Epigraphs and New Chapters

My favorite text feature kicks off a year of reading.

I love the art of bookmaking and the additional features and design elements that make books pleasurable to collect and read. Have you seen the latest book design fad, spredges? They’re color-sprayed page edges with fanciful lettering or flourishes. All the rage with book influencers!

Beyond the trends in jacket and page design–which can transform books into visual delights–the interior features that authors, illustrators, and designers weave throughout a book can add layers to the reading experience. Decorative endpapers, sprawling maps, illustrations, footnotes, glossaries and so on, offer readers more information, enhance world building, and foster thoughtful and immersive reading. Audiobooks and e-books have features unique to their formats, too.

I’m not the only person who is fascinated with special text features. Authors Chris Barton and Jennifer Ziegler have an entire podcast focused on authors’ dedications in their books.

As a reader, one of my favorite text features is epigraphs. In books, an epigraph is a quote or phrase positioned at the beginning of a book or chapter. An epigraph can be the words of a character, a reference to another work like a song or poem, or quote real people. An epigraph might reveal an author’s cultural and literary influences or connect their ideas to universal truths. These short preludes often tease readers with clues about upcoming events. Epigraphs set the stage for what follows and often provide insight into a section or work’s greater themes and key points.

Several writers have studied epigraphs and their appeal in great detail—if you enjoy a good rabbit hole. Rachel Sagner Buurma describes the history and importance of epigraphs in “Do Epigraphs Matter?” The book she reviews in this essay for The New Republic is The Art of the Epigraph: How Great Books Begin by Rosemary Ahern. In a 2021 Literary Hub essay, “Toward the Heart of the Book: In Praise of the Epigraph,” Thomas Swick shares his fondness for epigraphs as the “ceremonial gate” inviting readers into an author’s world.

When I encounter an epigraph at the beginning of a book or chapter, it feels like the author is letting me in on a secret. A surprising number of readers admit that they skip the marginalia, text features, and other side quests in their books! They consider these extras to be unnecessary distractions in their pursuit of the core narrative. To each their own, but I think they’re missing out. Readers who bother to read the footnotes, maps, and epigraphs can pick up vital information and insight from the author about their worldview and the direction the book is going.

With epigraphs, context is everything. Their significance and interest stem from what follows after them. How does an epigraph lead the reader into what’s next? When you separate an epigraph from the book or chapter it introduces, it might not carry the same weight. But in some instances, notable epigraphs remain powerful statements on their own. Here are a few memorable ones:

“Lawyers, I suppose, were children once.” –Charles Lamb, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

“Behind every great fortune, is a crime.”—Balzac, The Godfather by Mario Puzo

”There, where one burns books…one, in the end, burns men.” —Heinrich Heinz, People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

“Because even if I should speak, no one would believe me. And they would not believe me precisely because they would know that what I said was true.” –James Baldwin, Caste by Isabel Wilkerson

Some readers tattoo memorable words onto their skin. I have memorialized many of my favorite reading and library quotes by putting them into my books as epigraphs. When I wrote my first book, The Book Whisperer, I asked to include epigraphs at the beginning of every chapter. My editor agreed and I was delighted. Although I was writing a professional development book for educators, I didn’t want the book to feel like a tech manual. The Book Whisperer lacks interior color and contains few text features to enhance the reading experience. Adding epigraphs was one way I could make it feel like a “real book” for my readers.

Professional development books are more visually appealing these days! In my fifth book, The Joy of Reading (co-written with Teri Lesesne), the designer incorporated the epigraphs I chose for the book into gorgeous full page moments at the beginning of each chapter.

The epigraphs I've included in my books do more than lead into the chapters or sections that follow, these words provide glimpses into the enjoyment and empowerment a reading life offers us all. I’ve featured quotes from many well-known writers and scholars who have influenced me, but I also incorporate the words of everyday people—often young readers—who speak and write profoundly and intimately about their own reading experiences.

