. From ghostly little girls in locked rooms, unrequited wishes coming true through dreamscapes, and the beauty of wistaria (the old-fashioned spelling) covering sinister deeds, these tales are all supernaturally stunning. The stories are helpfully annotated to bridge the gap in some vernacular differences as well. If you appreciate lush writing, descriptive details, and the suspense of a slow burn, you will love this collection.
A little naughty, not nice…
I Shudder at Your Touch: 22 Tales of Sex and Horror. For those who like a little risque with their risk, I Shudder at Your Touch features distinguished writers such as Stephen King and Clive Barker. With such disturbing topics as devilish weight loss programs, a not-so-little mermaid, a yearning for youth gone dark, and perverse revenge on an ex-lover, these stories spice things up more than that latte at Starbucks. A notable tale here is “Keeping House” by Michael Blumlein, with a creepy look at a woman’s descent into madness. If you like “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, you will be sufficiently spooked by Blumlein’s story. There is also a follow up edition, Shudder Again.
The indisputable king of macabre…
Everything’s Eventual: 14 Dark Tales—Stephen King. No list of short story anthologies would be complete without one from the king of horror, Stephen King. Everything’s Eventual is a collection featuring what you would expect from King—the unexpected. A lunch date gone gruesomely wrong, wish fulfillment for a quarter, and a traveling salesman debating his own self-inflicted untimely death, this is one diverse batch of dark tales indeed. Notable stories are “1408,” which explores just how creepy a hotel room can be, and “The Man in the Black Suit,” which is King’s nod to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown.” Incidentally “1408” was adapted into a decent film starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson.
So, curl up with your favorite blanket and a pumpkin spiced latte, turn the lights down low, and give yourself the willies. Just don’t blame me when you lie awake in the dark wondering what those strange sounds are!
Most of us grew up reading Fairy Tales. They are both bizarre and alluring and for many of us, they continue to interest us well into our adulthood. Best-selling author James Riley takes an in-depth look at fairy tales: why they are so strange, the logic within them, and why we are so fascinated by them.
Riley has written his own collection of fairy tales, which he will use to illustrate some of their most peculiar features. If you’re interested in learning more about fairy tales, this event might be perfect for you!
As Netflix has grown more popular, they have started producing more and more of their own content. Plenty of top ranking shows, movies, and documentaries are Netflix originals. A handful of these are based on best-selling novels, and most of the time they do a pretty solid job bringing these beloved books to life. I have compiled a list of my top four book-to-film adaptations from Netflix which are all very close to my heart.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before—Jenny Han. When I was 14, this was one of my all-time favorite books, but I had forgotten about it as I got older. As soon as I heard Netflix was coming out with a movie adaptation of it, it immediately jogged my memory and I couldn’t wait. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the story, it is about a girl named Lara Jean who wrote five love letters throughout her life, kept them in a box with no intention to mail them. So when they suddenly got out and all the recipients had them, including her sister’s ex-boyfriend, Josh, Lara Jean freaks out. She decides to fake date a different letter recipient named Peter to throw Josh off, but that doesn’t exactly go as planned—you’ll have to watch to find out why.
Book to movie adaptations are always hit-or-miss, but this one did not disappoint for me. They cast it well because the characters are exactly how I envisioned them, and they truly brought the story to life. I highly recommend this film to any lovers of the books!
All the Bright Places—Jennifer Niven. This novel is definitely a bit heavier than the previously mentioned one, but it is still phenomenal. It’s definitely a tear jerker, but in the best way. If you haven’t read the book, it follows Theodore Finch starting when he finds his classmate, Violet Markey, about to jump off a roof. He doesn’t know her very well but decides to befriend her anyway, making a silent pack to himself that he won’t let her struggle alone. As he is dealing with his own mental health issues, this is something he hopes will help him, too. It’s a beautifully written story, but I definitely recommend reading it alone (unless you don’t mind people seeing you sob uncontrollably).
