Novel Finds

Sorry guys, there’s no essay in your inbox today. (Cue the tears). Not to despair! This is because in my spare time this week I’ve finally been able to focus on a passion project for my socials and I want share it with you, too!

I’m starting a signature series called “Novel Finds” where I read one book a week picked from a thrift store in the interest of finding good stories. This project birthed a few months ago for two main reasons. The first one—described in the above video— is the disgust I felt from walking into beloved bookstores only to find almost all fictional bestsellers feature smut, fairy-merman-werewolf-fantasy based storylines, or far left teenage-ry narratives. The sole reason these don’t appeal is that they are immoral and gross material to use as nourishment for your noggin.

The second reason is, as a recovering English major, I’ve discovered every time I attempt to read for fun there’s a little literary theory devil sitting on my left shoulder telling me to analyze the text from a Marxist or postmodern perspective. Of course, I reply, “No! Go away that’s not how fiction is supposed to be read.” And then it snickers and sticks its tiny pitchfork in my ear canal.

But seriously, I haven’t been able to sit down to simply enjoy a story in years. Through this journey of reading a fictional book a week—no matter if it’s a genre or narrative I’d usually be interested in—I’ve begun to destroy the prison of literary theory and unshackle my cerebrum from the rot of criticism as I read. And it’s oh so sweet.

This series supports the mission of Softly She Speaks to encourage readers and writers to create with the same purpose and intention God used when He created the world, when He created you, by illustrating how this is done well (and badly) across all genres and story structures. As more people become inspired by this mission, we can hopefully return to a culture where good stories are shared without the unnecessary sprinkling of smut or radical political theory.

On top of attempting to create my own narratives and poems rooted purely in the Imago Dei and life (as most of you guys are too, actually!) this series seeks to uncover the good, true, and beautiful in stories which remain hidden on a dusty thrift-book shelf.

You can follow along on Instagram, TikTok, or download the Substack app so you can watch it, here. (I won’t be sending any emails with these videos in them as this isn’t the usual content you subscribe to. :) It’s @softly.shespeaks everywhere else on the internet.

Next week we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming. Thank you!

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kimberlyacharest.substack.com