Category Archives: LITERATURE

6 Adorable Pups and their Famous Author Owners

Dogs are amazingly loyal and their ability to silently listen without judgment makes them a writer’s best friend.

Emily Dickenson’s words sum it up nicely, “Dogs are better than human beings because they know but do not tell.”

We’re grateful for these charming canines, who provide love, companionship and inspiration to some of our favorite authors of all time.

First on our list belongs to bestselling author (and inspiration of our Beyond Words digital lifestyle magazine), Sylvia Day. We cannot get enough of her pups, Beck and Koji.

 

 

Stephen King, who has been terrifying readers for decades, doesn’t seem all too scary now that we’ve gotten a glimpse of, “Molly, aka the Thing of Evil.”

 


We can’t help, but fall in with love Avi, the “windblown dog,” belonging to Veronica Roth, author of the Divergent trilogy.    

This sophisticated-looking pooch is companion to Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love. It looks like he takes his treats seriously. Do you think he’s begging for bacon?          

Gratuitous photo of Chunky the Frenchie. A photo posted by Elizabeth Gilbert (@elizabeth_gilbert_writer) on

 

 

Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild and Brave Enough, posts pictures of her dog, Janie. She is incredibly cute, exuberant and happy. Wish we could cuddle her!

 

My dog Janie. Photo by Meg Vogt.

A photo posted by Cheryl Strayed (@cherylstrayed) on

 


We’re rounding off our adorable pups list with Nicholas Sparks, author of The Notebook, and his contented rescues, Lucky Bo and Boomer.    

 

Do you have a pup that inspires you? Share them with us in the comments.

10 Literary Twitter Hashtags Worth Your Attention

Haven’t got the resources to spend a summer at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop? Why not fashion your own cyber community using Twitter? Follow any or all of these hashtag writing exercises and other prompts and you might just finish your novel after all.

 


 

1. #FridayFlash

Exercise brevity with these hashtag challenges asking that you get to the point in around 5 words. Or at the most 1000. Flash fiction is a worthy exercise to get perspective on the weight of your words. And it’s also great fun.

 

 


 

2. #BookFaceFriday

Ever feel like you really got into a story? Take it to the next level by posing with your favorite classic books or modern fiction books and use this hashtag to share book-face meld shots easily worth a 1000 words.

 

 


 

3. #AskAgent

Literary agents worldwide are on the Twitter sphere to answer your pressing questions about the writing business. Follow to hear fellow writers’ concerns about publishing as well as what’s happening with new media like digital books.

 


 

4. #WritingPrompt

Most workshops recommend free writing to explore lurking ideas, and quick visual or verbal cues can sometimes spawn an entire short story. See where it takes you.    


 

5. #BookStoreBingo

Booksellers hear the darndest things. And they share them on this hashtag which acts as a compendium of all the strange things people ask bookstore staff. Get to know your future audience.

 


 

6. #NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month is probably the internet’s most demanding writers’ challenge. One month, one novel. The community of support though, might be just the thing to make it happen.  

 


 

7. #PubTip

Another utility hashtag to get to the details of the publishing business, writers can use it to learn about things like what genres are currently oversaturating publishers, and other market facts.    

   


 

8. #WriteGoal

Everyone knows the anecdotes about stating a goal to achieve it. It really does work. So tag your aspirational word counts or chapter completions, and get one step closer to your dream.

 

 


 

9. #ReadWomen2015 (and 2014)

Created by writer Joanna Walsh (@badaude), this hashtag points readers to books, essays and articles about women in the writing and publishing fields.  

   


 

10. #WeNeedMoreDiverseBooks

Hopefully we’ll just call it #books one day, but for the moment, follow this hashtag for stories inclusive of more diverse perspectives and cultures.

 

5 Inspiring Mark Twain Quotes to Read with Your Morning Coffee

#SorryNotSorry that the only mug we really want to see in the morning is for coffee, and then follow it with some light reading – something like this list of Mark Twain quotes, compiled to get your day started with some wisdom by one of the best authors of all time.