Netflix did a great job bringing it to life as a film—it’s a great blend of tragic and heartwarming, and is sure to tug on your heartstrings. Whether you loved the book or just prefer to watch movies, I recommend getting cozy with a box of tissues and putting this one on.
1922—Stephen King. This one is for the horror/suspense junkies out there. This novella is quite different from the previous two books on this list, but the film adaptation is pretty solid and very underrated. The story follows a farmer named Wilfred who kills his wife—and gets his son in on it—in order to avoid having to sell his land. After this happens, weird things begin to happen around the farm, most of them unexplainable. The film adaptation came out in 2017, which was a big year for King, so naturally this one was swept under the rug a bit more. That being said, the film does bring certain aspects of the novella to life and the story is very interesting. If you’re a fan of King and a fan of supernatural horror stories, this movie should definitely be included in your scary movie marathon.
Let it Snow—John Green, Lauren Myracle, and Maureen Johnson. When I was in middle school, I went on a John Green kick, much like a lot of people my age. In doing so, I stumbled upon this masterpiece of a story. This is one of my favorite holiday stories and when I saw they were making a movie out of it, I freaked.
If you’re not familiar with the novel, it follows three different main characters in the same town as they handle various decisions. Without giving too much away, we have best friends who may or may not have feelings for each other, a celebrity encounter, and a girl dealing with a breakup. These stories all take place simultaneously around the holiday season—I mean, what more could you ask for?! Netflix turned this novel into a film last year and despite some small changes, I absolutely loved it. I felt that the changes really added to the story and the actors were perfectly chosen. It really is an adorable film and sure to put you in the holiday spirit (so maybe save this one for after Thanksgiving).
Publisher: Atria/ Emily Bestler Books Genre: Fiction, Romance Pages: 320 Format: Hardcover Buy Local My Rating: 4/5 stars
Summary
Dear Emmie Blue tells the story of Emmeline Blue as her life falls to pieces. When she was 16, Emmie released a balloon with a secret written on it, only for it to wash up on a distant shore and introduce her to her best friend, Lucas. Now in her twenties, she is hopelessly and irretrievably in love with Lucas, and thinks he is finally going to ask her out—only for him to announce that he is getting married. To make matters worse, Lucas wants Emmie to be his “best woman,” prolonging and magnifying her anguish. From her dead-end job, distant mother, and aloof landlady, Lucas’s engagement is the last straw for Emmie.
Despite all the loneliness and heartache, however, wonderful things are in store for Emmie Blue. Lia Louis’ novel pays homage to the idea that life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans, and reminds us that unexpectedly wonderful things could be waiting just around the corner.
Thoughts
I don’t know about you, but this year has been a doozy for me. This was a book that I desperately needed to help me cope with this unpredictable—and sometimes depressing—world we’re living in. This might seem to be an odd sentiment, given that Emmie faces heartbreak and calamity for a decent portion of the book. I would argue, though, that a book with a certain amount of despair is fitting, given the current state of things (so long as all ends well). While Louis undoubtedly forces the reader to empathize with the protagonist, there is a certain hope found in seeing a character continue pressing on, even when things look bleak.
I think a great deal of charm in this novel comes from Emmie Blue herself. She manages to be strong and fragile, resilient and weary, all at once. More so than this, you truly feel for her throughout the book. Especially when she divulges the details of a sexual assault in her youth, and wrestles with her broken relationship with her parents, you can’t help but root for her. It’s hard to not be in Emmie’s corner, especially concerning her relationship with Lucas—a kismet meeting if ever there was one. Both Emmie and us as the reader see these two as so obviously destined to be together, and it’s beyond frustrating that they aren’t. Even characters that I didn’t find very likable, such as Rosie and Marie, were appreciated insofar as they related to Emmie.
Dear Emmie Blue is an important reminder that life is unpredictable, and that sometimes that’s the best thing about it. If everything stayed the same, there would be no way for things to get better. It’s a cheesy sentiment, sure, but true nevertheless. The only complaint I had about this book comes from the predictability of the ending, but I would argue that even this lends a certain charm—knowing how something ends doesn’t make the journey any less meaningful, right? I would recommend this book to anyone who needs a mental reset, or a reminder that there are sunnier days ahead.
