Daily Drafts & Dialogues: Books

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Week 1 (July 1-5 )— Prologue- Chapter 1

Week 2 (July 6-12)— Chapters 2-4

Week 3 (July 13- 19)— Chapters 5-7

Week 4 (July 20-31) — Finish Book

July 31st: Discuss entire book in Substack chat thread

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Continue Exploring July’s Creative Courage Theme

ICYMI—>This week’s Posts: Beginning Before You Feel Ready

Beginning Before You Feel Ready: Writing Prompts

Between Two Worlds

Do writers need to feel ready before they begin a new project?

The Art of Beginning Again

Beginnings and endings are linked in a lot of ways…

Why Beginning Feels So Difficult, But Doesn’t Have to Be

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Consider going more in depth with this month’s theme with July’s Creative Courage Writing Collection.

The writing collection is designed to help you explore creative courage from different angles: discovering your voice, strengthening your craft, experimenting with new approaches, and reflecting on the writer you are becoming.

The free posts published this month will explore the outward side of creative courage—beginning, risking, and sharing— and should complement this collection quite well, which invites you to go much deeper into the internal work of creativity with 30 guided writing prompts and craft exercises, reflections, as well as three options for guided monthly writing challenges for those who want to go even further than that.

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The Art of Beginning Again

K. E. Creighton — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 12:03:25 GMT

July Theme: Creative Courage

Big Question: What does it take to begin, risk, and share what you create?

Week 1: Beginning Before You Feel Ready

This week, we’re discussing beginnings, what they entail, and the creative courage they require. So, I thought it would be a good idea to consider a few notable works that offer some interesting insight into beginnings and creative courage.

Every meaningful story begins with a moment when life can no longer continue as it has before. Sometimes that moment arrives through grief, failure, exile, or heartbreak. Sometimes it appears as an unexpected opportunity, a chance encounter, or the subtle realization that the life we’ve been living no longer reflects who we are becoming. Whatever form it takes, however, the courage it takes to make the decision to begin again (or at all) is one of literature’s most enduring and inspiring themes.

The twenty novels in today’s post explore reinvention in all its forms. Some of their protagonists leave home in search of a new future, while others remain where they are and slowly transform from within. Some rebuild after devastating loss, while others reject expectations that have confined them for years. Several discover that creativity (whether expressed through writing, painting, sewing, scientific inquiry, storytelling, or even philosophy) is not merely a talent but a means of reclaiming agency and imagining a different life.

These stories offer more than compelling characters and unforgettable plots, especially for writers. They provide living examples of creative courage and the willingness to trust one’s own vision, embrace uncertainty, and continue making something meaningful despite fear, rejection, or self-doubt. Many of these protagonists remind us that the creative life is not reserved for those who feel fearless or fully prepared. Instead, it belongs to those who keep returning to the work, choosing curiosity over certainty and growth over comfort.

As you keep reading, consider each protagonist not only as a fictional character but also as a companion for your own creative journey.

Ask yourself:

What old story is this character leaving behind?
What new identity are they choosing to create?
What fears must they confront before they can begin again?
How might their journey illuminate my own life or creative practice?

Although these novels span nearly two centuries and encompass literary fiction, fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, and contemporary storytelling, they share a common conviction that reinvention is rarely about becoming someone else. More often, it is about uncovering the truest version of ourselves through courage, perseverance, creativity, and hope.

Whether you are navigating a season of change, seeking inspiration for your own writing, or simply drawn to stories of resilience and renewal, these books remind us that every ending contains the possibility of a new beginning, and that every act of creation, no matter how small, is itself an act of beginning again.

1. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (2018)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Leni Albright spends her adolescence following her unpredictable, traumatized Vietnam veteran father from one failed dream to another. When her family relocates to the Alaskan wilderness in search of a fresh start, Leni initially believes the move will finally bring them peace. Instead, Alaska becomes a place of extraordinary hardship, as well as the setting where she learns that beginning again sometimes means refusing to repeat the patterns we’ve inherited. By the end of the novel, Leni chooses a future built on love, resilience, and self-determination rather than fear.

What Writers Can Learn

Leni’s story illustrates that compelling character arcs often emerge from the tension between inherited identity and chosen identity. Kristin Hannah also demonstrates how a novel’s setting can function as more than mere scenery, as Alaska becomes a living force that shapes every emotional decision. Writers can study how external survival challenges amplify a character’s internal transformation.

Take note of:

The Move to Alaska – Establishes both the promise and danger of starting over.
The First Winter – Reveals how isolation intensifies family dynamics and personal growth.
Spring Thaw – Symbolically mirrors the possibility of emotional renewal.
The Final Chapters – Show how healing often requires difficult, courageous choices rather than perfect resolutions.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

Although The Great Alone is not about artists, it deeply explores the creative act of imagining a different future than the one you’ve inherited. Leni’s greatest courage lies in believing she can author a different story for herself despite generations of trauma. For writers, the novel is a reminder that the most meaningful character transformations begin with a decision to break from an old narrative.

2. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (2020)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Linus Baker has carefully constructed a life governed by routine, rules, and emotional distance. When he is assigned to inspect an orphanage unlike any he has encountered before, his assumptions about duty, belonging, and family begin to unravel. Through his relationships with Arthur Parnassus and the magical children at the orphanage, Linus discovers that true security comes not from certainty but from openness, compassion, and embracing the unknown.

What Writers Can Learn

Linus’s transformation is almost entirely emotional rather than plot-driven, making it an excellent study in subtle character development. TJ Klune shows how recurring small interactions can accumulate into profound change. Writers can observe how warmth, humor, and kindness create emotional momentum just as effectively as conflict.

Take note of:

Arrival at Marsyas Island – Introduces Linus to a world that challenges every expectation.
Meeting the Children – Each child gradually dismantles one of Linus’s assumptions.
Arthur’s Story – Provides emotional depth and recontextualizes the novel’s themes.
Linus’s Decision – Marks his complete embrace of a new life and identity.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

The novel suggests that transformation begins when we question the stories we’ve accepted about ourselves and others. Creative courage often means allowing a sense of wonder to replace an illusion of certainty. Linus’s reinvention reminds writers that vulnerability is frequently the doorway to a richer, more authentic life.

3. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (2020)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Overwhelmed by regret and convinced she has wasted her life, Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, a place where she can experience alternate versions of her life based on different choices. As she inhabits these possibilities, she realizes that no life is free from disappointment or complexity. Her greatest transformation occurs when she stops chasing perfection and begins embracing the imperfect life that is truly hers.

What Writers Can Learn

Nora’s journey demonstrates the narrative power of ‘What if?’ questions, showing how alternate realities can illuminate a character’s deepest emotional needs. Matt Haig also illustrates that character growth often comes from changing perspective rather than changing circumstances. Writers can use regret, possibility, and choices as powerful engines for storytelling.

Take note of:

The Midnight Library – Introduces the novel’s central metaphor.
Mrs. Elm – Serves as Nora’s compassionate guide through possibility.
The Alternate Lives – Each life reveals a different misconception about happiness.
Returning Home – Brings Nora’s emotional journey full circle.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

One of the novel’s central messages is that every day offers another opportunity to begin again. Rather than seeking the perfect path, Nora learns to participate fully in the life she already has. For creative people, the story offers reassurance that meaningful work comes from engagement with the present rather than endless second-guessing.

Memorable Quote : “You don’t have to understand life. You just have to live it.”

4. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (2017)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Eleanor Oliphant has spent years protecting herself through rigid routines, isolation, and emotional detachment. After an unexpected friendship with her coworker Raymond and a chance encounter helping an elderly stranger, she slowly begins reconnecting with the world around her. As painful memories surface, Eleanor learns that healing is not achieved alone but through trust, vulnerability, and human connection.

What Writers Can Learn

Eleanor’s story demonstrates that profound character transformation can occur through seemingly ordinary events. Gail Honeyman excels at revealing emotional complexity beneath everyday routines, reminding writers that subtle behavioral changes often communicate growth more effectively than dramatic speeches or revelations.

Take note of:

Eleanor’s Routine – Establishes the emotional walls she has built.
Meeting Raymond – Begins the gradual shift toward connection.
Helping Sammy – Demonstrates how unexpected kindness changes lives.
Therapy and Recovery – Marks Eleanor’s acceptance of both her past and her future.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

The novel reminds readers that beginning again often starts with accepting help rather than trying to remain self-sufficient. Eleanor’s courage lies in risking authentic relationships despite years of loneliness. Writers may recognize that vulnerability is often the source of their most meaningful work.

5. Writers & Lovers by Lily King (2020)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Casey Peabody is mourning her mother’s death while struggling under financial insecurity, uncertain relationships, and persistent self-doubt about her writing. Despite working exhausting restaurant shifts and questioning her talent, she refuses to abandon the novel she has spent years trying to complete. Her reinvention is less about external success than about choosing to believe that her creative life deserves commitment, even before there is any guarantee of recognition.

What Writers Can Learn

Few contemporary novels portray the emotional realities of writing as honestly as Writers & Lovers. Lily King captures the loneliness, persistence, financial sacrifice, and quiet victories that accompany creative work. Casey’s journey reminds writers that courage is rarely dramatic. Instead, it is more about returning to the page again and again despite uncertainty.

Take note of:

Life at the Restaurant – Highlights the tension between artistic ambition and practical survival.
Writing the Novel – Reveals Casey’s evolving relationship with her creative identity.
Choosing Between Two Futures – Explores both romantic and artistic decision-making.
Finishing the Manuscript – Represents years of perseverance finally bearing fruit.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

More than any other novel on this list, Writers & Lovers explores what it means to persist creatively without certainty. Casey discovers that becoming a writer is not a single achievement but a daily decision to continue making art. The novel offers a powerful reminder that finishing imperfect work requires more courage than endlessly waiting for perfection.

6. The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd (2020)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Ana is an intelligent, fiercely imaginative young woman growing up in first-century Galilee, where women are expected to remain silent and unseen. Throughout the novel, she secretly records her thoughts and dreams in written ‘longings,’ believing that preserving women’s stories is an act of defiance. After the death of Jesus, Ana makes the courageous decision to leave Judea for Egypt, where she devotes the rest of her life to writing, teaching, and ensuring that voices like her own are not forgotten. Rather than allowing grief to define her future, she chooses to become the author and guardian of memory. Ana chooses to preserve stories that history might otherwise erase, showing that writing itself can be a lifelong act of renewal.

What Writers Can Learn

Ana reminds writers that creativity is often an act of preservation as much as invention. Sue Monk Kidd portrays writing as a vocation that survives heartbreak, political upheaval, and personal loss. The novel also demonstrates how a protagonist’s inner life can be as compelling as external action when rendered with emotional honesty.

Take note of:

Ana’s Childhood and the ‘Longings’ – Introduces her lifelong desire to write despite cultural restrictions.
Life with Jesus – Explores the tension between personal calling and historical circumstance.
Journey to Egypt – Marks Ana’s decision to begin life on her own terms.
The Alexandria Years – Culminates in her commitment to preserving stories for future generations.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

Ana’s greatest act of courage is not simply surviving loss but refusing to let history erase her voice. She demonstrates that writing can be both sanctuary and resistance. For writers, the novel asks an enduring question: What stories deserve to be preserved, even if no one is asking for them?

7. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (2012; English translation, 2014)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

After the death of his beloved wife, Sonja, Ove sees little reason to continue living. His carefully planned attempts to end his life are repeatedly interrupted by an exuberant young family moving in next door, whose constant requests for help gradually draw him back into the community. Through reluctant friendships, acts of service, and unexpected responsibility, Ove discovers that purpose can return even after profound grief, and that community can quietly restore purpose after devastating loss.

What Writers Can Learn

Backman masterfully balances humor and heartbreak, showing that emotional complexity often comes from juxtaposition rather than melodrama. Ove’s transformation also illustrates the importance of secondary characters and that they don’t exist simply to support the protagonist. Instead, they often become catalysts for change and courage. Writers can also study this work for examples of how recurring acts of kindness accumulate into believable emotional growth.

Take note of:

The New Neighbors Arrive – The first cracks appear in Ove’s emotional isolation.
Flashbacks with Sonja – Reveal the love that shaped Ove’s worldview.
Helping Others – Demonstrates how purpose often returns through service.
The Closing Chapters – Celebrate legacy, community, and quiet redemption.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

The novel suggests that healing, and the courage it entails, rarely arrives all at once. Instead, it grows through ordinary moments of connection, generosity, and shared lives. Ove’s story reminds readers that beginning again doesn’t require forgetting the past, but often requires us to allow love to expand beyond it.

