February 2021 – The Nook

winding road photography — Photo by Johannes Plenio on Pexels.com

There are plenty of times when I really don’t feel like reading. I know that’s an odd way of starting a post about authors, but it’s true. I have to admit that I struggle to read a lot of books each year. I always have a list of books that I want to get through, fiction and non-fiction, but I never seem to get through the list. It’s actually one of the reasons I started this blog. I wanted to push myself to read more.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy reading. I love books; I have since I was a little girl. But sometimes I find it hard to start. For me, reading can be a lot of work. I have always been a painfully slow reader, even as a child. I remember being in class and being assigned to read a handout in a small group. My classmates would be ready to turn the page while I was still only halfway done with it. I’ve pushed myself to read faster over the years, but I am still behind most avid readers my age.

On top of that, my attention span tends to be embarrassingly short (which I am working on). I get restless sitting still for long periods of time. And I often find myself rereading the same sentence three or four times before it registers with me. It just takes me longer to process information sometimes, and occasionally, when my brain is feeling especially helpful, it causes me to misread words entirely. I’m sure all this has made me sound like an adult toddler, but it is what it is.

So I often come to a new book with hesitation. I know that once I get into it I’ll be having a great time and I won’t want to put it down, but I sometimes don’t want to make the effort of pushing past the frustration of my own issues in order to get there.

thoughtful young ethnic woman eating toast and reading book at campsite — Photo by Uriel Mont on Pexels.com

But there’s always someone alongside me to help me out: the author. It’s like we’re two adventurers on a road trip. I’m the neurotic one who’s dreading it, not knowing where we are really going or how we are going to get there. I’m already regretting the long hours spent in the car and we haven’t even gotten in it yet. But the author is steady, having picked out a fabulous destination and planned the travel well. They invite me along, promising that as long as I engage, they’ll drive and it will be worth it. Often the opening pages are slow, just getting us out on the road, and my easily distractable mind wanders. But the author is patient with me, reminding me that this road is leading somewhere exciting.

Along the road, the author invites some interesting people. Some I like and some I don’t, but they ask me to give them all a chance, hinting that they’ll all add something to our journey. I gravitate toward one new friend in particular, and the author smiles knowingly.

The road they have chosen is at times winding and at times bumpy, and it takes us through many different terrains. I’m laughing at times, and crying at times, and everything in between as I see how the trip moves my fellow passengers, and that moves me. Some pages in, I’m struck by a beautiful location the author has described or a neat roadside attraction. I want to stop the car for a bit. That’s okay. The author thought I would like it and they are happy to have us stay here a while so I can enjoy it. Other times I’ve missed something my guide has driven past, and I need us to backtrack. They oblige me, and we do so until I’m back on board, usually with a fuller investment in the journey.

I’m a slow reader, and life gets in the way, but my literary guide kindly reassures me that it’s okay to put the book down. Whenever I’m ready, we’ll get back on the road. And we do, and I’m back to laughing, and crying, and staring in shock and wonder. And without my realizing it, we’ve arrived at our destination, and I’m saying goodbye to the author and my newfound friends and wishing the journey wasn’t over.

No matter how many times I question if I want to start a new book, the author always makes it worth it.

Do you have a favorite author? Who makes picking up a book worth it for you? Let me know in the comments and subscribe to my blog to get notified every time a new review or post gets published.

Thank you to Erin Alexis Randolph for subscribing! You are an adventurer! Happy literary trails!

Write to you guys soon! – Cozie

Email: chat@nookandbook.club

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“Desire can lead to good things, things that must be and should be pursued. Like love.”

Welcome back adventurers!

I know that I said I would post this review Sunday evening, but I have been awake since Sunday evening working on it, so that still counts, right? Anyways, today you are in for quite the strange trip, and I don’t think the writer intended it to be as strange as it was.

Michael Gryboski’s Thoughtreal tells the story of Detective Brittany Johnson as she investigates a seemingly impossible triple homicide in Washington, DC with few clues. In the process she meets a man with incredible powers, a tragic past, and a brother that he is scared to face but will ultimately have to, despite the danger.

I was so anxious about writing this review. You guys have no idea how long I debated with myself about whether or not I should even do it. You see, this would be my first ‘bad’ review on the blog, and I hate writing negative things about someone’s work. I know that this person put a lot of time and effort into their story and I don’t want to discourage that. The concept of this tale was really intriguing to me. The idea of two brothers going through the same terrible events and coping with them in completely different ways drew me in. There are a few gripping sequences in the book as well, including an armed shootout that was genuinely exciting. For the most part, though, this book turned out to be a disappointment.

At 299 pages, this book isn’t very long. There is nothing wrong with that, of course. When I saw the length, I was excited to read a succinct and fast-paced science fiction novel. I am a slow reader to begin with, so short and sweet is okay with me. But unfortunately, you don’t get a lot out of those 299 pages, in plot or character development. All we get to learn about Brittany is that she has trouble with men and she stopped going to church. All we learn about Adonijah and Absalom, the brothers at the center of this mystery, is that they had a specific tragedy in their past (that I won’t reveal here), they like books, and they have studied different religious philosophies. That’s it. The characters all feel flat. It’s hard to engage with them. There is more time spent on describing different physical locations and their rich history than on the characters’ inner life, motivations, and emotions, so its hard to care for them. There is an attempt at writing romance, but it feels forced, and you don’t feel enough for the characters to want to see it happen. Aside from the relationship between the two brothers, there is little emotional development in the book at all. This not only leaves you disconnected, but it also has you perplexed, wondering why characters choose to do or not do things that would easily get them what they want.

On top of that, very little actually happens in the book. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there is very little to spoil. There are some murder cases, a short and relatively uneventful investigation, a lot of discussion, and finally a big showdown. It feels like such a long journey to get to the end, but once you’ve gotten there, you realize that you haven’t traveled much at all.

On a smaller note, the language itself makes the book difficult to read. Gryboski takes more words than necessary to describe minute actions like swiping right or left on a dating app and details the same environments for us at length multiple times. Some of the word choices seem bizarre, and the ordering of scenes can be a bit disorienting, so it’s hard to develop a flow while you’re reading. Overall, it was quite a difficult read and took me longer than usual. Gryboski has some great ideas but they are not well fleshed out here.

Have you read Thoughtreal? Do you agree with me or was I too hard on him? Let me know in the comments below! See ya next time! -Cozie

Family Friendly Content Considerations:

Recommended for Older Teens and Adults

Violence

Mild Sexual Situations

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Month: February 2021

Worth It: A Love Letter to Authors

In The Nook With… Thoughtreal