Good Stories and the Brain’s Stewpot

Posted On January 9, 2021

Have you ever stayed up past midnight reading a novel? I have. Multiple times. Usually it’s when I’m reading a new book, one I haven’t read before. If it’s a part of a series, that’s even better, because then I have more to look forward to.

Sometimes I wonder what it is that makes a story good, what makes it worth reading. Some books I put down halfway because I suddenly realize it’s fluff and I have better things to spend my time on. What makes a good book different? What makes a story worth reading?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot as I’ve been hunting down good books. Not every book I read is good, I know. Sometimes fluff is what my brain wants.

For clarification, fluff is my term for writing that is extra-dramatized, usually contains a lot of excitement, and doesn’t have strong morals or characters. The sort of thing you read in sixth grade, you know. Stories that you don’t want to imitate in your own life, but for some reason you can’t seem to put down. Fluff is different for each person, I suppose. Some people, even people I know, love books that I may consider on the border of fluff. I guess I may possibly have very high standards. Anyway, there you go. Fluff!

Now that that’s cleared up, I can go on. Well, I am always looking for the next good book. Sometimes I will check out enormous stacks of novels from the library, only to read parts of each of them and declare half of them beneath my notice. You never know until you try reading something whether it’ll be good or bad!

Sometimes it seems that the world is drowning in bad literature. Books that seem that they should never have been published in the first place, because they will most definitely rot your brain and cause you to become a mushroom. You know, things like vampire books and middle school romances and teenage dramas. Those sorts of things are okay in small quantities, I tell myself, but I don’t want to only read that. (Okay, I don’t want to read vampire books at all!)

Most books that I would consider good have love, adventure, and redemption in some form or another. Good books are ones that will make me laugh and cry and see the world in a new way. Even if it’s small. There are family books, that display family life in a great, wholesome way. There are adventure books about unlikely heroes who love the truth and usually end up saving the world.

There are so many different kinds of good books, each that bring different elements.

Sometimes I like to think of my brain as a giant pot. Everything I consume – read, listen to, watch – it all goes in the pot and becomes a stew called my thoughts.

I want my mind to be filled with good things, because I want to say and write good things. I want good things to flow from me, so I need to be careful what I fill myself with, even if it means not reading or watching what everyone else is. But sometimes a little bit of fluff doesn’t affect the stew too much. It’s just when I want it to be the only thing I consume that I need to be cautious.

Some things are worth reading even if they contain things I don’t need to dwell on. Some movies are okay to watch, even if they aren’t the thing I want to become obsessed with. You know, I’ve learned that even when I mess up, it’s not too late to keep trying. I continue my search for goodness in the world of storytelling.

You know, while I’m at it, here’s a list of some of my favorite books, ones that I feel confident are good and wholesome.

• The Wingfeather Saga. An amazing series, highly recommended for those who love adventure and family.
• The Green Ember series. If you like swords and rabbits and yearn for goodness, read these books!
• The Vanderbeekers series. Very good family-oriented books, perfect for a large family and very funny!
• The Penderwicks series. Also a very good family-oriented series, about four sisters and the boy next door. Will make you laugh!

There are so many others I could mention, but that’s enough for now. I’m planning on writing reviews for my favorite books and movies, so that will be fun!

I hope you fill your stew pot with good things, and be on the lookout for good stories!

Photo by Roman Krafton on Unsplash.