Hello friends,
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. I am not a huge fan of holidays in general, but I totally get it. I do believe that the giving is way better than receiving and so I thought, in honor of the gifts and cards and cakes and desserts and whatever else that shall be changing hands soon, I would offer up a suggestion that is good for all involved AND the environment.
The best kind of gifts to give are experiences. If you can give someone tickets to a show, or a play, or a jungle safari (if it is within your budget), you should. Except for the jungle safari, the carbon footprint is small, and the person will have the memory of the performance or whatever the experience or adventure was. They could take pictures or make a video to be sure, but at the end of it, they have a memory. They have a feeling. They will forever have done that thing at that moment with that person and it can’t be broken, or sold, or lost. Sort of perfect right?
Well, what if I told you there is an even better experience you can give and it is WAY cheaper, and could, in theory, have no carbon footprint at all? Depending on where you live, you could take the sage poet, Billy Joel’s advice and get a bunch of mileage from your cheap pair of sneakers and walk (you will likely drive or ride public transportation depending on where you live) to your local used bookstore and for less money than the cost of one concert ticket, or for parking at the airport before you get off for you jungle safari, you could get gifts for everyone on you holiday shopping list AND have something left over for yourself.
Wait, you say, I thought you said I would be giving experiences, not a physical item someone else has already owned and considered junk. Touché. I did say that. We could look at a used book store as a place where a bunch of stuff people didn’t want ends up OR we could look at a used book store as a place where people had a huge adventure that involved running from aliens, or battling aliens, or being the aliens (as is what happens in Patrick Ness’ Chaos Walking trilogy) or being in a band (Jesse Andrews’ The Haters), or performing the big play (David Levithan’s Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story) or going on safari and choosing to stay (Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa) then decided, they didn’t want to hoard that joy and they chose to share it with others.
You see, books live inside you long after you are done with them. While I don’t have a physical copy of Katja Millay’s heartbreakingly nearly perfect debut novel, Sea of Tranquility, I still know what it is about. I remember the moment when the big twist was revealed. I will forever be haunted by the final words. I will always carry with me the time I used this book in class and a student told me he hadn’t read a book in 20 years but reading that book was one of the best experiences of his life. My copy of that book found its way to a used book store in Michigan and I suspect, it has changed hands a few times since then and each time, the person spends way less money than they would have on even a holiday card, (which could be 5 dollars or more and will ultimately end up in a landfill), and each time, the new reader gets to meet Nastya and Josh for the first time and be wowed. Forever and ever, that person will have read that book and had those thoughts and then, with all of that love and sadness and joy wrapped up inside, that person can give that book away so that the experience can happen for someone else.
Even if the person doesn’t love the book, that is OK because not every book is for every person. After that person reads your very inexpensive, environmentally friendly, but thoughtful gift, they can, without guilt or remorse, give it away. Books can be regifted, donated, or sold. Until the pages start falling out, books are the ultimate experience.
Each of the books above have a link to Bookshop.org, which, depending on where you live, could give you a chance to link to your local bookstore. If you don’t have one, go to a Goodwill, Salvation Army, Friends of the Library bookstore, or charity shop and see what they have there. They might not have the exact books I’ve mentioned here, but they have limitless adventures and experiences for all the people on your list.
As this newsletter comes out on Jane Austen’s 248th birthday, maybe you should give yourself a gift and pick up something she wrote or watch an adaptation, or if you were so inclined, give a copy of Welcome to Mansfield.
Happy holidays and happy reading.
Notes from my Bookshelf
Some writers make characters who come to life and some writers make the towns the characters. I’ve spent a lot of time in Richard Russo’s North Bath trilogy recently. While the first book is of its time, all three books are worth reading. So glad I did. I feel like I lived in North Bath for 30 years.
I am finally finishing Al Ewings’s take on the most misunderstood character in the superhero world, The Hulk, in his Immortal Hulk series. It is part horror, part superhero, and 100% brilliant. The Hulk may always be angry, but he makes you wonder why you are so angry too.
Notes from my Keyboard
The third book in The Austen Chronicles, Universal Truth, is coming along nicely. I am past 60K words and I can see the end. I actually know that last line of the book, which is handy. Now that my semester at work is almost over, I hope double my normal monthly output. Fingers crossed. Well, not really, I need my fingers to write.
I was featured in my local paper The Daily Sun. Check out the article. It was an honor.
As always, thanks for subscribing.
ARF
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