The Writing On the Wall

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November 2025 Magazine

We celebrate gratitude in November. Telling someone thank you is another way of showing that you care. Showing gratitude doesn’t have to be taught or learned; it’s simply saying Thank You. Thank you for everything. Thank you for being in my life. My article this month The Writing On The Wall examines reading, writing and the decline of the novel. I am grateful for the many novels I have read, and I adore the authors who have written them. Some books are better than others, but every book I have read has become part of me. My article is my way of saying thank you to all of the authors whose books have touched my life. Do you have a story to share about a book that transformed your life? Happy Thanksgiving!  –Patricia Vaccarino


The Writing On The Wall: On Reading, Writing and The Decline of the Novel

Novels enrich our lives because we touch the fragile threads of the diverse fabrics that weave us together. We begin to see the connections in things and become spellbound by the certainty that no one person is on this earth alone. All of us are slogging through the muck and the mire, navigating the joy, the sorrow, the grief, and the pratfalls that throw us haphazardly off course only to be consumed by a reckless wind. A good novel teaches us that it is noble to be a human being.