Books in My Reading Pile

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          It seems like I have a never-ending reading pile. No matter how fast I read, the pile keeps growing. Where are these books coming from?

          Like most avid readers, I have favorite authors that are must reads. So in my reading pile are Devoted in Death by JD Robb (which I’m just finishing but wouldn’t recommend); Why I Came West by Rick Bass (I love reading memoirs about the Great Outdoors in autumn); and Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman (which I am rereading).

          Many of my friends and co-workers are avid readers, too, so I have books recommended by them including I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming (murder mystery series); Live By Night by Dennis Lehane; All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (the next book I will start); and South Toward Home: Travels in Southern Literature by Margaret Eby. (I love reading about authors’ lives—and there is something special about southern writers.)

          I watched Michael Dirda on Book TV on C-SPAN2 recently. I’ve read him before so I decided to try On Conan Doyle (a memoir which I’m enjoying immensely) and Bound to Please: An Extraordinary One-Volume Literary Education (which I think I will love).

          Due to good reviews, I picked up Among the Ten Thousand Things by Julia Pierpont (barely started) and My Struggle Book 1 by Karl Ove Knausgaard which is hard to categorize, but is a uniquely fascinating book. (I’m halfway through and plan on reading the other two books in this series. Includes many Insightful Asides.)

          Some of the books in my reading pile I discovered while simply browsing. These include A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit (full of Insightful Asides); The Bard on the Brain: Understanding the Mind Through the Art of Shakespeare and the Science of Brain Imaging by Paul M. Matthews, MD, and Jeffrey McQuain, PhD, with a Foreword by Diane Ackerman (she is one of my must read authors); and The Art of Crash Landing by Melissa DeCarlo. (The first paragraph made me laugh and the book contains Insightful Asides).

I also read books recommended by authors I like. The Essay: Old & New, by Edward P. J. Corbett and Sheryl L. Finkle, was a recommendation from William Cane in his book Fiction Writing Master Class (post dated 9/7/15).

What are you reading?
 

 

My Writer's Survival Kits

By Kate Phillips

        I never leave home without my basic writer's survival kit—at least one book, a pen, and a notebook.

In my purse, I carry at all times a pocket-sized version of The Writer's Life: Insights from the Right to Write by Julia Cameron, 6" x 4", and Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg, 4.5" x 3", along with a pen and small notepad so I can write anywhere, anytime I have a few moments whether waiting for someone in a restaurant, before a movie, or at a dentist's office.

        Watching people in these places is a great way to capture details to use later describing characters. Overheard conversations can lead to plot twists or essays. However, if I'm not inspired by my location, I randomly open either of these pocket-sized books, read a page or two, grab my pen, and start scribbling down thoughts.

        In my car, I keep pens, a full-sized notebook, and two books—The War of Art: Break Through Your Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield and Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman—in case I don't bring my purse with me and find myself with time on my hands. This happens once or twice a week.

        If I know I am going to have time to write, I bring my lovely black damask-print tote bag always stocked with half a dozen pens, a full-sized notebook, and The War of Art by Steven Pressfield as it never fails to motivate me so I always want it nearby. I then add whatever book(s) I am currently reading. These books are as essential as the pens and notebook because reading sparks my writing. I don't have time to wait for my muse. I meet her on the pages of my notebook.

Frankly, there is never enough time to write. These small pockets of time and my writing kits are what make my writing life possible on busy days.

        I wish more writing books were offered in pocket-sized versions. My top choice would be, not surprisingly, The War of Art. Other books would include: The Writer's Home Companion edited by Joan Bolker, Ed.D., For Writer's Only by Sophy Burnham, Zen and the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury, and Telling Lies for Fun and Profit by Lawrence Block. I could go on, but these would make a great start.

        If they were pocket-sized, I would always have my favorite writing books with me—a portable cheering section supporting me as I write every chance I get!

           

Do You Reread?

By Kate Phillips

 

        Rereading reveals insights in books from different perspectives as I mature. I reread other books for comfort because they remind me of the loved ones who gave them to me or because I know these books by heart and they're good for my soul as they stay constant and true.

We connect with authors who draw us in, expand our minds, and touch our hearts. They are "the company we want to keep" to paraphrase Ruth Whitman in The Writer's Home Companion.

The company I keep and reread includes:

 

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman

This may be my all-time favorite book. Fadiman's passion for books, reading, and writing are captured in a series of thoughtful, funny, and poignant essays about, among other things, marrying libraries, courtly and carnal love for books, and an ode to a favorite fountain pen. She shares stories from her literate upbringing as well as raising a family with her husband, a fellow writer. A book all readers and writers will revel in!

