Happy New Year, TKZLand!
Simple question today: What book is King of the Mountain on your TBR pile?
Meaning, what is the first book you intend to read in 2025?
For me, it will be to finish Against All Enemies and start the next in the series, Friendly Fire, by our own John Gilstrap. Great stories!
So, how about you? Do tell . . .
Whew! We made it…
“I guess there are never enough books.” —John Steinbeck
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The decision on whether to read a book in print or on an ebook device usually comes down to personal preference. But I came across something recently that made me think there may be more benefits to reading on paper rather than ebooks, so I thought I’d share that here.
First, a little data on the marketplace. I read this on Investopedia.com
According to the Association of American Publishers, e-book sales in the U.S. were down 1.5% during the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first three months of 2023, for a total of $255.6 million in revenue. They currently make up 12% of total consumer book sales. Their share of the market has been inching up over time, but hardcover and paperback books still rule the market, with approximately $3.3 billion and $3.1 billion in sales in 2023, respectively.
So it’s a competitive marketplace with each book type finding favor with different groups. Here are a few of the reasons people may choose one format over the other.
Ebooks
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” —Stephen King
The word that comes up often when talking about ebooks is “convenience.”
In addition, Project Guttenberg provides thousands of ebooks downloadable at no cost.
Ebooks do have some disadvantages
Print Books
“A room without books is like a body without a soul”. – Cicero
Print books may not be as convenient as digital, but they do have advantages.
But there’s more. I ran across an article on howlifeunfolds.com about the benefits of reading print books, and I’ve listed a few of those additional benefits below:
You absorb more information.
Readers of print books absorb and remember more of the plot than readers of e-books do, according to a study that was presented in Italy in 2014. In an earlier study, print readers also scored higher in other areas, such as empathy, immersion in the book, and understanding of the narrative. Scientists believe this effect is related to the tactile sensation of holding a book in your hands.
They help children become better readers, too.
Another study of young children between the ages of three and five revealed that kids had lower comprehension of the story when their parents read to them from an e-book as opposed to a print book.
They can help you sleep better.
When you’re winding down for the night, reading from a screen or scrolling through a social media app on your phone are bad ideas. Study after study has shown that the blue light from your screen can toy with your melatonin levels and circadian cycles, making it harder for you to fall asleep and making you feel groggier when you wake up.
Having a library at home is linked to higher academic achievement.
Students who have books at home are more likely to score higher on tests, according to a study of readers from 42 countries. It doesn’t matter how many books you have, but each additional book helps children perform better in school.
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I like to read fiction on ebooks and nonfiction on paper. One thing I like about paper is the ability to write notes in the margins, something I’d never need to do in a novel. However, reading the article on howlifeunfolds.com, I may reconsider how to add more print books to my reading.
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.” —Walt Disney
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So TKZers: What’s your preference in reading: print or ebooks? Do the benefits of print books listed above influence your decision?
“A delicious murder mystery” —Readers’ Favorite Reviews
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play, or Apple Books.
by Debbie Burke
Happy Thanksgiving to Kill Zone friends!
While you’re waiting for the bird to roast, how about reading a book with Thanksgiving as the centerpiece?
After all, it’s a True Crime not to read!
Here’s a list of holiday-themed books compiled by the Memorial Hall Library in Andover, MA. Some are mysteries, some are histories. Some are older, some more recent.
Thanksgiving Night-A Novel, Richard Bausch, Harper Perennial, 2007. The tagline sounds promising: “Will Butterfield can’t believe it. His 75-year-old mother is threatening to jump off the roof. Again.” But reviews are mixed.
Billy Lynn’s Long Half Time Walk, Ben Fountain, Ecco, 2012. This book juxtaposes war, sports, and social commentary. It won the National Book Critic’s Award and became a film in 2016.
This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiiving, David J. Silverman, Bloosmbury, 2019. Historian Silverman reexamines Thanksgiving from the Native perspective.
Turkey Trot Murder, Leslie Meier, Kensington Cozies, 2017. The 24th book in the long running Lucy Stone mystery series, featuring a small-town newspaper reporter.
