Book Bag

Got My Reading Mojo Back

Last week I mentioned that I’m dedicating September to embracing the Back to School Feeling I so love. It’s going great. I’ve been making art, propagating plants, and practicing remembering to cultivate a sense of wonder around the animals, the trees, the sky and all the rest of it. 

One of my favorite parts about school was all the reading I had to do. I didn’t just stop with assigned books. As a kid and young adult I read lots of other books, too. Over the years, my reading slowed down courtesy of life’s busyness. Like a lot of people, I found myself robbed of the ability to do sustained reading during lockdown. I know this obstacle was/is exacerbated by our ever-shortening attention spans—thanks to social media and the 24 hour news cycle. 

I’m more than a little delighted then, to report that at long last I have gotten my long form reading mojo back. I’m consuming print and audiobooks at a rapid rate and I am so pleased with this. As with pretty much every other aspect of my life, I overthink the idea of reading. Does reading really make us “better” or is it simply another distraction? When books first started arriving on the scene, were people who read them judged the way we judge people who spend too much time online these days? One could argue the similarities are greater than the differences. Whether you’re reading a history book or watching a cat video, you’re still removing yourself from living in the moment which, hilariously, is often enough what plenty of authors and influencers swear is the most important thing we can accomplish, while promising to teach us how to do it if only we will take time out of being present to be distracted by what they’re dishing out. 

I do know, for a fact, that books saved my young life, showed me an amazing world beyond the hedgerow of my small town, heavily censored and totally controlled life. Books were my ticket out. On September 21, I’ll be hosting a big Banned Books Celebration at the Hampton Branch Library. I’m planning to talk about how discovering a copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves on a bookshelf in the tiny town library  in the early ‘70s had a major impact on my life. Until I read it, I had zero clue how my physical body worked aside from a vague, mysterious pamphlet I found left on my bed when I was around twelve, my mother unable to sit down and talk to me about hormones and menstruation and all the rest of it. I’ll also mention The Handmaid’s Tale, which a customer left for me—best tip ever—when I was waiting tables at a shitty cafe in Tampa in 1987. That one, too, had a profound influence on me. 

Currently I am reading/listening to four different books, two of which I’ve admittedly sort of pushed to the side as the other two are winning out for my attention. I like to keep a good mix of fiction and nonfiction in my queue. I’m just as interested in educating myself to better understand and tame my ongoing mental health challenges (ADHD, cPTSD, OCD) as I am in indulging in complicated novels simply to be amused, entertained and, yes, distracted from my real life anxiety. Also, super light fare is not beneath me. Books are my friends, and like my human friends, my book collection runs the gamut from very serious to totally playful.

Here’s a list of some of the books I’ve recently read/am reading. Maybe you’ll see something you like. 

On Fire by Larry Brown

NYT book critic Dwight Garner recently wrote a piece that was so beautifully composed I sent him fan mail. In it he highlighted three Southern male authors who wrote about outsiders, among them Larry Brown. I was passionate about Brown in my youth but had forgotten about him. I just started the audio version of this very short memoir he wrote about his sixteen years as a firefighter in Mississippi. His work is as raw and honest and direct as I remember it. Great book.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Upon finishing this novel, which I so enjoyed, I saw a brief review likening the story to a Thomas Kinkade painting—which was not a compliment. I could see why the reviewer said that and I’m also glad I didn’t read the dismissive words before I started the book. It was really just what I needed— life-affirming, many stories within a story, and bonus points, the narrator is outstanding. 

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

Kate Atkinson is on my top five authors of all time list. Don’t ask the other four because there are at least twenty writers on my top five authors list. I got hooked on Atkinson’s series about Detective Jackson Brodie. I gobble her stuff down. Her work is very literary but not at all snobbish. As a reader I am always left very satisfied. As a writer I try to understand how she manages to be so consistently fantastic. Can’t figure it out so I just keep giving thanks every time she releases a new book. 

The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan

I’m always suspicious of books recommended by celebrities so when I noticed Reese had suggested this one, it gave me pause. But I’d heard an interview with the author that I liked, I had a spare Audible credit, so I went for it. Very engaging. It was a perfect summer read. 

