Festival Newsletter: December 2017

Dear Friend of the Festival,

In last month’s newsletter, we asked you why you read. And you — you wonderfully curious, insatiable, driven people — answered that you read, above all else, to expand your minds with new ideas. How lucky we all are to be surrounded by others who are forever seeking knowledge and growth.

Some of you scribbled between the lines of our poll, so to speak, and sent in your own explanations for why you choose to pick up a book. Some said they read to understand themselves, while others look for insight into others’ lives.One reader had explored the topic extensively in a blog post, proving that perhaps there’s no easy explanation for the joy of reading. One common thread between all responses: we all agree we have much to learn. So let’s help each other get there — onward, to open minds, fulfilling discussion, and an ever-growing passion for literature.


Noteworthy: 10 Lit Links Worth Reading

1. Now that you’re caught up on Stranger Things, why not binge with a book instead2. Don’t let writer’s block get you down. Even astronauts struggle with their memoirs. 3. The infinite legacy of David Foster Wallace. 4. It’s not too late:32 short books so you can reach your 2017 reading goal. 5. What’s that saying about well behaved women in history? 6. How live streaming may breed a new form of unfiltered storytelling. 7. A succinct summation: “complicit” is the 2017 word of the year. 8.complicated relationship between the women in the Odyssey and their female translator. 9. The poetic meme that plum dumbfounded the internet. 10. Sentence fragments and a fluid definition of literature.

The Fine Print: Here’s what we’re reading

“Pashmina” by Nidhi Chanani

We were mesmerized by “Pashmina,” a graphic novel by Nidhi Chanani for middle-graders. In a starred review, the School and Library Journal said, “This dazzling blend of realistic fiction and fantasy is perfect for fans of characters who have to overcome obstacles on their way to growing up.”


A Poem for You Right Now

“Holidays” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The holiest of all holidays are those
Kept by ourselves in silence and apart;
The secret anniversaries of the heart,
When the full river of feeling overflows;—
The happy days unclouded to their close;
The sudden joys that out of darkness start
As flames from ashes; swift desires that dart
Like swallows singing down each wind that blows!
White as the gleam of a receding sail,
White as a cloud that floats and fades in air,
White as the whitest lily on a stream,
These tender memories are;— a Fairy Tale
Of some enchanted land we know not where,
But lovely as a landscape in a dream.


Read on!

Bay Area Book Festival