 

1. Stop complicating things.

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2. You can do this one today.

 

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3. Express yourself whatever it takes.

 

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4. It’s ok to be terrified!

 

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5. Sometimes, it’s the smartest answer.

 

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Photos via BrainyQuote.com

7 Books about Life-Changing Love

The weather is cooling and fall leaves float in the breeze. The coming of fall signals a time for togetherness and compassion. To help you celebrate love, we’ve compiled a list of books focusing not on romance, but on life-changing love.

 

Kisses from Katie by Katie J. Davis

kisses from katieKatie’s relentless love for her God and others leads her to a life of service in Uganda. At just eighteen years old, Katie foregoes her parents’ college plans and pursues a mission trip to Africa. Katie’s mission trip turns into a lifetime commitment as Katie decides to permanently move to Uganda and adopt fourteen children. In her premier novel, Katie details her life as she takes care of her children and launches Amazima Ministries in order to provide orphans with school, meals and care. Katie’s love story with Uganda is truly inspirational.

 

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

secret life of beesLily Owens and her stand in mother, Rosaleen, seek refuge in the home of the beekeeping “calendar sisters” after an altercation with a trio of violent racist. Lily joins Rosaleen in order to escape from her abusive father and haunting memories of her mother’s death.  The two are quickly immersed in the world of beekeeping. Slowly, they discover the truth surrounding the death of Lily’s mother and learn how to love themselves.

 

My Name is Mahtob by Mahtob Mahmoody

my name is mahtobMahtob is the daughter from the novel and movie, Not Without My Daughter. She tells the story of her captivity in Iran from her perspective and continues her story to the present day.  My Name is Mahtob is the story of a mother who loves her daughter too much to leave her behind and too much to teach her to hate.  Because her mother takes special care to keep Mahtob immersed in Iranian culture, Mahtob is able to come to love her father as the man who will forever be a part of her. Through this love, she is able to find forgiveness and peace.

 

Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist

bread and wine“With love, with love, with love” is the refrain of Niequist’s follow up to Bittersweet and Cold Tangerines. Niequist writes of that deep abiding love we often share around a hearty meal. Bread and Wine is a collection of essays about the love-filled moments in Niequist’s life, including travels around Europe, Sunday afternoons with her family, moving into her own home and her pregnancy. Each essay is followed by a recipe, like blueberry crisp or mango chicken curry, that she felt captured that moment for her. Niequist reminds us to focus not on counting down minutes, but on cherishing moments that take our breath away.

 

Things I Want My Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble

things i want my daughters to knowNoble heartbreakingly captures the beauty of mother-daughter love in Things I Want my Daughters to Know. The novel opens at the funeral of Barbara, the mother of four daughters. After being fatally diagnosed with cancer, Barbara wrote a series of letters for each of her daughters to be read after her death. In a beautiful way, Barbara is able to help her daughters heal and move on with their lives, even though she can no longer be physically present.

 

Walk to Beautiful by Jimmy Wayne

walk to beautifulWalk to Beautiful is the true story of Jimmy Wayne’s life. Jimmy spent time in and out of the foster care system, and eventually came to meet Bea and Russell, an older couple who took him under their wings. Their love, coupled with the love and energy of his guidance counselor, is what motivates Jimmy to finish school and pour himself into his music. After reaching the pinnacle of his country music career, Jimmy passes on their love by walking halfway across America in order to raise awareness and support for foster children.

 

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells

divine secrets of the yaya sisterhoodDivine Secrets is a classic example of the power of a sisterhood. Siddalee‘s mother sends her old scrapbook to Siddalee after she attacks her mother’s parenting ability in a national newspaper. Through her mother’s scrapbook, Siddalee discovers the stories of the women who have been her mother’s lifelong friends, the members of the “Ya-Yas”. Each Ya-Ya comes to life, and Siddalee is able to piece together their personalities, flaws and life events. The scrapbook allows Siddalee to learn life lessons as well as reach the point of forgiving her mother for past transgressions.

