Thankful for books!To our American readers: Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays here at Fanlit. A time we normally set aside for family, close friends, and (of course) good food. A time to consider how grateful we are for those and other aspects of our lives. A chance to reflect on the larger perspective than perhaps our daily lives don’t leave us much time for.

This year, of course, is different. The time we’ll set aside for family will be Facetime. Our close friends haven’t been close enough for far too long. Our food will be less elaborate, come in smaller portions, and no, it won’t taste as good. Little, if anything this year, is “as good.” And while we’ll still take time to reflect, much of that will be on what is missing, and for too many of us, who is missing. At our tables. In our lives.

Oftentimes, we in the fantasy/science fiction world bristle when non-fans disdainfully label our genre, “escapist.” I’m not going to argue with that here. Because instead, I want to own it. Because escape? I could go for some of that right about now.

Because when I sit down at that table, one of the things I’m going to be thankful for is how this year I was able to “escape” into the many-statued House in Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi, the desert setting of Bradley P. Beaulieu’s SHATTERED SANDS series, the Renaissance Italy of  Jo Walton’s Lent. Into the grittily profane Arthurian world of Lavie Tidhar’s By Force Alone and  whatever the hell lyrically surreal world Jeff VanderMeer sent me to in Dead Astronauts. Into the richly detailed universe — um, “Cosmere” — of Brandon Sanderson, who with his 1200+-page Rhythm of War says, “You want escape? Hold my beer.”

So yeah, escapism? Where do I sign up?

So where did you escape this year? What worlds did you disappear into for at least a little while? What wardrobes did you step through and where did you end up? Where did this tornado of a year land you, and what sort of respite from the world did you find there? And when you came back and opened your eyes back up to this tough, hard-on-the-eyes-and-spirit world of today, what moments did you recall, as if they were a wondrous dream, all in bright vivid color?

Answer as many of our questions as you like. One random commenter will win a book from our stacks. We hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!

Author

  • Bill Capossere

    BILL CAPOSSERE, who's been with us since June 2007, lives in Rochester NY, where he is an English adjunct by day and a writer by night. His essays and stories have appeared in Colorado Review, Rosebud, Alaska Quarterly, and other literary journals, along with a few anthologies, and been recognized in the "Notable Essays" section of Best American Essays. His children's work has appeared in several magazines, while his plays have been given stage readings at GEVA Theatre and Bristol Valley Playhouse. When he's not writing, reading, reviewing, or teaching, he can usually be found with his wife and son on the frisbee golf course or the ultimate frisbee field.