Which Books Are You Grateful For?

Despite all the negativity surrounding Thanksgiving, the holiday endears itself to me more each year. Why? At its essence, the American tradition of Thanksgiving is about coming together with family, sharing a special meal, and taking just one day to express gratitude. 

Thanks to Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), Thanksgiving has started to be overshadowed by Christmas shopping, But, as Americans have become desensitized to the “amazing” deals, and Black Friday sales have pushed themselves into Thanksgiving night, there’s been a quiet call to reclaim the good parts of Thanksgiving. The family time, the gratitude, the restfulness. Yes, please.

For the second year in a row (and in my entire life), I’ll be spending Thanksgiving away from my family (and, almost as regrettably, my Uncle Dave’s famous smoked turkey). Now, I know you might not be an American or a meat eater, but I have a strong feeling you’re probably a reader. So, fellow bookworm, would you indulge me in a little bookish gratitude?

In the spirit of Thanksgiving and our insatiable craving for book recommendations, drop the title of a book you’re thankful for in the comments. It could be a book that brought you joy, helped you through a difficult time in your life, or even one you wrote yourself!

What book am I grateful for? I’ll give you a simple answer and a serious answer. I’m thankful for Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn for getting me through the bulk of a 14-hour plane flight from Australia to the U.S. No matter what I do, I cannot sleep on planes for more than a few minutes at time, so having that novel engross me to the point where I lost track of time was a huge relief.

On a more serious note, I recently found myself grateful for one of my own novels. A reader shared that reading The Courtesan’s Avenger had served as an escape from her depression and that the themes of the novel resonated with and inspired her. That is exactly why I write, and it meant so much to me that something I imagined could do that for her. I was also thankful to “pay it forward,” as several books have helped me through tough times or made me feel less alone.

Now, before you scurry off for turkey or holiday shopping (no judgments), share your own bookish gratitudes in the comments. Feel free to add non-book gratitudes too – mine include my husband and our feline son, the friends who invited us to share Thanksgiving with them this year, and the internet for connecting me with you!

Guest Post: Why Books Are Important From a Writer’s Perspective by Joe Baldwin

We have everything we could ever want in this cruel world. We just have to come and get it. As simple as it may seem, getting all the things what we want can be a bit tough. First off, we have to equip our self with all the necessary knowledge to get there. We also need to dodge obstacles that come our way. With that, we find ourselves going to academies and universities trying to learn all the things that we possibly can, which we may, later on, use in fulfilling our dreams and desires.

Back during the days, teachers would require students to write a college essay, they would be required to read loads of books. But nowadays, with the invention of the computer and the internet, books aren’t much of a thing than it used to be. These days, with just a click on the internet, you’ll be introduced to tons of facts and research about a certain topic. To say it simply, information is free. That being said, people don’t resort to books anymore. They find the internet more useful since it gives them access to an even wider array of data. I guess it’s safe to say that some people have forgotten the importance of books in or lives. Who can blame them, though? With all the advancement that we have going on with gadgets, why would they even bother putting their phone down for one book?

I just feel differently about it, though. Books play an important role in our lives. You’ve probably heard of this saying before: “when you open a book, you open a new world”, and I don’t think I’m the only one who agrees with this. There are loads of people whose everyday lives are intertwined with books. They won’t last a day without at least having to read a few chapters from their favorite book. Why are books so awesome? They’re packed with insights, knowledge, life lessons, love, and helpful advice.

Books just seem perfect for me. Not only does it make for a great pastime, it also opens new doors for the reader. Yeah, sure, the internet also provides us with a diverse set of reads, but it’s really different when it comes to books. Books allow us to internalize each idea, whereas the internet reads only give us a gist of an entire topic. Here are more of the reasons why books are important:

It exposes us to new writing

Even though we’re not all writers, writing is still an important aspect of our life, most especially in our jobs. It’s important to be skilled in communicating effectively through the use of writing. Sure, good writing is inherent for some people, but for most, it can be a real piece of work.

I guess you can get a few ideas from the internet in writing, but that won’t surpass the writing insight that you’ll be gaining if you’re reading a book. Why? Well, it’s because reading a book lets you into the story or concept. Reading books on a daily basis will help you understand different types of writing.