 

5 Quotes About Marriage That Teach Us How to Live Happily in Love

The secrets to a blissful life lie deep in the world of literature.

Since the very idea of marriage came to be, supposedly sometime before recorded history, people have been searching for the secrets of how to make it work. How can two independent people, who have lived well enough alone, come together to co-exist? No, not just co-exist — come together to be one entity, having every aspect of their previous lives align as one. I’m certain you’ll agree that it sounds a rather demanding task, and yet it’s what many of us attempt every day of our lives. So, when wondering how to have a happy marriage, where do we begin? Since art is incessantly obsessed with love, it’s as good a place as any. After all, you may just find what you’re looking for between the pages of a book, like with these popular quotes about marriage.

best quotes about marriage

1. “Oh, Lizzy! Do anything rather than marry without affection.” ― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Can you honestly imagine a marriage free from any form of affection? The idea is almost laughably implausible yet, of course, it happens. But that’s wrong because love is not a cold emotion. It’s not something made up of logic, reason, or facts. Nor is it a tangible entity. Love is something quite inexplicable that we can’t see, hear, or write down on paper. It’s something that’s accompanied by its partner in crime, affection. Without it, you just have two people sitting in a room, trying desperately to think of something to say.

2. “A good marriage, like any partnership, meant subordinating one’s own needs to that of the other’s, in the expectation that the other will do the same.” ― Nicholas Sparks, True Believer

You’ve heard that tired, old notion that you ought to put others’ needs before your own. Well, it’s true, and it’s especially true for your life partner. Nicholas Sparks put it best in this straightforward and elegant quote. When you choose to earnestly dedicate your life to someone else, that means putting them first in everything you do. A selfish person will find it hard to have a happy marriage. They will always put their own niggling needs before that of any other person.

quotes about marriage

3. “They may part in one year or ten; they may live together until death. But if she thinks he is a fool, she will not love him again.” ― Philippa Gregory, The Other Queen

Respect is one of the hardest things to earn, and yet one of the easiest to lose. Once your spouse has lost it, they may never regain it from you. If you’re honest with yourself, you know that to have a truly happy marriage, you have to hold your partner in high regard. There are many reasons that a person might lose your respect; maybe they don’t prove to be the partner you thought, perhaps they cheat on you, or maybe they let you down in some way and you just can’t look at them as you once did. Whatever the reason, when you’ve lost all respect, you’ve also lost the marriage.

4. “If I have to ‘catch’ a man to get a husband, I don’t want one.” ― Tamora Pierce, Shatterglass

Read all the dating columns you wish, but that simply will not change the facts. Although many like to believe that it’s so, love is not a game. You do not need to “catch” a spouse or somehow trick them into falling quite madly in love with you. In fact, you can enlist the help of all the self-help-esque romance tips in the world, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will meet a partner who’s just the right match for you. Deciding to take someone as a husband or, indeed, wife, is much grander than you imagine. Only when the games are over can you truly see that.

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5. “Marriage is like a well-built porch. If one of the two posts leans too much, the porch collapses. So each must be strong enough to stand on its own.” ― Deb Caletti, The Secret Life of Prince Charming

Finally, to make things really work, you have to be equally strong alone. Sure, in your darkest hours, there’s no doubt that your partner ought to be there to support you. That should be a rarity, though, rather than the status quo. If either of you becomes fully reliant on the other, it won’t be long before the cracks start to show. It’s just far too much pressure for one party to shoulder. Put simply, a marriage is a partnership. That means that neither one of you should do all the work. Instead, you should both be somewhat independent and yet, stand together with nothing but sheer strength.

