What Fiction Teaches Us About Being Human

Season 3, Episode 9

In this episode of Your Next Chapter, I’m exploring the deeper purpose of stories through two incredible novels: Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller and The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes.

We’re talking about:
• Why fiction matters so much
• How stories shape empathy
• Why books are often feared throughout history
• Access to stories and censorship
• The emotional power of reading
• Why fiction may be more important now than ever before

This conversation is spoiler free and perfect for readers, writers, book clubs, and anyone who has ever felt changed by a story.

Plus, I created free companion book club guides for both novels and a bonus comparison guide if you read them back-to-back. 

***NOTE*** These resources will be on their own tab on my website (www.rebeccahasulak.com) soon, but for now, please contact me here: https://www.rebeccahasulak.com/get-in-touch to request them and I'll send them your way. 

Take a listen, and let’s talk about what fiction teaches us about being human.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:14

Welcome back to your next chapter, the podcast for women who read, write, and live creatively. I'm your host, Rebecca Hasselak. And today I'm really excited about this episode. I'm taking it in a little bit of a different direction than I normally do. And as the tagline says, this podcast is for women who love reading, writing, and living creatively. So we are zeroing in on books. And let me kind of give you a little breakdown of how it's gonna go. The topic is actually about what fiction teaches us about being human. And I think it is such an important topic, especially right now, as we are battling for kids' attention spans and trying to get them back to a love of reading and getting them to choose books over screens and things like that, but also just the general population. We all can benefit from reading more. And next week's episode is going to go into a little bit more about what fiction can actually do for us on a physiological level, which is pretty cool. And I'm excited about that one too. But this is more about what it teaches us about humanity and about who we are as people. So, in order to have this conversation, I am going to be talking about two books in particular. And you guys, they are books about books. So gear up for a very bookish episode. And I hope you're ready and I hope you love it. The first is Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books, and that's written by Kirsten Miller. And the second one is The Giver of Stars, and that's written by Jojo Moyes. So if you haven't read these, I'm not going to give away any spoilers. I will read you a little description of each just so you understand the basics of what we're talking about. But these will be the lens through which we are discussing what fiction actually teaches us about being human. In Lula Dean's little library of banned books, a small southern town becomes the center of a heated debate over censorship, community, and the power of stories. Beverly Underwood and her longtime rival, Lula Dean, find themselves on opposite sides of a campaign to remove, quote-unquote, inappropriate books from the local library, even though Lula hasn't actually read most of the titles she condemns. Convinced she's saving the town, Lula creates her own lending library filled with acceptable books, only to have a prankster secretly replace them with banned titles hidden beneath the original dust jackets. As neighbors begin borrowing the books, unexpected transformations ripple through the community, opening minds, healing relationships, and exposing buried truths. Meanwhile, Beverly and Lula face off in a tense mayoral race that forces the entire town to confront what kind of place Troy Georgia wants to become. Funny, sharp, and surprisingly heartfelt, the novel blends satire with warmth while celebrating the life-changing impact of books and the people brave enough to defend them. So, this is a great read. It is satirical and it is funny, but it also has a lot of depth. So highly recommend it. The other book we'll be talking about takes a different look at the world of books. The Giver of Stars follows Alice Wright, a young Englishwoman who marries an American in hopes of escaping her constrained life back home, only to discover that rural Kentucky feels just as suffocating. Living under the watchful eye of her controlling father-in-law, Alice jumps at the chance to join a traveling library program inspired by Eleanor Roosevelt's efforts to bring books to isolated communities during the Great Depression. Alongside the fiercely independent Marjorie O'Hare and three other remarkable women, Alice becomes one of the pack horse librarians of Kentucky, riding through mountains and dangerous terrain to deliver books to people who have never had access to them before. As the women form deep friendships and challenge the expectations placed on them, they face gossip, hardship, violence, and threats from powerful men determined to keep the status quo intact. The novel explores literacy, freedom, love, and resilience while highlighting the quiet but revolutionary act of putting books into the hands of those hungry for knowledge. Inspired by a true historical program, the story is both sweeping and intimate, celebrating women who risked everything to expand opportunity and connection in forgotten corners of America. All right, so there you have it, the two books that we are discussing. The reason I started to think about this episode is because I started seeing sort of a weird trend on social media. I would see a post, and I've seen more than one, I mean