Poem: Reading Glasses

Since I haven’t had a lot of time to write lately, I’ll be sharing an older poem.

Yes, my style may change over time, but I like to think that even the older ones can be fun sometimes. Here’s one of my favorites from a creative writing course in college. I was once a proud reader who didn’t need glasses to read. That is until I read too much…

 

Reading Glasses

Two owlets perch on a wing.

Hooked beaks on plump fools

stuffed with heaps of mice.

 

Two boxes crammed

with clocks and calendars

and leaves to the brim.

 

Two attic windows side by side,

overlooking an owl’s nest,

boxes stacked to the sills. Here

until the house burns.*

 

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Let’s chat! What did you think of the poem? Any fellow readers out there who wear glasses?

*The final sentence sometimes gets left out because it changes the entire mood of the poem. Personally, I like it because it adds a touch of mortality to what would otherwise be a lasting building.

Similar posts: Do Not Dissect This Poem, Origins, and Pine Trees

Don't Judge a Book by its Author, Or Should You?

Hello, dear readers. I’m baaaaack!

Boy, I’m glad I took a summer hiatus. Having two jobs has kept me incredibly busy, especially since as summer came to a close. That and I’ve been dealing with some family stuff. I haven’t had the time to write. 

I feel like the world is more political now than when I was growing up. Or maybe as a kid, I just didn’t notice the political atmosphere. *blech* Either way, it seems that everybody has an opinion on just about everything.

Readers’ opinions of authors are no exception. Some authors are likened to heroes while others are despised. When did art become about writers and not the books themselves?

Sure, buying an author’s books or checking them out from the library supports the author. As an indie author, I get it and often enjoy supporting fellow writers by buying their books. But where do we as readers draw the line? In short: it’s complicated. Here’s why.

Side note: I’m not going about to write about politics. Personally, I like to keep my political opinions separate from my author profile. I will occasionally write about controversial topics, but this post is not one of them. As a result, I will be writing about some real examples and some hypothetical ones.

 

 

The Dangers of Hero Worship

You may have heard the adage, “never meet your heroes.”

Now, I haven’t met many authors, so I can’t say I’ve had negative experiences meeting them. Actually, the authors I’ve met have been inspirational. (Hi, Lisa!)

At the same time, though, I’ve seen the dangers of hero worship. People, even those you admire, will at one point or other let you down. That’s not to say that you can’t admire certain authors, just that it’s not wise to put them on a pedestal. Authors are people too.

 

Authors with Different Beliefs from their Readers

Here’s a tricky one. What do you do if you believe one thing and you come across a book by an author who believes something different? As a Christian, I come across this situation quite often, from authors who are atheists to others who are Mormon. I don’t read much Christian speculative fiction because I tend to find the genre rather limiting (see Controversy in Fiction: Christian Fiction).

I don’t take my beliefs from fiction, either, though there are times when reading will challenge me. Without reading other perspectives, how would we grow?

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” –Unknown (often mistakenly attributed to Aristotle)

 

Amazing Writing, Terrible Lifestyle

I remember one time I was sitting in a book club, and some of the other readers were talking about one author (I can’t remember which one) who was an absolute dirtbag, but they liked his books. For that very reason, I respected my fellow readers for their discernment and their ability to acknowledge that even though they didn’t like the writer’s lifestyle, they could appreciate his work.

I know there are several painters whom I’ve shared a similar opinion, but I can’t think of any writers off the top of my head.

 

Separating the Author from the Book

I like reading the acknowledgements in a book and the author’s bio, but that’s generally where I stop. I read so many books that reading about each and every author would take up a lot of time. If I’m really into a book or another, I may look up more info about the author, but it’s rare.

Generally speaking, I try to focus on judging the book for what it is, not for who wrote it. Yes, an author’s beliefs can influence their writing, but I also take on the idea that once a book is published, it doesn’t wholly belong to the writer anymore but to the reader.

 

Let’s chat! What’s your take on judging a book by its author? Have you ever met any of your favorite authors in person?

 

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Similar posts: 7 of my Go-To Authors; Let’s Agree to Disagree: Reader vs. Author Opinion; and Controversy in Fiction: Christian Fiction

Are Book Dragons a Dying Breed?

At work the other day, I was talking with some of my coworkers about the Harry Potter release parties. As a kid, I wasn’t allowed to read the books, and I’d never gone to a release party for even the popular series that I had read, like the Eragon books. Release parties sounded exciting, and I remarked how I wish I had been to one.

“People just don’t read books anymore,” my coworker said.

To which I frowned. “Many people,” I corrected. “Some still read.”

Honestly, I’ve seen both sides. For a couple of months, I worked as a substitute teacher, and I watched several kids who absolutely abhorred reading. When they had to read a chapter for class, they complained through the whole thing or said that its contents offended them or just didn’t read at all. I’m sure if I spent more time substituting, I might have seen more eager readers.