Strangers at the Feast, Jennifer Vanderbes, Scribner, 2010. A novel about the colliding worlds of suburban privilege and urban poverty.
Mayflower Lives: Pilgrims in a New World and the Early American Experience, Martine J. Whittock, Pegasus Books, 2019. Commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower landing.
Thanksgiving, Janet Evanovich, Harper Collins, 2009. A romantic classic originally published in the 1980s.
The Cat Who Talked Turkey, Lilian Jackson Braun, Berkley Reprint, 2004. From the venerable cozy series featuring felines that solve murders.
An Indigenous People’s History of the United States, Roxanne Dungar-Ortiz, Beacon Press, 2014. Recipient of the National Book Award. A “bottoms up history” describing effects of colonization on the Native population.
The Ghost at the Table, Suzanne Berne, Algonquin, 2007. A novel about conflict among siblings over their mother’s suspicious death 25 years before.
The Accidental Tourist, Anne Tyler, Vintage Reprints, 2002. A classic originally published in 1985 and made into a 1988 Oscar-winning film with Geena Davis.
A Great and Godly Adventure, Godfrey Hodgson, Lume Books, 2017 (original publication PublicAffairs, 2006). History focused on the pilgrims’ mission to spread religion to the new world.
The Ice Storm, Rick Moody, Back Bay Books, 2002. A grim satiric novel about two affluent suburban families whose dysfunction comes to a head during the turbulent era of Watergate and the Vietnam war. Later made into a 1997 film.
A Catered Thanksgiving (Mystery with Recipes), Isis Crawford, Kensington, 2010. A turkey blows up, killing a wealthy patriarch whose heirs are worried about being cut out of his will.
Thanksgiving-The Biography of an American Holiday, James W. Baker, University of New Hampshire Press, 2009. A cultural, historical analysis of Thanksgiving.
The Thanksgiving Visitor, Truman Capote, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1996. An illustrated, read-aloud story for ages 6-12.
~~~
Photo credit: Dennis Wilkinson on Flickr
Today I give thanks to the fascinating folks I’ve met here at TKZ. I’m grateful to share thoughts and experiences, and appreciate the ongoing writing education generously offered by my smart, insightful TKZ colleagues!
Wishing you and your family a day of blessings, good food, and good reading!
~~~
P.S. Tomorrow, 11/29/24, I’ll be at an international Zoom Book Launch party, hosted by UK author Yvonne Battle-Felton. Authors from the US and UK will introduce our new books. I’ll read from Fruit of the Poisonous Tree. You’re all invited!
Zoom link: https://bit.ly/booklaunch2024autumnedition
The time is 8-10 pm GMT. Here’s a link to convert to your time zone: https://greenwichmeantime.com/time-gadgets/time-zone-converter/
I’d love to “meet” TKZers if you can attend!.
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.” –Walt Disney
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I love the book club I belong to. With a diverse group of women from different backgrounds and experiences, we have robust discussions about the books we read and the lives we lead. Although people come and go, we’ve maintained about twelve members consistently. Since we meet monthly, each person is responsible for hosting the club once a year, and the host chooses the book to be read. This is a wonderful arrangement because we read books I probably wouldn’t have chosen otherwise.
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Book clubs have been around for hundreds of years. One of the earliest was a religious discussion group organized by Anne Hutchinson aboard a Puritan ship in 1634 as it sailed to America. According to minnpost.com, the interest in reading groups, lectures, and debates grew over the centuries as the new country developed.
In 1926 Harry Scherman founded the Book-of-the-Month Club, a subscription-based club that offered a selection of several books to its members each month Some of the books selected for distribution by its panel of judges were Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, and J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. According to encyclopedia.com, the BOTM club has distributed over 570 million books to its members in the U.S. since its inception.
Other 20th century book-related ventures were the Literary Guild founded in 1927 and the publication of The Great Books of the Western World in 1952.
In 1996, Oprah Winfrey started her own book club, and that began a new era. Online book clubs sprang up in the early 21st century, and they became essential meeting places during the Covid pandemic. Today it’s estimated there are more than five million book club members in the United States!
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Here are recent reading lists from several book clubs.