I’m working on a project that involves going back through my old manuscripts, computer files, and notebooks. In my archives, I've found pages and pages of quotations about books, reading, and libraries that I've collected over the years. Much of this material has never appeared in one of my books, but I’ve used these lines as writing and discussion prompts for my students or workshop attendees. I recall the many hours I spent considering each quote— like a present for my readers. What words will set the tone for this chapter or conversation?

Why do I use epigraphs? I love words and their power to communicate strong feelings and ideas. I collect quotes about books and reading because these words uplift me and connect me with other readers who share my passion. I hope that sharing these timeless observations has the capacity to motivate and inspire us all and encourage us to advocate for books, readers, and libraries, too. If I cannot persuade you to embrace and celebrate reading by myself, I can call upon a legion of other readers and writers to help me. We may read alone, but we can find community in our shared appreciation for a life spent reading.

Perhaps, Cicero will resonate with you,

”A room without books is like a body without a soul.”

Or Maya Angelou will inspire you,

“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.”

Or Vera Nazarian will excite you,

”Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light.”

Do you remember why reading matters to you in the first place? Who can I call upon throughout history and time to remind you?

Your quality of life may depend on it!

*****

The health benefits of regular reading are well-documented and growing. Reading significantly influences our physical and mental health. Reading for as little as six minutes can reduce our pulse rate, blood pressure, and cortisol levels. Reading may stave off cognitive decline, as well.

Not all reading is beneficial, of course. It only takes a few minutes on the Internet to understand how certain types of reading—such as reading about traumatic or polarizing events—can negatively affect our mental state. There’s a seemingly endless stream of fear mongering, hate speech, and misinformation from our media and entertainment sources. The 24-hour news cycle floods us with threat messages, which causes a cascade of stressful responses.

But what about the positive effects of pleasure reading on our mental health? This reader-friendly opinion piece from Psychology Today summarizes the mental health and cognition benefits of pleasure reading. According to psychologists, reading for pleasure can improve our sense of well-being, empathy, and resilience.

Unfortunately, a lot of us are not reading right now and it shows.

Along with exercise, sleep, and nutrition, how can we take care of ourselves by incorporating more reading into our lives? Self-care requires a trip to the library now and then!

I started reading more than 50 years ago. I have a long, winding relationship with books and reading. For the past twenty years, reading and writing have become a significant part of my professional life–first as a teacher, then as an author. I believe that my current ambivalence toward reading (and writing) stems from burnout. I’ve been working to carve out more time to read for my own enjoyment and not work-related reasons. I was a reader long before I was a schoolteacher or a professional writer.

I need to take ownership of my reading life again.

After a few years of struggling to evolve as a reader, I’m reconnecting with my motivations for reading. Why do I find reading personally meaningful? What’s my relationship with reading? How has it changed? What do I want from my reading life now? Why does reading still matter so much to me?

As a method for practicing mindfulness, self-reflection, and daily writing, I’m journaling every day. Some days, I write about my nature observations. Typically, I write about my memories, plans, or experiences. Don and I bought each other these hilarious Grievance Journals for Christmas. We pick one prompt a week and discuss it with each other over dinner. After 30 years, we have learned new things about each other! Briefly exploring the aggravating aspects of daily life—then setting them aside—is surprisingly cathartic. I promise that we practice gratitude more than grievance!

I’m also journaling about reading and my journey back to myself as a reader. I’m enjoying reflecting on my reading life in this way. I’m revisiting myself as a reader and dedicating time toward considering my reading identity.

On this Substack, I’ll share noteworthy quotes about reading, books, libraries and my thoughts about them. I encourage you to make regular space for both pleasure reading and examining your reading life. Perhaps, my thoughts and personal reflections will inspire you to reflect on your reading journey, too. Don’t feel pressured to keep a journal, you can use these quotations as discussion topics with other readers. If you like to collect quotes for yourself, perhaps you will find a few words worth copying and keeping.

Look for my first reading reflection post later this week. Like a good epigraph, I hope these words will guide us into the next chapter of our reading lives.

Do you have a favorite quote? Share it in the comments and spend a few minutes this week considering why these words are meaningful to you.

Happy Reading!

--Donalyn