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“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.” – C. S. Lewis
I’ve been reading since I was not quite 3 years old. I don’t say that to brag upon myself, but upon my mother, since she was the one reading the works of Dr. Seuss and the Golden Books people to me. And then, that same mother used to remove books from my hands on school mornings. I would be so engrossed in reading a book that I would sit down on the edge of my bed and forget to get dressed, thus causing everyone to be late to school.
All throughout high school, I was a public library regular, whether riding my bike across town or driving my little pick-up truck there. I attended a small private school that didn’t have a great library and I had to employ any means necessary to sate my appetite. However, it wasn’t until I worked in a bookstore during & after college (albeit it turned out to a rather stifling experience) did my literary passions begin to truly bloom.
Simply put, I have found that, within the pages of a work of great fiction, I can find a great many ways and means by which my life can be enriched, challenged, strengthened, broken-down, and rebuilt. Yes, I said fiction. Yes, I do believe that fiction can be more powerful than nonfiction. Works of fiction can expound upon the human condition better than any social scientist could ever hope to tabulate within a report or scholarly work. I say that because I am a social scientist by education (BA in Political Science, minors in Economics & History) – I find it easy to write about people in formal language. But I am learning, all over again, how to write and read about people in ways that a logical, trained observer of humanity really cannot do.
Read along with me at Taft Street Books as you patron the fine establishment that is Taft Street Coffee. Feel free to contact me with any questions, opinions, or stock requests that you might have. I look forward to making the bookstore as democratically run as possible, as I seek to make Taft Street Books your favorite place to purchase literature. (And yes, nonfiction as well – I do read considerable amounts of that as well.) Seriously. Come visit me.
I’ve been reading since I was not quite 3 years old. I don’t say that to brag upon myself, but upon my mother, since she was the one reading the works of Dr. Seuss and the Golden Books people to me. And then, that same mother used to remove books from my hands on school mornings. I would be so engrossed in reading a book that I would sit down on the edge of my bed and forget to get dressed, thus causing everyone to be late to school.
All throughout high school, I was a public library regular, whether riding my bike across town or driving my little pick-up truck there. I attended a small private school that didn’t have a great library and I had to employ any means necessary to sate my appetite. However, it wasn’t until I worked in a bookstore during & after college (albeit it turned out to a rather stifling experience) did my literary passions begin to truly bloom.
Simply put, I have found that, within the pages of a work of great fiction, I can find a great many ways and means by which my life can be enriched, challenged, strengthened, broken-down, and rebuilt. Yes, I said fiction. Yes, I do believe that fiction can be more powerful than nonfiction. Works of fiction can expound upon the human condition better than any social scientist could ever hope to tabulate within a report or scholarly work. I say that because I am a social scientist by education (BA in Political Science, minors in Economics & History) – I find it easy to write about people in formal language. But I am learning, all over again, how to write and read about people in ways that a logical, trained observer of humanity really cannot do.
Read along with me at Taft Street Books as you patron the fine establishment that is Taft Street Coffee. Feel free to contact me with any questions, opinions, or stock requests that you might have. I look forward to making the bookstore as democratically run as possible, as I seek to make Taft Street Books your favorite place to purchase literature. (And yes, nonfiction as well – I do read considerable amounts of that as well.) Seriously. Come visit me.
posted by APN at 13:18
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