The Book-of-the-Month Club
Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward
Wellness by Nathan Hill
Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor
Banyan Moon by Thao Thai
Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo
The Unsettled by Ayana Mathis
Paper Names by Susie Luo
Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
The Half Moon: A Novel by Mary Beth Keane
Tomb Sweeping: Stories by Alexandra Chang
Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club
The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin
Bittersweet by Susan Cain
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward
Wellness by Nathan Hill
Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes
The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul
Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon
Maybe Next Time by Cesca Major
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
The Cherryhill Book Club
The All of It by Jeannette Haien
The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
South to America by Imani Perry
Memphis by Tara Stringfellow
River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer
Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn
The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Marta Molnar
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So TKZers: Do you belong to a book club? Have you been invited to discuss one of your books at a book club? Have you read any of the books on the lists in this post? What book(s) (other than by a TKZ author) would you recommend to be read by a book club?
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Private pilot Cassie Deakin lands in the middle of a mystery and finds herself in the crosshairs of a murderer.
ebook on sale for 99¢ at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play, or Apple Books.
We’ve all read books that pulled us in, entertained us, inspired us, informed us, enough that we wanted to read the book again, maybe multiple times.
This is my last post for 2023. I wish you and your family a Happy Holiday season and a Wonderful New Year!
I’m off from blogging in January, but I’ll see you in February!
Back in 2015, I was chatting with a dear writer friend, Paul Dale Anderson, about the different types of writers and readers.
If you’re a new writer searching for your voice, understanding which classification you fall into might help. Professional writers should also find this interesting.
Some of you may be familiar with Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP). Though many call it junk science, most agree with the basic theory behind it: Our brains process information through one of our five senses. Though some rare individuals favor their sense of taste or smell (usually together, and these people are often chefs or perfumers), for most of us, it comes down to either visual, auditory, or kinesthetic.
Kinesthetic links the process of learning to physical activity. Meaning, kinesthetic people can read or listen to instructions, but deep learning occurs via the process of doing. Obviously, this doesn’t mean kinesthetic readers need to act out the plot — though that’d be cool to watch! — they better absorb the storyline when it relates to experiences and actions.
Clear as mud? Cool. Moving on…
Paul Dale Anderson authored 27 novels and hundreds of short stories. He earned graduate degrees in Educational Psychology, taught college-level Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), and earned an MA in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin. He also taught creative writing for Writers Digest School (both Novel and Short Story) and for the University of Illinois at Chicago. Paul was also a Certified Hypnotist and National Guild of Hypnotists Certified Instructor.
Sadly, the writing community lost our dear friend Paul on December 13, 2018. You can still plant a tree in his honor here, which I just discovered. Seems fitting for such a kind and generous soul. Anyway…
What he shared with me in 2015 is pure gold. And today, I’ll share it with you. The italicized paragraphs below are Paul’s words, not mine.
Even from beyond the grave, his knowledge and expertise still dazzles…
Too many writers are unaware of how the human mind processes language. Various structures in the brain—some in the left hemisphere and some in the right—work together to make sense out of symbols. Symbols include, besides alpha-numeric digital representations, sounds, gestures, signs, maps, smells, tastes, and physical feelings. It is the mind that gives meaning to each symbol based on prior associations dredged out of memory. The map is not the territory but merely a representation of the territory.
During conversations with fellow writers at the 2015 Nebula Award Banquet in Chicago, I identified successful new writers by which symbols had salience for them and the way they accessed information.
Some writers were very verbal and had a fluidity of language based primarily on auditory processing of sensory input. Those people were able to instantly duplicate and respond to what they heard as they heard it. Sounds themselves had salience. Those writers are akin to the musician who plays mostly by ear, translating auditory input into kinesthetic output without the additional steps auditory-digital types like me require to process input and output.
I work differently. I “see” stories, then translate them into words that describe my visions. First I see the scenes. Then I see the written symbols that best represent that scene. I see each letter, each punctuation mark, each space at the beginning of a new paragraph, the way words and white space look laid-out on a page, the way each page contributes to the story as a whole.