It helps us improve our self

We may think that we already know enough about the world, but we only know so much as what information the media and society feeds us with. We only become as good as society expects us to be. It’s healthy to have our own personal standard. With that, we should aim to improve ourselves. The question is how. Self-improvement only starts with awareness, meaning knowledge. We need to become more aware. There’s no better way to become more knowledgeable than by reading books because through it, we’ll begin to understand the world more, and when we do, we come to understand ourselves more.

It improves our imagination

In this world, we are limited. We can only do so much. But we are only bounded by these walls if have a weak imagination. Imagination is part of growth. It’s the one thing that makes us think that everything that’s happening can get better, that there’s still hope. Reading books gives us access to other people’s ideas and imaginations, which we can inculcate in our own.

It improves our memory

Memory is an important aspect of our life. Unfortunately, our attachment to technology is disrupting our memory affectivity. We become too reliant. It’s not like we can avoid using technology, but that’s no reason to let ourselves to fall into the pit. Rather it gives us more reason to maintain or improve our memory. Reading exposes us to different kinds of information. In order for us to fully understand what we are reading, we have to become aware of the previous events in a book or story. That being said, it urges our memory power to be at its maximum.

It gives us entertainment

A life spent only on academics and career can really tear us down. We’ll get to the point when we don’t even know what we’re doing the things we do anymore. We need to get out of our poor spirits. Books can give us exactly that. Reading books can take us to a whole new world, where all our fantasies come to life.

It’s important to keep our life balanced. Reading books is one of the best ways to do so. Why? While you’re busy with school or work you’ll always have a book to keep you away from all your troubles. Imagine feeling all hopeless about your job, that it almost makes you want to quit. No worries, then because there’s a book you can rely on that’ll take you to other places of the world where you meet new people. It’s just like going on vacation.

It doubles our knowledge

Yeah, sure, school is already doing fine educating us, but it’s just not enough. Knowledge is ever static. It changes every second. That being said, we can’t always rely on what was taught to us at school. Reading books is great if you want to become more knowledgeable.

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About Joe

Joe Baldwin is a native US resident & professional Article writer for https://essaylook.com. He studied English literature and creative writing. He has experience with online web content including blogs, web page content, news, public relations, press releases, and long form sales and industrial presentations.

How Books Connect the World

How lucky are we as bookworms today?

At any given moment, we can jump on Amazon (or another website), buy a book, and read it seconds later. Or, if you’re a paperback purist, all you have to do is wait a couple days for shipping or take a quick trip to your local bookstore or library.

That’s all it takes. In a few seconds or a few days, you can dive into a novel’s world. You can learn about a historical event or philosophical theory. You can have a connection with an author and readers whom you may never meet, from nearly every corner of the world.

As the great Stephen King wrote: “Books are a uniquely portable form of magic.”

While perusing books on Goodreads and browsing through #bookstagram accounts, I’ve found myself in awe of these communities. Readers from all around the globe have joined together to celebrate the books they love. It’s so cool to hear other people’s thoughts on books I love, or to discover a beautiful photo of a book in an exotic location.

So, you can imagine my surprise (and delight!) when my friend sent me this photo of The Cogsmith’s Daughter. Unbeknown to me, she had taken a copy on vacation to the Cayman Islands. While reading on the beach, she found this grungy old machine and snapped a photo. Awesome, right?

It got my author brain thinking: I wonder how far the Desertera series has traveled?

A quick email to my Reader List, and I now have a decent idea. The map below shows the countries where I know readers have enjoyed The Cogsmith’s Daughter and/or The Courtesan’s Avenger. (If you don’t see your home represented, let me know in the comments – I’d love to add it!)

For a little-known (read: almost invisible) independent author with only two novels to my name, this map makes me really proud. My greatest joy (outside of writing, of course!) is connecting with other book lovers. To know that I’ve done exactly that on five out of seven continents stuns and humbles me.