 

 

Reflection on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion edited by Diane K. Osbon

This book details a 30-day workshop led by Joseph Campbell of "Follow Your Bliss" fame. From the flyleaf: "…poet Diane Osbon has selected Campbell's most illuminating perceptions into those fundamental subjects that are of perennial human concern: the challenge of living in the world, the process of spiritual awakening, the struggle to come into awareness, and the art of living in the sacred. This exquisite volume, crafted with love and care, will enrich, uplift, and inspire everyone it touches." I completely agree.

 

Running From Safety: An Adventure of the Spirit by Richard Bach

The premise of this book from the back cover: "If the children we were asked us today for the best we've learned from living, what would we tell, and what would we discover in return?" Bach writes this book as a tale where his ten-year-old self confronts him as an adult to ask him questions both mundane and profound. Even if the questions are painful, the child demands honesty. Bach's soul-searching answers contain mind-expanding wisdom—truly words to live by.

 

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert Pirsig.

Books and workbooks have been written about this true account of a father and son on a long motorcycle trip with friends. The father, Pirsig, is a brilliant man who had electric shock therapy which affected his life, relationships, and memories. From the back flyleaf: "[The book] speaks directly to the confusions and agonies of existence. In the intimate detailing of a real-life odyssey—personal, philosophical—Robert M. Pirsig has written a touching, painful, and ultimately transcendent book of life." A fascinating read.

 

The Writer's Life: Insights from The Right to Write by Julia Cameron

From the back cover: "Cameron's pivotal insights and pointers are distilled in a pocket-size daily companion that will help readers lead a writer's life more easily, joyfully, and powerfully." Very inspiring!

 

What books do you reread?

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman

By Kate Phillips

 

            As a reader, I always love finding books that appeal to me. As a writer, I am twice as pleased when the authors also provide Masterclasses for me within their books.

            Masterclasses take place when performance artists and musicians work one-on-one with students. Writers don't generally have this option, but I have found some books to be Masterclasses for characters, dialogue, backstories, plots, settings, voice, and/or creativity.

 

 

            As an avid reader, I never liked to consider what ten books I would want with me on a deserted island. Only ten books just wouldn't do! It's doubtful I would survive with the complete works of ten authors. I need a new supply of books to be happy, even while rereading favorites, which is why I haven't been caught on a boat in years.

 

 

            However, there is one book that would make any reading list of mine—Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman.
 

I envy you if you have not read this fabulous collection of essays on books, reading, and writing yet. It is the perfect combination of topics, knowledge, vocabulary, passion, insights, appreciation, humor, and life lessons written by a fellow bibliophile.
 

Fadiman's life has been intertwined with books from the day she was born to Clifton Fadiman, author, editor, intellectual, radio and TV personality, and Annalee Whitmore Jacoby Fadiman, an author, screenwriter, and World War II magazine correspondent. Anne's first building blocks were her father's twenty-two volume set of Trollope. (Her son, Henry, was a bit more destructive; he liked to chew and devour books when he was eight months old.)
 

Books are present in every important phase of her life. She shares the details and the titles with her readers including her introductions to sonnets, sex, and sesquipedalians. After marriage, anyone with an extensive personal library and a spouse with one, too, will relate to her painfully true tale of commingling her books with her husband's.
 

But what I appreciated most about this book is the genuine joy she shares about everything to do with books—shopping for secondhand ones, ways to shelve them, and discovering words new to her in them.
 

I, too, enjoy reading books with unfamiliar words. As a writer, expanding my vocabulary is one of my favorite hobbies. I always have a dictionary close by in the hopes that I will have to look a word up. I had to look up more than usual while reading this book, but, thoughtfully, Fadiman listed the definitions of the new-to-her words at the end of "The Joy of Sesquipedalians" chapter.
 

As an editor, I appreciated the "Inset a Carrot / Insert a Caret" chapter. Proofreading is a good, if consuming, habit. It's also a fun family affair for the Fadimans, including her brother, Kim, when they are looking at menus, newspapers, books, and birthday cakes.
 

There are eighteen essays in this book—and I love them all. Her chapter "Never Do That to a Book" will make you both laugh and cringe at the way people treat their books. A favorite pen is immortalized in "Eternal Ink". And any writer who can also make the receiving of incorrectly addressed catalogs a delightful diversion is a treasure.
 

While we have never met, and probably never will, her book is next to my Books by Friends and Relatives shelf (mentioned on page 7) as I consider kindred spirits to be good friends.