On the other hand, at my current job, which combines education and fun outside of an academic setting, I’ve seen plenty of young adult readers. I’ve seen kids read older books like The Hobbit and Ender’s Game and even the recent releases like The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I’ve talked with kids about how much time they spent at their local library, something I actually missed out on as a kid, which was mainly my socially awkward fault because I didn’t know how to ask for help.

Falling Fandoms

Humans like to congregate. If you don’t believe me, try putting a group of children in a room and telling them to keep six feet apart. The same goes for readers. Once two of them find that they both enjoyed the same story, nobody can get them to shut up.

Fandoms can be a pretty big deal, though not all readers get into them. From fanart to fan merch to events, readers can get just as enthusiastic about their fandoms as some do their sports.

However, it does seem like it’s been awhile since a YA fandom was on the rise. Right now, you have Game of Thrones or The Witcher (neither of which I would see myself getting into), but the popular books for young adults and kids aren’t discussed as much, except maybe as a means for political debate, like The Hate U Give. Which is actually kind of infuriating. Can’t young adults have their stories without it being torn apart by jaded adults?

Lucy Pevensie: I wish you’d all stop talking like grown-ups.

Trumpkin the dwarf: I… am a grown-up.

—Prince Caspian, film adaptation

Sure, fandoms still exist, like The Chronicles of Narnia and The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson and Harry Potter, but some of them aren’t doing as well as others. The Chronicles of Narnia may never be a complete film series, especially now that the actor for Eustace from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (book 3) is too old to play in The Silver Chair (book 4).

Not to mention whatever nosedive the Harry Potter fandom took lately. I don’t really follow news when it comes to authors, despite being an author, because I think it’s important to separate the stories from the writer. Yes, I believe in supporting present-day authors by buying their books, but I don’t have to agree with all of their beliefs or lifestyles. But that’s not something all readers can do, which is evident by the withdrawal from the Harry Potter fandom.

The Rise of Technology

Technology plays a big part in our world. Sometimes it can be a tool to encourage readers, especially when it comes to the accessibility of e-books, but it can be a distraction as well. Personally, I’ve been having a really hard time with e-books lately, even with authors whose work I typically devour. It might have something to do with no longer owning an e-reader, but that’s not all. On days when I come home tired from work, my first instinct is not to read but rather to do something that requires less energy, like watch a show or play a video game.

I’m not the only one. Technology can be a form of entertainment for many, which isn’t a bad thing as a whole. But in general, you’re more likely to hear a lot about a generation of gamers, not so much readers. In fact, readers are viewed as being more elite, which isn’t so good for a person’s pride when they consider themselves so much better than non-readers.

Finding Your Niche

My current workplace comprises a smaller part of the public, usually those who tend to prefer intellectual and/or nerdy topics, those who enjoy topics involved with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics). So a lot of the teens and preteens who come through tend to like nerdy topics already. Sure, not all of them may be avid readers, but some of them turn out to be, even if I didn’t peg them as readers at first glance. I even met a fellow writer once, which was awesome of course.

While I met one kid who said they read The Lord of the Rings in a week, I also met a kid who said they didn’t like reading but they were really into comics and graphic novels because of all the art. I did my best to encourage them, saying how I like reading graphic novels and want to read more and that they totally count as reading.

My little sister doesn’t always get into YA like I do, but she’s obsessed with fanfiction. It’s taken me a while to admit it, but sure, Wattpad counts as reading too. Besides, plenty of authors have written their books on sites like that and gone on to traditionally publish it elsewhere.

My brother, on the other hand, doesn’t get into fiction like I do, though he will occasionally pick up historical fiction. He prefers history books—the big ones and the smaller ones that get into the nitty gritty details. Back when I was first discovering what an amazing resource the library was, I used to drag him along, and he has thanked me countless times for introducing him to the place.

I am a firm believer that people who “don’t like to read” simply haven’t found their niche. Just because somebody doesn’t enjoy reading Shakespeare doesn’t mean they don’t like reading (Seriously, though. Shakespeare was a playwright. His works weren’t meant to be read). Now I haven’t studied statistics (which can easily be manipulated by the way), and I do believe that overall, the world-wide book industry isn’t doing as well as it once was.

Yet as long as we encourage new people to pursue the books that they like, readers aren’t going away anytime soon.

“Reader’s Bill of Rights

1. The right to not read

2. The right to skip pages

3. The right to not finish

4. The right to reread

5. The right to read anything

6. The right to escapism

7. The right to read anywhere

8. The right to browse

9. The right to read out loud

10. The right to not defend your tastes”

― Daniel Pennac

Let’s chat! What’s your take on the survival of avid readers? What’s your reading niche? How many book dragons have you encountered in the wild?

