Weird Book Coincidences

Not one, but two.

And both in the same week.

I usually have several books that I read at the same time for different reasons. I have one for pleasure, one for inspiration, one (or right now two) on writing, and I'm also doing a short story challenge. And I might have one on my e-reader. I think that's due to the trauma I experienced in grade four when my school library limited me to one book at a time. Which meant that if I had to take out a boring non-fiction book for a school project, I wasn't allowed to take out a Nancy Drew for reading pleasure. What kind of dumb rule is that? I even pointed out how dumb this rule is but no one listens to a well thought out argument by a nine year old.

It's a weird rule (and a dumb one) but has nothing to do with the weird book experiences I had this past week. I just wanted to rant about that rule. See, that dumb rule still affects me almost fifty years later. OMG. Fifty years! Sigh. Now I feel old. The people who made that rule are probably dead now. Maybe they went to library hell where they sit in beautiful libraries filled with every book ever written and they are not allowed to read a single one.

Anyway, the short story challenge was a story by James Baldwin, a writer I had never heard of before. He doesn't write what I read, so the great thing about this challenge is that it introduces me to writers I never would normally read. You can read about this story in the previous post. I just used the word "read" three times in two sentences.

I'm also reading Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul. Just one essay a day in order. The day after I read Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" I read an essay by African American author, Terry McMillan, who makes a reference to James Baldwin with just four lines as she describes her adventures in the library as a kid and how different writers affected her. "John Steinbeck fooled me with that story that had no mice in it. I thought he could've been black. James Baldwin frightened me when I saw his dark face on his book jacket. When did black people start writing books, I wondered." She says a lot in those four lines. John Steinbeck is part of my reader's vocabulary. So finding a reference to Steinbeck, even if I were reading a Steinbeck would be notable but not that weird to me. James Baldwin isn't - until now. And it was odd that his name showed up to me in two different places just a day apart. Second weird book coincidence. I'm reading for pleasure and for my family book club, "Winter Garden" by Kristin Hannah. The reason we're reading it is because it involves our families history - The Soviet Purge in the 1930's under Stalin. I love podcasts. One of my favorites is Our Fake History, a podcast by a history teacher who likes to separate the facts from the fictions of our history. When I discover a podcast I really like I will go to the very first podcast and work my way along in order. This way I don't miss one. And I learn about things I never would have if I just picked what was most interesting. And there might be a little OCD involved although you could never accuse me of that if you saw my house. As it happens, this week, the podcasts I came to, was a three parter on Stalin. I could have landed on them in any other month, but it landed on the time that I was reading Winter Garden. Like I said. Weird. I'm wondering if there's a book fairy who likes to leave me love notes. What I really need is a writer fairy who makes me fabulously rich and famous with my work. So here are a couple of links to things I mentioned. Deal Me In Short Story Challenge

Our Fake History

#books #JamesBaldwin