Memorable Quote: “People said Ove saw the world in black and white. But she was color. All the color he had.”

8. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (2022)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Elizabeth Zott is a brilliant chemist whose career is repeatedly undermined by the sexism of the early 1960s. After personal tragedy and professional setbacks, she unexpectedly becomes the host of a television cooking show. Rather than conforming to expectations, Elizabeth transforms the program into an educational platform that encourages women to think critically, trust their intelligence, and pursue lives beyond society’s narrow definitions of success. She proves that reinvention doesn’t mean changing who you are. It means finding a new place where your gifts can flourish.

What Writers Can Learn

Elizabeth demonstrates that reinvention does not require abandoning one’s identity, but expressing it in an entirely new context that requires creativity. Bonnie Garmus also shows how a protagonist’s unwavering values create compelling narrative momentum. Writers can observe how conviction, humor, and intelligence combine to produce an unforgettable voice.

Take note of:

Life at Hastings Research Institute – Introduces Elizabeth’s scientific brilliance.
Meeting Calvin Evans – Establishes the novel’s emotional center.
‘Supper at Six’ – Marks Elizabeth’s unexpected public reinvention.
Building a New Life – Shows how influence can emerge from unlikely places.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

Elizabeth refuses to shrink herself in order to fit into the world around her. Her story encourages readers to bring their full intelligence and authenticity into every endeavor. Creative courage sometimes means refusing to separate who you are from what you create.

9. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (1993)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Lauren Olamina grows up inside the fragile safety of a walled California neighborhood that eventually collapses amid violence and social breakdown. Forced to flee, she leads a diverse group of survivors north, where she establishes the community of Acorn and lays the foundation for her philosophy, Earthseed. Lauren’s reinvention extends beyond personal survival, as she becomes the architect of an entirely new way of imagining humanity’s future. Lauren Olamina demonstrates the extraordinary courage of building a new philosophy and community from the ashes of the old.

What Writers Can Learn

Lauren exemplifies the difference between reacting to catastrophe and responding with vision. Butler demonstrates that extraordinary protagonists don’t simply endure change, they often create new systems, ideas, and communities instead. Writers can study how philosophical questions become inseparable from character development.

Take note of:

Lauren’s Earthseed Journals – Introduce the beliefs that guide her actions.
The Destruction of Robledo – Forces her into a radically new life.
The Journey North – Explores leadership, trust, and resilience.
Founding Acorn – Represents the tangible beginning of Earthseed.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

Perhaps no novel on this list embraces reinvention as completely as Parable of the Sower, as Lauren understands that survival requires adaptation rather than nostalgia.

Memorable Quote:

“All that you touch you Change.
All that you Change Changes you.”

These opening lines of Earthseed encapsulate Butler’s belief that creative transformation in the face of societal upheaval and collapse is not merely inevitable, it is essential.

10. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (1979)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Arthur Dent expects nothing more adventurous than saving his home from demolition. Instead, Earth is destroyed moments after he escapes aboard an alien spacecraft, leaving him to navigate a bewildering universe with nothing but his dressing gown, curiosity, and increasingly flexible expectations. As Arthur encounters bizarre civilizations and impossible situations, he gradually learns that certainty is far less useful than adaptability. Arthur Dent reminds us that not all fresh starts are chosen, but adaptability and curiosity can transform even the most chaotic circumstances into opportunities for growth.

What Writers Can Learn

Douglas Adams demonstrates that comedy can illuminate profound truths about uncertainty, identity, and human resilience. Arthur’s bewilderment allows readers to explore unfamiliar worlds through a relatable perspective. Writers can also study Adams’s exceptional use of absurdity to reveal emotional and philosophical insight.

Take note of:

The Demolition of Earth – One of science fiction’s most iconic openings.
Ford Prefect’s Rescue – Launches Arthur into an entirely new existence.
The Heart of Gold – Introduces the Infinite Improbability Drive and its delightfully chaotic possibilities.
Magrathea – Expands the novel’s exploration of purpose and existence.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

Arthur never chooses adventure, yet he gradually discovers that resilience often grows from embracing the unexpected rather than resisting it. For writers, the novel is a reminder that imagination flourishes when we allow ourselves to ask delightfully impossible questions.

Memorable Quote: “Don’t Panic.”

These two words have become one of literature’s most enduring reminders that uncertainty, while uncomfortable, is also where discovery begins.

11. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (1927)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Although To the Lighthouse follows several members of the Ramsay family, Lily Briscoe emerges as its emotional and artistic center. As a young painter visiting the Ramsays’ summer home, Lily struggles with self-doubt and the persistent belief (voiced by others) that women cannot truly create great art. Years later, after loss, war, and the passage of time, she returns to the house and finally completes the painting she began long ago. In doing so, Lily realizes that artistic fulfillment comes not from external validation but from trusting her own vision. Her character teaches us that artistic confidence is earned through persistence, not praise.

What Writers Can Learn

Lily’s journey is one of literature’s finest portrayals of the creative process. Woolf demonstrates that artistic breakthroughs are often the culmination of years of observation, uncertainty, and persistence rather than moments of sudden inspiration. Writers can also study Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness style, which captures how thoughts, memories, and perceptions shape creative work.

Take note of:

‘The Window’ – Introduces Lily’s artistic ambitions alongside her insecurities.
Mrs. Ramsay’s Influence – Explores competing ideas about creativity, marriage, and purpose.
‘Time Passes’ – A remarkable meditation on change, grief, and the passage of years.
‘The Lighthouse’ – Lily completes her painting and achieves long-awaited artistic clarity.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

Lily’s character teaches us that every artist must eventually stop asking for permission. Her greatest achievement is not creating a masterpiece but believing that her perspective deserves to exist.

Memorable Quote: “I have had my vision.”

Those simple words represent one of literature’s most profound declarations of artistic confidence.

12. The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Celie begins the novel believing she has little worth beyond surviving the abuse and oppression imposed upon her. Through her relationships with Shug Avery, Sofia, and Nettie, she gradually discovers her voice, her dignity, and her capacity to love herself. Her reinvention becomes tangible when she begins designing and sewing beautifully tailored pants, building a successful business that gives her both financial independence and creative fulfillment. Celie transforms creativity into healing, proving that making something beautiful can become an act of reclaiming one’s life.

What Writers Can Learn

Celie’s transformation illustrates how creativity can become a pathway toward healing rather than merely self-expression. Walker also demonstrates the extraordinary power of having a strong voice, as the novel’s epistolary structure allows readers to witness Celie’s growing confidence through the evolution of her language. Writers can observe how form and character development work together to deepen emotional impact.

Take note of:

Celie’s Letters – Establish the intimate narrative voice that defines the novel.
Meeting Shug Avery – Marks the beginning of Celie’s emotional awakening.
Learning to Sew Pants – Symbolizes both artistic creation and personal freedom.
Returning Home – Celebrates reconciliation, independence, and joy.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

Celie’s sewing is more than a business, it’s a declaration that she has the right to make beautiful things and to build a life of her own choosing. Her story reminds writers that art can become visible proof of healing, resilience, and reclaimed identity.

Memorable Quote “I’m pore, I’m black, I may be ugly and can’t cook... But I’m here.”

This affirmation captures Celie’s recognition that simply claiming her own existence is an act of extraordinary courage.

13. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (1847)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Jane Eyre repeatedly finds herself forced to start over—from the Reed household to Lowood School, from Thornfield Hall to an uncertain future after leaving Mr. Rochester. Yet each new beginning strengthens her sense of self rather than diminishing it. Jane ultimately refuses both poverty and comfort if either requires sacrificing her principles, proving that true reinvention is rooted in integrity rather than circumstance. Jane Eyre demonstrates that beginning again sometimes means choosing integrity over immediate happiness.

What Writers Can Learn

Jane remains one of literature’s greatest examples of a protagonist whose moral compass drives the plot. Brontë shows that external drama becomes more compelling when it reflects a character’s internal ethical struggles. Writers can also study how first-person narration creates deep emotional intimacy while preserving suspense.

Take note of:

Gateshead Hall – Jane’s childhood shapes her resilience.
Lowood School – Introduces friendship, discipline, and education.
Life at Thornfield – Develops the novel’s central emotional conflict.
Leaving Thornfield – One of the defining moments of Jane’s moral courage.
The Return – Reveals the rewards of remaining true to oneself.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

Jane’s courage lies in refusing to compromise her identity, even when doing so would make life easier. She reminds writers that authenticity often demands sacrifice before it brings fulfillment.

Memorable Quote: “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”

Few lines in literature better capture the determination to define one’s own life.

14. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (1916)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Stephen Dedalus spends his youth navigating the competing influences of religion, family, nationalism, and education. As he matures, he increasingly recognizes that living according to others’ expectations will prevent him from becoming the artist he longs to be. By the novel’s conclusion, Stephen chooses voluntary exile, embracing uncertainty so that he can devote himself fully to creating art on his own terms. Stephen Dedalus reminds every writer that authentic art often requires leaving behind the expectations of family, culture, or tradition.

What Writers Can Learn

Stephen’s story is one of literature’s most influential explorations of artistic identity. Joyce portrays creativity not as a gift bestowed upon the talented but as a deliberate commitment requiring independence, discipline, and courage. Writers may also appreciate how the novel’s language evolves alongside Stephen’s intellectual development, demonstrating how style itself can reflect character growth.

Take note of:

Stephen’s Childhood – Introduces the sensory language that evolves throughout the novel.
The Religious Retreat – Explores guilt, fear, and spiritual conflict.
The Girl on the Beach – Marks Stephen’s embrace of beauty and artistic calling.
Stephen’s Conversations with Cranly – Clarify his decision to pursue art.
The Diary Entries – End the novel with Stephen stepping into an uncertain future.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

Stephen’s reinvention requires leaving behind institutions that once defined him. His example encourages writers to ask whether they are creating work that reflects their own convictions or merely echoes inherited expectations.

Memorable Quote: “To forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.”

This declaration has inspired generations of writers to view creativity as both personal vocation and cultural responsibility.

15. The Giver by Lois Lowry (1993)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Jonas grows up in a meticulously ordered community where emotions, memories, and difficult choices have been eliminated in the name of stability. After becoming the Receiver of Memory, he inherits humanity’s joys and sorrows, gaining a perspective that separates him from everyone around him. Faced with the knowledge of what has been sacrificed for comfort, Jonas chooses to leave everything familiar behind in search of a more authentic and compassionate future. Jonas discovers that awareness itself is transformative, and that true freedom begins when we dare to imagine a different world.

What Writers Can Learn

Lowry demonstrates how a protagonist’s expanding awareness can drive an entire narrative. Jonas changes not because his personality shifts dramatically, but because his understanding of the world deepens. Writers can also study the novel’s elegant use of symbolism, particularly how memory, color, and emotion gradually reshape both Jonas’s perceptions and the reader’s.

Take note of:

The Ceremony of Twelve – Marks Jonas’s unexpected selection as Receiver.
Receiving Memories – Introduces love, pain, beauty, and loss.
Discovering the Truth About ‘Release’ – Completely alters Jonas’s understanding of his society.
The Escape – Represents his commitment to freedom despite uncertainty.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

Jonas reminds readers that genuine growth often begins when we question systems that appear comfortable but limit our humanity. His journey encourages writers to explore the cost of safety and the value of curiosity. Every creative endeavor begins by imagining that another way of living, and seeing, is possible.

Memorable Quote: “The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it.”

The novel ultimately suggests that even painful truth is preferable to comfortable ignorance.

16. The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa (1994; English translation, 2019)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

The unnamed narrator is a novelist living on an isolated island where ordinary objects (and eventually the memories associated with them) are systematically erased by an authoritarian government. As disappearances increase, she secretly shelters her editor, R, one of the few people still able to remember what has been lost. Although the world around her steadily contracts, she refuses to surrender her identity as a writer. Her reinvention comes through accepting that even when memories fade, storytelling can preserve fragments of truth that oppressive systems cannot fully erase.

What Writers Can Learn

Few novels explore the relationship between memory and creativity as beautifully as The Memory Police. Ogawa suggests that writing is an act of resistance against forgetting, whether that forgetting is personal, cultural, or political. Writers can also study the novel’s understated prose, which creates extraordinary emotional depth through restraint rather than dramatic intensity.