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Similar posts: Pre-Ordering, Boarding the Hype Train, and Letting it Pass; Why This Bookworm Enjoys Book-to-Movie Adaptations; and The Extinction of Paperbacks

Let's Agree to Disagree: Reader vs. Author Opinion

Opinions run rampant in the publishing industry. Authors and readers alike come with plenty of bias. Some readers like classics and others don’t. Writers like their own stories and have favorites among them. All in all, it’s terribly hard to find objective reviews. How are we to know which opinion to trust?

Sometimes it takes practice. Often it takes trial and error. It took me years to learn that just because I have a different opinion from somebody else does not make them a bad reviewer or me a bad reader. It just makes us different. Then I had to find reviewers who shared similar tastes as I do, and even then, we don’t always agree.

Here are just a few popular books and how they may differ from readers to authors. This post is not intended to be a negative one. Rather, I will be looking at several books with the public’s opinion and the author’s opinion and comparing which I lean toward.

The Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

“If in 100 years I am only known as the man who invented Sherlock Holmes then I will have considered my life a failure.” —Doyle

As much as readers love Sherlock Holmes, his author hated him. It’s been 131 years (132 in November, 2019) since the first novel, A Study in Scarlet was published, and Sherlock Holmes fans are still as avid and crazy as ever. That’s me. Hello. *waves* If you think Sherlock fans are fanatic today, just consider that in Doyle’s day, readers protested Holmes’ death so much that they forced the author to bring him back.

I’m pretty sure most people today aren’t familiar with Doyle’s other works, like The Lost World and The White Company. I tried reading the latter, but didn’t make it past the first chapter.

I’m so sorry, Doyle.

Call of the Wild and White Fang by Jack London

“Jack wrote to his publishers that he had decided to compose a ‘complete antithesis and companion book [to Call of the Wild; i.e. White Fang].’ He stated in his letter, ‘I’m going to reverse the process. Instead of a devolution or decivilization of a dog, I’m going to give the evolution, the civilization of a dog-development of domesticity, faithfulness, love, morality, and all the amenities and virtues.’” —from The Best of Jack London, Introduction

When I was a kid, I used to enjoy listening to the audio book for White Fang. I liked the juxtaposition of the savagery of nature and humankind and the beauty and grace that lies in both. It wasn’t until I was in college that I read Call of the Wild, though I certainly heard a lot more about it than I ever did White Fang. Truth be told, I was disappointed with the story. I can’t even remember that much of the plot. My sister was the same way. Actually, she’s a little obsessed with White Fang, so I bought her a Litographs poster.

Even London actually preferred White Fang, which focuses more on a wolf-dog learning to trust a man than a dog learning to be wary of humankind. In this case, I agree with the author and will continue to enjoy White Fang despite popular opinion preferring Call of the Wild.

Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained by John Milton

Of the two novel-length poems, Milton preferred Paradise Regained, and yet it’s Paradise Lost, the predecessor, that we hear about a lot. With running the risk of I saying that I prefer the story of the fall of mankind more than their redemption, I’m going to say that I liked Paradise Lost better than Paradise Regained. For one, the imagery in the former is spectacular while I found it to be nearly nonexistent in the latter.

That and I’m not sure why Milton’s choice of the narrative for Paradise Regained is centered around Jesus’ temptation rather than his death and resurrection. Sure, I can see the parallels between Paradise Lost where Satan tempts Eve and Adam and Paradise Regained where he later tempts Jesus, but I don’t see how this particular point in the biblical narrative is the redemptive point for mankind.

These are just a few of the places where authors and readers differ. I’m sure there are plenty more, but I have selected a few of my favorites. I’m sure readers and writers will continue to disagree throughout the future, but like I said, reading is subjective.

Let’s chat! What are your thoughts on the books listed? What are some classics that you side with the author when it comes to opinion? How about the readers?

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Similar posts: Slow-Paced vs. Fast-Paced Books: What They Say About Their Readers, Controversy in Fiction: Christianity vs. Intellectualism, and 7 Things No Writer Wants to Hear

Literary references: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes collection, Jack London’s Call of the Wild and White Fang, and John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained

Character Types: The Bookworm

How do you make readers happy?

Give them books. Give them more books. Give them books with characters who like to read. Throw a gift certificate to their favorite bookstore at their face. Gift them a library card. Leave them behind in a bookstore. Lock them in a library. Give them books. Leave them alone while they’re reading the last fifty pages the whole book.

I’m sensing a pattern here…

Today, I’m here to write about the bookworm as a fictional character!

For my examples, I’ll be drawing from some of the main characters in Fahrenheit 451, the Inkworld trilogy, Anne of Green Gables, and The Book Thief. Please note that the characters in these books do not include all the fictional bookworms. Here are just a couple traits common for fictional bookworms:

1)      They tend to be counter-cultural.