I’ll definitely be referring back to this map as I continue writing the third book in the Desertera series. Writing is a solitary process, and sometimes I feel like I’m sending my words out into a void. But this map proves my inner critic wrong. My words are flying around the world – offering escape and entertainment to people everywhere (okay, a lot of places!).

If that isn’t a dream come true,  I don’t know what is.

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Where do you call home? How have your favorite books connected you to new friends and fellow readers? Share in the comments!

Step Into My Office (Or, Where I Write)

As a reader, I love learning more about how my favorite books were written. Fun facts like how J.K. Rowling wrote the initial idea for Harry Potter on a napkin, or how Ernest Hemingway only wrote while standing (in a pair of oversized loafers, to be precise) always intrigue me.

I’ve shared by original inspiration for the Desertera series before (you can read about it here), but I realized I rarely talk about how or where I write. Admittedly, my “office” isn’t glamorous, but it’s gotten the job done twice now (14 times if you count my nonfiction projects).

Some writers swear by the coffee shop – the white noise, the social pressure to look busy, the caffeine! – while others can’t imagine writing in public. I used to be in the second group. In fact, when given the option, I’ll always choose to write in the solitude of my office (aka the spare bedroom my husband also works in), wearing my cozy sheep robe, with a steaming up of chai tea (made with almond milk, of course) resting on my Kansas coaster.

On the weekends, I get my way and can write in my private little haven. But you know what? Most of the time, I can barely drag myself to the keyboard. Between the adorable meows of my feline son Thomas, and the seductive “buh-uh” of Netflix (don’t look at me like that – you know the sound!), and the pathetic reality of the empty refrigerator, there are about a hundred distractions that keep me saying, “I’ll write later.”

Sometimes I do. Other times I don’t. It’s always a gamble, and the voice in my head has a fantastic poker face.

Luckily for my readers and my sanity, the weekdays arrive again. Every morning, I pack my trusty laptop in my bag. (Disclaimer: I’m obligated to mention that it was a birthday present from my husband and I love it.) Then, I head to the train station, find my favorite seat in the “quiet car,” and write for the entire ride to work – and again, on the way home.

If you ask me, I’ll tell you that I hate writing on the train. Bumpy spots in the tracks make me commit unforgivable typos, the doors let in chilly breezes, and the other passengers take up more than their fair share of seat space (Can’t they see I’m writing, here?). But remember, inner me can’t be trusted.

When it comes down to it, I actually love writing on the train. The quiet car provides that crucial white noise – you wouldn’t believe how easily you learn to tune out conductors and announcements. The other passengers, while not always respectful of my space, provide that awful social pressure. (After all, I can’t have my laptop out like some kind of professional and not work.) And, I have to admit, I get a burst of satisfaction whenever I catch the person next to me reading over my shoulder … especially when they have a kind smile on their face!

And yes, I have written steamy scenes on the train. And yes, making eye contact with strangers when I do is hella awkward.

But the best part of writing on the train? It alleviates my writerly guilt. Like when you curl up with a book and ignore your family or friends, writing is a solitary craft. I hate spending evenings or weekends locked away in my study when I could be spending them with my husband or our friends. As long as I can get a seat on the train, I can easily write 1,000 words during my commute. So, when I get home, it’s all about enjoying dinner and each other’s company (and yes, Netflix).

As I said, it’s not the most glamorous office, but it gets the job done. Hopefully, I’ll be able to prove that to you again in a few months!

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Do you have any fun facts about the writing of your favorite books? Where do you feel most creative or productive? Any other questions for me? Share in the comments!

Guest Post: Five Favorite Fantasy & Sci-Fi Worlds by Andrew Q. Gordon

Today, I’m thrilled to welcome author Andrew Q. Gordon to my website. He shares his five favorite fantasy and science fiction worlds. After you’ve checked them out, say hi in the comments and share your own favorite literary worlds!

1) Middle-Earth: J.R.R. Tolkien may not have created the idea of world building in epic fantasy, but he is certainly one of the first names people think of when you say world building. I was 12 when my mother brought home the Fellowship of the Ring. I was so engaged my parents needed the jaws of life to get me away from the book. When I first read The Lord of Rings, there were no movies to taint my view of the Shire, Rivendell, Gondor, or the Misty Mountains. I had to ‘see’ those places in my mind. Decades later, I still see my vision of Middle-Earth and not Peter Jackson’s.

