From as long as I could remember, I loved books and writing. I loved storytelling and the safe place stories brought me to when I was younger. Even when things were chaotic or stressful for me as a child, there was some comfort in escaping my real world into a world I would rather be in.
As an adult, sometimes there’s nothing better than curling up with an old book and visiting that place again. And I always find that when I spend more time reading fiction, I become a better fiction writer.
But more than that, books that challenge our thinking or educate us can bring us peace. I know for me, especially with my recent medical issues, when I discovered Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book, I finally felt like I had found some real information about my condition and most of the answers that I needed, were housed right inside that book.
Anyone who knows me, knows I am a prolific researcher. My surgical oncologist will hand me a stack of research and studies from medical journals when she knows I am debating different medications or treatment options. I’ve seriously learned more about medicine and how the human body works than I ever thought I would.
You can spend hours researching something on the interwebs. But what I found is that one, there is some serious misinformation out there and when you are dealing with a medical issue, for example, it can make your anxiety much worse. Two, books offer a more organized, coherent wealth of information in one place. And if you don’t find what you’re looking for in one book, there are a gazillion others to pick from.
The other thing I will say, is that books can really surprise you. I was researching characters and vehicles in the Star Wars universe and I bought a bunch of books about it. As I was going through the books, I found all sorts of nerdy trivia and things I did not know at all about Star Wars and our culture at the time. I couldn’t put the book down. I was mesmerized by the connections to other things in our culture that I loved and how certain things came to be in the story and production of the films. I told my husband that had I been searching online for this information, I never would have found it because it was so obscure, you would have had to know exactly what to look for. It was a such a treat and I literally wondered why I rely on internet research like I do for so many other things. What kinds of books recharge you or bring you joy?