Thank you to Changing Hands Bookstore for providing an ARC in exchange for this honest and unbiased review.
When I was little, my mother bought all 13 books in this series because it was the first series we found to have a character named ‘Violet,’ my sister’s somewhat unusual name. This was what began my love for this series, and I have endlessly consumed the books, movies, and TV shows based on it ever since. From Klaus’ distaste of bread pudding to Violet tying her hair up when inventing, and from Sunny transforming from an infant who loved to bite into a brilliant chef to Lemony Snicket’s endless wit, I love everything about this series. That being said, I love some of the books more than others. Here is my ranked list of every book in the series.
13. The Vile Village—This book just didn’t do it for me. It was lacking the humor and the storyline, and characters were just not as engaging as the other books on this list. In each of these books, ridiculous and comically unfair things happen; here, it felt like just unfair things happened. It is somewhat of an outlier in the series, both in terms of plot and tone, which is why it ended up near the bottom of the list. Also, the book seems to taunt the audience by naming the town “VFD,” but it isn’t the real VFD we don’t even learn anything about VFD!
12. The Miserable Mill—As much as I enjoyed Count Olaf dressing up as Dr. Georgina Orwell, this book just was not as interesting as some of the others. I found the tone depressing, but not in Lemony Snicket’s classic, darkly humorous way. In general, this book felt like filler and it didn’t have much of a real and lasting impact on the broader plot of the novels. Overall, it was not my favorite and was pretty hard to get through without feeling sad.
11. The Slippery Slope—What this book is missing is the dynamic between the Baudelaires and their guardians. Though naturally they need to be on their own at some point, as well as the plot needing some diversification, this book lacked many of the elements that make A Series of Unfortunate Events books so wonderful. I also felt like this book dragged on a bit too long, and with the exception of meeting Quigley, it was not as integral to the plot of the series.
10. The Carnivorous Carnival—This book definitely isn’t bad, but it just isn’t my favorite. I really liked the “freaks” who were really just relatively normal human beings, and I love the sheer absurdity of feeding the Baudelaires to the hungry lions. However, despite these humorous moments, it was simply not as engaging as some of the others, and I did not leave this book desperate to read the next one like I did with the books further up on this list.
9. The End—Though this book is rather sad and I wish things could be different, the ending of the series is fitting. I found it bittersweet to learn the answers to some of the secrets that had plagued the Baudelaires since the beginning of the series. Part of the fun of the books was the thrill of the secrets and reading until late hours in the night hoping to find answers. Secrets were a driving part of the plot, and, while my curiosity was satiated, I was slightly saddened to learn the answers because it meant that the series was over. That being said, it is a good and interesting conclusion to this 13 book series.
8. The Hostile Hospital—We are now getting into the section of this list where I thoroughly enjoyed all of the books listed here. Cutting off Violet’s head is a stroke of genius and Lemony Snicket’s writing perfectly blends humor and horror. The library is also one of the best parts of this book because it makes the mystery of VFD even more intense.
7. The Penultimate Peril—The morality of this book is a lot more gray than some of the earlier ones, with some characters not exclusively good or evil. Though I like this development a lot, it does not lend itself to as much wittiness as the stricter binaries that the earlier books do. My favorite part of this novel is how close we get to unraveling the secrets without actually revealing them. This makes it very intense and engaging. It’s also a stroke of sheer inspiration to organize a hotel based on the Dewey Decimal System!
6. The Bad Beginning—The first book in this series is a classic for a reason. Meeting iconic characters like the Baudelaire orphans, Count Olaf, and Mr. Poe is the reason why this book is number six on the list. It establishes the amazing dichotomy between children and adults, good and evil, and smart and stupid. I really adore how the children need to convince an incompetent adult that Count Olaf is evil. This is not present in some of the later books and it is detrimental to them. Though the plot is not as complex and interesting as some of the later books, it is still amazing, absolutely hilarious, and sets the tone that we all know and love for the rest of the series.