6 Beautiful Quotes About Female Friendship

Female friendship is a beautifully delicate thing that can all too often be undervalued by those who possess it. As a woman, navigating life’s many obstacles alone is a tough feat. Sure, your life partner may be there to hold your hand when times get tough, but a true friend will be holding the compass and telling you which way to turn. She will be there, by your side, at all the most important points throughout your existence. Having a woman this close to you is only akin to having a sister. Of course, none put this feeling better than authors. So, with that in mind, here are six quotes about female friendship that aptly sum up what it means to have this unforgettable bond.

female friends

1. “We could fight and wrangle and name-call, but it didn’t change anything underneath. She was still my oldest friend. Is.” (The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood)

If a friendship is so weak that it will break after the first insignificant fight, it was never one that would stand the test of time. True relationships can sustain any amount of hardship. They are like diamonds: Rather than cracking under the great many pressures of life, they become stronger at every opportunity. Having a disagreement with a friend is never a pleasant experience; it’s not one you’d wish upon yourself or anyone else. Still, it doesn’t change the way you feel about them and, in that moment, you know that it never will.

2. “True friendship resists time, distance and silence.” (Portrait in Sepia, Isabel Allende)

Whether you tell yourself that you don’t have the time, that they’re too far away, or that it’s been too long since you last spoke, you’re lying. When someone is a real friend, when they are an intrinsic part of your life, none of those things matter a single iota. You can call them up from the other side of the planet having not once contacted them for the last six months, and yet you’ll still feel as close to them as ever — if not closer. It’s these friendships that are so intricately woven into our lives that we can never untangle them, no matter how we try. The likelihood is that you’ll get but a few of these in your life, but they are the bonds that keep you grounded and, much of the time, sane too.

3. “There’s nothing like puking with somebody to make you into old friends.” (The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath)

As comically vulgar as this one sounds, there’s great truth in it. Bonding with another human being is not merely about spending wine-fueled nights together, though that helps too. Instead, it’s about facing every battle together. Once someone’s held back your hair while you vomited up your regrets, it’s hard not to find them a little endearing. What women look for in any friendship is something lasting. We don’t just want friends who will take pouty selfies with us in clubs; we want those who will be there when we’re no longer posing.

4. “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J. K. Rowling)

It’s not about simply being a Yes Woman when called upon for help. Sure, that may be a fast-track way to trick people into liking you, but it’s a disingenuous way to gain people’s trust. Our closest friends will come to us for advice and guidance. How we respond to that depends on our strength of character. Telling someone exactly what you think they want to hear is not only spineless, but it can actually turn out to be a hindrance.

5. “I have your back. I didn’t mean only when it’s easy. All the time.” (Divergent, Veronica Roth)

At the core of any relationship, there’s just one thing: loyalty. This trait is so hard to come by, nigh impossible, which is why it should be valued in a person once you’re lucky enough to find it. You can have everything in common — the same sense of humor, the same interests, a similar outlook on life — and yet if this one key thing is misplaced, it will never work. When someone is only out for themselves, for their own personal gain, the friendship will wear thin quicker than you could ever imagine.

6. “No friendship is an accident.” (Heart of the West, O. Henry)

The final thing to remember about any legitimate friendship is that it’s not something you simply fall into. Friends of convenience rarely last, and just because something’s easy doesn’t mean it will work. Friendship is by no means an accident; it’s something you have to work at every single day of your life. When you decide to align your life with that of another person, it changes you; it means that you suddenly have to consider them in your plans. The moment you stop doing so, you could lose them — that in itself should worry you enough to never make the mistake. That’s not to say that friendship should be hard work, but you definitely should work hard at it regardless.

5 Books You’ve Always Meant to Read

As we slowly tick over into the summer months, even those with the most hectic of schedules take a moment to stop, breathe, and relax. What’s truly wonderful about this period is the fact that you can finally get around to dipping into some of those books that you’ve always meant to read. If you’re on the hunt for your next literary adventure, look no further. There’s a handful of brilliantly engaging novels that everyone simply must read at least once. From deeply touching accounts of life and death to alternate lifestyles, the tales here are ones that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page.

