Read = Write

The best gift for a writer—this writer, anyway—is always a book. It’s true that I am more inclined to write if I am reading at the same time. The more interesting the book, the more creative I tend to be. Books educate and inspire. They entertain. Sometimes they do all three at once.

Those are the best books.

I scored a bibliophilic hat trick this Christmas. Three of my dearest, most discerning friends each discovered the perfect tome to adorn my collection. Also included in the loot is a Game of Thrones colouring book—I may be scunnered at the TV show, but I remain loyal to the novels.

My annual relishing of The Night Circus ended on Christmas Eve. Perfect timing, even though it was unplanned. I started reading before vacation and found myself lost in that world once more, admiring the beauty in every scene, hanging on every word spoken by Celia and Marco in their moments together. A masterpiece of poetry in prose, of painting in words. A wonderful, magical, mystical tale that’s a good start to the holidays even though it’s not a holiday piece. If it pays homage to any occasion, it’s Hallowe’en.

Previously, I had been trying to get through a book that proved unable to engage me. The premise was a good one, but the narrative was mediocre and the characters were painful. A good book has me either reading it every night or carrying it around with me in the event of spontaneous tea breaks. With this one, days would pass between one chapter and the next; I almost had to discipline myself to pick it up of a night. Finally, with November on the horizon and no hope of finishing the sucker before my annual visit to The Night Circus, I called it quits.

Needless to say, I wrote nothing during my struggle to enjoy it. Perhaps my life was hectic enough to provide a weak excuse, but I firmly believe that whatever I am reading at any one time exerts some influence on my own production. My happy place is the space between the real and the surreal. I don’t read much non-fiction, and the autobiographies of icons are only engaging if they’re well-written. (An interesting life is not so interesting when penned by an inept hand.) My imagination can be triggered, however, by a random photo in a pretentious coffee table book—it’s true when they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Some are worth a thousand pages!

With that in mind, my next few posts are about the latest additions to my library and what I hope to achieve by reading them.

Enjoy (but not as much as I will!)