Take note of:

The First Disappearances – Establishes the unsettling rules of the island.
Hiding R – Introduces the central moral conflict between safety and remembrance.
The Novel Within the Novel – Mirrors the narrator’s own struggle for expression.
The Final Chapters – Explore identity as memory itself begins to dissolve.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

The narrator cannot stop the disappearances, but she can continue writing. In doing so, she demonstrates that creativity is sometimes less about producing something new than about protecting what others would erase. For writers, the novel offers a profound reminder that stories preserve what history, politics, and even memory itself cannot always keep.

17. Circe by Madeline Miller (2018)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Born into a family of powerful gods, Circe never feels that she belongs among them. After discovering her gift for witchcraft, she is exiled to the island of Aiaia, a punishment that unexpectedly becomes her liberation. Alone, she develops her craft through years of study, experimentation, and self-reliance, transforming herself from an overlooked daughter into one of mythology’s most compelling and independent figures. By embracing solitude rather than fearing it, Circe creates an identity entirely of her own making.

What Writers Can Learn

Circe illustrates that mastery is built through patience, repetition, and curiosity rather than innate brilliance. Madeline Miller also demonstrates how reimagining familiar myths through an overlooked perspective can produce deeply original storytelling. Writers can learn how giving a strong voice to marginalized characters opens entirely new emotional landscapes.

Take note of:

Life in Helios’s Court – Establishes Circe’s isolation and yearning for purpose.
Exile to Aiaia – Marks the beginning of her true education.
Learning Pharmakeia – Chronicles the disciplined development of her magical craft.
Encounters with Odysseus – Challenge her understanding of love and power.
Choosing Her Future – Concludes her journey toward self-determination.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

Circe’s exile becomes an unexpected artist’s apprenticeship. Removed from the expectations of her family, she discovers that meaningful work often flourishes in solitude. Her story reminds writers that isolation, while difficult, can also become fertile ground for developing one’s own voice.

Memorable Quote: “I was not born for one corner.”

Though spoken in a broader context, the line beautifully captures the spirit of refusing to remain confined by others’ expectations.

18. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (1988)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Santiago is a young Andalusian shepherd who repeatedly dreams of discovering treasure near the Egyptian pyramids. Rather than dismissing the dream, he leaves the familiarity of home and embarks on a journey filled with setbacks, mentors, friendships, and unexpected lessons. Along the way, Santiago discovers that the treasure he seeks is inseparable from the person he becomes while searching for it. His reinvention is not measured by what he acquires but by the wisdom, courage, and trust he develops.

What Writers Can Learn

Coelho demonstrates how simple storytelling can communicate timeless philosophical ideas. Santiago’s journey follows the classic hero’s quest, making the novel an excellent study of symbolic storytelling and universal themes. Writers can also observe how recurring motifs like dreams, omens, deserts, and treasure, create cohesion across an entire narrative.

Take note of:

Meeting Melchizedek – Encourages Santiago to pursue his Personal Legend.
Working for the Crystal Merchant – Teaches patience, adaptability, and persistence.
Crossing the Desert – Represents both external and internal transformation.
The Oasis – Introduces love as part of the journey rather than a distraction from it.
The Treasure – Reframes the novel’s understanding of success and fulfillment.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

The novel encourages readers to trust curiosity even when their destination remains uncertain. Santiago’s willingness to leave comfort behind mirrors the creative process itself, where no outcome is guaranteed. For writers, The Alchemist offers a reminder that meaningful work often requires faith before evidence.

Memorable Quote: “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

Whether interpreted literally or metaphorically, the above quote continues to inspire readers to pursue meaningful callings with hope and determination.

19. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (2020)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Piranesi lives contentedly within an immense labyrinthine House of endless halls, statues, and tides, believing it to be the entirety of existence. As he uncovers journals and long-buried truths, his understanding of both the House and himself begins to change. Rather than rejecting his past or his present, Piranesi gradually learns to integrate both identities, creating a richer and more compassionate sense of self.

What Writers Can Learn

Clarke masterfully demonstrates the power of curiosity as a narrative engine. Rather than relying on rapid plot twists, she allows mystery to unfold through careful observation and accumulating details. Writers can also study how a novel’s setting can function as a fully realized character, shaping every aspect of the protagonist’s worldview.

Take note of:

The Early Journal Entries – Introduce the House and Piranesi’s gentle worldview.
The Discovery of Earlier Records – Begins unraveling the central mystery.
Learning the Truth – Reframes everything that has come before.
The Final Return – Explores identity, gratitude, and belonging.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

Piranesi reminds readers that reinvention does not always require abandoning who we once were. Sometimes growth comes from integrating forgotten parts of ourselves into a larger understanding of who we are and who we’re becoming. Writers may recognize that every creative project asks us to hold wonder and uncertainty at the same time.

20. The Overstory by Richard Powers (2018)

How the Protagonist Begins Again

Rather than centering on a single hero, The Overstory follows nine individuals whose lives are transformed through their encounters with trees and forests. A scientist, an artist, an engineer, an activist, and others gradually awaken to the interconnectedness of human and natural life. Their separate journeys eventually converge, leading each character to reconsider ambition, success, and what it means to live in service of something larger than oneself.

What Writers Can Learn

Powers demonstrates that even an expansive, multi-perspective novel can remain emotionally intimate when every storyline is anchored in personal transformation. The book also reveals how nonfiction research, ecological science, and lyrical prose can coexist beautifully within literary fiction. Writers can learn how recurring imagery (in this case, trees) can unify a vast narrative.

Take note of:

‘Roots’ – Introduces each character and the formative experiences that shape them.
‘Trunk’ – Brings the storylines together around environmental activism.
‘Crown’ – Explores the consequences of each character’s choices.
‘Seeds’ – Reflects on legacy, renewal, and hope for future generations.

Themes of New Beginnings & Creative Courage

The Overstory suggests that beginning again sometimes means expanding our perspective beyond individual success. The novel encourages readers to imagine themselves as participants in a much larger story—one that stretches across generations and landscapes. For writers, it is a compelling example of how fiction can inspire empathy not only for people but also for the living world.

Memorable Quote: “The best arguments in the world won’t change a person’s mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story.”

Final Reflections: What These Twenty Books Say About Beginning Again

Although these novels span nearly two centuries, multiple genres, and vastly different settings, they return to a handful of enduring truths about beginnings and reinvention.

1. Reinvention usually begins with loss.

Many protagonists are forced into change by grief, failure, exile, or catastrophe before they can imagine a different future.

Examples include:

Leni (The Great Alone)
Ove (A Man Called Ove)
Lauren (Parable of the Sower)
Circe (Circe)
Piranesi (Piranesi)

Their stories remind us that endings often become the unexpected beginning of something richer.

2. Creativity is an act of courage.

Several characters discover that creating (whether through writing, painting, sewing, science, or storytelling) is not merely an occupation but a means of reclaiming agency.

Some of the strongest examples include:

Casey finishing her novel (Writers & Lovers)
Lily completing her painting (To the Lighthouse)
Ana preserving women’s stories (The Book of Longings)
Celie designing and sewing pants (The Color Purple)
Elizabeth bringing science to television (Lessons in Chemistry)
Circe mastering witchcraft as a creative practice (Circe)

These characters suggest that making something new is one of the most powerful ways to begin again.

3. Uncertainty is rarely comfortable, but usually worth it.

Almost every protagonist mentioned above steps into uncertainty before finding purpose.

Whether crossing deserts, leaving home, questioning long-held beliefs, or starting over in unfamiliar places, they remind us that growth and courage often require surrendering certainty before clarity arrives.

4. Identity is something we continue to create and requires courage.

Perhaps the greatest lesson these books share is that identity is not fixed.

Lily Briscoe becomes an artist by continuing to paint.
Jane Eyre becomes herself by refusing to compromise.
Stephen Dedalus becomes a writer by choosing authenticity over approval.
Jonas becomes fully human by accepting memory.
Casey becomes a novelist by finishing the work she started.

Again and again these stories suggest that we become who we are through the choices we make, especially when those choices require courage.

A Closing Thought for Writers

Across these twenty books, one idea surfaces repeatedly: The people who begin again (or at all) are not necessarily the strongest, the most talented, or the least afraid. They are the ones who keep moving toward a life that feels more truthful and authentic than the one they are leaving behind.

For writers, that may be the most encouraging lesson of all: Creative courage is rarely a sudden burst of inspiration or a one-time occurrence. More often, it entails the consistent decision to return to the page, trust your own voice, and continue shaping a story, even when its ending is still unknown.

An Invitation

All week long we’ll be talking about beginnings and creative courage.

Join us in the chats for more nuanced conversations!

I would love to learn more about what you think.

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ICYMI—>This week’s Posts: Beginning Before You Feel Ready

Beginning Before You Feel Ready: Writing Prompts

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Consider going more in depth with this month’s theme with July’s Creative Courage Writing Collection.

The free Books, Drafts, and Dialogues posts that will be published this month will explore the outward side of creative courage—beginning, risking, and sharing— and should complement this collection quite well, which invites you to go much deeper into the internal work of creativity with 30 guided writing prompts and craft exercises, reflections, as well as three options for guided monthly writing challenges for those who want to go even further than that.

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Reading List for USA's 250th

K. E. Creighton — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 12:02:26 GMT

SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM TO SEE TODAY’S WRITING PROMPT

This non-exhaustive reading list includes some of the books I have read over the past five to six years. I believe everyone should read at least a handful of them soon to honor the USA’s 250th birthday this year. Yes, I have read every single one of the books on this list, and have even included my book reviews for some of them.

Please, take your time looking at this list. Hopefully you’ll see why these books made it on the list, though I will admit that some are obvious choices while others may not seem as obvious at first glance. I did not put them in any particular order after the first few on the list, which are front-and-center for clear reasons, I hope.

Let me know if there are any other books you would add to this list in the comments. I know there are plenty of others out there worth mentioning and reading!

The Constitution of the United States of America and Selected Writings of the Founding Fathers by various authors is a book everyone should read right now. Yes, I read every single one of its 826 pages, and you should too. The Constitution itself is short, but how it came to be was an arduous, collaborative, yet highly contested endeavor. And you should know some of the points and arguments that were made during its creation, many of which we’re still having today.

Immigration Reform: The Corpse That Will Not Die by Charles Kamasaki is one of the end-all be-all sources you’ll want to consult for immigration legislation and reform in the US. And I did my graduate thesis on rhetoric in immigration law and reform, so I feel like I can say this with confidence. I also met the author, and he is as kind as he is diligent with his work. This is a dense piece of work, but so worth it.

America, América: A New History of the New World by Greg Grandin is one of the most important history books written in the past few decades, so luckily, it’s as engaging and accessible as it is comprehensive. And I say this as someone who studied Latin American and Latino history in grad school. I cannot recommend this book enough. Starting with the Spanish conquest of the Americas, followed by the English conquest, this book lays out the intermingled histories of the Americas as we know them today and how it’s impossible to disconnect their histories if you want a realistic and comprehensive compilation of them, though most history books wind up doing just that. It also does not sugarcoat one iota of those intermingled histories. The brutality and industry of historical and modern-day conquest and slavery and oppression are outlined thoroughly, just as the ideals and writings of humanistic leaders and authors and activists are, as they push and pull each other into a new millennium across continents. Read my full review here.

Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville has had the singular honor of being, even to this day, the work that political commentators of every stripe refer to when they seek to draw large conclusions about the society of the USA, as it offers first-hand insights from the era when the USA was being birthed.

A People’s History of the United States: 1492 - Present by Howard Zinn portrays a side of American history that can largely be seen as the exploitation and manipulation of the majority by rigged systems that hugely favor a small aggregate of elite rulers from across the orthodox political parties. (This one is a bit older but still has valuable information in it. However, I would encourage readers to compare its information to what research is available now, as well.)

Let the Poets Govern by Camonghne Felix is an important book that will require you to reflect on the power of language and how we choose to wield it. So of course I loved it. It reads as part memoir, part manifesto, part homage. Poets, linguists, activists, lit nerds, anyone unsettled during this time in history, and anyone who appreciates what language has done and has the potential to do, will enjoy this book. Those interested in US history will want to read the section where she discusses the Pledge of Allegiance and its poetic power in the US education system. Read my full review here.