5. The Grim Grotto—This book sets up the ending for the next two books and introduces the newest danger: the Medusoid Mycelium. I also love the mystery of the Question Mark, which only shows up on the radar as a “?.” I’m still angry at the TV series for telling us what the question mark was, because the ominousness of not knowing was why it was so terrifying. Overall, this was an excellent addition to the series and I love the shenanigans—albeit rather frightening ones—that accompany the Baudelaires and Count Olaf on a submarine.
4. The Reptile Room—Who can forget the whole page of “ever?” The Reptile Room is full of wonderfully executed twists and turns, and I adore that it almost reads like a classic mystery novel. Uncle Monty is also one of my favorite adults in the whole series, and his charm is one of the reasons why I love this book as much as I do. This is also the first novel where we get one of Count Olaf’s disguises. The disguises are a hilarious constant throughout the series. When I was reading the series the first time, finding out his latest disguise was always one of my favorite parts to each novel so needless to say, the very first disguise he donned was particularly exciting.
3. The Wide Window—There is something deliciously hilarious about Count Olaf dressing up as a sailor named Captain Sham and having none of the adults notice his disguise. This book really sets the precedent that the adults either can’t or won’t help the Baudelaires, something that remains constant throughout the series. Thus, in this book, we find the orphans coming into their own.
2. The Austere Academy—This was our first introduction to the Quagmires! I absolutely love the Quagmires, and their introduction leads to even more knowledge of VFD and the secret lives of the Baudelaires’ parents. It is also where we first meet Carmelita Spats, who is undoubtedly one of the most hilariously entitled characters that I’ve ever read. The ideas of an “Orphan Shack” and a Vice Principal named Nero who plays the violin are similarly brilliant. Overall, this book is amazing and one of my favorites!
1. The Ersatz Elevator—This book is my all time favorite! I love the constant fluctuation between what is “in” and “out.” It also exemplifies the narrator’s dark humor and both clever and hilarious writing style.The Ersatz Elevator is also perfectly paced and highly suspenseful and it was honestly difficult to find anything wrong with it. I also love how it introduced us to Esmé Squalor, a recurring character. She adds a lot to Count Olaf’s pretensions of grandeur and their relationship creates two compelling villains for the remainder of the series. This book represents everything that is great about the series!
I hope you enjoyed my ranking of these childhood classics! Feel free to comment your list or to disagree with me in the comments! If you want to purchase any of these books, go here!
Reddit is one of the most popular social media sites in the world because it provides a platform for almost anyone to talk about almost anything. There are subreddits for nearly every mainstream or niche hobby a person could think of—so yes, there are many, many great subreddits for book-lovers. Whatever book related advice, discussion, or personal anecdote you want to discover or share with others, Reddit has a platform for you. I’ve found many great subreddits during my time there. I’m going to share my five favorites, but by all means, feel free to dig into the hundreds of book-related communities Reddit has to offer to find the ones that are best for you!
r/suggestmeabook—This subreddit is essentially what you would expect: a community where you can ask for books suggestions. I’ve used a lot of websites and read many blog posts to find book suggestions in the past. Those were great sources for me when I had a vague idea of what I was looking for. I could read lists about the best new books of the year or best books about a certain topic or time period on blogs much like this one and discover some truly great reads. However, if you have a specific idea of what you’re looking to read next and you’re struggling to find it on a more general platform, r/suggestmeabook is the place to go. If you want “a book set in space with a strong female protagonist, a happy ending and an equally well-written sequel” or “a book with talking animals that isn’t written for children and also includes a healthy family dynamic” or even “a book based on a true story that I can read in a day and will make me cry by the end,” the members of this subreddit will find those books for you. There have been times where the requests are so specific I don’t think anyone could possibly suggest a book that fits all of the criteria, but they do. Every time. Try it out and I promise you won’t be disappointed.
