When I taught horseback riding lessons I was extremely fond of education and mathematic analogies. It works well when you’re trying to teach someone that the reason their horse doesn’t want to do x thing is because the horse is in elementary school and you’re trying to teach it calculus. Analogies and metaphor are fantastic ways to communicate with an audience (despite what the great J.R.R. Tolkien believed).
Today, I’m going to use food to explain why you should read far outside your comfort zone even if you only read for leisure. Even if you only have a few minutes to read and want to read comforting things. You are missing out.
Spaghetti Bolognese is my comfort food. It’s my reliable favorite that if we’re ordering from a restaurant that offers it, you can be pretty well guaranteed I’m going to order it. It’s probably what I’m cooking tonight. But good god, if I ate it 3x a day 365 days a year, I’d never eat it again. If you talk to the average reader, that’s exactly what they do. Only mysteries, only fantasy, only romance. Or—perhaps less intentionally—only within their own racial experience.
When my mom asked for my birthday wish list, I remember her remarking that there were so many non-white authors on my list that it made her think about her own reading choices. I can understand where there may be some push back starting with you, reader. The initial eye-rolling with “I like fantasy, and I don’t pay attention to what color the author’s skin is or the ethnicity of their name, I just pick up a story that looks good.” to which I say: purchase with intention. Pay attention to what books you tend to glance past and stop instead. Ask yourself why aren’t you interested in that kind of story. I tend to avoid romance stories like the plague, yet one of my favourite ancient Rome gladiatorial combat books is a Christian romance.
We all have prejudices. Reading stories outside those comfort zones means adding more to your diet than your favourite meal. If you say “Well, I have no interest in xyz culture, so why should I read about it?” I ask: how do you know? If you never expand your boundaries, if you keep your reading insulated to one style of thinking, you’re missing out. There is a plethora of experiences in this wide world of fiction and non-fiction. I implore you to try them out. If I’d only stuck to bolognese, I’d never discovered how absolutely amazing spicy tuna poke is.
In 2021, I hope you try the poke.
L.J.
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
In no particular order:
The Fox Woman, by Kij Johnson
Kitchen, by Banana Yoshimoto (Translated by Megan Backus)
The Vegetarian, by Han Kang
The Storyteller’s Secret, by Sejal Badani
Trail of Broken Wings, by Sejal Badani
The Mango Bride, by Marivi Blanco
The City of Brass, by S.A. Chakraborty
Gods of Jade and Shadow, by Silva Moreno-Garcia
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, by Carol Anderson
The Tiger at Midnight, by Swati Teerdhala
A Woman Is No Man, by Etaf Rum
Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor
Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi
Shahnameh, by Ferdowsi (recommend listening to the Audible edition)
The Poppy War, by R.F. Kuang
Sea Prayer, by Khaled Hosseini
A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini
And The Mountains Echoed, by Khaled Hosseini
Black Leopard, Red Wolf, by Marlon James
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