I write at the keyboard where my fingers automatically translate the symbols in my head into kinesthetic actions that produce the symbols that appear on the screen or piece of paper. I cannot listen to music while writing. Background music interferes with the words in my head. Other writers find that listening to music while writing is a big help.
If you are primarily kinesthetic, you might prefer to write with a pen on paper before revising your works on a keyboard or sending your notebooks to a typist. The feel of the paper itself, the touch of the pen to paper, produces words from your subconscious faster and better than any other process. Kinesthetic writers also love to pound out words on manual typewriters. They write with a flourish that adds to their style. James Patterson is a kinesthetic writer.
If you’re more like me, however, you separate the process into a series of “drafts.” The first draft is primarily visual, and you describe what you see.
The second draft includes imagined sounds, tastes, feelings, smells. During the third draft I read all the words aloud to hear how the words sound and to feel how they roll off my tongue. I add punctuation marks to match my pauses, inflections, intonations. I tend to cut unnecessary flourishes out of my stories unless they add momentum to the plot or help describe a specific character.
If a story is to work, it must engage all of the reader’s senses. Some readers are primarily auditory, some are visual, some are kinesthetic, some olfactory, and some gustatory.
The majority of people in this world are auditory. They respond best to dialogue, to alliteration, to phrasing. If you are primarily auditory like Stephen King, you might find writing easier if you dictate and capture the words into a digital recorder. Kinesthetic people respond best to action and they translate words on paper into muscle movements. If you want to appeal to every reader, you need to reach each of them in their own personal comfort zones.
That last line is a killer, right? No pressure. LOL
I fall into the auditory category, both as a writer and a reader. I write with headphones on, but the music becomes white noise that narrows my focus, transporting me into my story worlds. My first drafts consist of mainly dialogue with no tags and minimal narrative and description. After I gain critical distance, I’ll add sensory details and other enhancements.
As an auditory reader, I can’t listen to audiobooks. I need to read the words to hear the story rhythm. Audiobooks rob me of that.
Paul told us readers fall into the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic categories. For fun, let’s look at reading subcategories as well.
If we believe Paul, with all his experience and degrees, most people fall into the auditory reader category. If your sentences don’t sing, the auditory reader may DNF your book. We also can’t forget about the visual or kinesthetic reader. Striking the perfect balance for all three can wrench a writer’s stomach, but it’s a goal worth shooting for.
What type of writer are you? What type of reader are you? If you’re an auditory reader, do you enjoy audiobooks? Or can you only hear the story rhythm by reading the actual words?
Science indicates 75 percent of parents wish their children would read for fun more. Yet most parents stop reading aloud once the child learns to read on their own. A report from Scholastic suggests reading out loud to kids throughout their elementary school years inspires them to become bookworms, reading five to seven days per week for fun. More than 40 percent of frequent readers ages six to 11 were read to at home, compared to 13 percent who did not read for fun.
At any age, reading increases intelligence.
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
—Dr. Seuss
Diving into a good book opens up a whole world of knowledge. An increase in vocabulary is an obvious result, but it also leads to higher scores on intelligence tests. When children read for fun, it also leads to higher intelligence later in life.
Reading boosts brainpower.
Not only does regular reading make us smarter, but it also increases actual brainpower. Reading regularly improves memory function. Think of it as exercises for the brain. Aging often goes hand-in-hand with a decline in memory and brain function, but regular reading helps slow the process, keeping minds sharper longer, according to research published in Neurology.
Readers are more empathetic.
Being immersed in a story world, caring about characters, helps us relate to others. And so, we’re more aware of another person’s emotions, according to research published in Science Magazine. Interestingly, fiction has a greater impact on empathy than nonfiction.
“Understanding others’ mental states is a crucial skill that enables the complex social relationships that characterize human societies,” David Comer Kidd and Emanuele Castano wrote of their findings.
Reading may help fight Alzheimer’s disease.
Those who engage their brains through reading are 2.5 times less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those who spend their downtime on less stimulating activities like television. Research suggests exercising the brain helps reduce the risk of developing other brain diseases, as well.
Reading reduces stress.
A 2009 study by Sussex University showed reading may reduce stress by as much as 68 percent.
