I love to read. There are two problems with reading: 1) the book ends and 2) my favorite writers can’t write fast enough. As is the case with most avid readers, I keep track of when my favorite writers have books coming out. It’s a thrill for me to “open” a new book from a familiar author. I put the word ‘open’ in quotes because a great deal of my reading is electronic these days. It’s too easy, though I vastly prefer thumbing pages.
Reading has always been one of the activities that truly relaxes me. I’ve been escaping into the world of words since I learned to read. Libraries have long been places of comfort for me. Book stores beckon. Not much is more enjoyable for me than to sit down with a book that grabs my attention…unless I’m plunking down on the beach, by a lake, by a pool, with a good book.
What makes a good read for me? Obviously a good storyline is imperative. Settings are integral and must be well described. But for me, characters draw me in. I need to be able to identify with characters. I need to want to spend time with the characters. I need to despise some characters. Long story short, when any of my emotions is invoked I’m hooked.
Unfortunately there is a downside to most anything. Books are finite; they end. I tear through them because I don’t want to put them down and then…game over. It’s on to the next writer and another book. However, due to my fast reading speed, I often find myself in the doldrums…that period of time when my preferred writers don’t have anything out there that I haven’t read. From time to time I find a “new to me” author and then exhaust that person’s collection of work. Then I’m back in the doldrums. The good thing is there is always a glimmer on the horizon, that small margin of knowing the next work is in progress.
What prompted this? Well, I just finished a really good book. Find something you like and lose yourself in it.