Thursday, April 1, 2021

Reading a good book is such a joy

Woman reading on Kindle

If you're reading this post, you're a reader, and you love books. I've been a reader for most of my life, from as far back as I can remember reading. I still have a very old torn up and colored copy of A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson from my childhood that I now deeply regret defacing, but it holds a certain charm and nostalgia in my life. I love books, and I love reading, but sometimes, certain books don't work for us. It's okay not to love everything.

There are times when my reading goes into fits and starts. With everything going on around the world and seeing its impact in my news feed on social media, I guess it all threw me a bit off my reading game. I read an excellent book by a favorite author of mine, which became even better than I thought it would be. What a high I was on!

Then for whatever reason, my brain switched off, and I couldn't concentrate on reading. I ended up going days without reading. I ended up watching endless cooking videos on YouTube instead, which is great for Steve because it gets me very inspired to cook him some very yummy food. But reading is my thing; it's my love and my hobby. And I was starting to feel antsy about not reading for such a long time. Okay, it was like six days, but it felt like a long time to me. So I decided to try a book that was supposed to hit all my hot buttons.

Woman holding books

Trying a new-to-me author is always a risk. More often than not, it can turn out to be a dud. This time, I read two duds in a row after coming off a reading funk, and it got me feeling very disappointed. Both books featured tropes that I love, but they failed on the execution. In one, the heroine was so self-absorbed and her inner monologue so copious that it got repetitive and boring. It was a lot of blah blah blah to me. I skimmed most of it and even skipped the final climactic sex scene, which is unlike me. Even the epilogue (and I LOVE epilogues) was boring, and I skimmed it—such a disappointment.

And then the next book was also a disappointment. This one was a new-to-me author that I had highly anticipated cos she looked like she wrote the kinds of tropey books I love. Except when I read it, I felt like I was reading a children's book written for a sixth-grader. Short, simplistic sentences, stilted dialogue, and so much telling. It didn't hook me in, and I felt let down by the writing—another disappointment. Yeah, I'm using that word a lot, but I was starting to feel rather hopeless over my poor reading choices.

The Billionaires and the Author by Harper West The Pleasure Contract by Harper West Training Their Virgin Assistant by Harper West

Of course, being the masochist that I am, instead of falling back on another favorite author whom I knew I'd love, I went off and started another new-to-me author because I like to torture myself like that. But you know what? Oh, joy of joys! This book hooked me in right away. The writing was clever, the characters engaging, and the story intriguing. It's still tropey as heck, but where the others failed in the execution, this one did not. I was so happy to be reading a book that reeled me in that I was giggling and bubbling over with glee. It is a joyful feeling when one encounters a book that hits all the right buttons for the reader. This one did it for me. It got pretty late at night, and I had to tell myself to stop reading and then calm the heck down so I could go to sleep. I was like a happy child bouncing up and down when told some exciting news.

My point of all this? Not all books are for everyone, but reading is a joy, and one should not give up when encountering a book that doesn't hit all the right spots. If a book doesn't tickle your fancy, do not despair. There will be many other books out there that would suit and that you'd love. It's just a matter of persevering and finding the right next book. And believe me, there will be the next book, and you'll get your reading mojo back. And voila! Happy happy joy joy!!

So how has your reading been recently? Have you been affected by everything going on, or are you reading as usual or reading more?


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4 comments:

  1. Great post

    And yes not all books are going to hit the spot with all readers, I am pretty easy going while reading and for the most part enjoy the books I read of course there are books that I inhale and love and others I read and enjoy and I do think that a lot depends on the mood I am in at the time of reading a book, if there is a lot going on personally it effects the pleasure of the book I am reading, but for the most I thoroughly enjoy my books and while I was not well last year I had a hard time trying to read I couldn't take in the words I was reading, nothing stuck so I too was watching TV but the better I felt the more I wanted to read and it wasn't long before I got my reading mojo back.

    Have Fun

    Helen

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    1. That's why I'm so happy there are so many different books out there and different authors to suit all reading tastes.

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  2. Great post. Yes, I've always read. In my youth it was just books and newspapers/magazines. Now it's books, and lots of blogs on stuff like politics, science, beer, and of course books. In days gone by, it was the likes of Barbara Cartland, Elizabeth Cadell, Anya Seton, Jayne Aiken Hodge, Evelyn Anthony. I think I read The Winthrop Woman several times. I had a bit of a hiatus in my mid 20s but I remember reading Watership Down. I then went onto those Zebra Kensington lines and then discovered Anne Rice and vampires. And scifi, a particular favourite being The Crystal Singer Trilogy. These days it's mostly romance in as much variety as possible, but I do read mystery/thrillers too. I especially like Scandinavian and Icelandic Noir.
    Sometimes a short, simplistic sentence works. Jackie Collins wrote in that style and I loved her books.
    Gill

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    1. I remember devouring Barbara Cartland in my early romance reading days. They blew my mind with the experienced older hero and younger, virgin heroines. And of course, I love Anne McCaffrey.

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