American War by Omar El Akkad is a novel about a second American Civil War, a devastating plague, and one family caught deep in the middle of a story that asks what might happen if America were to turn its most devastating policies and deadly weapons upon itself. I read this years ago and am still always recommending it.

Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful by David Enrich is such an important book to read right now. At first, libel laws may not sound that interesting, but truly, this is one of the most necessary nonfiction books to read this year. Enrich does a superb job ensuring that it’s easy to follow and hard to put down. I would recommend picking it up as soon as possible, especially if you value democracy and having a free press. Read my full book review here.

How Democracies Die: What History Reveals About Our Future by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt posits that democracy no longer ends with a bang— in a revolution or military coup— but with a whimper: the slow, steady weakening of critical institutions, such as the judiciary and the press, and the gradual erosion of long-standing political norms. And its authors have spent more than twenty years studying the breakdown of democracies in Europe and Latin America, so they know what they’re talking about. The good news is that there are several exit ramps on the road to authoritarianism. The bad news is that … Well, read the book to find out.

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.

Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds by John Fugelsang is as thorough as it is entertaining. A perfect blend of scripture and historical context. Full of much-needed reminders of what Jesus Christ actually did, said, and represents— reminders most of us in the USA will find both useful and meaningful right now.

The Moral Basis of Democracy by Eleanor Roosevelt employs the history of human rights to establish the idea that at the core of democracy is a spiritual responsibility to other citizens. Roosevelt also calls on all Americans, especially the youth, to prioritize the well-being of others and have faith that their fellow citizens will protect them in return. She defines this trust between people as a trait of true democracy.

Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson packs a lot of history and historical context into less than three hundred pages. But luckily, it’s as engaging and eye-opening as it is easy to read. While there are a lot of dates and names and pieces of legislation to remember, you’ll never feel like you’re reading a textbook, although you will still learn a lot as if you were reading one. Even those of us who think we know everything there is to know about US history will pick up an interesting nugget or two as they read this book. Read my full review here. P.S. —This author also has a pretty popular Substack, if you want to check that out too.

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead is a novel that brilliantly re-creates the unique terrors for Black people in the pre-Civil War era, its narrative seamlessly weaving the saga of America from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. It is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one woman’s ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share.

Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes by Leah Litman ended up being an unexpected and timely read when I read it on Labor Day weekend last year and is as thorough and informative as it is alarming. Beware: this book is extremely depressing— and for that reason, I would recommend reading its conclusion when you are halfway through the book. Seriously, if at any point this book starts making you feel defeated and depressed, read its conclusion ASAP, or plan to read other books on voting rights and advocacy at the same time. It is still informative and worth the read, however. Read my full review here.

The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt begins with the rise of anti-Semitism in central and western Europe in the 1800s and continues with an examination of European colonial imperialism from 1884 to the outbreak of World War I. Arendt explores the institutions and operations of totalitarian movements, focusing on the two genuine forms of totalitarian government that have influenced our time—Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia—which she adroitly recognizes were two sides of the same coin, rather than opposing philosophies of Right and Left. From this vantage point, she discusses the evolution of classes into masses, the role of propaganda in dealing with the nontotalitarian world, the use of terror, and the nature of isolation and loneliness as preconditions for total domination. It is as poignant now as it was when it was first published and can certainly be applied to the current socio-political climate in the USA.

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad is one of those books that will stay with you long after you read it, as it will likely prompt you to act thoughtfully and humanely as soon as you’re done reading it. Akkad does not hold back in any way in this book, as he holds powerful and traditional institutions in the West to account while simultaneously pleading for readers to tap into the most humane and honest parts of themselves. Read my full review here.

When you read [Re]Coding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better by Jennifer Pahlka, be prepared to have some of your preconceived notions about the US government and how it works challenged, especially your notions about how technology in the government and by the government works. And no, it doesn’t matter what side of the political aisle you’re on when faced with this challenge. Not really. Because in the end, as Pahlka’s book suggests, government tech works better when it is created for the people, by the people, in line with democracy itself. Read my full review here.

Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America by Stacey Abrams offers a blueprint to end voter suppression, empower our citizens, and take back our country. A recognized expert on fair voting and civic engagement, Abrams chronicles a chilling account of how the right to vote and the principle of democracy have been and continue to be under attack. Seriously, read this book if you want to learn more about voting in the US, and how it can and needs to be protected.

Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind by Annalee Newitz is an important book to read right now, as it highlights how stories shape what we believe, who we are, and what we do. In this book, Newitz highlights how critical it is to be aware of how certain stories have been weaponized against us for eons, especially after social media came onto the scene, though it started much earlier than that. Luckily, however, the author does also highlight what we might be able to do about it at the end of the book, so the book does end on a more positive note. Overall, the portions of the book that discussed the stories centered around US Indigenous communities and the ‘myth of the vanishing Indian’ resonated with me the most. I also appreciated the historical context provided regarding how propaganda began to surface and be understood. Read my full review here.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck creates an intimate portrait of two men facing a world marked by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness in late 1930s America. Though the scope is narrow, however, the theme is universal: a friendship and a shared dream that makes an individual’s existence meaningful, especially in the US.

On Corruption in America: And What Is at Stake by Sarah Chayes — “If you want to save America, this might just be the most important book to read now.” –Nancy MacLean, author of Democracy in Chains Sarah Chayes

It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis is a cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America. It will convince you that yes, yes it can happen here.

Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel Maddow traces the fight to preserve American democracy back to World War II, when a handful of committed public servants and brave private citizens thwarted far-right plotters trying to steer our nation toward an alliance with the Nazis.

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman is a collection of quintessentially American poems, the seminal work of one of the most influential writers of the nineteenth century. Whitman wrote a lot of poetry during the Civil War and produced some of the best work of the time.

Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World by Anne Applebaum details how modern dictators, kleptocrats, oligarchs, and other non-democratic leaders run sophisticated networks relying on kleptocratic financial structures, security services, and technological experts providing surveillance, propaganda, and disinformation. And while these networks are primarily connected across autocratic countries, they’re often found in democracies too, with the aim to repress citizens’ autonomy and undermine anyone who challenges them—in short, to repress any instance of democracy anywhere it appears. Read my full review here.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas follows 16-year-old Starr Carter, who bridges two vastly different worlds: her impoverished, predominantly Black neighborhood and an affluent, mostly white prep school in the USA. Her life shatters when she becomes the sole witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed childhood best friend by a police officer.

Infinite Country by Patricia Engel is a deeply moving novel about a Colombian family torn apart by United States immigration laws and deportation. It explores the heavy burdens of the diaspora, the arbitrariness of borders, and a mixed-status family fighting to reunite across continents.

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller is a novel that takes an important, heavy, timely topic (growing book bans in the USA) and makes it highly entertaining and extremely relatable while never sacrificing deep meaning, contemplation, and human empathy. I knew the instant I read the blurb of this book that I’d love it. But I didn’t know how much of an impact it would have on me once I was done reading it, and that I will probably recommend it to everyone as required reading for years to come. Read my full review here.

Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt by Arthur C. Brooks is a rallying cry for people hoping for a new era of American progress. Most of all, it is a roadmap to arrive at the happiness that comes when we choose to love one another despite our differences. I don’t agree with all its core arguments but do think it is a helpful book to read right now, especially since the author explicitly invites you to (respectfully, of course) disagree with him. Read my full review here.

Trust by Hernan Diaz explores wealth, power, and how history is written by the privileged. Set in 1920s and 30s New York, the novel questions whether an enigmatic Wall Street tycoon is a genius or an exploiter, revealing his true motives through four interconnected accounts.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is one of those novels that will resonate with me for a long time, as it will for many others, as it simultaneously inflames reflection, curiosity, empathy, and horror. It might also prove more prescient now than it did when it was first published in 1953, as society continues to grapple with how certain people and groups in power leverage technology like AI to obfuscate reality to subdue the masses and torch the power of books (even if not the literal books themselves), reminding me how Ray Bradbury himself once said: “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” Read my full book review here.

Why We’re Polarized by Ezra Klein reveals the structural and psychological forces behind America’s descent into division and dysfunction. Neither a polemic nor a lament, it offers a clear framework for understanding everything from Donald Trump’s rise to the Democratic Party’s leftward shift to the politicization of everyday culture. Read my full review here.

The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times by Jane Goodall is told through stories from a remarkable career and fascinating research, touching on vital questions including: How do we stay hopeful when everything seems hopeless? How do we cultivate hope in our children? Filled with engaging dialogue and pictures from Jane’s storied career, this book is a deeply personal conversation with one of the most beloved figures in today’s world. And it will indeed make you feel more hopeful.

Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning by Liz Cheney offers a behind-the-scenes account of what happened leading up to, during, and after the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Cheney’s no-nonsense, smart, diligent, and civic-minded fortitude comes across in this book in waves and allows her to offer a clear account of what matters to her above all else: the Oath of Office each public servant and official takes to defend and protect the US Constitution. Read my full review here.

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah forces readers to look in the mirror and candidly ask questions like: Who is exploited or suffering due to what we consume (especially when it comes to entertainment)? How are bodies, minds, and hearts controlled in our society? How far away are we from having gladiator games again? Or are we already there in a way? What are the ways we can recognize and change the New Jim Crow environments and institutions we’ve created? Who is ultimately responsible? What should and can we do now to preserve and maintain our humanity? When is someone no longer redeemable or worthy of love, if ever? Etc. There are so many important questions this book raises that need to be discussed ASAP!! Read my full review here.

Beloved is a Pulitzer Prize-winning 1987 novel by Toni Morrison. Set in 1873, it follows Sethe, an escaped enslaved woman living in Cincinnati. Haunted by the traumatic memories of slavery and the ghost of her own infant daughter—whom she killed to save her from enslavement—Sethe must confront her past when a mysterious young woman arrives.

Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI by Karen Hao is a well-researched account of how Sam Altman has vied to create an empire of AI via OpenAI from its inception, often affording him more altruistic credit at the dawn of his pursuits and endeavors than he’s probably due. It also ultimately serves as a rallying cry for the careful, intentional stewardship we need to amass when using and developing AI now and in the near future (in the US and worldwide) if we truly want it to ‘benefit humanity.’ Read my full review here.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones is a contemporary novel exploring the devastating impact of wrongful incarceration on a young Black couple in Atlanta. When Roy is wrongfully convicted of a rape he did not commit and sentenced to prison, he and his wife Celestial are forced to navigate a testing separation.

The Dead Zone by Stephen King is a classic 1979 science-fiction thriller novel that follows Johnny Smith, a teacher who awakens from a five-year coma with precognitive powers after physical contact. After having a terrifying vision that a rising populist politician named Greg Stillson will become a tyrannical U.S. President and trigger a global nuclear holocaust, Johnny sacrifices his life to stop him.

Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of Democracy by US Representative Jamie Raskin mostly reads like a love letter to his now deceased son, Tommy. Through his recollections of Tommy’s life, which tragically ended by suicide one week before the January sixth insurrection at the US Capitol in 2021, Raskin shares his personal experience during those times. Raskin also mentions that he decided to write this book in response to the thousands of letters he had received after both his son’s death and the insurrection at the US Capitol. Read my full review here.

Mỹ Documents by Kevin Nguyen is a book that has rich, complex characters who bring the nature of unconstitutional detention to life in a profoundly meaningful way. It also excels at resisting the many narratives out there full of outdated one-sided tropes regarding the oppressor-oppressed relationship by giving real multi-faceted voices to those characters in the novel who are directly and indirectly affected by unconstitutional detention. This novel’s power lies in its nuance and humor and candor. Read my full review here.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith follows the bright and resilient Francie Nolan as she navigates grinding poverty, family dysfunction, and the immigrant experience, ultimately rising above her circumstances through the transformative power of education and writing in the US.

Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could by US Representative Adam Schiff is a 2021 memoir detailing the threats to American democracy during the first Donald Trump administration. It blends personal background with a behind-the-scenes account of the Russia investigations and the first impeachment trial he led.

The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami is for literary nerds, those who enjoy retellings of lost or ignored histories, and those who want to learn more about Spanish conquests in the Americas in the sixteenth century. Read my full review here.

Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman is a remarkable new collection that reveals an energizing and unforgettable voice in American poetry and includes “The Hill We Climb,” the stirring poem she read at the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden.