I've probably seen a handful at this point, where people would be basically saying that we need to read more and reading is so important, and they would actually specify nonfiction reading. Now, I have nothing against nonfiction reading. I love reading. Nonfiction is great, but to put fiction at a tier beneath nonfiction is kind of outrageous, in my opinion. Fiction is every bit as valuable as nonfiction. And this is sort of what got me thinking about this. Not only what fiction reading actually does for us on a physiological level, like I said we'll talk about next week, but also what it does for us on a human level. And so for anyone out there who doesn't think fiction reading is worth your time or who thinks it's a silly pursuit, hang in with us here. I hope I'm gonna change your mind by the end of these couple of weeks. So the fact is, in my opinion, fiction doesn't just tell us stories, it shapes how we understand people, truth, and even what we're allowed to think. This is the reason that books have been considered dangerous throughout history. Because as you can see in Lula Dean's little library banned books, people get nervous sometimes when new ideas and equal access to information starts to become prevalent, starts to become accessible to people that maybe certain people would rather oppress. The point is that fiction helps us process emotion, gives us a safe way to explore stories, scenarios, relationships, and emotions that maybe we either don't want to experience in our own lives or haven't experienced in our own lives. It expands our empathy. This one is huge. The impact that reading fiction has on making someone a more empathetic person is huge. Fiction can also reveal power structures, it preserves humanity, and it shapes what we believe is possible. Fiction does a lot of really hard and really important work, and it does it in a way that is entertaining and enjoyable. So, yay, fiction, you guys, clearly you can tell I'm a little passionate about this. Some stories are there just to entertain us. I'll be honest. There are plenty of stories that are lighter reads. They're just there to be fun, to be a little bit of an escape. But even those stories usually teach us something. And then there are the rest of the books, which frankly, most fiction books are going to teach you something, are going to tap into a layer of humanity that we all could definitely stand to tap into in today's world. So I want to also talk about, I chose these books because I want to talk about what the books reveal about reading itself and why stories matter so much. If you can kind of think about the descriptions I gave you of both of these books, the one about the band books and the one about the Pack Horse Library. They're both about access to books ultimately at their core. Lula Dean's little library of band books, it's a long title, you guys, but it's it's a fun title. It is all about trying to restrict access to certain books that a group of people have deemed to be inappropriate. And then in The Giver of Stars, it's all about people, really, these women, going on these very dangerous journeys in order to give access to books to people who otherwise wouldn't have a chance to read or even become literate in the first place. So they're books about books, they're books about access to books. And when you read them, you realize why reading changes people. The people in these stories are fundamentally changed by the books they read. The course of their lives are fundamentally changed by the books that they read. Books are so powerful. And fiction matters more than ever in the digital age. I mean, yes, we can get information from so many places on our little two-inch by five-inch devices that we like to call our phones. We can get a wealth of information from so many sources. So, yeah, technically, do we have to get it from books? We don't have to, but the richness and the quality of the information that you get when you're reading is unlike anything else. You're not just getting a summary, you're not just getting bullet points, you are being put into the lives of other people. You are being put into other scenarios, you are having to grapple with some really tough questions in life. And it changes you. It really does. So I believe reading and reading fiction, even in particular, matters more than ever right now. In Lula Dean's little library of banned books, they cover themes like censorship, people's fear of ideas, control versus freedom, access to stories, and community influence. So the main thing I want to challenge you to think about, even if you've never read the book, is what happens in a society when certain stories are taken away? It's a good question, right? I don't have the answer for you today. This is kind of a podcast episode to get you to think. Also, who decides what people are allowed to read? What gives someone the qualifications to make those sorts of decisions? And ultimately, the point of this whole story is books are powerful because ideas are powerful. So I'm not talking about this to get up on a soapbox about banned books or about anything like that. You know, there's so many different rabbit holes that you can go down when you're discussing this. As parents, we know our children best, and I think it's a parent's prerogative to determine what maturity level their child is, what reading level their child is, and to give them access to books that are appropriate and will present them with new ideas in a way that is in line with their age and what they are able to grapple with. But as far as larger communities banning books or restricting access, that's when things start to get dangerous. You are essentially restricting free speech at that point and