Felicitations Newsletter #3
When do you declare book bankruptcy? Also would you like some books?
It happened in the middle of the night last week. I was woken by my phone buzzing with like, ten texts in a row. I knew it had to be my mom. I wasn’t worried, because there was NO part of me that thought it was an emergency. She likes to link me dozens of baby lemur videos at 2am, and I know this about her. Too well.
I usually turn on airplane mode to protect my sleep, but I’d been busy playing a fantasy anime golf game on the phone before I turned off the light (as women my age do, right?) and must have forgotten. So I woke up and was SUPER irritated. Especially since I was in the middle of a dream about renovating a castle with the hot Bridgerton Duke actor. I needed to know where that dream was going, he was holding a WRENCH SHIRTLESS last thing I remembered!! I would’ve turned over and gone back to sleep, but I knew “Phase Two” of 2am mom-texting is a ton of political articles back to back and possibly a possum or flying fox video (or seven). Basically, she would not be stopping soon. I had to get the phone on airplane mode on, stat.
So I’m flailing around trying to grab the phone in the dark, eye mask half on my head, earplugs popping out from the effort, my head was definitely still trying to cling to the Regency-renovation dream, when…WHOOSH. BOOM. CRASH. OUCH!
An avalanche.
Of books.
Fell on my head.
No, my nose didn’t get broken so I could go to the ENT and fix the bridge bump like I’ve always fantasized about, but I did get a terrible hit on the head, and my dream with Rege-Jean Paige SLIPPED AWAY INSTANTLY. (We were about to install a claw-foot tub together, y’all, this was A+ stuff!) I sat up in bed and had to dump like twenty books off of me. And the next day, after I tripped on all of them because they were in a sloppy stack next to my bed but I STILL didn’t slip and break my nose so I could fix the bridge bump, I told myself, “Felicia. You gotta clean this literary junk yard UP.”
I’m a book hoarder. There are stacks in every single room in the house, but the bedroom is where they achieve awe-inspiring heights. It’s always been a bad habit of mine, buying books, but since I had a baby it’s gotten worse, because my buying habits haven’t slowed down, but my reading pace has CONSIDERABLY. I used to read 3-4 books a week. But because of hormonal issues, lack of sleep, anxiety and other FUN mental issues I’ve had since becoming a parent, I literally couldn’t read fiction before bed for years because my body would get too excited/tense/anxious to sleep. Remember when women were sent away for “nerves”? That was me from 2017-mid 2020! So I switched my reading habits to snore-worthy genres like theoretical math, philosophy and ancient Greek literature in order to deal with my insomnia. (Side benefit: I can sound 20% more pretentious!) I got more sleep, but where I used to read a book in a day, the newer “heavier” subjects would take me a few weeks to get through (if I ever got through them without falling asleep. I mean, my insomnia thanks you, but I will NEVER be able to recall anything about string theory. Sorry.)
Basically, things had built up. And I had to do a purge. The problem is…how do you get rid of a book?! I’m not a MONSTER. Getting rid of a book is like saying to yourself, “Nope, I’m just never going to get to this one, even though the reviews are wonderful and I’m two degrees away from the author. I have to declare on this day, 2-13-2021 that I, Felicia Day, will die without ever having read this book!” It’s impossible! I need to maintain the delusion that I’m an infinite being and will read every single book ever. Don’t push me into a crisis about my mortality by making me get rid of “Are You There Vodka, it’s Me Chelsea.” I’LL GET TO YOU ONE DAY, HANDLER, PROMISE!
But, as I gazed at the small-town library’s worth of books in my bedroom, I knew I had to nut up. For my own safety. So I started to cull. I did that Marie Kondo thing (great book!) and got rid of anything that didn’t give me joy, that I wouldn’t want to read immediately if I could seal myself in a time-space continuum. I was ruthless. And realistic. And I was able to cull the area around my bed so it wasn’t a fire hazard anymore. Go me!
But when I looked at the pile to be donated at the end of my purge session…I started bawling. Seriously. Because I couldn’t let go. And then I told myself: Girl, this is weird you’re crying over books. But sometimes you’re just not READY to make a move. And that’s okay! You took a swing at self-improvement, and now you know you’re not quite ready to improve right now!
So I took a deep breath. Went to the kitchen. Had a cupcake. Went to the shed. Got a box. And boxed up all the books I’d separated out for donation. I took the box to the shed, and put the box on a top shelf and wrote on the side “revisit 2-16-22”.
If I don’t get excited about those books in a year, I will get rid of them. (Maybe.) But right now I need to keep them around. If only to reassure myself:
“Sometimes, a book is just a book, and not a commentary on your mortality and how you’ve changed as a person, Felicia. Now please put that fantasy anime golf game on your phone down and read that romance book about a Duke renovating a chalet instead. You’ll definitely thank me for it.” ;)
Interesting Links:
I made these incredible corn muffins with Instant Pot Chili last week. SO GOOD! Had to share!
Check out this incredible video reproduction project of ancient Rome. Can’t wait until the day when we can see things like this in AR, overlaid on Rome itself.
“Boomer” is a bad word, but I guess they have cool hobbies based on this Twitter thread.
Lastly, I loved this adorbs art of Wanda and Vision. Loving the show too!
Personal (Also Interesting) Links:
“Rule of Cool”, the LitRPG book I narrate, is finally out! Click here: https://geni.us/RuleOfCool to nab it on Audible. Very funny and VERY geeky!
I will be hosting the GISH Scavenger Hunt on March 6-7th. The theme is “Wizards and Weirdos” (I’m so typecast lol). Sign up here!
My Twitch streaming schedule is HERE. FYI I’m out of town Feb 22-27. After I get back I’ll be doing a special LitRPG roundtable with prominent authors of the genre, join me on Twitch, March 1rst from 3-4pm PST!
As always if you like it, subscribe to this newsletter. It’s not too spammy, right?!
Let me know your favorite parts of the newsletter please! Do you want more links? Less essay? More pictures? Love to hear your feedback in the comments or on Twitter.
Write you in two weeks! In the meantime, join my Discord channel for a great community! <3
oxox
Felicia
I love the interesting links, reminds me of the Flog and, like it is on the tin, are interesting! Keep up the good work!
This is so much like me that I had to read it aloud to my partner (who also agreed it was definitely an AU version of my life). I have books that I can’t even think of letting out of my life without a serious sob session. Thanks (truly) for making me feel a little bit less like a crazy person. 💖