post it, related to the shame of not reading*) in September, I knew I wanted to share it with you all.
Photo credit: Galine Kondratenko via Unsplash
Here are the criteria by which I chose my one book.
Be Short! When people feel shame, they need raspberries. Or blueberries, strawberries work too. In other words, low hanging fruit. Fruit that requires little to no effort to harvest and pop in your mouth. Easy wins in the book world means shorty books that won’t sit around for months, gathering dust on a bedside table.
Have Immediately likeable characters. Bang! No waffling here, someone who hasn’t read in a while needs to feel positively toward the main character(s) pretty much from the get go. Otherwise, the book will be set aside and their shame will grow.
No controversy. Again, the shame thing is big. No one wants to pick up a book who hasn’t read in a while only to scolded by someone who says the author is problematic. Shame breeds shame so steer clear of controversy here.
EASY x 2! 1) findable. Library, in print or on Hoopla/Libby, or easily found at a bookstore. So nothing too obscure, old, possible out of print or with multiple editions. 2) readable.
Feel good. Of course you know I’ll say “no trauma” but I want to go further and say “feel good”. As in close the book and heave a contented sigh. That there is still hope yet in the world or that beauty won out over hate.
So….drum rolll! Here is mine:
A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers. A comforting small story that checks all of the above boxes and THEN SOME. Sibling Dex is a “tea monk” in a future world who encounters a robot who asks them a simple question. That question spawns an adventure and friendship that explores what it means to have and to need.
And what about you? If you had to rekindle someone’s love of reading by giving them just one book, what would it be?
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#FridayQuestion : "If you had to rekindle someone’s love of reading by giving them just one book, what would it be?"
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The holidays are a great time to give a book as a gift so when I saw this question (it is NOT my own, I saw
Here are the criteria by which I chose my one book.
Be Short! When people feel shame, they need raspberries. Or blueberries, strawberries work too. In other words, low hanging fruit. Fruit that requires little to no effort to harvest and pop in your mouth. Easy wins in the book world means shorty books that won’t sit around for months, gathering dust on a bedside table.
Have Immediately likeable characters. Bang! No waffling here, someone who hasn’t read in a while needs to feel positively toward the main character(s) pretty much from the get go. Otherwise, the book will be set aside and their shame will grow.
No controversy. Again, the shame thing is big. No one wants to pick up a book who hasn’t read in a while only to scolded by someone who says the author is problematic. Shame breeds shame so steer clear of controversy here.
EASY x 2! 1) findable. Library, in print or on Hoopla/Libby, or easily found at a bookstore. So nothing too obscure, old, possible out of print or with multiple editions. 2) readable.
Feel good. Of course you know I’ll say “no trauma” but I want to go further and say “feel good”. As in close the book and heave a contented sigh. That there is still hope yet in the world or that beauty won out over hate.
So….drum rolll! Here is mine:
A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers. A comforting small story that checks all of the above boxes and THEN SOME. Sibling Dex is a “tea monk” in a future world who encounters a robot who asks them a simple question. That question spawns an adventure and friendship that explores what it means to have and to need.
And what about you? If you had to rekindle someone’s love of reading by giving them just one book, what would it be?
*The whole wonderfully vulnerable post is here.