Before he even discovers the joy of reading (after burning so many books), Guy Montag (Fahrenheit 451) enjoys going for walks in a world that is obsessed with speed and driving. In a world where reading is illegal, once he discovers how eye-opening reading can be, he practically gives up his life for books. If that’s not dedication, I don’t know what is.

But let’s face it, bookworms, if your house was on fire, how many of your books would you try to save?

“There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.” (Fahrenheit 451)

Liesel Memminger (The Book Thief) first discovers her love for reading by stealing a book from a grave digger. And she continued to steal books, even saving one from a fire built by the Nazis to destroy books they didn’t agree with.

Okay, so you and I might have more ordinary bookworm origins. Perhaps your parents read to you when you were a child, your teacher introduced you to your favorite book, or you checked out a lot of books from the library. Either way, books can be eye-opening, and they teach readers to be more empathetic.

2)      They’re dreamers.

Mortimer “Mo” Folchart passed on his bookish appreciation to his daughter, Meggie. But Meggie doesn’t just want to read books. She wants to live in them. And she soon finds she gets more than she bargained for when she starts meeting characters her father once read out of a book.

“Her curiosity was too much for her [Meggie]. She felt almost as if she could hear the books whispering on the other side of the half-open door. They were promising her a thousand unknown stories, a thousand doors into worlds she had never seen before.” (Inkheart)

Like Meggie, Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables) can often be found with her nose in a book or dream up stories. She even gets into trouble at school for reading Ben Hur during class, and more than once, her wild imagination gets her in trouble, whether its spraining her ankle by falling off a roof or by getting stuck in a sinking boat in the middle of a pond. But it’s still enjoyable to read about someone with such an imagination!

“Oh, it’s delightful to have ambitions. I'm so glad I have such a lot. And there never seems to be any end to them—that’s the best of it. Just as soon as you attain to one ambition you see another one glittering higher up still. It does make life so interesting.” (Anne of Green Gables)

3)      They’re easy to relate with.

Meggie Folchart carries books with her when she travels. I usually take along at least five books whenever I go anywhere—one to read, a backup in case I finish the first, my journal, a notebook for story ideas, and my Bible. Meggie carries even more, at least twelve. If that’s not admirable, I don’t know what is.

“‘What on earth have you packed in here? Bricks?’ asked Mo as he carried Meggie’s book-box out of the house.“‘You’re the one who says books have to be heavy because the whole world's inside them,’ said Meggie.” (Inkheart)

On the other hand, Anne often struggles with being stereotyped whether it is for her red hair or her talkative nature. And people misspell her name.

“But if you call me Anne, please call me Anne with an ‘e’.” (Anne of Green Gables)

Dear Anne, try having my name. I’ve been called Aslan, Ashlyn, and even Ashley. How is that even remotely close to Azelyn? When you have the rare character who points out how often their name is misspelled, such as Anne, it’s easy to relate.

4)      They tend to inspire people to live better.

Except for Guy Montag. I don’t remember him being a very admirable character.

Mo, on the other hand, works as a book binder, treating his books with care and doing his best to look out for his daughter.

Likewise, Anne’s imagination may run off with her, but she taught many people in her neighborhood to love and be more accepting of the unusual. And most of all, she taught me to dream.

“Isn’t it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive—it’s such an interesting world. It wouldn’t be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There’d be no scope for imagination then, would there?” (Anne of Green Gables)

Finally, Liesel looks beyond stereotypes and her culture’s expectations and shows not only a care for books but also for people.

Other book-obsessive characters include, but are not limited to, Mr Norrell, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell; Marie-Laure, All the Light We Cannot See; Cadence, We Were Liars; Cress, The Lunar Chronicles; Kvothe, The Kingkiller Chronicles; Claus, Series of Unfortunate Events; and Aibileen, The Help.

Petition to authors: We need more male bookworms. Seriously, though. Why are most of the bookworms in fiction female? That’s not fair to all the guys in the world who like to read!

As a bookworm, I enjoy reading about bookworms. Sometimes, I even find my favorite characters giving me book recommendations.

Speaking of bookworms, the print edition of Last of the Memory Keepers is out! Be sure to add it on Goodreads and get your copy on Amazon. 

Let’s chat! Who are your favorite bookworms in fiction? Did I miss any? Have you ever been left behind or locked in a library or bookstore? What’s your most memorable experience as bookworm? 

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Similar Posts: Bring the Book, The First Fifty Pages, and Do What YOU Enjoy

Literary references: Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Cornelia Funke’s Inkworld trilogy, L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Lew Wallace’s Ben Hur, Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See, E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars, Marissa Meyer’s The Lunar Chronicles, Patrick Rothfuss’ The Kingkiller Chronicles, Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events, Kathryn Stockett’s The Help