Thankful for stories: how books anchor us during the holidays

As the holidays approach, our lives often feel packed with family obligations, travel, and the endless bustle of preparation. It’s easy to get swept up in the chaos, but there’s a quiet refuge I return to every year: stories. Books have a way of anchoring us, even during the busiest, most stressful times, offering both comfort and connection.

I’m grateful for the ways reading bridges generations—like the book you lent your sister, or the series your grandma read to you as a child, which she also read to your father and that you eventually shared with your own kids. Stories create shared experiences across time, connecting us in ways that linger long after the last page is turned.

Reading has also made me a better person. Studies show that readers often develop more empathy, and I feel that in every novel I finish. When I step into another character’s life, experience their fears, joys, and triumphs, it changes how I see the world. It helps me understand perspectives I might never encounter otherwise.

Writing stories gives me another layer of gratitude. Through my own novels, like If You Didn’t See It Coming, I have the chance to share my experiences and insights with readers—not by lecturing, but by letting them feel what I want them to understand. The magic of storytelling lies in this emotional resonance: readers don’t just read the words, they experience them, feeling lessons, struggles, and victories as if they were their own. That power—to guide someone’s heart and mind with nothing but words—is something I never take for granted.

This holiday season, I’m thankful for every story I’ve read and written, for the lessons learned, the empathy gained, and the connections forged through the simple act of sharing a tale. Stories remind us that even amid hectic schedules, the noise of life, and the pressures of family and obligations, there is always space to pause, reflect, and feel.

What books or stories are you grateful for this season? Which ones have helped you see the world—or yourself—more clearly? I’d love to hear your reflections in the comments.

Now available in print and on Kindle!

Within these pages, you’ll encounter merpeople and vampires, terrifying nights in the wilderness, the quiet horror of domestic violence, poisonous plants, the extremes of human appetite, and all the small and large ways life can unsettle us.

From horror and speculative fiction to literary explorations of shadow and chaos, this anthology invites readers to step into the eerie, the strange, and the unknowable. Witness what rises with the bad moon—and confront the unsettling truths that linger there.

For fans of We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Push, and Baby Teeth.