Three books I loved in May
Unintentional theme: storytelling.
Spring is my favourite season, but I'm glad we’re moving into summer—it’s always quieter at work, and my whole being is yearning for some time off— sunshine and the beach. After working back-to-back throughout the entire month of May, my reading took a toll. I still have two more newly released nonfiction books to read before the round-up post goes out on 11th June. If I don’t read the book, it does not make it to the recommendation list—it’s a rule I follow. I set an ambitious reading goal for each month this year; however, in May, I only read three books, excluding new releases.
Throughout the month, as I started to fall behind, I had to remind myself (repeatably) that there was no deadline, no curriculum, and no other aim than to read and enjoy each book I read. There’s no need to rush. Don’t fall into the self-imposed deadline trap as you usually do!!
With summer approaching, things are looking up.
Without any forward planning, May carried a storytelling theme, which then gave me the idea to theme all of my following readings for the rest of this year. I am leaning towards slowing down this year and existing with a blank schedule on my calendar, but I do need some type of routine to keep my anxiety manageable.
If you are (and many of you are) an aspiring writer, you should get all three books. You’ll love them, I can guarantee it. I loved all three books to the point where I could reread them as early as this summer.
The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human, and How To Tell Them Better by Will Storr
I’m no expert and never claim to be one. Yet, I can’t help but make the following statement with straight confidence: this book is so much more than what you expect.
I’ve learned more about the human brain from this text than from any other on the topic. It blew my mind, and that could be an understatement.
This is a must-read for anyone aspiring to be a writer. It’s not an overstatement to say everyone should read this book to understand human minds way better than you do now. It’s one of those books I’ll keep coming back to.
Also, the author is on the Substack if you prefer to learn from him in a shorter format.
Dust and Light: On the Art of Fact in Fiction by Andrea Barrett
I first came across Andrea Barrett’s work whilst reading The Best American Essays 2005, which captures her essay “The Sea of Information”, which also happens to be the second chapter of this book: ‘Dust and Light’.
How to use (often than not, historical) facts to write fiction? I think that is the question Andrea Barrett kept at the forefront when she started writing ‘Dust and Light’. It’s my assumption after reading the book.
Barrett proposes these questions to herself and to the reader: What is historical fiction? What role does research play in the writing of fiction?
“I often work along the ill-defined border between historical fiction and narrative history, and I’m especially interested in how we find, use, misuse, manipulate, transform (sometimes de-form) the scraps of history that come to hand. How to select what to keep and what to toss over the side before it sinks the little boat of fiction?”
If you are interested in the ‘creative’ process, as I am, you’d enjoy this book. Reading through the chapter is as open and inviting as pulling the curtain behind the scenes wide open.
“I let the material lead me, following the hints of glitter among the heap of rubble and, by sifting and sorting until I’d found more, linking one bit to another and another.”
“Because my messy, uneconomical writing process does eventually yield finished stories and novels, and because over the years, I’ve learned that if I just keep writing and revising and reconstructing, something will happen.”
She reflects: “I’d go to classes and lectures hoping for advice, and what I always seemed to hear was that there was one real way to write. Each of the people I listened to would profess a way that contradicted the other ways I’d heard professed; and all those ways would contradict my own experience. I’d leave the lecture in despair, thinking I’d never be a real writer.”
Eventually, coming to the conclusion: “The secret of writing, I came to think, was that there is no secret: only a life’s long, patient process of exploration.”
My favourite passage is this: “—but really I could have written anything there, shaped those glimpses however I wanted, and you wouldn’t know. You know far more about me from what I’ve been writing about throughout these pages and how I’ve been writing about it.”
It’s a matter of fact that this statement, as Barret puts it, goes beyond writing, it’s how we shape our narratives in day-to-day life. It’s what we disclose and what we keep hidden. It’s how we want those around us to perceive us. But who knows the truth?
“My emotional makeup, my responses to the world, my obdurate willingness to revise and revise again. What I notice, what I pay attention to. That—not only that, but essentially that; in addition to fact, sometimes instead of fact—is at the heart of fiction.”
A Story Is a Deal: How to use the science of storytelling to lead, motivate and persuade by Will Storr
It took me just under two days to read this book.
I fell in love with this book from the very beginning. How? It begins with one of the scandalous and despicable stories that fascinated me for some time now.
In 2017, Elizabeth Holmes faced the collapse of her dream. The dream was to disrupt the health industry or to amass enough wealth to reach billions, achieve fame, and succeed in running a Forbes-named business of the year.
I'm fascinated by the story of Theranos. As I said, I don't know of intention; no one knows. For the most part, what we know it's a speculation. Then, there are trials, podcasts, documentaries, Disney TV series and the book. The book by Washington Post reporter John Carreyrou. I read a book; I have a book. Watched and rewatched all I’ve mentioned. I still don't know the right motives. Sometimes, I feel bad for the main protagonists; other times, I'm fascinated by the investigative work, and then there are times I'm baffled—how could this be? How could this lie go undetected for years?
The same as The Science of Storytelling, this book goes further beyond storytelling; you’ll learn about history, business, status, and yourself, all in the format of a story. It’s THE book I will keep returning to over and over again.
A storytelling is powerful. I have suspicions that through good storytelling, we tend to remember facts of events better than randomly scanning through facts and statistics. A good storyteller can immerse you and captivate your attention in this scattered world, even in a topic you are not necessarily interested in.
If you're interested in how stories are crafted, these three books are a good starting point.
One of the storytellers I enjoy reading and listening to is Malcolm Gladwell. I said it many times. Recently, I spent most of Sunday morning re-reading his articles in the New Yorker. The guy can talk about running, violence, talent, ketchup—regardless of what you think of a topic, the way he tells it is captivating. Here is one that made me lose track of time.