Sunday. That’s my fun day? Well actually it’s more of, that’s
my cleaning day. But I don’t mind so much. The boys are out of the house, off
on another adventure that involves cars and things I try not to involve myself
in too much. My husband has a car collecting problem. For realz. But it keeps him busy and
sometimes happy though just as often frustrated. But he has the teen to take
along with him now. And to talk with about cars and car parts and car swaps. So. That’s
good right? Yes. Yes it is. Because as mentioned, I try not to involve myself
in it too much. Enough about cars, now for my passion. Books. I read a few books over the last couple of weeks, all of them very different. One of my favorite expressions is that no person ever reads the same book. Meaning of course, that we all take different things from the same book, depending on our life experiences and many many other factors.
One of the books I read was a Sourcebooks YA title that recently made the New York Times Bestseller list. I was curious about what propelled it to that list and was browsing through my eBook reader because I’d already finished the two books on my bedside table. I was proud of the company that published 6 of my YA novels, and of course, a little jealous because, human.
I enjoyed it and understood why it did as well as it
did. Very readable, unputdownable even. Many
of the characters came alive so clearly and it incorporated a whole line-up of
diverse characters without needing to point out that they were. If that makes any sense. I also liked the way the
author remained a little objective in her story too, and think it worked well. It
related in a very small way to the other book I just finished, The Glass
Castle, which was completely different but also so very strong and SO VERY
objective.
Anyhow, I enjoyed how the author of TIWE didn’t try to over explain
the shooter’s (school shooting book btw) motivations too much other than some
background and character building. I thought that was well done because so many
times it seems we search and search for the why in these horrible tragedies and
there really aren’t any. There’s maybe reasons, excuses but never a clear cut "why" when a person goes over the edge.
How can you explain it? You can look for an answer, why, but it will never
ever be clear cut. So, kudos to her and to Sourcebooks for an amazing feat!
I also really enjoyed The Glass Castle, which is non fiction
and one of those books that makes you think for days and days after. I don't know why this book was never on my radar, as it's an older book and a popular NYT bestseller as well. Probably because it's not something usually in my wheel house. I've been reading a lot more books that aren't YA lately. There's some great books in different genres, but when I go back to YA, I'm always happy. The parents in The Glass Castle are so off the charts that it’s hard to read at times. It also made me think about how much I spoil my child. Which he may discuss with his therapist later in life. Right now I’ll just say, sorry little dude. There’s no perfection in parenting, fo shizzle.
Another book I read (I won’t say what it was because one
thing I’ve learned as an author, is that I don’t want to say bad things about
other people’s books because they are probably really fricking proud of them) bugged the crap out of me. As above, what doesn’t work for me, might be the best thing someone else
ever read. Anyhow, it was by a very
famous author who is a brilliant writer, but it just BUGGED THE SHIT out of me.
It started out so good, and I was so happy with it and then it went all wonkers
and got off course and by the time it ended I was like WTF? But I did finish
it, which means something and I have to admire the author’s writing. So there’s that.
I also finished a YA that is the first in a series. Not my favorite book, by an author I usually love. It was good. I finished it, but I expected GREAT. Because. Reader expectation. Anyhow. I could go on and on about books and thoughts but my upstairs is calling to me.
“Janet. Janet. Come and clean me.”
Damn you upstairs. I must go.
Oooh, I'm curious about the unnamed books, but I totally agree that for authors it's maybe not wise to publicly dislike a book.
ReplyDeleteI hate it when you expect something great and then just find it alright... or even good, but not amazing like you've found the author before. It's a weird feeling. Maybe because of the hype you, yourself, have created? But then I've majorly hyped up books in my mind before that have totally lived up to my expectations, so who knows... Probably my favourite thing is when you don't have the highest expectations (or any expectations, maybe) and then something blows you away. An awesome feeling!! Except, then, of course your next read has a hard time living up to that... vicious cycle ;)
It actually quite bothers me when authors publicly dislike books. I mean, they KNOW HOW IT FEELS. And they shouldn't (IMO) try to dissuade others from someone's book because NO ONE READS THE SAME BOOK. I agree that it's nice sometimes to have no expectations for a book and then be blown away. I like that a lot. :)
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