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Many visitors to the O. Henry Museum where I work mentioned this one to me because there is a connection between the Chicago World Fair of 1893 (The Columbian Exposition) and O. Henry’s most famous short story, The Gift of the Magi. If you want to know about that, come see me at the museum. I finally got around to listening to this one, which is all about that massive event and follows two threads—the crazy architecture tale of building the site on a ridiculous timeline AND the story of the serial killer who took advantage of the Fair’s popularity to kill a lot of people. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read—nonfiction written with the breathtaking pace of a page turner novel. Can’t recommend it highly enough.

The Hunter by Tana French

Like Kate Atkinson, Tana French writes novels that move briskly and are breathtaking in the level of character development and plot. I’ve actually read three of her books in rapid succession, unable to get enough of these stories which are set in Ireland. 

Dalva by Jim Harrison

Recommended by the same friend who turned me on to Tana French, Dalva is a story within a story, with the protagonist wrestling with her current life as well as her family’s history—her grandfather was an Anglo man who had a complicated relationship with the Sioux in Nebraska. 

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

Last week, my favorite reading buddy snail mailed me two books by Liz Moore, whom I’d not previously heard of. I dove into The God of the Woods a few days ago and it is delicious, set at a summer camp in 1975, populated with many well-developed characters, and inspiring me to read “just one more chapter” before setting it down.

No Bad Parts by Richard C. Schwartz, PHD

This is one of two books I started reading when I got seriously triggered in August. When my mental health challenges flare up, even though all I want to do is get into a fetal ball and hide, I make myself take positive steps to get back to a good place. This book is all about Internal Family Systems, a psychological model in which we envision ourselves as being composed of many earlier versions—so, for example, when my inner scared toddler starts screaming, my inner angry sixteen year old might step up and go into enraged overprotection mode. I know this might sound very kooky if you’re not familiar with it. I find the concepts and framework very, very helpful when I am trying to get a grip on my spiraling mind. 

Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott

I came across an interesting piece about Ursula Parrott whose life was fascinating and tragic. Her autobiographical novel, Ex-Wife, was scandalous when it was released in 1929. She describes life in NYC at the time, a dazzling series of parties and men and way too much booze. What was once contemporary is now, of course, history, but it’s interesting (and often sad) to see how some things haven’t changed in the world of navigating romantic relationships. 

What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo

In a moment of fantastic timing, a friend handed me this book as I was in the depths of despair. It’s a combination memoir and journalistic exploration of cPTSD. The c stands for complex. This type of PTSD is not recognized by the DSM, but trust me, it’s real. PTSD is typically associated with one or more single traumatic events—a bad car crash, a war experience, sudden death. cPTSD is a syndrome caused by repeated trauma, such as child abuse. Foo was regularly beaten severely and also threatened constantly by her parents who ultimately abandoned her when she was a teenager. She grew up to become a radio reporter and producer, most notably for This American Life. Her book explores her journey to understand and cope with the fallout of her abuse. It can be a really tough read, and I didn’t entirely agree with all of her observations, but there was more than enough overlap between our experiences for me to really connect. I’m sorry for what she went through, but grateful for her willingness to share as it is helping me very much in my own healing journey.

What are y’all reading? Do tell. 

NOTES:

If you can swing a paid subscription, I’m asking you to please consider doing that. $5 per month helps me keep things rolling over here. If you aren’t up for that, you can still help by sharing this with people you think will dig it. 

My next FREE Writing Workshop at Hampton Branch Library is September 17, 5:30-7:30. It really helps us if you register because space is limited and it always fills up. Here’s a link. 

The Banned Books event, also at Hampton Branch Library, is going to be awesome. We have a panel of amazing writers who will discuss censorship. There will be snacks. And the wonderful, hilarious band Kathleen Turner Overdrive will play a set of banned songs. TOTALLY FREE. 

Over at my other substack, Write With Spike, I host an ongoing writing workshop of sorts. It’s a great community. If you’re a writer—all levels welcome including beginners—I hope you’ll join us. 

PLEASE REGISTER TO VOTE and then VOTE! Also, even if you think you’re registered, please check to make sure some asshole organization didn’t bump you off the rolls. That’s not a conspiracy theory, it’s a real thing. You can make sure you are registered HERE. 

If you pre-ordered my new novel via Kickstarter—THANK YOU. I am in the process of shipping the books now. If you did not order a copy and would like to, I will do a second printing in a few weeks. Message me if you want to pre-order a print copy ($30). Also message me if you want an e-copy ($10)—those will be shipping very soon.

Thanks for reading y’all! Love, Spike