A literary experience

Sadly, there hasn't been a lot of reading time this week. I've been otherwise occupied. But, I do want to rave about a book I read recently. Now, I confess that I often read books that are what others might deem below my intellectual level. But I say, it's important to cultivate our childlike nature. Recently, my sister, who is the mother of five kids, recommended a book to me, and I finally got my hands on it. It's called Press Here and it's by Hervé Tullet. The sad thing is, I can't tell you much about this book except that it's brilliant, because I don't want to give it away. The whole concept is just genius, and I unashamedly want to own this book because I think its fun for me. This book is definitely an experience, and a wonderful one at that, so forget about your dignity and let your inner child have some fun.

Endure to the end?

As a reader, one of my favorite things to find is a wonderful series. A good series means that I get to look forward to future reading. Of course, the drawback to a good series is that 1) it is easy to become obsessed, and I find myself walking around with a book in my hand every spare moment, and 2) if you get on to a series that is in progress-meaning it hasn't been completed--you find yourself experiencing the agony of waiting for the next book to come out.

But what do you do when you start a series that you think is going to be good, but halfway in, you realize it just isn't? (Yes, it DOES happen. Promising series do not always live up to their potential). Do you finish the series or is it okay to give up? It is a tough decision, because, as my brother pointed out, it is easy to feel a literary obligation to see the thing to the end. If you are facing this dilemma, here are some things to consider:

1. How far into the series are you? If you are almost done--say, one or two books left--and you have no other pressing books on the to-read list, you may as well finish it. Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and it will take off in the last two books. (I actually have read a series that got progressively better, so it can pay to hang in there. But it improved with each book, so if you are almost done, and it hasn't gotten better, you probably shouldn't get your hopes up).

2. Why are you reading it? In my brother's example, he wants to have read books his children will someday read. If he has read enough to know that it isn't going to be harmful to them at all, then he may not need to keep reading. If there are things that make him wonder, perhaps he should see it through, or just not recommend it to his kids. If you are reading the series because everyone is talking about it, you may want to see it through to the end, so that you have a thorough knowledge of the books. But if you are only part way into it, and feel that you are sufficiently versed in why you don't like it, why keep reading?

3. How much damage will your ego take if you don't finish it? I have no qualms about quitting things I don't enjoy, so for me, my pride will not be injured if I have read enough of a series to sufficiently be able to say, "Not my kind of literature." And there are several series off the top of my head that fall into that category. But if you will forever feel like a quitter, and have trauma because of the stigma that brings, then by all means, finish the series.


So, should you finish a series, even if you don't enjoy it? My personal philosophy is that there are too many good books to read to spend time on something that doesn't interest you, but there are bound to be exceptions. The decision is yours. But you don't have any kind of obligation, so defenestrate that sense of guilt, and let yourself walk away from a bad series scott free!

Happy Library Lovers Day

For all you library lovers out there, Happy Library Lovers Day! I hope you enjoy a good book or a visit to the library!

A very apt title

I really love to read World War II literature. I feel like this is a little bit morbid, but somehow, it is just a fascinating subject to me. So I'm always on the lookout for good World War II literature. I've had my eye on one particular book for a while: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand. I don't remember how I stumbled upon this title, but I have read Seabiscuit, also by Hillenbrand, and loved that book (I came away wanting to know more about horse racing, a subject I have never been interested in before. THAT is a good story teller), and when I heard about this one, I really wanted to read it, because I knew the author and it's about a topic I love. Anyway, I finally finished it this week, and I was not disappointed.
Now, the caveat is that the book doesn't hide the horrors of war, and more specifically, of a POW camp, so if you are sensitive to that sort of thing, you probably shouldn't read it. But it really does live up to the full title. I'm not going to tell you what the book is about, because Google is good for that. But what did I like about it? First off, it really read like a story, not a history book. I thought it would take me a while to get through it, but I read it in under a week, and that is with a busy school schedule, work, and applying for jobs. But I learned so much, and saw into a new dimension of World War II that I had never seen before. And as I read it, I kept thinking, "How did they survive? How?" It really is a miracle. I also must say, I did not expect the ending, which is very impressive, because it's not a made up story and so it seems that somehow, it ought to be fairly predictable. It's history, it's happened, how can there be surprises? But Hillenbrand has a knack for surprise historical endings (again, sign of a good writer)!
There is a lot more to the story than WWII, as well. There is love, Olympics, planes, and human interest. And it really puts life into perspective, so if you feel like life is a bit rough, well, this book will encourage you to hang in there. And best of all, there is a happy ending.

That was in there why?

I just finished reading a book that was, overall, well written. But there were a couple of spots that made me wonder what the author and editors were thinking, because the language chosen was honestly inessential and actually detracted from the story. I couldn't see any need for such language or for some of the content for a couple of pages, either. It didn't build the plot, develop the characters, or contribute in anyway. It was almost as if they put it in there just to be rebellious, which is not the point of a novel. It reminded me of a conference I went to recently, hosted by a student chapter of a professional organization. The first part of the conference was a brainstorming session, where participants generated the topics for the morning's sessions. One group chose to use an offensive profanity in the title of their session idea, and rather than professionally *@% it out, the scribe opted to put the word in print, for no other reason than to be offensive. In a professional setting, it was highly inappropriate. It also defines the event, or in the case of the author, the book, as being for a very specific audience, and it doesn't speak highly of the character of said audience. So, the moral of the story is that, when writing, the language you use will have a great impact on the audience you attract. Just something to think about.