I love to read, and I read a lot. And to me, there is no feeling more delicious, more JOYful than the sensation that after slogging through a few really dull reads, I have finally hit on a good book. A book I can hardly wait to get back to, a book I hate to see end.
I love books with original characters. Not contrived, or, as my dad would have said, “silly”. A good plot helps. When the characters are delightful, and I can hardly wait to find out what happens to them, then I am really satisfied.
OK, I’ll admit it, I do have some pretty strong opinions (and emotions!) about the books I read. Which is why I have never been able to stick with a book club. I get so attached (or so annoyed) with the things I read that I take everyone else’s opinion almost personally. A few years ago, I was in a group that read and discussed Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. A masterful piece of writing … in my opinion. When one of the ladies said she couldn’t stand the book, I was crushed! It felt as if she insulted my child; that’s how in love with this book I was. On the other hand, to have a book club spend more than a minute on such popular books as Lessons in Chemistry (ugh) is just depressing for me.
Let’s talk about the length of a book. In my opinion, really good authors (Abraham Verghese and Barbara Kingsolver) deserve to have long books, and I will gladly stick with them. I was actually sad when Demon Copperhead (560 pages!) ended. But then there is the huge irritation of books that really could have used a good editor. I will not name the author here, for fear of backlash, other than to say her books are incredibly popular and incredibly long, and I have yet to finish a single one … get to the point!
I will wrap this up, because I really need to get back to my latest JOY – a really good book.
I hope you are starting your new year off with a good book, a good movie, a good conversation. Anything that brings you as much JOY as a really good book does for me.