restricting ideas. And when you start doing that, you create a society that is extremely limited and regressive. Most of the people who fear certain books are people who want to suppress certain voices or oppress certain groups of people. And so it makes sense why some of the books that they mention in Lula Dean's Little Library are banned. And fiction honestly can be resistance, can it be a way to fight back against shifts in society that we don't like. It can be a way to challenge the norm and to challenge convention and to stand up for what you believe in. It can present an opportunity for all of that if you're writing it and also if you're reading it. The emotional power of seeing yourself reflected in stories is also something that you don't want to take for granted. When it comes to the giver of stars, the themes are a little bit different, even though it's still about books. It's about delivering books to isolated communities, having courage. I mean, these women had to have so much courage. And it's even more inspiring to me that the Packhorse Library was actually a program that truly happened. It wasn't just something made up for the book. That's so remarkable. It's about friendship, women's independence, stories as connection. I mean, it shows what happens when stories are given freely. So it's kind of the opposite of what happens in Lula Dean's library. In one, books are being restricted and banned. In the other, books are being given freely, even at a high personal cost. It kind of shows you how books can be a bridge between people, how stories create belonging. And I will posit that access to books is a human need. I know it's not on Maslow's hierarchy of needs at the same level where food is and shelter and water and all the basics, but I am going to go out on a limb there and say that access to books is a human need. Fiction helps us to emotionally survive this crazy world we live in. And stories can really connect, especially people who are rather isolated. The people in those Kentucky Mountains were incredibly isolated. A lot of them didn't even know how to read. And by bringing books to them, the Pack Horse Library brought hope and brought information and brought resources and brought them a chance to make a better future for themselves and their children. So there was a lot of bravery involved in sharing knowledge and in making sure that everybody in the community had access to literature. So as you're thinking about this, I want you to think about the role that books have played in your life. Are you actively reading? If so, are you gravitating more toward nonfiction? Are you reading fiction? What has fiction taught you about being human? Do you agree that books have a lot of power? Do you think everyone should have access to books? Or do you agree with censorship and banning? You know, it's just important to take a look at our own ideas and get curious about them. So get curious about how you see books. Have you been seeing fiction as more of an escape method and less of a real form of reading? Have you been kind of underplaying the important role that reading can have in our lives? How do you feel about access to books? And does it make you uncomfortable to think of books being banned? Or on the flip side, does it make you uncomfortable to think about books being given freely? Just get curious. And I think it's really interesting when we dig into topics like this because a lot of the time we'll think that we have a firm point of view. And the more you read one of these stories, or the more you actually think through this issue, the more you realize, wow, there is so much to unpack here. It can make you come to terms with your own biases, your own limitations, your own fears. So I challenge you to do that. And then something really fun that I'm pretty excited about is I have prepared a free resource for anybody who wants it. I am inviting you to come to my website and download this free resource. I'm going to have two different book club guides. One is going to be for Lula Dean's little library of banned books. The other is going to be for the Giver of Stars. And there will be a bonus one there if you happen to go through both books and you want to talk about them both, sort of like we did today, but in a much more expanded version. So those will be some fun resources that I have for you. Go to my website. It's rebeccahasselak.com, www.reb e c A H A S U L A K dot com. And you will see a tab called podcast. And if you click over there, you are going to find these cute little resources. And all you have to do is print them off and have some fun getting deep and thinking about what fiction teaches us about being human and discussing that with your fellow humans. Few things I can imagine being more interesting than those conversations. So I'd love to hear if you enjoy the book club guides. I'd love to hear if there are other books you'd like me to talk about. And I want to leave you with a quick quote. Ralph, although Emerson, who I have quoted before because I love his quotes, said fiction reveals truth that reality obscures. Couldn't have said it better myself, Ralph. So on that note, I encourage you guys to pick up a copy of each of these books, patronize your local library, appreciate the fact that we have free access to books here. And if you don't have it at the library or you prefer to buy a copy, try to patronize an independent bookstore or just buy the book really anywhere books are sold. Let's keep books in production, let's support the arts, support each other. And next week we'll be talking about how reading actually impacts us on a physical level. And until then, I hope you will keep creating and keep turning the page. Happy reading.