On Reading Fiction

Today I finished reading Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson.

I set the book down for what might be the last time and paused.

I was feeling some feelings.

I felt filled to the brim with the goodness of that story.

I felt joy and celebration at how the characters overcame their challenges.

I felt curiosity about what would happen next to these characters.

I felt mortified and betrayed after a Google search informed me that there was no sequel to this book.

How dare he!

I felt sadness, like a gentle mourning, knowing I wouldn't see these characters again.

I also felt lighter, more witty, more capable, more creative, more determined, and more "Me," somehow.

Over the past year, I started reading fiction books again.

For context, I grew up reading A LOT, and it was all fiction.

You could find me reading everything from murder mysteries to fantasy and science fiction.

I mean, I was 10 years old when the very first Harry Potter book came out.

A few weeks before my 11th birthday, my mom bought me a copy of it from my elementary school's "book fair."

Do you know what that book taught me happens to awkward boys on their 11th birthday?

They get invited to Hogwarts and learn that their "weirdness" was just because they're wizards with powers they need to learn to control at Hogwarts.

Do I need to tell you how excited I was to be reading that book a few weeks before my 11th birthday?

Do I tell you how deflated I was after I turned 11 and didn't get my invite to Hogwarts?

I didn't grow up religious, but this was a time in my life I prayed I would get a letter from Hogwarts.

I was hoping and literally praying for weeks after my birthday.

A part of me still thought I might get an acceptance letter from Hogwarts.

A part of me thought maybe it was still on its way, even though it was past my 11th birthday.

Because, you know, Hogwarts is hecka far away and maybe the owl got lost in the Bermuda Triangle or something.

After a full month of neglect from Hogwarts, I finally lost all hope.

Yer not a wizard, Acme!

But, that's the magic of a good story.

A good story casts a spell on our minds that makes us feel and believe.

We lose ourselves and gain an entirely new perspective as we embark on adventures with characters that are so relatable, so real, so full of personality.

We gasp as characters we never, ever thought we'd lose are suddenly killed off.

Dead.

We get to walk strange lands and associate ourselves with the best wizards, witches, vampires, werewolves, time-travelers, detectives, alchemists, Allomancers, Feruchemists, Awakeners, and Windrunners who ever lived.

So I'm back to reading fiction and I'm loving it!

Have you read any novels in the past 2 or 3 months that have blown you away?

If so, please share and I'll add them to my TBR!

And if you don't read much fiction, why not?

Maybe give it another shot?

You won't regret it.