1984 by George Orwell is a masterpiece of rebellion and imprisonment where war is peace, freedom is slavery, and Big Brother is watching. Thought Police, Big Brother, Orwellian — these terms have entered our vocabulary because of this novel. This story of one man’s Nightmare Odyssey as he pursues a forbidden love affair through a world ruled by warring states and a power structure that controls not only information but also individual thought and memory is a prophetic and haunting tale that is more relevant than ever before, exposing the worst crimes imaginable: the destruction of truth, freedom, and individuality. And many readers in the US are relating to it right now.

Burn Down Master’s House by Clay Cane is one of those books I’ll never forget, with its vivid characters who are based on real people who resisted and opposed chattel slavery in the US, and inspired others to fight against a system that was built on the subjugation of Black and Brown bodies. It will make you feel uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. It might even make you mad. And it will certainly make you sad. But hopefully, so does the mere concept of chattel slavery, as well as the centuries of horror it unleashed, and continues to unleash. Read my full review here.

Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn examines the collapse of the American working class. Through intimate stories and data, they argue that compounding policy failures have created a ‘social depression’ of poverty, addiction, and despair, while offering systemic solutions to rebuild the safety net.

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due is a chilling historical fiction and horror novel set in 1950s Jim Crow Florida. It follows 12-year-old Robert ‘Robbie’ Stephens, who is unjustly sentenced to six months at the brutal Gracetown School for Boys for defending his sister, and his family’s fight to free him from the systemic horrors of the segregationist reform school. It is based on real places and events. Read my full review here.

Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang is a moving memoir that recounts her childhood as an undocumented Chinese immigrant in 1990s New York City. Through the innocent lens of a young girl, the book details the extreme poverty, racism, and constant fear of deportation her family faced while living in the shadows. It contrasts the Chinese name for America—Mei Guo, translating to ‘Beautiful Country’—with the gritty reality of poverty and sweatshops.

In A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind, award-winning bioethicist Harriet A. Washington exposes how environmental racism inflicts lasting cognitive and physical damage on marginalized communities. She dismantles racist myths about inherited intelligence, arguing instead that disparities in cognitive metrics are driven by toxic exposure and institutional inequity.

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark is a dark fantasy historical novella that reimagines 1920s Georgia. In this alternate history, the Ku Klux Klan are not just human bigots, but literal, shape-shifting demons called “Ku Kluxes” that feed on racial hatred. The story follows a small resistance group hunting these monsters to prevent them from bringing Hell to Earth. It is a visceral novel and I am always recommending it.

A Fighting Chance and Persist by US Senator Elizabeth Warren cover how and why she has chosen to fight tooth and nail for the lower and middle class, and demonstrates why she has become a hero to all those who believe that America’s government can and must do better for working families. She not only tells us what’s broken but details the work she’s doing to fix it and how we can join in those efforts.

The Memory Palace: True Short Stories of the Past by Nate DiMeo is such a beautiful collection, but also difficult to summarize, as each story in the collection is so unique and interesting in its own right. This book of short stories will show readers from all sorts of backgrounds how history should be told: via narrative and storytelling. It will also prove that history can be engaging and based on thorough research without being boring, if it also includes key human elements and emotions when it’s being told. Read my full review here.

Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness by Jamil Zaki is an important book to read right now. Quote from the book: “Exploring decades of research, I discovered that cynicism is not just harmful, but often naive. Hope and trust, by contrast, are wiser than most people realize. They are also skills we can build through habits of mind and action.” Read my full review here.

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell is a book about language, the Cultish language. And most readers will likely find it incredibly engaging. And what a relief that is, as more people need to pay attention to and learn about the language they use that surrounds them every day, which this book will help them start thinking about. Read my full review here.

A Century of Tomorrows: How Imagining the Future Shapes the Present by Glenn Adamson is packed full of facts and information on the movers and shakers of futurology. The book starts with detailing how the turn from spiritual and religious beliefs to come to terms with the future shifts to a more secular and modern understanding of the future during the first quarter of the 1900s, then ends with an open-ended but surprisingly upbeat message: “We owe the future all the enthusiasm and imagination we can summon in ourselves.” Read my full review here.

Who Gets Believed?: When the Truth Isn’t Enough is a thought-provoking book by Iranian-American author Dina Nayeri that examines how society determines credibility. Blending memoir, reportage, and criticism, the book argues that being believed often relies on privilege, class, and the ability to perform trauma in a way that gatekeepers expect.

Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener offers nuanced insight into what it was like to work for a startup in Silicon Valley in the 2010s, and how it was so easy to become entrenched in a borderline cult-like world of CEOs with zero experience leading teams let alone growing companies, mandatory ‘fun’ and team ‘vacations,’ ‘actualization’ and ‘biohacking’ and usernames as real names, inane and diverse chat feeds, a skewed view of how reality looks outside tech bubbles, relaxed yet oddly intense office cultures and business networks, and weird cliquey language that surpassed and usurped programming languages and typical business jargon and everyday speech. Read my full review here.

The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource by Christopher L. Hayes is a book that will have you reflecting on what you pay attention to (especially online, and on social media), why you pay attention to what you pay attention to, and why it’s so important you reflect on what you pay attention to on a regular basis. It’s a book for anyone wondering how and why we got to where we are right now as humans— perpetually reaching for our devices eager to learn something, be entertained, or forge human connections, yet inevitably feeling unsatisfied, anxious, and alone when we do. Read my full review here.

Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism is a 2025 memoir by former Facebook Director of Global Public Policy Sarah Wynn-Williams. The book chronicles her journey from an idealistic diplomat to a disillusioned insider, exposing the USA-based company’s ‘growth at any cost’ culture, unethical corporate behavior, and the immense, reckless power wielded by its billionaire leadership. Read my full review here.

No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson by Gardiner Harris is a book that will open your eyes to the routine and outright duplicitous practices of one of the best-known, frequently trusted, and largest pharmaceutical companies headquartered in the USA known today. It will shock you and make you rage and cry and scoff, and then some. By the time you’re done reading it, you will want to tell everyone all about it, as you will feel deeply and ethically obligated to do so. Read my full review here.

Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age by Vauhini Vara is a unique book I highly recommend reading at the dawn of AI innovation. It’s been a while since I’ve read a piece of nonfiction as poignant and creative as this, as it is as informative and interesting as it is vulnerable and inspiring. Read my full review here.

In High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out, journalist Amanda Ripley investigates the toxic, intractable feuds that hijack our minds. She distinguishes between healthy conflict—which pushes society forward—and ‘high conflict,’ a good-versus-evil trap where the conflict itself becomes the destination.

In Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life, anthropologist Kristen R. Ghodsee argues that the traditional nuclear family and private property model are failing modern society. She draws on 2,000 years of communal experiments—from Pythagoras to modern ecovillages—to offer a hopeful, actionable guide to reimagining domestic life, co-parenting, and community.

The Power of Language: How the Codes We Use to Think, Speak, and Live Transform Our Minds by psycholinguist Viorica Marian explores how multilingualism and linguistic codes rewire our brains. It reveals that speaking multiple languages enhances cognitive control, fosters creativity, protects against dementia, and alters how we perceive reality and make decisions.

John Milton’s Paradise Lost is one of the greatest epic poems in the English language. It tells the story of the Fall of Man, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of innocence pitted against corruption, in which God and Satan fight a bitter battle for control of mankind’s destiny. The struggle rages across three worlds— heaven, hell, and earth— as Satan and his band of rebel angels plot their revenge against God. At the center of the conflict are Adam and Eve, who are motivated by all too human temptations, whose ultimate downfall is unyielding love.

Long Walk to Freedom is the autobiography of Nelson Mandela. It traces his journey from a rural childhood in South Africa to becoming the nation’s first Black president. The memoir details his anti-apartheid activism, 27 years of imprisonment, and his pivotal role in negotiating the end of institutionalized racial segregation. All nations and politicians can learn from his example and the lessons he shares in this book.

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel set in the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian theocracy that overthrew the US government. Facing an environmental fertility crisis, the regime forces fertile women, known as ‘Handmaids,’ to bear children for elite, infertile couples.

The Trial by Franz Kafka is the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, this novel has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers.

Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower (1993) is a speculative fiction novel set in a dystopian 2020s where climate change and severe economic inequality have caused societal collapse. The story follows 15-year-old Lauren Olamina, who escapes her destroyed neighborhood to build a new community based on her hopeful, foundational philosophy, Earthseed.

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins is a dystopian saga set in Panem, a post-apocalyptic nation comprised of a wealthy Capitol and 12 impoverished districts. To exert control, the Capitol forces each district to send one boy and one girl to fight to the death in the televised Hunger Games each year. There have been two other books added to the trilogy in recent years: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Sunrise on the Reaping. Here is my full review of Sunrise on the Reaping.

Today’s Dialogue

What book would you add to this reading list?

© This work is not available for artificial intelligence (AI) training. All Rights Reserved by K.E. Creighton; Creighton’s Compositions LLC.

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Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond

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TODAY’S WRITING PROMPT:

Book Review: June Baby

K. E. Creighton — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 12:02:00 GMT

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June Baby by Shannon Garvey is a melancholic novel about dealing with grief when it is tied up with nostalgia and longing. It’s for those readers who don’t always need a fairy tale ending but enjoy an ending that feels like a true and realistic beginning. Though potential readers will also want to note that there is some suicidal ideation in this novel, multiple deaths of loved ones, infidelity, and discussion of abortion.

The novel begins with Ruth’s father sending her to Block Island after her mother dies of cancer when she’s seventeen. He sends her there to stay with Diana, a woman her mother knew when she was younger, whom Ruth doesn’t know. The two form a bond that lasts a decade, until Ruth is called back to the island for Diana’s funeral when she dies from cancer. From there, we learn bits and pieces of Ruth’s past nine summers on the island with Diana and Diana’s nephew, Charlie, who also visits her there every summer.

As Ruth confronts her grief of Diana’s passing, she also confronts her grief of losing her mother at a young age, feelings of resentment toward her father who shipped her off, and her unresolved feelings for Charlie, all while struggling to make ends meet. In all facets of her life, Ruth is struggling to understand the threads that tie together who she is and how she wants to reconcile her precarious past and future, which offers an intensely emotional and introspective ride for the reader.

At Diana’s funeral, Ruth learns of Charlie’s intention to marry someone else, right after she decides to tell him that she wants to be with him for good. And then she receives Diana’s last wishes for her, which sends her into a tailspin of self-doubt and uncertainty about what she’s doing, or should be doing, with her life. Meanwhile, she also gets tangled up romantically with an old friend on the island and learns more about her mother’s past with Diana, all while Charlie is being indecisive about how he feels about her, which makes her continue to question everything else she thought she knew about her mother, her past, her future, and herself.

Full disclosure: I empathized with the main character in this novel in ways that most readers may not be able to, as my mother passed away when I was in my early twenties, a few weeks shy of my college graduation, when I was also waiting tables and considering what to do with my future without my college boyfriend who was making not-so-subtle plans to move to China without me, all while living in Florida and visiting beaches as a way to cope. While other readers may be able to sympathize with losing a parent at a young age or getting caught up in the confusion that nostalgia can bring while you’re grieving, or struggling to figure out their pasts and futures, it almost felt like this book was written specifically for me, and I’ve truly never felt that way about a book before. As I was reading this book, Ruth’s reluctance to commit and believe in a path forward for herself, let alone with anyone else, as she’s struggling to survive, all while dealing with such monumental losses, hit me right in the gut. In so many ways, this novel made me feel seen and granted me some space to reconcile a few things.

Admittedly, Ruth’s intense melancholy and indecisiveness, as well as her affinity for Charlie and treatment of Louis, might not make sense to some readers and might even frustrate them. But for me, it perfectly captures what it actually feels like to go through such intense loss and longing and uncertainty during pivotal moments in life, all at once, when things seem bleak but there are still different paths to choose from and glimmers of hope left if you’re looking for them.

I also appreciated the scenic details in this novel, as they made me feel like I was on the beach again, somewhere in between an unplanned vacation and day-to-day living. And I found the dialogue to be engaging, as it highlighted each character’s nuances and personality well.

Overall, I would recommend this novel to those who want to get lost in a story that will remind them that looking back doesn’t always need to keep them stuck in the past, or present, and that it’s okay to want a realistic, authentic ending without passionate romance. The ending of this novel is for those who are okay with choosing themselves and their future, even when it’s messy and they’re scared, and even when they’re still holding onto memories of those they have loved.

