Bookish (And Not So Bookish) Thoughts #1

She looked at her shelves, filled with books in which the bad stuff that happened to people was caused by things like witches who lured people into the woods. In a weird way, the world seemed to make more sense that way.

– Anne Ursu, Breadcrumbs

It’s been a weird week, emotionally, for me. I thought I was in a good place with battling all my demons. They’d fled far enough away that I felt like I could breathe and things were good. Then with everything in the news lately, stress from other areas, and the lack of time to really just mull it all over, those demons came flying back in. I’ve spent all week so far just staving them off, and it’s an exhausting thing to do.

It’s funny though, because when things start to feel rough I always go back and try to find a book that I know will hit that spot that I’m trying to fill. Something where bad things happen, but good prevails. Something where someone so small, and so unassuming, rises up as the hero. This time around I landed on Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu, and it was the perfect choice.

Hazel’s character is brave, and strong. She too looks at the world through literature tinged glasses and, as the quote shows above, the world makes so much more sense to her through those stories. I feel like that’s why I read so much too. My go-to genres are Fantasy, which I know makes sense to most people, and Horror, which I’m constantly having to explain. See, it’s the fact that both of those genres feature bad things happening to good people. There’s no glossing over of the fact that things like that happen in the world, it just is. However there’s always an inkling of hope. There’s always a sense of empowerment, and understanding. It makes me feel like I’m not alone, and I cling to stories like that.

So if, for a while, you notice that most of what I’m reading falls between those genres, don’t be surprised. It’s my healing, calm space. I hope everyone finds theirs too.