 

Down and Out in Paris and London

by George Orwell

orwell down and out in paris and london

First of all, if you’re hoping for a fast-paced adventure, this is not the book for you. In Down and Out in Paris and London, Orwell meanders through a lengthy account of his experiences of sheer poverty in both cities. The genius of Orwell was that he was never one to waste words, yet he still had the power to weave descriptively rich tapestries in the reader’s mind. Flipping through the pages is like living his reality, however bleak, moment by moment.

This may not be the most uplifting book you’ll even read; it’s packed with the struggles and sorrows of an often times lonely man, but the themes are as relevant today as they were back in 1933, when it was originally published.

 

The Dice Man

by Luke Rhinehart

rhinehart the dice man

The term ‘cult classic’ is thrown around a lot these days, but The Dice Man really is a novel deserving of that title. The plot follows Luke Rhinehart, a psychiatrist who has ultimately grown tired and weary of his mundane existence. (Note that although the book carries this character’s name, it is not an autobiography. The author has used the protagonist’s name as his pseudonym.) When he finds that nothing pleases him anymore, Luke makes a decision that would likely terrify most sane people; he will live his life by the roll of a die. Every minor and major life decision he makes from that time forward is controlled solely by chance. He gives over his free will to chaos in the hope that he will somehow find life satisfaction once again.

As you might imagine, it often makes for a rather shocking read. When you take morality and common sense out of the equation, your choices may lead to disastrous consequences, but in a way that’s the beauty of this fictional lifestyle. On opening this novel’s pages, the reader is taken on a tumultuous journey with the main character by their side, holding a set of dice and grinning manically.

 

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

by Milan Kundera

milan kundera the unbearable lightness of being

There are many themes woven seamlessly into this story of love and infidelity – politics, philosophy and morals come together to set the background for the tale. What I personally enjoyed the most about the book is that it never once leads the reader one way or another. On a surface level, you can read the story of a marriage slowly being crushed by the protagonist, Tomas’ tireless womanizing.

There’s also the striking tale of Sabina, his mistress and a painter in that order, who has the feverish desire to think and live for herself. Finally, there’s Tereza, a woman made of morals and Tomas’ wife – her story seems to be the most tragic of the three as she goes from near poverty to stability, but loses her independence along the way. The three characters symbolize archetypal personalities of the time, and you don’t have to understand the political implications to be moved by their tales.

 

The Secret History

by Donna Tartt

tart the secret history

What would inspire a group of five Classics students to premeditate and carry out the savage murder of one of their closest friends? That is the question that will be running through your mind from the moment you begin this feverishly addictive book. Tartt wastes no time gleefully mapping out the murder scene for the reader – giving away one of the central plots of the book before you’ve gotten more than a few pages into it. Just as Tarentino leads us into Pulp Fiction with the infamous diner robbery that doesn’t chronologically take place until much later in the film, Tartt leads us into an unceremonious murder that will most certainly resurface later in the novel. From that moment, the reader is hooked. This is not a game of figuring out who killed the character – we know that already – but one of why they killed them.

The narrative unfolds in the voice of one of the group – Richard Papen or Dick for short – who is new at the university. Upon arriving, he quickly makes friends with an odd, anachronistic group. It’s not clear when the novel is actually set, but most assume that it is in the 1980s, when Tartt herself attended university. Yet, despite this, the central group of characters dresses and acts as though they’ve walked off the pages of a period drama. While that in itself is bizarre, there’s much more to these individuals than meets the eye.

 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

by Ken Kesey

kesey one flew over the cuckoo's nest

If you’re looking for a quick read that will leave a lasting, unyielding impression, this is the modern classic for you. This is yet another work which many people know only by its later film adaptation. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is an insight into the troubled mind of the narrator, Chief Bromden, who resides in an Oregon psychiatric hospital.When a new patient comes onto Bromden’s ward, he’s taken by his ferocious nature and cheeky con man-esque hyjinx. He sees this new-comer as a savior of sorts; this could be a sign of change within the ward. Soon enough, though, the Chief has to let go of this misguided notion – as he sees that even this oddly precocious man can be worn down.

