I hope everyone is having a lovely Thanksgiving weekend here in America. The past few years have been rough. The effects of COVID are long-reaching, from losing loved ones to losing jobs, and the world is still limping along, trying to find its feet again.
It’s better this year for many of us.
I am grateful for that.
I am grateful for many luxuries that some people cannot afford, from candles to warm blankets to the food in my cupboards.
I am grateful for my husband, who makes me laugh every day. And for my son, who has grown taller than me and finds this fact quite entertaining.
I am grateful for books and bookstores and authors who plug away at their craft every day so that I can visit new and exciting worlds.
And I am always, always grateful for Readers. Not just the ones who pick up my work, but readers across the globe who pick up anyone’s work and explore what it means to be human through the written word. And I don’t care what genre you prefer either.
You enjoy romance novels? Great! So do I!
Prefer Young Adult? That’s amazing! Some of my favorite books are categorized there!
Don’t listen to the snobs who insist that you should be focused on one type of book over another. They’re absolutely wrong and they can come fight me for it if they want. In a world that is increasingly digital, where you can flick through TikTok/Facebook/Twitter or choose a streaming service to get your stories on a screen rather than in book form, it is beyond wonderful that you choose to read a novel instead.
Now, I enjoy movies and shows as much as the next person. So don’t get me wrong. I never would have discovered the Grishaverse were it not for Shadow and Bone on Netflix. (Which, by the way, Thank you Netflix for producing this one! My husband and I devoured several novels because of this.)
What else am I grateful for this year?
Honestly, the list is so long I’ve been writing it down in my journal all month. But suffice, I am counting my blessings this Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I hope you are equally blessed.
AJMaguire - Author 