r/shortscarystories— I cannot express how happy I was to discover this subreddit. It is a great subreddit which I encourage you to check out and it is r/shortscarystories is amazing for those of us who enjoy a well written scary story. This subreddit provides a platform for writers of any experience level to share their original scary stories. These stories must be longer than two sentences, but under 500 words, making them the perfect length to read on a lunch break, while waiting in line, or before going to bed (if you’re brave enough). I enjoy this subreddit because it’s a way for me to read stories I otherwise never would. Although they may not all be literary journal worthy, these stories are fun and a great way to fit in some reading time during a busy day.
r/bookshelf—This is yet another subreddit I’m grateful to have discovered. Members of this community post aesthetically pleasing pictures of their bookshelves daily. I love scrolling through new posts and seeing the effort people have put into arranging their shelves or seeing the new additions they’ve made to their collections. These posts range from pictures of expensive vintage collections, to single shelves of brightly colored spines and twinkling lights. Everyone can enjoy the diversity of the reading community through these posts and celebrate each other’s passion for reading. This subreddit is an all-around feel-good community of people sharing what they enjoy so that others can enjoy it, too. What’s not to love?
r/bookclub—Have you ever wanted to start a book club but you can’t get it off the ground? r/bookclub is a great solution to this problem. I enjoy this subreddit because it allows thousands of people to come together and share their thoughts about books. However, I also spend a lot of time in the comment sections of this subreddit because it’s a great place to find users who want to start niche book clubs. Many members will suggest starting book clubs for a certain series they’ve been wanting to read or a book club about a certain social topic they feel is important. r/bookclub is a great place to start when looking for a book club that fits your specific interests, or even for getting your own book club idea off the ground.
r/writingadvice—Although this subreddit is geared towards writers more than readers, there’s a place for all book-lovers in this community. As a writer, I enjoy posting short excerpts of my work to get feedback from other writers. However, even those who love reading but don’t post their own writing are invaluable to this subreddit. As a reader, you can read many great stories from amateur writers and give them your feedback. The perspective of a reader is valuable in the process of making revisions. The r/writingadvice community welcomes anyone who has a passion for good writing regardless of whether you are writing it yourself or just enjoying the work of your peers.
If Sense and Sensibility were a twenty-first century novel, Marianne would be the heroine, not Elinor. There is no way a woman with perfect composure who never offends anybody would take the spotlight. Marianne always speaks her mind, sometimes to the degree of incivility. She wears her heart on her sleeve and gets it broken. This brings a drastic change in her personality as she adopts discretion for the first time in her life. Elinor, whose perspective we have the most access to, and can therefore be considered the primary character, is politically correct from the beginning. She is fully functional when she’s down in the dumps and low-key patronizes her sister for indulging in a mourning period.
Granted, it’s Jane Austen. But even Thomas Hardy with his candid, earthy writing could not do worse than Bathsheba Everdene in Far from the Madding Crowd, whose only fault is that she dares to run a farm without consulting a man. She is punished for it by being put through a series of toxic relationships that break her spirit and rob her of her independence until, spoiler alert, she finally submits to the man she spurns in the first chapter.
Many of our revered classics—The Picture of Dorian Gray, Anna Karenina and The Great Gatsby for example—were highly controversial when they were first published and received mixed reviews. It had a lot to do with the fact that the main characters sinned repeatedly without obvious remorse, and that readers of that time could not stomach the acres of moral grey area that these fictional worlds presented. One could say that they were ahead of their time, like most great works of art. They paved the way for eminent writers of our time to create realistic characters with quirks, vulnerabilities, and impulses.
It’s more than just the artistic cliche of romanticizing pain. I think society became more accepting of imperfection as time went by—or at least less ashamed of it. We finally admit that we relate well to flawed characters because they give us hope that we too can experience amazing, extraordinary things, battered and dented as we are. The last thing the modern reader wants is a morally unscrupulous hero or heroine. What we want is to witness growth.