Of course, if you’ve seen the movie already, you’ll know all of this, so why is the novel any different? Well, there is something about the first hand account (albeit fictional) that you read here. From the unethical practices within the institute to the stigmatization of the ‘chronic’ patients, this is a book that conveys just how far we’ve thankfully come in terms of understanding mental health.

Eight Unstoppable Women Writers Balancing Work and Family

Much controversy and conversation still centers around the idea of women “having it all”. The thought of a family and successful career can be overwhelming to some, and downright unattainable to others, but our culture is dripping with women who can, indeed, balance work and family. Women writers, specifically, need only turn to their tribe to see how they might balance their family lives and their calling to write.

Cheryl Strayed

TEDxConcordiaUPortland2012 - Cheryl Strayed
Photo: Armosa Studios, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

She’s the mother of two and author of several books, including the New York Times bestseller, Wild, which was adapted into a feature film. She believes the positive relationship a woman has with her family depends on her pursuing her dreams rather than giving them up. While her children were young, she left them for a two-week writer’s retreat to finish Wild. She says it was one of the hardest—and most necessary—things she’d ever had to do.

“You will learn a lot about yourself if you stretch in the direction of goodness, of bigness, of kindness, of forgiveness, of emotional bravery. Be a warrior for love.” –Cheryl Strayed

 

Sylvia Day

Quick pre-party in the hotel 🙂 #MusiCaresPOTY #bobdylan #thegrammys #redwine

A photo posted by Sylvia Day (@sylvia_day) on


She’s a #1 best-selling author in 28 countries and just this April, she released the fifth and final novel in her popular Crossfire series. She’s considered one of the world’s most widely read writers, which is a feat in itself. Her accolades include winning Amazon’s Best of the Year Award and nomination for the Goodreads Choice Award.Day has two children, and she’s published over 20 novels while raising them. As if writing and raising kids isn’t enough, she’s also a workshop presenter, speaker and panelist at literary events across the country.

“I’ve learned to allow myself the room to fall in love with what I’m writing.” –Sylvia Day

 

Edwidge Danticat

edwidge danticat
By David Shankbone – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

This Haitian-American best-selling writer’s work centers on themes like the mother/daughter relationship, the relationship to the self and relationship to place. She’s a proponent of social activism, makes time for interviews and appearances, and she continues to write, all while raising two daughters in Miami.

“Create dangerously, for people who read dangerously. … Writing, knowing in part that no matter how trivial your words may seem, someday, somewhere, someone may risk his or her life to read them.” – Edwidge Danticat

 

J.K. Rowling

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Photo: Daniel Ogren, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

She created one of the world’s most beloved characters, Harry Potter. Rowling was teaching English in Portugal when the idea for the best-selling series came to her. In the meantime, she’d married and had a baby-girl. After her divorce, she lived in poverty in England, but she continued to write what would become one of the most successful series to date.

‘We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” –J.K. Rowling

 

A.S. Byatt

A.S. Byatt
Photo by Martin Figura, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

She’s been named one of Britain’s greatest writers and won the prestigious Booker Prize. She did it all while raising four children (two from her first marriage and two from her second marriage). She believes that women, regardless of whether or not they have a family, must create if that’s what they are called to do.

“I think of my writing simply in terms of pleasure. It’s the most important think in my life– making things. Much as I love my husband and my children, I love them only because I am the person who makes things.” –A.S. Byatt

 

Mary Karr

She’s the best-selling author of three memoirs, one of which is considered among the best memoirs ever written. Her writing delves deep into the pits of her past struggles with alcoholism. Now, over 20 years sober, she’s written a mountain of poetry in addition to her memoirs, she teaches creative writing on the university level, and she’s raised a child.

“Sure the world breeds monsters, but kindness grows just as wild…” –Mary Karr

 

Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison (1)
Photo: Angela RadulescuCC BY-SA 2.0


She’s regarded as one of the best novelists of the 21st Century, she’s won a Pulitzer Prize and she gave a voice to diversity in literature. Morrison rose early to write her novels while her sons slept. At the time, she also served as an editor at Random House, bringing other diverse writers to the world.

“If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it.” –Toni Morrison

 

Emily Giffin

Her best-selling chick-lit novels have been made into movies, served as the subjects of many a book club and graced the New York Times bestseller list time and again. Giffin, a former lawyer, is still going strong, writing new novels while raising twin boys, Edward and George, and her daughter, Harriet.

“Guilt is a supreme waste of time and energy.” –Emily Giffin

Books from Around the World With the Power to Connect Us All

Every human being looks for the opportunity to connect with another human being. It’s how we foster a sense of belonging. Though our physical appearance may differ from the person next to us, the feelings we experience are all relatable. Every culture, in its own unique way, understands the power of love, the exhilaration of joy and the magnitude of pain.

Even though this truth has held steadfast through time, disconnection in the form of hate, war, misunderstanding and conflict is what constantly permeates the Internet and the airwaves. This year’s current political climate and the fight against terrorism make us feel as though we’re disconnected from those around us when in truth, we’re all just looking for common ground. So what do we do to foster connection when it seems so far out of our reach? Mario Vargas Lloso, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature, once stated:

“Good literature erects bridges between different peoples, and by having us enjoy, suffer, or feel surprise, unites us beneath the languages, beliefs, habits, customs, and prejudices that separate us.”

Books can provide the bridge. The titles listed below can bring cultures together through the exploration of trials the individuals in the books face. Even though these experiences may seem foreign, the emotions they evoke are all quite familiar.

 

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie (Nigeria)

This novel, set in Nigeria, follows the lives of Kambili and her family. The book explores religious hypocrisy and the effects of a broken family on the psyche of a young girl. Kambili combats all the coming of age lessons any young girl faces—learning her place within her family, finding her voice, the realization that things are not always what they seem. Through the book, Kambili and her family come to terms with their past and their futures through companionship and life’s lessons—something we can all relate to.

purple hibiscus

 

Monkey Bridge by Lan Cao (Vietnam)

It’s one thing to be a teenage girl growing up in America. The yearning for social acceptance and craving to find oneself are overwhelming. Add onto these common struggles the added complication of immigrant parents, and the internal conflict faced by every teenager becomes a little more complex. Mai immigrated to the United States from Vietnam with her mother Thanh to escape the war. Mai’s mother holds steadfast to Vietnamese culture and traditions while Mai tries to navigate a “normal” American life without losing a sense of her Vietnamese culture.

monkey bridge

 

When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi (Afghanistan)

Mahmoud and Fereiba are a typical middle-class family. They have two children, Saleem and Samira and a third on the way. Fereiba and Mahmoud love each other, and they live a life most families can identify with, that is, until the Taliban comes. In the wake of wide-spread refugee crises, When the Moon is Low gives an inside look into how being forced from one’s home effects the family. Follow Fereiba and her family through the fear and danger of fleeing a country torn by war, and watch as the bond of family shines through.

when the moon is low

 

Literature has long acted as a bridge between worlds – we can learn about cultures and peoples we wouldn’t normally know about, and we’re able to make the connection between others and ourselves. Though the stories might be different, the emotions are the same.

Each of these books gives perspective into the way people around the world live, but they also include trials and emotions, regardless of location, with which anyone can identify. Give yourself the opportunity to experience something new through reading. You might find you can cultivate a sense of connection in the most unexpected of places.

Poetry Collections Accurately Capturing Modern Womanhood

Contemporary poetry is so much more than the traditional rhyme scheme, flowery quotes, and love cliches that come to mind when you think of poetry — especially more traditional feminine poetry. But a combination of increasingly progressive societal norms and more relaxed stylistic writing conventions makes poetry today a particularly useful medium for truthful self-exploration.