“It really doesn’t matter what book you read, by losing yourself in a thoroughly engrossing book you can escape from the worries and stresses of the everyday world and spend a while exploring the domain of the author’s imagination,” cognitive neuropsychologist David Lewis told The Telegraph.
Reading helps us relax.
There’s a reason snuggling up with a good book sounds so appealing. Because it is! Reading washes away the stressors of the day as we melt into the pages of a good book.
Reading fiction for fun.
Readers of fiction have increased creativity, empathy, and emotional intelligence. Losing ourselves in a fictional character’s experiences make us more open-minded and allow us to spend time in someone else’s shoes. Thus, readers become better humans than non-readers.
Reading supports self-improvement.
Readers support lifelong learning. One of the best ways to do that is to pick up a book and learn something new. Waving at readers who prefer nonfiction!
In general, read is good for our wellbeing.
Some of us read to escape reality or imagine worlds beyond our own. Some read to learn new skills—cooking, crafting, creativity—or about real people who intrigue or inspire us. Some read thought-provoking books, some dive into futuristic worlds beyond our imagination. Whatever the reason that brings us to the page, reading is one of the best forms of self-care.
Is reading contagious?
Absolutely! Rather than rattle off statistics, I’ll pose a question. How many books have you bought based on word of mouth? When we see another reader all excited about a new book, we want to feel that way, too. So, what do we do? We check out the book.
When children see their parents reading for fun, it plants the seed for them to become lifelong readers, as well. In adults, if one partner pleasure reads several times per week, it lights a spark in their significant other. My husband never read for pleasure till he married me. When he first took the plunge, he devoured more books per week than I did. Over the years as he built and ran his small engine business, he had less time to read. But he dives between the folds whenever possible. Why? Because he sees how much I enjoy reading, and it’s contagious.
TKZers, why do you read? Does your partner read? Do your kids read? What’s the best thing about reading for you?
She may be paranoid, but is she right?
A string of gruesome murders rocks the small town of Alexandria, New Hampshire, with all the victims staged to resemble dead angels, and strange red and pink balloons appearing out of nowhere.
All the clues point to the Romeo Killer’s return. Except one: he died eight years ago.
Paranoid and on edge, Sage’s theory makes no sense. Dead serial killers don’t rise from the grave. Yet she swears he’s here, hungering for the only angel to slip through his grasp—Sage.
With only hours left to live, how can Sage convince her Sheriff husband before the sand in her hourglass runs out? Preorder on Amazon for $1.49
*Though HALOED is Book 5 of the Grafton County Series, it can easily be read as a standalone.
Photo credit: emmanuel ikwuegbu – unsplash.com
By Debbie Burke
In the US, 130 million adults read below sixth grade level.
Shocked?
Me, too.
But, according to the US Department of Education, 54% of people ages 16-74 fall into that category.
Most writers take reading for granted, as automatic and effortless as breathing.
I certainly did…until I couldn’t.
Recently I had cataract surgeries in both eyes, three weeks apart. Those three weeks of limbo slapped me in the face with the realization how much I depended on reading just to get through the day.
Because of myopia, I’ve worn glasses since sixth grade. Over time, my nearsightedness worsened to the point where I couldn’t even see the big E on the eye chart.
True story: without glasses, I once mistook a dark brown house for a UPS truck.
For the past couple of years, increasingly strong prescriptions could no longer fix the problem. Near or far, my world was blurry.
Hence, cataract surgery was the only option.
Ten minutes under the scalpel implanted a new lens that almost instantly corrected vision in the left eye to 20-20.
An absolute miracle!
But my right eye was still 20-800. Objects were clear up to about four inches away, then faded in fog.
My wonderful 20-20 left eye could see hundreds of feet away but not up close.
I was cockeyed. (Some people say that’s nothing new!)
The optician tried popping out the left lens in my glasses but that turned out to be as disorienting as five shots of tequila.
For computer work and reading, I was non-operational.
After surgery, physical restrictions included no bending over, lifting, or strenuous activity.
No vacuuming? No problem!
But that also halted my regular exercises like gardening, Zumba, and air boxing. Thankfully, walking was okay.