There is a deep history that seeps from the pages of the LOTR because Tolkien wrote an entire history for Middle-Earth before he finished the books. There is no info dump of backstory. Instead, it’s sprinkled throughout the books in a way that makes you want to get lost in this amazing world.

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2) The Land: Another of my childhood favorites – Stephen R. Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Although Donaldson followed the Tolkien playbook of an epic quest stretched over a trilogy, this was nothing like LOTR. There is so much to love about Donaldson’s world –the places, the beings, the people, and lore. Loric’s Krill, the Staff of Law, Berek Halfhand, the Bloodguard, Forestrals, and of course Lord Foul.

I’ll admit I wasn’t as fond of the Last Chronicles as I was of the First and Second, but Donaldson did use the last set of books to give us a more detailed look at the history of the Land. He used these pages to give depth to people and things we read about in passing in the first two books.

3) The Eternal Champion Universe. This is probably cheating because Michael Moorcock didn’t create one world for his champions (Corwin, Dorian Hawkmoon, Elric of Melnibone and others). Despite that, there is a common thread that ties them all together. Each of the heroes is a different aspect of the Eternal Champion. What makes this universe so brilliant is each champion is unique. This isn’t the same character transported across worlds. Corwin is nothing like Elric who isn’t like Dorian.

At one point, Moorcock brings the various champions together for a series and there is no confusion. Each character is distinct and defined. It is really hard to break this ‘world’ down because it is so diverse, but I remember how much I loved this author and his vision.

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4) Amber: Roger Zelazny’s Amber. Amber is the one true world. Every other place is a ‘Shadow’ of Amber. The princes of Amber can move through the Shadows and create new worlds as they move. As many others will opine, the first five books in the series – commonly referred to as Corwin Cycle – were better than the second five books – the Merlin Cycle. The series also ended up feeling unfinished by Zelazny’s untimely death.

Zelazny wove many of the myths of Earth into the story arc, offering his own unique explanation on how they came to be. The Pattern, Court of Chaos, Logrus and how royalty walked the Shadows made this a must-read series.

5) Valdemar (Or for the true nerds, Velgarth): This one has a special place for me. When I picked up Mercedes Lackey’s Magic’s Pawn, the first book in The Last Herald Mage series, I had no idea Vanyel, the main character, was gay. It was high fantasy, it had magic, it was my kind of book. That Vanyel, the savior and not some throw away side character or evil maniac bent on destroying the world, made it special.

Lackey’s stories go backward and forward through her timeline. The way she seamlessly connects the dots, explains things we read about in one book by showing us the lives of new characters in other series was masterful. As with all things, there were books I enjoyed more than others, but the entire universe is magnificent. Although Valdemar is a kingdom and reads like a magical medieval nation, the Shin’a’in and Tayledras draw there heavily on Native American culture. Reading the entire library of her books you will see elements from many of Earth’s cultures and some that have no resemblance to anything we know. All in all, this is really magical world and one I could easily move to and be happy. (Assuming I got to give myself great power in the transition, of course.)

Honorable mentions: David Edding’s Belgariad Universe; Pern, by Anne McCaffery; The World of The Riddle Mater of Hed, Patricia A. McKillip; Dune, by Frank Herbert and Isaac Asimov’s vision of the Milky Way.

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Author Bio

Andrew Q. Gordon wrote his first story back when yellow legal pads, ball point pens were common and a Smith Corona correctable typewriter was considered high tech. Adapting with technology, he now takes his MacBook somewhere quiet when he wants to write. Andrew’s imagination has helped him create works of high fantasy, paranormal thrills and touch of the futuristic. To find out more about Andrew, follow him on his website or on Facebook (links below).

You can sign up for his monthly newsletter and get a copy of The Last Grand Master, Book One in the Champion of the Gods series: http://aqgsignups.getresponsepages.com

Follow Andrew:
website: www.andrewqgordon.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/andrewqugordon
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndrewQGordon