Welcome, there! Let me have your coat, and make yourself comfortable—scan the bookshelves, reading the titles along the spines; absorb the warm ambience of the room, the maps hung on the walls, stringed lights draped along the ceiling, houseplants huddled on the window sill; spot the cat curled beneath the chair in the corner, twitching its whiskers as she dreams. This—this is Slanted Spines.

About seven years ago, I began this blog, but long before that, my passion for writing erupted from my soul. I have always known that my destiny is to write, but in my younger years I was much more shy about sharing my work, and so creating Slanted Spines was a nerve-wracking yet monumental leap. When I created Slanted Spines, I just decided that I’d post a blog article every Friday and it would be a good way to routinely write in my free time. (I was a college sophomore then, and had difficulties motivating my creative writing.) But as my voice became stronger each week, Slanted Spines went from something I was self-conscious about and shared the link with no one but my mom, to much more than that! I began by posting weekly blog musings, such as silly tales and creative writing every Friday.

Then, when the pandemic drastically altered our lives, I began reading much more often. During that time, I created a YouTube channel under the same name “Slanted Spines” where I discussed the books I was reading. Having always been an avid reader but tapered off during my undergraduate degree, the socially distant nature of society helped reignite my fervor for reading, and the subject of my blog posts began to reflect this. In fact, it was amidst this period of change that I realized I wanted to become a librarian, and I enrolled in a Master’s program and began working at a local library. Now, Slanted Spines focuses mostly on bookish content.

Emily Dickinson once wrote in a poem, “Tell all the truth, but tell it slant.” I find it poetic that the strip of binding in a book is called a book spine, a word which likens a book to a living creature. Sometimes I look at my bookshelf, observing the way my books lean upon each other, resting their head on the shoulder of their slumped neighbor. We’re all a little slanted, at different angles, our spines a little worn from the weight of the hearts that we carry. With Slanted Spines, we embrace our qualities and quirks; we each have our story to share, within our pages, no matter how tattered or torn.

You can connect with Slanted Spines on any of the following social media platforms:

YouTube

Twitter

Instagram

Goodreads

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© Brittany Cole and Slanted Spines, 2015-2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Brittany Cole and Slanted Spines with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.