That made me realize reading and/or writing normally occupied 12-14 hours of each day. How could I get any work done?
There are free-standing magnifiers for computer screens but $100+ was too much of an investment for three weeks’ of use. Dollar Store readers helped a bit but soon caused eyestrain.
Photo credit: lilartsy – pexels
A pirate patch and magnifying glass worked marginally but awkwardly.
This would have been the perfect opportunity to try audiobooks…except I couldn’t read how to download them.
From across the room, I could clearly see the spines of books on my TBR pile but I couldn’t read the insides.
Driving was allowed but, when I took the car for service, I couldn’t read the repair list and invoice. The bank’s ATM screen was a blur. So were price stickers on supermarket shelves—probably just as well not to see how much they’d gone up since the week before!
The list goes on and on: product labels, instructions, on/off switches for appliances, texts on the phone, cable connections like audio, video, auxiliary.
I couldn’t even read the directions on the various bottles of eyedrops I had to use multiple times each day.
Most every task in life required reading.
How does someone who can’t read or reads at a low level navigate through today’s world?
According to the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy:
To read a driver’s license manual, you need to have a sixth-grade reading level. To hold a job as a cook: seventh-grade level. Directions on an aspirin bottle: eighth-grade level. Understanding frozen TV dinner instructions or to get a job as a mechanic or supply clerk: ninth-grade level. Newspapers: high school level. Apartment lease: college.
Let’s not even talk about filling out a tax return.
The Foundation’s 2021 report reveals staggering statistics that cause economic, social, and health deficits.
The U.S. could be losing up to $2.2 trillion—or 10% of GDP—in economic growth due to low adult literacy rates.
- The existing gap in digital literacy skills could cause 76% of Black individuals and 62% of Hispanic individuals to be shut out or under-prepared for 86% of jobs in the U.S. by 2045.
- Low-literate adults are four times more likely than others to report low levels of health, requiring hospitalization and using emergency services at significantly higher rates.
Per the Governors’ Early Literacy Foundation:
Illiteracy and crime are connected. The Department of Justice states, “The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure. Over 70% of inmates in America’s prisons cannot read above a fourth grade level.”
This recent experience made me appreciate that reading is a luxury not everyone has access to. People who can’t read are doomed to a life of struggle and frustration.
Processed By ImageMagick,
Remember Henry Bemis from The Twilight Zone? He found himself in a post-apocalyptic world where he rejoiced in the newfound luxury of unlimited reading…until his glasses broke.
Unlike poor Henry, my inability to read only lasted three weeks and ended with a miracle of new vision.
My world no longer looks like an Impressionist painting. I can see individual leaves on trees, blades of grass, street signs (oh, that’s where I was supposed to turn).
The gift of improved sight is incredible.
But the gift of being able to read again runs a close second.
~~~
Thanks to Kay DiBianca who introduced me to the worthy nonprofit Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.
~~~
TKZers: How would your life change if you couldn’t read? What is your most important reason for reading?
~~~
Cover image by Brian Hoffman
Receive a FREE short story, The Job Interview, when you join my reader’s group at debbieburkewriter.com
by Steve Hooley
March is National Reading Month. Since we are writers, and readers are vital to our success, I thought it would be appropriate to “share” our national month with the rest of the world and rename it “World Reading Month.”
Reading month was established in March to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss (3/2/1904) and his contribution to increasing the interest of reading in children.
We’ve discussed ways to get young people interested in reading.
We’ve discussed our favorite writers’ style and the Rushmore authors.
If you thought “extracurricular” in the title of this post is being used with the connotation of “extramarital,” I’m sorry. It’s not. I did use the phrase to draw you in, and please don’t stop reading now. We have a three-course meal, plus dessert and drinks, so stay with us.
Our “extracurricular” activity today is “outside our normal curriculum” of writing fiction and the craft of writing fiction, specifically reading nonfiction.
Now we’re getting into hobbies and special interests. And this is where your passion for
your special interest kicks in and you can’t wait to tell the rest of us how exciting it is to study entomology and the Giant Weta.
