![]() It turns out all I needed to do to start appreciating story collections was to stop expecting them to be novels. But I enjoyed many other collections, too. A few of these ( Afterparties and A Natural History of Transition) rocketed onto my Best of the Year list. But last year, when I started thinking more intentionally about meeting books where they are, I read over 20 story collections. After a while I just stopped reading them at all, sick of being disappointed by book after book. Historically, I haven’t been a huge fan of short story collections. It means taking the time to step back and ask why a book is the way it is before deciding that I don’t like it for the way it is. It just means that I’ve stopped trying to make every reading experience my favorite reading experience. Meeting books where they are doesn’t mean indiscriminately loving every book I read or feeling guilty for not liking a book for one reason or another. ![]() ![]() Of course not every book is going to work for me. Why is it written the way it is? Why this form, this structure, this particular story? Why these characters, why this POV, this genre, this style of prose? ![]() I’m much more interested in what each book I read is doing. ![]() I’ve become less and less interested in my own expectations and preconceived ideas about what I think a book should be. In 2021, it’s finally taken concrete form as my new reading mantra: meet books where they are. Over the past two years, a subtle but important shift has been slowly taking hold in my reading life. ![]()
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