Books That Saved Me

Finding refuge in an accessible, classic Buddhist text after my mother's suicide

(this post contains subjects that may be upsetting, including suicide and addiction. please take care of yourself)

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I have to offer with this newsletter. What do I have to give that is of value? Not valuable in the capitalist sense, but valuable in a sense of comfort? Because that is what I’ve always been drawn to as a writer— comfort and connection. It’s what I seek above all else in writing. I’ve had enough violence in my own life; I don’t need that in my books, though I am willing to witness violence if it means understanding someone’s personal experience or the shape of a character.

While I value formal complexity in fiction and nonfiction, that’s also not what I seek, at least not on its own. As a reader, I want to learn something from everything I read.

I wonder if everyone has books that have saved their lives. It’s not just me, I know this. Many writers who write books that may be scary to them, about their private and personal experiences (wh…