Therefore, we will dispense with any pretense of an academic prelude, and move directly to the discussion where each of you can lecture on the importance of your beloved subject.
But, on second thought, I better provide some “meat” for our meal, or I’ll lose my job here as a cook. So, here are three dishes for our main course: (Remember, it’s World Reading Month.)
This is a short list of the many benefits of reading.
Beginnings
Reading as Performance
Reading Silently
Print Revolution
Libraries
Okay, enough of the main course. It’s time for dessert and the after-dinner drinks and entertainment. It’s time for you to share your extracurricular passion, your nonfiction passions and interests.
Our Questions:
Abraham Lincoln and the Three Rs
Reading, Writing, and…Remedy
By Steve Hooley
Today is Lincoln’s birthday. He was born on 2/12/1809, 213 years ago. Ten score and thirteen years ago.
“Writing—the art of communicating thoughts to the mind, through the eye—is the great invention of the world.” (Abraham Lincoln)
Lincoln is known for his voracious reading, his tenacious will to learn and overcome his single year of formal education, and his eloquent prose, both written and spoken. I thought that in honor of our 16th president and his 213th birthday, it would be a good day to be inspired by his reading and writing remedy plan.
Below are some of the key paragraphs in an article in Harvard University Press, 2/12/2019 on Lincoln and his reading and writing habits, and in review of The Annotated Lincoln by Harold Holzer and Thomas A. Horrocks.
“That Lincoln would come to be celebrated after his death as one of this nation’s greatest writers would have surprised and perhaps shocked some of the well-educated contemporaries who saw the living Lincoln as a man lacking the accoutrements of refinement, as nothing more than a country bumpkin who spoke like a hayseed and wrote like a yokel completely ignorant of the fundamentals of grammar. Lincoln, of course, was always aware of those who underestimated his intelligence and talents. As a young man, painfully conscious of his intellectual deficiencies, Lincoln committed himself to a rigorous course of self-education, so that by the time he reached middle age he possessed a steely inner confidence in his ability to hold his own intellectually with his more refined and better-educated peers.”
2. Prepare for prolonged, persistent study and practice.
“Lincoln’s ability to write the eloquent prose for which he became famous developed over time, gradually enhanced through strenuous practice and constantly reinforced through his active reading habits. After Lincoln’s death, his stepmother recalled Lincoln’s fascination with words and their meaning when he was young: ‘Abe read all the books he could lay his hands on — and when he came across a passage that struck him he would write it down on boards if he had no paper & keep it there till he did get paper — then he would re-write it — look at it repeat it — He had a copy book — a kind of scrap book in which he would put down all things and this preserved them.’”
“Lincoln’s writing skills in his mature years were primarily influenced by his youthful reading habits. His early reading tended to be intensive rather than extensive. Since books were scarce on the frontier, he would have read a few books more than once, memorizing much of what he read.”
“Lincoln spoke not only from conviction but also from personal experience. In regard to writing — even writing about writing — Lincoln stands as one of its most inspired practitioners. From his earliest scribblings as a teenager to his final memoranda on the day he went to Ford’s Theatre, Abraham Lincoln may have spent more time writing — most of it wisely and memorably — than performing any other task.”
“No American president before or since has faced the problems that confronted Abraham Lincoln when he took office in 1861. Nor has any president expressed himself with such eloquence on issues of great moment. Lincoln’s writings reveal the depth of his thought and feeling and the sincerity of his convictions as he weighed the cost of freedom and preserving the Union.”
In summary, Abraham Lincoln is an inspiration to us as both readers and writers. His desire to learn, his willingness to overcome adversity, his determination to practice and improve himself, should inspire us to never stop reading and learning, and to never stop writing and practicing.
Addendum: When I began writing this post, I set out to review Lincoln’s reading habits. What I came away with was a new-found respect for someone with a humble beginning who, through self-study and diligence, achieved success that blessed an entire country. The information created the shape of the post.
If this self-study program sounds vaguely familiar, check last Sunday’s post, and go back and reread the second section (Self-study) of Chapter 5 (Keys to a Winning System) of How to Make a Living as a Writer, James Scott Bell.
Okay, TKZ community, it’s your turn.