To All the Books I've Never Read
On January 1st, 1999, I woke up with an epic hangover. I was a senior in high school and had spent New Year’s Eve at a friend's house. The next morning, as we tried to piece ourselves back together with eggs and coffee, Chris declared, “My shit is not quick.” We laughed hard at that line and repeated it for years to come.
Friends, at the end of this long year, I can firmly declare that my shit is not quick. I’m guessing yours isn’t either. So I’ll get right to today’s point: Reading should bring you joy and pleasure. If you’re reading a book that you aren’t enjoying or finding useful in some way, put it down. Life is too short to keep reading what you’re not into.
A lot of people assume I’ve read it all, or at least most of what a person who writes and teaches writing “should” have read (whatever that means). Welp, I haven’t. In fact, the list of titles I haven’t started or finished might surprise you. In no particular order, my literary confessions:
Never finished Moby Dick. I enjoyed the beginning, the getting the crew together, the homoerotic undertones, but once they got on that boat and chased that whale, I kept falling asleep.
Never read Emma, Sense and Sensibility, or any other Jane Austen besides Pride and Prejudice, which I thought was, like, fine? I realize and respect that she was a pioneer of her time. I’m just not that into books where ladies--even clever, savvy, funny ladies!--drink tea, do handicrafts, walk around gardens, and wrestle the marriage plot (would rather read Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Marriage Plot). Yes, I would have really fucking tanked in 18th century England.
Tried Middlemarch and Vanity Fair but didn’t get very far. Never cracked Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre.
Tolkien. Somebody handed me The Hobbit when I was 10 or 11; I found it incomprehensible and boring.
The Russians. I read Anna Karenina in college, when I was too immature to really get it, and a few years ago I checked out War and Peace from the UNC library and never opened it. This is the only category I would like to go back to. I know there is much to admire and learn.
Harry Potter. Yeah, I’ve never read Harry Potter. There, I said it. And I’m pretty sure I never will. I just, like, am not that interested in wizards? Perhaps if I were a little younger, I would’ve followed this coming of age story through my own development. But I missed the boat. And I’m not losing sleep over it. (My go-to good vs. evil story: The Stand by Stephen King.)
In the end, our artistic tastes are subjective, a function of the intersection of our identities and lived experiences and the chaotic world around us. There’s nothing wrong with liking what you like, not liking what you don’t, or not being quite ready for a book. Just be you. That’s all I ask of you in the new year.
One more announcement: I am taking most of January off, pausing my regular workshops, coaching sessions, and editing projects to focus on my own writing and clarify my offerings for the year. What I won’t be pausing is my activity on Patreon, where I offer writing prompts (here’s a free one!) and chat with patrons on Slack. I will also be intermittently chattering about writing and reading on Twitter and Instagram.
As another bonkers-ass year draws to a close, I want to share my heartfelt gratitude to each of you for reading these newsletters, for sharing your stories with me, for having the courage to dance with your creativity and make beauty and meaning out of the mess of life. I hope the coming weeks bring you rest, connection, and joy. Keep writing, friends.
J.
February classes at Carrboro ArtsCenter
For the few people on the planet actively thinking about and planning for the future, here’s the info on my February classes at the Carrboro ArtsCenter. Fiction Writing starts February 3 at 5:30pm and Memoir Writing starts February 14 at 1:30pm. These classes will be in-person, with proof of vaccination and masks required.
To Read
I wrote a really sad thing about losing a pet, gaining some new ones, and Supreme Court fuckery. Very happy to have found a home for this piece, which I squeezed my guts and heart out to write. Thanks, as always, for reading.
To Watch
Here’s a cinematic confession: I watched The Power of the Dog, which critics shat their pants over, and found it Meh, mainly because I’m kind of over men with repressed feelings, thousand yard stares instead of conflict, and women whose main task is to creatively weep. So I was thrilled to watch Saint Frances, a big-hearted film that passes the Bechdel test with flying colors. You should watch this film because it centers the experience of women finding their way in the world as adults, mothers, and partners and considers big questions with complexity and respect. Also, there’s a millennial dude with a feelings journal. Watch it!
To Go Poems
Here are some very good poems to close out the year.
Listen to them aloud for full effect.
The Weakness Meaning Time by Christian Wiman (thanks to Danianne for passing this along!)
This Morning I Pray for My Enemies by Joy Harjo
Soulwork by Tracy K. Smith