What is your favorite hobby or pastime?
Reading books obviously and yet …
When people ask me about my hobbies, I feel so inadequate when I say reading. I feel like hobbies are things like knitting or playing guitar or running. All hobbies I’ve tried actually.
Pastimes are different. I’ve always loved the Indian English usage: time pass. The word can have negative connotations. “That’s just a time pass,” meaning you’re wasting your time.
Is loving Star Wars a hobby? Or is it a time pass?
Lately, I’ve been reading Star Wars books. They are fun time passes. Daniel José Older is becoming my go-to writer. May the Force Be With Him. And also with Mike Chen.
My friend Carter has been making his way through the Expanded Universe.
And let me tell you, some of those plots are wild. In the BD* times, writers invented the most extraordinary plot devices, barely hanging by a thread of reality, and challenging the most basic laws of physics.
And that’s why they are so much fun to read.
I’ve enjoyed reconnecting with the Star Wars universe beyond the films. Most EU books were published in the 90s, while I was in college. I’m not sure why I didn’t read them then. I read a couple of the prequel movie novelizations in the 2000s. But I didn’t dive deeper.
When you read a book doesn’t matter. Sure, it’s fun to read books that are trending or read books that everyone else has read, but back lists represent a critical goal for every writer. Back lists can provide financial stability for writers and offer readers an opportunity to discover new books.
As Ann Patchett says in her weekly TikTok and Instagram videos:
It’s Friday, and if you haven’t read it yet, it’s new to you.
*Before Disney. Much like the BBY dating system we use for the Star Wars universe, you can also date Star Wars books from before and after Disney purchased IP rights.
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