Today’s Dialogue

Do you prefer a book with a happy ending or a more realistic ending?

Have you read this book yet, or plan to read it soon?

© This work is not available for artificial intelligence (AI) training. All Rights Reserved by K.E. Creighton; Creighton’s Compositions LLC.

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Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Week 1 (June 1-7) — Part I and Part II Chapters 1- 11

Week 2 (June 8- 14) — Part II Chapters 12- 27

Week 3 (June 15- 21) — Part II Chapters 28- 42

Week 4 (June 22- 30) — Finish Book

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TODAY’S WRITING PROMPT:

Book Review: The Hill

K. E. Creighton — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 12:03:39 GMT

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The Hill by Harriet Clark is a coming-of-age novel that offers readers a steady stream of captivating prose that mimics its plot, stuck between the known and unknown. Readers in a more introspective mood will enjoy it, as well as readers who enjoy novels that force them to slow down and witness the intricacies of everyday life in another world rather than experience it at a hurried pace, which is unique for a coming-of-age story, and also what other readers may not enjoy about it.

The premise of the novel is revealed within its first pages: “To stay or to go, that is a question. But on the hill it wasn’t a question. Anyone who could leave left.” And the remainder of the novel is about young Suzanna grappling with her relationship to the hill, or Hillcrest, her mother who is incarcerated there, and her grandmother with whom she lives, who refuses to visit the prison, as she comes of age. Through dry humor and stories created, remembered, retold, and embellished, Suzanna grows up, reluctant to abandon her mother and start her own life, despite her grandmother’s and other adults’ best efforts, as she learns bits and pieces about their histories.

Without fail, Suzanna visits her mother every Saturday at Hillcrest until she comes of age, claiming she is as loyal as a dog, despite the death of the elderly around her, despite her grandmother’s disapproval and death, despite looming eviction, despite getting ready to graduate high school. And she seems to find comfort in the various places that seem to mirror the prison in the novel, as well— the museum with guards and artifacts stuck in time and place where she interns, and the apartments full of death and noise and lack of privacy that she frequents. Which makes sense for a girl who grows up visiting her mother in a prison. Where others see freedom stifled, Suzanna seems to see predictability and solace.

Over the course of the novel, Suzanna’s narrative and perspective matures with her as she learns more about what her mother did to end up in prison, what her grandmother did to end up in New York, and how their stories intersect and diverge with the one she is reluctant to begin writing for herself. As her grandmother encourages her to write her own story and leave her mother behind, Suzanna’s grandmother still needs her nearby, constantly and reluctantly offering her guidance on how to live as she dies, though not without mixed messages and morals. And as her mother lives her own life in prison, busying herself training service dogs and appreciating mundane experiences others on the outside take for granted, Suzanna experiences what predictable patterns and places look like. So, the irony is hard to miss when Suzanna ultimately discovers more of herself and who she wants to be inside the prison’s walls than outside of them.

I enjoyed the introspective, straightforward prose in this novel the most. However, not much happens over the course of the novel and I did find myself periodically tuning out, until I encountered the next batch of disarming or interesting prose. Essentially, the novel ends where it begins. “Call this the call to adventure or call it what it was: choosing the life I had, which strikes me still as wise a choice as any.”

I also never found myself rooting for the main character or empathizing with her all that much, never ultimately caring whether she stayed or went or became incarcerated herself… which could have been the point? Though it still never felt like she made a choice in the end but that choices were made for her, that her path was decided for her. Even the runaway train ride at the end of the novel was decided for her, as it passed the prison without her taking action or deciding anything on her own, just as her missing her mother at the end was not her doing. So did she ‘come of age’?

I also felt like I was left in the lurch regarding Suzanna’s mother’s and grandmother’s supposed radical past actions and histories. While we got glimmers of what they did, who they were, and where they came from, their stories still seemed incomplete. Sure, this could have been intentional, as how the stories of their pasts were relayed reflect most children’s experiences when they hear about their forebears’ pasts. Yet in the context of the novel being responsible for revealing and reflecting on the consequences of their supposed radical pasts, it led to flatter characters, and a flatter story arc in certain aspects, I am afraid. Though many readers may not care about this.

Overall, I would recommend this novel to literary fiction readers who enjoy introspective prose with a hint of dry wit and literary symmetry that moves at a steady pace.

Here are some notable passages from the novel:

“A fact, well-known, that vows get tested. You promise you’ll come to a particular hill at a particular time, promise you’ll do it again and again, all your life. Then no driver on hand, and just like that, you don’t. The hill, the climb, the women waiting. The longer I stayed away the more it seemed I’d made the prison up or only imagined my time there. So that as weeks became months, the hill became something else—between real and unreal, at the edge of being forgotten or disbelieved. And my mother became something else too—more occasional and farther away.”

“This had not occurred to me and it pleased me to remember that there was in fact a place like the one I dreamed of for myself. Not a place that necessarily existed but that other people had imagined long before me and for their own reasons.”

“A great effort, it turns out, to stay where you are. No sooner do you let a sleepwalking stranger move into your home than news comes that you still have to leave.”

“A nostalgic choice, my mother called the museum. The most familiar option in the list of options I’d been given. But being in the gem room did not feel like going back in time. It felt, if anything, like a break from time.”

“‘... It wasn’t good, I thought, to treat the living like the dead.’”

“There were times still when the prison was extraordinary to me but my mother and I were ordinary to each other and if I left, we wouldn’t be.”

“Now the train window served this purpose: a lens so familiar I could imagine traveling with it into the unfamiliar. … Nothing was more familiar than the views from these windows, though the faster we went the more the views changed, scenes from an old life as seen from a new one.”

“Again the road rose, rose and stretched onward, and this was just how the world worked: it made you keep going, made you keep circling round.”

Today’s Dialogue

What is a coming-of-age story you think everyone should read?

Have you read this book yet, or plan to read it soon?

© This work is not available for artificial intelligence (AI) training. All Rights Reserved by K.E. Creighton; Creighton’s Compositions LLC.

Community Notes

CURRENTLY READING

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Week 1 (June 1-7) — Part I and Part II Chapters 1- 11

Week 2 (June 8- 14) — Part II Chapters 12- 27

Week 3 (June 15- 21) — Part II Chapters 28- 42

Week 4 (June 22- 30) — Finish Book

June 30th: Discuss entire book in Substack chat thread

JULY SELECTION

Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond

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TODAY’S WRITING PROMPT:

Book Review: Angel Down

K. E. Creighton — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 12:01:42 GMT

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Angel Down by Daniel Kraus won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and offers much to consider regarding war and human nature, or should I say the nature of men who war? The novel has been lauded for its unique, single-sentence narrative— no really, the entire novel is a single sentence that has no beginning or end, with every single one of its paragraphs beginning with ‘and.’ It’s also been lauded for how it blends genres like horror, allegory, and magical realism. Yet many readers may find it a bit gimmicky and superficial in the end. [Warning: There are a few spoilers in the rest of this review.]

The novel opens with a literal bang, and a promise for rebirth for Cyril Bagger, a con man who shirks the frontline by ensuring he’s relegated to gravedigging duty. He literally crawls out of the mass grave he’s digging, unscathed after a mortar blasts everyone else in it to shreds, covered in human body parts. He joins up with four other soldiers after the blast, who are then all ordered by their commanding officer, Lyon Reis, to end the shrieking coming from the center of the battlefield, in No Man’s Land. And they play Rochambeau (Rock, Paper, Scissors) to determine who’s going to be the sacrificial lamb to climb out of the trench to do it. Bagger ends up going with a fourteen-year-old kid soldier named Arno, who he has been looking out for and reading The Son of Tarzan to as if it were a field manual he gets to embellish. And they end up ‘saving’ and bringing back what appears to be a woman to their trench.

Shortly after, the soldiers determine the woman is actually an angel, as she has a glowing halo and is dressed like the Madonna in Old Glory’s colors and can grant “maybe-miracles” for the soldiers who start fighting and killing to possess her for what they believe she can and should give them or do for them. Then graphic scene after graphic scene ensues as each of the soldiers try to kidnap her, each meeting his own demise in direct relation to how he played Rochambeau. Until it is down to Bagger and Arno, whom Bagger has to make wagers with the ‘angel’ to save over and over again, until he threatens suicide and the angel spares him, but not until after she takes him to the underworld, where Bagger sees how human bodies are being forged into bullets and how the “... trenches of the Great War evolved into the entrenchments of ideology, of hatreds and superiorities and vanities and comforts and riches, most of all riches…”

The best part of this novel is how its narrative structure (a never-ending sentence that has no beginning or end) calls attention to the never-ending dread and carnage of war, allowing readers to internalize this lack of reprieve, this lack of a break. Since the characters never get a reprieve from the war, neither does the reader.

“... it could be male or female, human or animal, but whatever it is, it’s dying, dying slow, dying loud, ripple after glissading ripple of agonized lament, and Bagger, already weighed down in mud and blood, further heavies in the dreary certainty that the shriek won’t ever end, just like the war won’t ever end, like the carnage won’t ever end, it’s a sentence in a book careening without periods, gasping with too many commas, a sentence that, once begun, can’t ever be stopped, a sentence doomed to loop back on itself to form a terrible black wheel that, sooner or later, will drag each and every person to their grave,...” (p.6)

The novel’s structure, ending exactly where it begins, symbolizes the inescapable, unrelenting wheel of war. It acts as an indictment of the industrial and political machinery that continuously converts human lives into combat feedstock.

There’s also a ton of religious symbolism in this novel, which shouldn’t come as a surprise as its entire plot revolves around an ‘angel down,’ who represents both a beacon of hope and a deadly burden. Instead of inspiring innate goodness in the war-weary soldiers, her presence amplifies their inner demons. Her light becomes something to covet, hoard, and exploit by the soldiers, symbolizing how humanity’s spiritual bankruptcy transforms the miraculous into an object of greed and violence.

Bagger’s red pocket leather Bible (which belonged to his father who was a bishop) also transforms into a layered symbol of sacrifice and parental protection. When it literally stops bullets, saving the protagonist’s life, its imagery of the Solly Madonna absorbing violence, the collision between human devotion and the brutality of the trenches is highlighted, and parallels Bagger’s personal inner conflicts regarding his parents and faith.

Likewise, Bagger’s and Arno’s obsession with pulp adventure novels function as a cracked mirror. These stories represent idealized, antiquated concepts of masculinity and heroism, which stand in stark contrast to the dehumanizing, industrial slaughter they are trapped in— though the inclusion of the pulp novels ultimately remain part of and uphold the overtly masculine tone of the novel itself instead of negating or subverting it.

The Great War is also portrayed as an unsurpassed mechanized slaughter, where soldiers are transformed into consumable resources and their ‘heroism’ is exploited for personal gain— which is a direct commentary on the commodification and capitalistic nature of war. Rather than heroic patriots, the soldiers are treated as interchangeable units of labor. They suffer and die solely to advance an absurd “war machine” fueled by the greed and vanity of military leaders like Reis. Cyril Bagger is also the embodiment of cutthroat capitalism. He survives not through valor, but by swindling his peers, using gambling debts and financial leverage to force poorer, weaker men to take his place on the frontlines. The discovery of a fallen angel in No Man’s Land becomes an ultimate test of morality, as well, because the soldiers fall into a frenzy of jealousy and paranoia, attempting to hoard or profit off the celestial being instead of universally recognizing her presence as a miracle. And, of course, there is the unforgettable imagery offered by the underworld war machine the angel permits Bagger to see.

Needless to say, due to its structure and symbolism and literary elements, I can see how this novel won one of the most coveted literary prizes. However, it did venture into tired patriarchal, gimmicky territory.

First, I was not a fan of the clichéd and stereotypical testosterone-addled cartoon-like characters and viscera suffusing this story, which is driven by a con man with a tropey black-and-white noir-style gangster voice who is constantly sensorily bombarded by oozing body parts, as that’s already saturated most stories about the Great War for decades now.

Sure, one could attempt to argue that the angel’s presence and aims in the novel complicates the male characters’ ‘I am a man so therefore should be afraid of real human feelings’ and ‘I love violence and will kill blindly because I only care about myself no matter what’ logic and behavior, which is extremely debatable, as the angel ultimately only exists in relation to the warring soldiers’ flaws, to point out their flaws, bringing no profound moral counterweight or meaning to the underlying patriarchal narrative overall, essentially saying something akin to ‘Oh well, boys will be boys, forever and ever and ever, amen, and there’s nothing I can do ‘bout that, so bye,’ and not much else in the end.