Free from the need for too much narrative, poetry as a form fosters a more direct relationship with the subconscious than other, more narrative literary forms. Pair this with the feminist awakening happening all around us, and you have yourself the documentation of something beautiful. If you want to know what it’s really like to live in this world as a woman, it’s time to read these five multi-dimensional poetry collections.

 

Something Bright, Then Holes

by Maggie Nelson

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Something Bright, Then Holes encapsulates the messiness and visceral pain of lost love without apology, politeness, or euphemism. Maggie Nelson is a force, and her fourth poetry collection lays bare a raw energy channeled through the human experience of fragility. The book follows the trajectory of a woman experiencing a slow breakup, a trauma later deepened by her time spent caring for a friend after a bad car accident. The journey, which includes a section dedicated to the speaker’s daily walks to a nearby urban canal, feels almost tangible in its rich, corporeal imagery, vividly portraying real anger, sadness, and even ugliness without hesitation.

Nelson is also known for Bluets and her memoir, the Argonauts..

 

I Was Not Born

by Julia Cohen

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From this platform, Cohen launches into an exploration of the space between the psyche’s interpretation of reality and the mundane yet beautiful details that make up reality itself, using her own childhood recollections as a mode through which to deepen this discussion. The exploration, to its credit, eventually enables the speaker to reconnect with life’s sweetness, subject to — but also somehow impervious to — the knowledge that her future life with her partner is uncertain. Beauty remains beautiful. Love, a byproduct, follows.

 

Sorrow Arrow

by Emily Kendal Frey

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Emily Kendal Frey’s second collection of work is characterized by double-spaced, almost minimalist poetry, distinguished by first-person statements and loose descriptions that often leave off in the midst of a thought and never fully return. The appeal of this type of work is that the poems function the way memory does, as if the poems are sketches that perfectly capture, for example, a glance, detail, or instance — but never the whole story. In its resemblance to real memory, this style rings true and conveys much depth in the process.

Thematically, Sorrow Arrow focuses on an ending relationship (presumably a divorce) and describes the day-to-day events in the speaker’s life as they become tainted by loss. Rather than depict, as Maggie Nelson might, the violence, conflict, and emotional frenzy of the situation, Frey’s tone instead is more resigned. Often referencing the exiting partner, the musings and frustrations are more internal, as if attempting to render that person’s existence while his memory and presence is fresh. The lines tend to wander casually into the surreal landscape of the jaded speaker’s imagination — though not without urgency, potency, and emotional vibrance.

 

Soft Split

by Szilvia Molnar

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Published by the small press Future Tense Books from Portland, OR, Soft Split is a poetic dream diary, small and compact and shocking in its commitment to every grisly, dreamy detail. Sex, love, betrayal, pregnancy, mental stability, and even the workplace come into play — but don’t ever actually come into being (or so we think). Emerging writer Szilvia Molnar plays with the idea that dreams reflect the subconscious, but also seems to be pointing out that in their absurdity, dreams are also a way through which we can free ourselves from our own self-analysis.

 

Your Invitation to a Modest Breakfast

by Hannah Gamble

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Hannah Gamble is distinct in that she somehow manages to talk about death, love, loss, and self-exploration poignantly without becoming too heavily-steeped in solemnity. Her work handles imagery with a light but accurate touch, unafraid to ground the reader with the mention of something common and familiar, like a puffy windbreaker or a gumball machine, then driving home a specific feeling with the precision of a brain surgeon. It’s this complex combination that makes Gamble’s collection a particularly apt representation of the conflicts that define modern womanhood: domestic familiarity passed down from generation to generation; awareness of being subtle but repeatedly treated like a sexual object; and a desire for love that is not always harmonious with her strong sense of self.

In metaphorical terms, Your Invitation to a Modest Breakfast uses imagery and language that invokes a polite social event to draw a parallel to antiquated societal gender and lifestyle expectations. The result is the sense that we’re all guests at this party, confused about the formal table settings and wondering how to continue playing our roles.