A Spring Reading Practice from Under a Pile of Blankets

Three books, a look at my own novel from a distance, and several fun classes...

Settle in, grab your favourite drink, and tell me—what are you reading?

While I was laid up all week with a nasty cold, writing my new book took a back seat to reading (which I’ll get to shortly) and watching my colleagues at The Novelry teaching various sessions. We have a massive archive of classes over there and it’s been so fun to watch Tayari Jones in conversation, to listen to Piers Torday talking about How to Write a Hook, and to learn from Melanie Conklin as she teaches How to Write a Memorable Scene.

All of this feels like writing from the edges—and was such a pleasure in an otherwise miserable, solo parenting adventure. Getting the kids ready for school then laying back down thinking I must be better soon, right?

All this thinking and reading led me to doing some distance work on my own book. As you can see in the photo, I wrote myself a list of scenes and started thinking about some connections I hadn’t yet seen. A character has become more important than I first thought she’d be… it’s exciting, yes, but a bit daunting too, so this pen and paper reflection is SO helpful. Sometimes pulling back from a story to see it like this gives me new ways of moving forward—and from a pile of blankets on the sofa, this has been the time to have a look at what I’ve got on the page.

(Thank you, by the way, for all the comments on writing and motherhood, which I really loved reading while I was feeling so sorry for myself ;-)))

Our Seasonal Reading Practice

We’re halfway through our seasonal reading practice. This is our slow, shared reading where every three months, we choose a memoir, a mystery, and a third ‘mixed-bag’. This means we can live with one (or all) the books over time. The books aren’t assignments—they’re companions, shaping the thinking here in subtle, lasting ways. Some are suggested by you, some I’ve chosen because I think we’ll love them together.

My idea is that you can choose to read one of these, or all of them, and share what you think about the books as we move through the year. Please also suggest books for the next season and help me find great reads for us.

As a reminder, these are the three books (and where I’m at with each!):

Mystery Pick: Last One Out by Jane Harper

This is the only one I’ve finished so far. It’s a slow burn—a very slow burn, and I know that some readers have found the pace frustrating. It got me thinking about stakes and how important they are to us as writers (and as readers!) One of the challenges is that the main character doesn’t feel like she has anything to lose. Yes, she wants to know what happens to her son, but it doesn’t feel enough to make us truly care.

Because I love Jane Harper’s work, I had patience through this and so could keep going to what I think is an artful solution to a brilliantly staged set up: the son disappears in mysterious and impossible circumstances…

Have you read this one? Does it appeal?

Memoir Pick: Question 7 by Richard Flanagan

I find this work absolutely dazzling. Over at The Novelry, I teach Memoir writing and this memoir strikes me as an elegant mix of personal and reportage that works so well, I’ll be suggesting it to my writers there! I’m halfway through and I find the beautifully layered storytelling of HG Wells and his imaginings (and wild affair) and how his imagination led to—in some ways—Richard Flanagan’s father’s unlikely survival from a war camp to be a remarkable feat of memory and creativity.

I both want to get to the end and linger in it FOREVER! You? Have you read it?

Mixed-Bag Pick: Sympathy Tower Tokyo

I’m finding this one slow. It’s very smart, very elegant, but it’s not really holding me. It’s SO short so I figured I’d just be done right away, but it’s very intellectual so it’s taking me time to parse the work—also, not a lot happens, so it’s not pulling me out of the domestic in the way I need. Over the next few weeks, I’ll finish it for sure, but I’m not certain I love this.

You? Tell me, how’s the reading going? Is there something else you’ve loved that you think we might like for summer? Have you read any of our books yet?

Thank you as ever for being here with me. Your support, comments and connection are invaluable. While I wait to hear back from my agent on how the submission of my book is going out in the world, YOU really lift me up.

xoxo

Alice

If you’re new here, my name is Alice Kuipers and I’m a writer, mother and dog & cat-owner transplanted twenty years ago to the Canadian prairies from England.

I’ve published fifteen books in 36 countries and my writing has been described as:

For storytellers and story lovers—Kirkus Reviews

Gorgeous, heart-ripping, important—VOYA

Intense and wonderful—Bif Naked.

Join me for coffee breaks, book conversations, and to share a writing life together.

Xoxo