Something to Declare

After reading Return to Sender, I got hungry for more of Julia Alvarez's work. I did a quick search to see what books the library had that I haven't read and saw a collection of essays called Something to Declare. I didn't know she'd written any nonfiction and was eager to hear more about her, quickly gobbling the book up.

It was amazing to me to learn that this writer whose work I admire so much did not learn English until she was ten. It was inspiring to hear her trials of getting published and that even something as good as How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents took a long time to find a publisher. And it was fascinating to hear about her writing routine, how she begins writing by reading first poetry, then prose by her favorite writers and ends her writing day by going for a run to reflect on the work she did and to determine where it would continue to go the next day. Reading about her commitment to her writing has brought on a renewed determination to continue to pursue my own. I really enjoyed this book and will likely be reading more of her work in the near future as I love the way reading her work makes me feel. Richer, I suppose is the word--which is really what all good writing should do.