During this unprecedented time of social distancing and embracing your inner homebody (I refuse to call it “isolation”), a lot of people are finding outlets for their energy. Through exercise, cooking, meditation, reading, writing, and crafting, people are exploring different facets of their personalities.
It goes without saying that this is a perfect time to explore your creativity—and put it to good use!
Just like your biceps or hamstrings, your creative muscles needs to be exercised…and frequently. But what if you never really used it? Or can’t find it? Or think you have lost it like a sock in the dryer? Luckily, there are some terrific books and creative guides to help you along the way.
From full on narratives about the creative process to journals that push you to jump out of your comfort zone, there are books for every type of creative. You don’t have to be writing the next great American novel, or painting your way to Van Gogh-esque fame to be creative. You may just want to play with watercolors, pen a poem, or learn some new photography tricks. Or maybe you want to discover what creativity means to you and how you can incorporate it into your everyday life!
No matter where you are on your creative journey, the following four books are exceedingly helpful in getting those juices flowing. Whenever I have needed a nudge (or a cattle prodding!), they have certainly done the trick!
The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity—Julia Cameron. Let’s start with what I consider one of the gold standards when it comes to unblocking creativity. Julia Cameron’s workbook/guide has been recommended by many creative individuals, and for good reason—it is a tough, no holds-barred look at creative blocks and how to remove them. Through a series of weekly exercises and reflections, Cameron walks you down, through, over, and under the path to removing obstacles to your creativity. Be warned that this book is a marathon (it is a 12 week program) and not a sprint, so be sure you have some time devoted to really doing the work. It’s like a cheaper version of psychoanalysis!
Also, don’t be put off by the word “spiritual.” Cameron is sensitive to peoples’ beliefs and encourages you just to get in touch with whatever or whoever your spiritual guide happens to be. My biggest takeaway from the exercises, something that I do everyday, are the morning pages. Less focused than journaling, morning pages are essentially a three page brain dump. You just write whatever you are thinking about without judgement, and without editing. They clear your mind of clutter and position you for more creative thinking. And they work!
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear—Elizabeth Gilbert. Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love memoir has been an inspiration for those searching for more meaning and purpose in their lives. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear focuses on the creative side of purpose, how to work with your ideas, and dealing with the fear that just may be paralyzing you. Loaded with lots of personal anecdotes and advice, this book works for anyone who is venturing onto a new creative path, trying to rekindle an old project, or cultivate a new idea.
Particularly inspiring is Gilbert’s letter to fear, where she explains that it is allowed to tag along, but with the caveat that she and creativity are the ones driving the car! One important takeaway is not to sit too long on that good idea. It will not stick around forever, and may present itself to someone else who will take action upon it. Sound like rubbish? Ok, but how many times have you said, “I thought of that first!”?
The Crossroads of Should and Must: Find and Follow Your Passion—Elle Luna. Discover the difference between a job, a career, and a calling with Elle Luna’s The Crossroads of Should and Must. Digging deep to help you discover what you really want, Luna’s book is part narrative, and part memoir, with some exercises thrown in.
The book is particularly useful in identifying obstacles and addressing them (those pesky fears again!). Those who feel a creative calling but aren’t sure how to define or act on it will find this book particularly inspiring. The actual physical book is a joy to read as it resembles a board book with thick cover, numerous illustrations, and varied formatting.
The Steal Like an Artist Journal: A Notebook for Creative Kleptomaniacs—Austin Kleon. For journal fans, The Steal Like an ArtistJournal takes the concept of writing prompts a few steps further. Created by “writer who draws” Austin Kleon, you can expect suggestions like “make a mixtape for someone who doesn’t know you.” Steal Like an Artist is part journal, part sketchbook, and always interesting. Kleon encourages you to take your creativity outside your space to complete some of the entries. It is a very literal version of “stepping outside your circle.”
For example, one entry has you choose a color, visit a bookstore and write down the first ten titles you see with that color. Kleon’s twist on the traditional prompted journal forces you to use your creativity in different ways. For those looking for something other than a blank journal page, this may be the right fit.