There is also a lot to be said about the willingness of the angel to be literally manhandled, because would an angelic entity with a moral compass and divine affiliation subject themselves to human-generated games of war with no real aims to end said war or human suffering, etc.? Admittedly, angels often serve as detached messengers and harbingers of truth and nothing more. However, the angel in this novel doesn’t successfully embody that essence, as it directly partakes in and instigates the soldiers’ human games of war, not maintaining the angelic detachment and objective distance central to other parables and narratives with angels in them— therefore, it cannot be read strictly as parabolic.

I appreciated the technical risk this novel took by embodying a run-on sentence to embody the never-ending essence of war, overall, but wouldn’t say it pushed the literary envelope in a profound enough way, or that it captured the essence of war with a truly fresh, literary (or human) lens. At least, not in a way that will resonate past another year or so. Still, readers who enjoy getting lost in the unrelenting deluge and carnage of traditional war stories won’t want to miss this one.

Today’s Dialogue

What do you think makes a story about war memorable or resonant?

Have you read this book yet, or plan to read it soon?

Community Notes

THIS WEEK’S WRITING SHARE IS LIVE

Share one line you wrote this week.

Drop one line (or a short excerpt) from anything you wrote this week. Then, if you want: why did this line matter to you?

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CURRENTLY READING

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Week 1 (June 1-7) — Part I and Part II Chapters 1- 11

Week 2 (June 8- 14) — Part II Chapters 12- 27

Week 3 (June 15- 21) — Part II Chapters 28- 42

Week 4 (June 22- 30) — Finish Book

June 30th: Substack Chat to Discuss Entire Book

JULY BOOK: Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond

TODAY’S WRITING PROMPT:

Book Review: Dear Monica Lewinsky

K. E. Creighton — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 12:02:55 GMT

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Dear Monica Lewinsky by Julia Langbein is one of those books that pulled me in with its wit and candor right away, almost making me forget that it promised a poignant story about a young woman growing up in the late 90s during the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. It had me laughing out loud and thinking deeply at the same time, which is a rare treat.

At the beginning of the novel, forty-something Jean Dornan receives an email from David Harwell, a professor she had an affair with during a study-abroad program in France when she was nineteen, who was in his forties at the time. The email invites her to his retirement ceremony and prompts Jean to seek out and reread her journals from that time in her life, leading her to realize that their affair took place during the exact same summer as the infamous Clinton-Lewinsky scandal—a parallel she completely missed when it was happening because she had been too caught up in David and her desire for him.

This realization sends Jean into an emotional spiral as she’s forced to reckon with her newfound empathy for what Monica (who was also young and only in her early 20s at the time) went through, and how her own affair derailed her life. At the beginning of her emotional spiral, she finds herself in a church basement and conjures the ghost of Monica Lewinsky, who ends up acting like a ghost-from-Christmas-past, guiding Jean as she unpacks the power dynamics of her youth, and the guilt and shame her affair with David caused, so that she can view her younger self with a more realistic and compassionate lens.

The majority of the book includes flashbacks centered around how Jean’s desire for David developed over the summer of 1998 as they stayed in a castle owned by an eccentric prince and visited and studied churches and their cultural and architectural histories with a small group of students and one other professor. In these flashbacks, readers see virgin Jean struggle with her budding desire for a married man who is kind and attentive as she is still trying to figure out who she is and what she really wants out of life. As they visit churches full of history and complex architecture across France, she is constantly comparing herself to the other students and doing what she can to get David to notice her (who is more than willing to oblige) as she learns about the history of the women upon whose sacrificed bodies many of the churches were built, who were all vilified and martyred for other men’s desires, as well as their own— all while hearing about what is going on with Monica Lewinsky over periodic radio and television broadcasts.

The brief chapters covering the women saints and how they reached sainthood parallel the storylines of Monica and Jean, who are all continually shamed and punished for their desires, or lack of desires. By placing these women martyrs alongside Lewinsky, the novel inevitably challenges readers to consider why society only reserves sainthood or reverence for women who suffer for their chastity, while simultaneously punishing women like Lewinsky who assert their sexuality or transgress patriarchal boundaries. Through this novel, Lewinsky is reframed from a subject of tabloid ridicule into a modern-day martyr, as a woman who survived mass humiliation and came to embody resilience and grace, all while she helps Jean learn to forgive herself for her past desires as well.

This novel ultimately forces readers to reevaluate how young women are continually vilified, punished, and scapegoated for illicit affairs and missteps with older men, and forced to forgo their promising futures, while the older men (David Harwell and Bill Clinton) in these affairs emerge unscathed and protected by their power and status. At the same time, however, this novel never victimizes the women who participate in these affairs or depicts them as weak, and never depicts the men as creepy predators either— and it is because of this that it is able to successfully capture the complexities of how young women are meant to feel ashamed and get punished for their desires, while men (especially those in positions of authority or power) do not. Instead, it depicts how the older men in these affairs can carry on in their personal and professional lives as if nothing happened, while the young women must be the ones who change jobs and struggle with their intimate relationships and feel guilt and shame.

Most of all, I appreciated the humor in this novel. It made a difficult topic easier to explore on an intellectual and emotional level without ever outright demeaning anyone or losing the main purpose of the novel’s plot, although I can see how and where such humor could ruffle a few devout Christian feathers. I also thought the humor in this novel helped capture Jean’s struggles in an engaging and approachable way and ensured Monica’s apparition was relatable and funny but also reasonable and emotionally intelligent.

Yet I did finish the book wishing I had received more of Monica’s personal backstory for more context and empathy, as it seemed as if it was assumed readers would know the details of everything she experienced. I was also left wishing I had a better understanding of what Jean experienced during the decades between the affair and the email she received from David, as I felt much of that was glossed over.

Overall, I would recommend this novel to Xennials (older Millennials) who would like to revisit where they were during the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, and the effect it had on them, as well as those who like to laugh and think as they learn a little more about saints and religious history.

Today’s Dialogue

If you had a notable person from history help you revisit a past period in your life, who would it be, and what time in your life would you want to revisit?

Have you read this book yet, or plan to read it soon?

Community Notes

Check out Book Club For Weirdos’ Free Reflection Deck for Readers Who Like Stories That Stain the Brain

— a 52-card reflection deck filled with questions designed to help readers think more deeply about the stories that stay with them. This deck will help you read deeper and weirder and explore unanswered questions about characters and books that have stayed with you, and so much more!

EGALITARIAN BOOK CLUB

The POLL for July’s selection is up in Storygraph and closes in 3 days.

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The options are:

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond
The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry, and the Cosmic Dream Boogie by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Japanese Gothic by Sunyi Dean

CURRENTLY READING : Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

TODAY’S WRITING PROMPT:

Book Review: There Is No Antimemetics Division

K. E. Creighton — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:03:32 GMT

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There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm (a.k.a. Sam Hughes) is a compelling high-concept novel that retains many of its mysteries long after it ends and would be a great selection for many Sci-Fi and Fantasy book clubs. But I wouldn’t recommend it to readers who enjoy character-driven novels, or who appreciate clear-cut and easy-to-follow prose and plots, as it includes alternating timelines and identities and physical planes and metaverses that jump around and superimpose over one another. Someone who wants to enjoy this novel will need to remain open-minded yet science-oriented, willing to suspend their current belief systems, and will need to be prepared to pay close attention.

At first, this novel might seem confusing, as there are many details thrown at the reader right out the gate regarding its world of antimemes, their reports, and those who believe they are responsible for their containment. However, about halfway through the novel it becomes clearer that many (or any) of these antimemes aren’t supposed to be understood in concrete or static ways, as they represent the various and malevolent forms various ideas can and might take in various environments that may or may not exist in the physical or conceptual worlds we currently understand and experience— which is obviously hard to pin down.

Questions that will likely arise as you read this novel: How does one pin down an idea or define an idea? Where do ideas exist? How do we know ideas exist? Where do ideas and identity intersect? What makes up an idea (literally and figuratively)? What are the true limits of ideatic space itself? What distinguishes a dangerous idea from an inert idea? Are dangerous ideas possible to contain? If so, how and by whom or what? Is humanity itself an ideatic space or ecosystem? And so on.

One of the most notable achievements of this novel is how detailed its underlying concept of antimemes is, and how that concept is conjured via descriptive imagery in every scene, while simultaneously retaining its underlying sense of mystery that never fades. Up until the very last page, and beyond, readers will incessantly explore what antimemes are, their horrific effects on the world and humans, and how they should and could be handled.

As I was reading this novel, I couldn’t stop thinking of the Matrix series, though it is more metaphysical and abstract in concept than the Matrix in the end. It also offers incredibly vivid and heart-racing scenes with giant spiders and slugs, walls made of fingers, and graphic violence that Horror and Thriller readers will likely enjoy. And it has fast-paced scenes that will keep most readers flipping pages. But it does not have a tidy ending, which might frustrate some readers.

I also did not find myself rooting for any of the characters in the novel and even found them interchangeable at times, as none of them had relatable backstories or distinct personalities to empathize with and follow. There was a little backstory provided for the Quinns’ relationship, but even then, I wasn’t sure what made them tick as individuals, on an intimate level I could root for and rally behind. And I felt it was taken for granted that readers would care about the plight of the characters as they encountered all these antimemes and setbacks, even while the high concept driving them to act seemed to override their existence and motivations and the plot. Maybe this was intentional? Admittedly, I tend to enjoy character-driven novels best, so I am biased in this regard.

Overall, I would recommend this novel to readers who enjoy detailed, plot-driven high-concept novels that encourage them to think abstractly and who will likely appreciate this Nietzschean quote: “Whoever battles monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster himself. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.”

Here are some notable passages from the book:

“So, maybe the end of the world will be some other division’s problem.”

“‘Organization staff join Antimemetics for a lot of reasons, and one of those reasons is that they perceive the work to be easier. Safer. Lower-stakes. But an idea can end a world. An idea is alive. It can mutate, it can replicate, it can predate on other ideas…and it can hide. And—people deserve to be safe. This is the purpose of the Organization. It’s what we are for. Research, yes, Unknown science, because that helps, but ultimately we are here to keep everybody safe.’”

“The sheer alien scale of the adversary is enough to intimidate most into submission. From a cursory read, U-3125 looks like a nightmare scenario; it’s going to turn human civilization into something beyond Hix’s ability to imagine. But that’s every Monday in this job, and in any case Hix doesn’t have much of an imagination.”

“Adam asks, ‘What is it? The big idea.’ She shakes her head. ‘I can’t tell you. I wish I could. But I won’t know until I get there. And even then, the words don’t exist, and even if they existed, for me to speak them to you would blow you away. It’s too big for us.’ He leans on her, blindly, and says, ‘The seed, though. You can tell me that.’ She looks up at the sky. ‘People shouldn’t have to be afraid, Adam. Of anything. The universe is vast and terrifying and unthinkably dangerous and you deserve to be protected. To be kept safe and sound. Because otherwise those terrible things rule you and fear rules you and you can’t be who you really are. Freedom means no fear.’”

“Humanity is not adapted to withstand the presence of ideas so gigantic. Parts of it could survive, at the far end of probability, but not as humanity; not without being transformed into something incoherently alien.”

“‘But if we have learned nothing else, we have learned this: Humans can walk away from, and forget, anything. Civilization can go back to ‘normal’ after anything.’ He contemplates the archive shelves in silence, for some time. He worries, briefly, that he really does know the truth, and that there is nothing anomalous preventing him from knowing it. That it’s simple denial. But he won’t say that aloud, even here.”

Today’s Dialogue

What are your thoughts on ‘ideatic space’, or the place where ideas exist?

Are you a fan of high-concept novels like this? Why or why not?

Have you read this book yet, or plan to read it soon?

Community Notes

JOIN THIS WEEK’S WRITING SHARE when it drops later today in the chat.

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Share something you wrote this week—finished or unfinished. A paragraph, a fragment, a line, or even something you’re still shaping. What felt most alive in your writing this week?

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CURRENTLY READING

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Week 1 (June 1-7) — Part I and Part II Chapters 1- 11

Week 2 (June 8- 14) — Part II Chapters 12- 27

Week 3 (June 15- 21) — Part II Chapters 28- 42

Week 4 (June 22- 30) — Finish Book

A public chat thread will be shared on Substack to discuss the entire book at the end of the month. Until then, join our Buddy Read in Storygraph to chat about the book as you read it at your own pace.

