How Her Love of Reading Led to So Much More

Guest writer Francine Clouden gives an insight to her reading life and how reading, journaling and crafting enriches her life today

Hi readers,

Well, I’m back again and on the correct day this time. After my “egg on face” mistake last week, I’ll be more careful scheduling the newsletters from now on. I intended to send Happy Friday Links on Friday and not on Tuesday, but I messed up in scheduling the newsletter. Oh well, live and learn.

I have another guest writer today, and I can’t wait for you to meet her. I don’t remember how I found her newsletter, but I’m so glad I did.

Francine Clouden

combines her love of reading, crafting, and journaling in her weekly newsletter,

The Callaloo Collective

. I asked Francine if she would be interested in writing a guest post about books and reading and what both mean to her life; readers, she did just that and a whole lot more. Welcome to SoNovelicious, Francine!

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Thanks, Gayla; I’m happy to be here.

Whenever I see people in Facebook groups ask, "what's the book that got you into reading?" or "when did you fall in love with reading?" I smile wryly and scroll on. I can't remember a time in my life when I wasn't reading or didn't love reading. I've read pretty much every genre through the years, but in my 50s, my favorites are literary fiction, fantasy, science-fiction, and magical realism. With a touch of mystery/thriller now and then.

Reading permeates my life, and happily, my family (husband and teenage son) are along for the bookish life. Our house is filled with stacks of books that fall over if you get too close to them (we're getting new shelves really soon!). It's rare for a day to go by where I haven't read for at least 30 minutes. My Kindle paperwhite accompanies me out of the house (you never know when you'll have to wait in line or something), and unless I am absolutely exhausted, I always read (on paper) before bed. Speaking of the Kindle, did anyone else initially reject them, then have to eat their words?

While it's my belief that reading is a solitary activity (please don't talk to me while I am reading!), I was happy to discover Goodreads and then the wider bookish community online. Many years ago, I was part of an actual in-person book club, and it's definitely something that was missing in my life. Finding Goodreads helped me get out of the major reading slump I experienced after my son was born; I was just so tired. I immediately jumped on the reading goal idea. I love reading (and other creative) goals because I have found that they encourage me to make time for the things that are meaningful to me.

Now, I not only run my own online book club, Sister Reads, but I also belong to the Caribbean Book Club that formed during the pandemic. I’m part of a monthly book review television show out of St. Vincent & the Grenadines called Page Turners+, which reviews books by Caribbean authors and interviews those authors when possible. Being involved in these three communities and Bookstagram has taken my reading to a whole new level. I find myself much more discerning in the books and authors that I choose to read. While I'm not opposed to the occasional light, happy, feel-good story, I am much more interested in stories that make me think, teach me something, help me to understand others, and completely immerse me in an interesting world or way of thought. 

In Sister Reads, we choose a variety of books by authors of all backgrounds and nationalities, and we have a lovely core community of members attending our very relaxed monthly meetings. We welcome kindred spirits, so feel free to drop by and check us out. Some of my favorite books from book club and personal reading over the last few years have been from authors such as Jojo Moyes, Colson Whitehead, Elizabeth Acevedo, Ann Patchett, and many others.

I also feel like I should mention that along with reading e-books and paper books, I also listen to audiobooks. Like the Kindle, I initially resisted them, not because I questioned their validity, but because my mind would wander while I listened. I found myself building my own imaginary world inside my head or thinking about my to-do list and completely missing the story. Eventually, I hit upon the perfect thing to do while listening: I knit or crochet. Keeping my hands and that part of my brain occupied while listening freed me up to be more attentive to the audio. I always recommend this to people who say they can’t do audio. Not necessarily knitting or crocheting, but finding something they can do while listening to help them focus. Now audiobooks are also a big part of the way that I consume all the magnificent stores out there.

A companion to my reading life is my notebook life. I'm notoriously disorganized, and finding the bullet journal system in 2015 completely revolutionized my life, and that's not an exaggeration! Now after almost eight years, I have tweaked my system so that I have a basic bullet journal that is the hub of my system (with all my tasks, appointments, and deadlines) and several supporting notebooks for things like business planning and journaling, reading journaling and craft projects.

I now take a very simple, even minimalistic approach to my notebooks and planning. It’s definitely function over form, but as a longtime lover of stationery and a paper crafter, I am drawn to all the fun bits like stickers, washi tape, and colored pens and markers. But my core value in journaling is to keep it simple.  

One of my treasured notebooks for 2023 is the one I am using to journal my word for 2023. I choose a guiding word each year and use various journaling prompts and exercises to help me keep that word close all year. This year I am sharing that process with others (through my Substack) who want to ensure that their word of the year makes an actual difference in their life.

Suffice it to say that reading and journaling are essential and meaningful to me and my daily routine. I simply can’t imagine my life without them.

Francine, also known as The Organised Crafterbrain, is a multi-passionate creative who spends her days between arts, crafts, teaching English, cooking, gardening, reading, mothering, and building a community of like-minded, heart-centered souls. 

She loves all things planning and journals and has turned her own systems and ideas into notebooks, planners, and journals to help other creatives and readers like herself.

She can be found at all the following places: Website | Newsletter | Bookstagram | Instagram | Book Club | Patreon | Planners and Journals

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Thank you so much, Francine, for being here and sharing your love of books, reading, and journaling with us. It’s easy to see how important reading is in your life, and I just love the pictures of your journals. I joined Sister Reads a month ago but wasn’t aware of the Caribbean Book Club; I’m off to join it too. You can get to know Francine better and enjoy more of the bookish goodness she creates through one of the links above.

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The bookish newsletter community on Substack grows larger every day, and my reading life has been enriched by creators like Francine, whom I’ve met in the last couple of years. I’m excited to meet and work with other bookish newsletter creators and will have more guest posts in the near future. Until next week, happy reading!