Literary Wormholes

As far as vanity metrics are concerned, I’m pleased to report that I’ve been working through about a book per week this year while diversifying my library.

After years of exclusively reading science-fiction and fantasy novels, philosophy, personal development, biographies, and Japanese fiction have entered the mix…

Which has me thinking about what I can only call “the magic of reading”.

So, dear reader, sit back and strap in for a few minutes. By cracking open this Whimsie, you’ve been whisked into The Guild of Literary Adventurers. Welcome!

Side effects of being a Literary Adventurer may include sudden existential revelations, unshakable attachments to fictional characters, speaking in outdated slang, and a deeper understanding of the world you were born into—and yourself.

Each book you stumble into is a hungry wormhole, eager to pull you into new realms, but know that some will require extra time to stabilize. (Some books suck you in immediately, others demand patience before they unfold their magic.)

Re-entry into reality can be jarring. You may experience mild disorientation, post-book blues, and a yearning to discuss plot points with confused bystanders.

For you see, reading isn’t simply a pastime, but a portal-hopping experience. Every book, a new door. Each page, a step deeper into a new world—while rewiring yours. 

Fiction pulls you into rich, beautiful landscapes woven from ink and imagination. You might wake up one morning in a medieval castle, only to find yourself sprinting through a cyberpunk city by noon before having dinner on a Tahitian island.

Non-fiction, on the other hand, infiltrates your mind, body, and spirit, infusing you with new ideas, challenging your perspectives, and broadening your outlook.

Historical books smuggle you through time, revealing secrets long forgotten. One moment, you're shoulder to shoulder with revolutionaries, the next, you’re witnessing the construction of wonders long turned to ruin, or suffering through calamity.

Biographies and memoirs slip you into another person’s life, where you feel their triumphs, tragedies, and childhood embarrassments as if they were your own.

Science and philosophy are the real brain-benders. You crack open a book expecting answers and walk away with a head full of questions. One chapter in, you’re nodding along. Three chapters later, you’re staring at the ceiling, reconsidering reality.

And self-development is the Trojan horse of transformation. You might sit down for a quick read, when suddenly your entire worldview is under renovation… Good, I say.

In other words:

Every book leaves a trace—a lingering whisper, reshaping how you see the world, and yourself. When you pick up a book, you’re not just reading:

You’re expanding.

Reading sharpens the way you experience reality. 

Consider how a beautifully written novel makes you notice the small magics in your daily life—sunlight filtering through the trees, the poetry of everyday conversations, the scent of worn leather, the silence that emerges when you focus on something.

Or how a great self-development book makes you approach your days differently, with new habits, thoughts, and perspectives nudging at the edges of your actions.

So read not just to escape, although that’s perfectly okay, but to gain sharper eyes, a fuller heart, and a mind more open to possibility and the experience of others. 

Even the books you don’t love hold precious lessons—what you disagree with, what challenges your sense of self, what bores or repels you. That too, is part of the adventure.

With love from the forest,

~ Alexander