JULY BOOK

The POLL for July’s selection is up in Storygraph and closes in 7 days.

Vote Now

The options are:

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond
The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry, and the Cosmic Dream Boogie by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Japanese Gothic by Sunyi Dean

TODAY’S WRITING PROMPT:

Book Review: Days of Love and Rage

K. E. Creighton — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 12:03:16 GMT

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Days of Love and Rage: A Story of Ordinary People Forging a Revolution by Anand Gopal is a striking example of collective journalism with thousands of newspaper and magazine clippings and personal diary entries and letters and video footage and social media posts and activity along with eight years’ worth of original research and two thousand interviews and a half dozen on-the-ground research assistants behind it. It is so thorough and comprehensive that I had to divide my book review for it into two posts. Here are my notes on the first half of the book.

Halfway through Book Three (and the entire book), the spirit of the revolution in Manbij, Syria in 2013 starts to shift away from the Revolutionary Council (not yet two years old) toward a faction of revolutionaries who try to oust the Council for their mishandling of the city’s bread supply and rampant corruption and greed, called the Revolutionary Youth Movement (RYM). And one of the key players behind this faction is none other than Abdul Hadi, who is enraged at how the elitist Council doesn’t seem to care about justice for the poor and uneducated, which leaves him susceptible to the influence of a few ISIS soldiers who come to town and inevitably turn his world and how RYM operates upside down, leading them to believe that religious morality is better than liberal morality.

After the regime’s incessant raiding, skyrocketing bread prices, and the inroads ISIS is able to make due to Abdul Hadi’s help, the Revolutionary Council is ousted from power within eighteen months after ousting Assad’s forces from the city and the Islamic State begins ruling Manbij, installing Repentance Centers and Sharia law, which ultimately leads to such horrific conditions that members of the revolution must leave the city or be executed, along with thousands of other innocent people who are slaughtered and terrorized for years until the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) come in, backed by foreigners and remote interests, until they are ultimately ousted by Syrian rebel forces again in 2024, whose future is still pending.

Gopal continues to follow the narratives of six critical and ‘ordinary’ individuals (see my notes on the first half of this book for notes on them) in the latter half of the book for nuanced accounts of what happened during the beginning stages of the revolution in Manbij (2011-2024), which is still ongoing, while never sacrificing the political and cultural history of Syria and Manbij and their people’s complex narratives of love and rage. Through their intimate and complex personal narratives, this revolution is a little closer to being understood on a profoundly human level, on their collective terms.

Many with similar stories to Mina Saba, Ibrahim Kasem, and Hasan Nefi, will never see their homes in Manbij again as they once knew them. Others, like Abel Os, are walking scars of the price and rewards of resistance to future generations across Manbij. And those who were unable to overcome their vulnerabilities to let in a more profound sense of hope for a collective future, like Abdul Hadi, will have to live with the extreme consequences of their betrayals and miscalculations. While those like Oday al-Hema will live on in collective memory and spirit, as their bodies will likely never be recovered.

One of the most intense parts of this book is when Gopal gives his first-person account of searching for Oday al-Hema, who was captured and tortured by ISIS in Manbij and went missing after SDF forces took over the city. Gopal spends years tracking down family members, friends, previous cell mates, and dangerous ISIS leaders in refugee camps to eventually learn of Oday’s tragic, unclear fate, sharing Oday’s words and poetry simultaneously, ultimately juxtaposing Oday’s path with his friend Abdul Hadi’s path. Where one man was able to live with the despair and hope of what revolution requires, and willing to sacrifice everything for it, the other was not.

“There was a persistence to Oday’s hope, and that of his comrades, through the ups and downs, that we don’t normally associate with emotion. Hope, for him, was not simply a feeling, like love or rage or any other passion, but a disposition, a trait of character.”

“Abdul Hadi could not live with his vulnerability. He was enslaved by it, and it led him, in ways he could have never imagined, to moral disaster.”

In addition to each of the six personal narratives Gopal offers in this book, I will remember the major lesson the Revolutionary Council of Manbij hopefully learned by now: The perceptions and realities of economic equality and general stability, which usually go hand-in-hand with the cost of bread, can and will influence a revolution, more than anything else. Above all else, people need to eat, and so do their children.

I still think this might be one of the best nonfiction books I end up reading this year and think readers who enjoy deep historical dives with personal narratives and stakes will want to read it.

Here is one of the most memorable passages from the second half of the book:

“Was it all worth it? I [Gopal] came to Manbij because I wanted to know: Would it have been better for people never to have stepped onto the rain-slicked streets that April afternoon in 2011 and demand freedom? Should they have kept quiet, choosing a desolate peace over the horrors that followed? … Looking at everything that’s been lost, was it not now perfectly reasonable to give in to despair? And if not, how was one supposed to resist that temptation?
“This isn’t merely a question for Syrians. In an epoch of crumbling institutions and rising oceans, it’s one we all confront. To persist in the shadow of great loss demands a certain kind of hopefulness— and that, ultimately, is why I’d come: to investigate the limits and possibilities of hope in a damaged world.”

Today’s Dialogue

What do you think hope looks like in today’s ‘damaged world’?

What do you know about the revolution in Syria, and what do you want to know?

Have you read this book yet, or plan to read it soon?

Community Notes

CURRENTLY READING

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Week 1 (June 1-7) — Part I and Part II Chapters 1- 11

Week 2 (June 8- 14) — Part II Chapters 12- 27

Week 3 (June 15- 21) — Part II Chapters 28- 42

Week 4 (June 22- 30) — Finish Book

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JULY BOOK: TBD

A poll will be posted in Storygraph for this book selection soon! Join the club so you’re ready to cast your vote when it goes live.

TODAY’S WRITING PROMPT:

Notes on Days of Love and Rage

K. E. Creighton — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 12:03:20 GMT

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Days of Love and Rage: A Story of Ordinary People Forging a Revolution by Anand Gopal is around 500 pages long with about 100 pages worth of notes and is as emotionally rich as it is informationally rich, so I decided to split my review up into two posts. This first post will cover my notes on the first part of the book, and the second post will include my final review of the book with notes on the last half of the book.

Gopal has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize multiple times for his work in journalism, as well as his work on No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War Through Afghan Eyes, which is no surprise. He has a talent for deep, investigative work that reaches the true heart of things, and people, as I am learning while reading Days of Love and Rage. Through his amassing of thousands of newspaper and magazine clippings and personal diary entries and letters and video footage, along with eight years’ worth of original research and two thousand interviews, Gopal is able to offer true insight and a behind-the scenes look at the conflict in Syria through the eyes of a small group of rebels and revolutionaries whose lives and paths intersect in notable and unexpected ways.

Book One of five in Days of Love and Rage opens with complex nostalgia as readers are introduced to Ibrahim Kasem, who lives in a tiny village outside Manbij, Syria, near the Euphrates, where he wants to stay with his family and enjoy the land, until government forces come in and seize property and build a dam, flooding the village and killing or displacing nearly everyone. His personal account is weaved in with centuries and decades of outside government and international political and cultural influences on the region, offering readers a nuanced and up-close perspective of how love of home can grow alongside rage and resentment for generations, as the first book does focus on 1963 through 2010.

Next, readers are introduced to Hasan Nefi, a veteran poet and dissident from Manbij who ends up spending 15 years in prison enduring bouts of unimaginable torture, only to end up as a major figure in the revolutionary movement in Manbij and its coordinated resistance once released. The excerpts of his days in prison were strikingly similar to what I read about Alexei Navalny’s detainment in various Russian prisons in Navalny’s memoir, Patriot. (Readers: Beware of graphic and violent episodes shared throughout the book.) Yet his growth as an individual and intellectual throughout the revolution is remarkable.

Then readers are introduced to Abdul Qader Oseb (aka Abel Os), who falls into financial and legal troubles and learns karate when he takes over his family’s merchant cart in Manbij while being subjected to the harsh economic consequences of Bashar al-Assad’s (and his father’s) governance. Through his perspective, readers will see a nuanced look at how desperate economic situations affect vibrant people who are simply interested in charting a path for themselves in life, and how those situations lead them to wander, ultimately revealing how such desperate situations can lead to desperate outcomes with little to no options for survival. His plight is perhaps one of the most relatable ones halfway through the book.

Readers are then introduced to Oday al-Hema, a youth who falls in love while getting caught up in underground encounters that lead to his initiation of, and involvement in, some of the first protests outside mosques in Manbij, which lead to more and more protests. Through his perspective, readers will see how the passions and convictions of youth for what is right and wrong can fuel a revolutionary spirit that can persevere.

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And then readers meet Mina Saba, a mother, wife, and teacher who is central to the women who lead protests that influence many other resistance groups throughout the revolution, who eventually secures women’s involvement in the People’s Assembly in Manbij, all while upholding her shawi values of loyalty, family, hospitality, and above all, honor. She brings a practical and human touch to the revolution, inspired by the philosophies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Ghandi, never wavering in her conviction that women’s voices are necessary in the revolution and that there can be no real revolution without women. Her plight is also incredibly relatable to me, for obvious reasons, and I was content to learn that Gopal did not forget the influences of women in this work.

Then Abdul Hadi is introduced, a friend betrayed by Oday who plays soccer until he can’t escape the pull of the brewing revolution any longer, whose revolutionary spirit is only refueled when he is released from the unbearable conditions of incarceration due to Oday’s betrayal. Through his perspective and relationship with Oday, readers see the complex disagreements behind how revolutionaries sort through the intellectual and emotional determinations of what spearheading a revolution should look like, and the emotional tolls it takes on close relationships.

Eventually, all these individual narratives and personal histories that are commingled with poignant details of the political and cultural history of Syria (especially the city of Manbij) kick off Book Three: The Republic (January 2012- January 2014), of which I am only about halfway through. Yet so far, it is intense and memorable, as it covers the brutal and complex nature of building a republic run by citizens once state forces are ousted from Manbij, not the entire country. Readers will encounter how enemies and former torturers can become strategic allies, how complicated it is to fight for democracy to survive when families who can’t afford bread and are being regularly bombed by the state are barely surviving, and how complicated it is to secure weapons and political support as different revolutionary groups split and form their own coalitions and initiatives that cross domestic and international borders.

It is in these first few chapters of Book Three that readers will be forced to reflect on and reckon with their own concepts of freedom, what it means, and how it should be secured, as prominent revolutionary members work to secure it. Truly, the book is worth reading for these reflections and real-life conversations on what freedom means to ordinary citizens alone.

Overall, I am fully invested in this book and how it offers a strict human lens to civil war without neglecting historical accounts or personal nuance and conflict within those accounts— a true fusing of love and rage. I see it being one of my top nonfiction reads of the year, and so far, I think readers who enjoy deep historical dives with personal narratives and stakes will want to read this book.

Here is one of the most memorable passages from the first half of the book:

“Every political system, whether one of popular consent or of tyranny, is built on innumerable acts of faith— the faith that traffic lights will work, prescribed medicines will heal, evening news tells the truth, enemies are who the authorities say they are. Revolution reflects, if anything, a profound crisis of faith. It ushers in a new mode of understanding, where old solidities crumble, the preordained is exposed as a contrivance, misfortune as injustice. The world, once unitary and complete, has splintered into distinct realms: the kingdom of make-believe and the kingdom of truth. Inhabitants of that second realm find themselves facing the tantalizing possibility that life isn’t merely given, it’s made.” (p.169)

Stay tuned for the second half of the book review for Days of Love and Rage, which will be posted in a few days. [Edit: You can now read the full book review here. ]

Today’s Dialogue

How would you define freedom?

What do you think a successful revolution requires?

Have you read this book yet, or plan to read it soon?

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Community Notes

Check out the updated homepage for Daily Drafts & Dialogues, now divided into sections that you can read and subscribe to individually.

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CURRENTLY READING

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Week 1 (June 1-7) — Part I and Part II Chapters 1- 11

Week 2 (June 8- 14) — Part II Chapters 12- 27

Week 3 (June 15- 21) — Part II Chapters 28- 42

Week 4 (June 22- 30) — Finish Book

JULY BOOK: TBD

A poll will be posted in Storygraph for this book selection soon! Join the club so you’re ready to cast your vote when it goes live.

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